Thirst Missions Alaska Director, Diana Corzine, shares some details and reflections from the last two weeks spent preparing for this summer of ministry. She and Joe Merrin, Alaska Assistant Director/Consultant, are excited and expectant for an amazing year with our teams and ministry partners in the Final Frontier.
Hello from Alaska!
Joe and I have spent the last two weeks in Alaska setting up ministry for Thirst Missions teams this summer. We have met with so many dear friends and new acquaintances. We have had an incredible week assessing the needs of ministry partners, catching up on ministry that has been happening since the end of the summer last year, dialing in partnerships for our mission teams that will be serving in this location this year, and finalizing logistics such as lodging and recreation.
Each conversation has led us to this indisputable fact: that God is at work in Alaska and Thirst Missions teams have a part to play in it.
Ministry Needs in Alaska
We have met with leaders of organizations such as the Hope Center (Downtown Soup Kitchen), REACH 907 (an organization for the empowerment of at-risk youth), Frontline Missions, and New Hope Compassionate Ministries (programs designed to help people break out of the cycle of poverty through a Christ-centered approach). These organizations are already at work in the local communities of Anchorage, Wasilla, and Palmer, Alaska. With the help of Thirst Mission teams in the past they have reached broken people and seen stories of restoration and salvation.
Pastors and staff of local churches such as Baxter Road Bible Church (Anchorage, AK), Hilltop Assembly of God (Houston, AK), and Palmer Church of God came into our meetings this year not only with ideas for ministry to plan for the future, but also gratitude for the impact mission teams have had in the past.
At Thirst Missions we know the heart of a great mission trip is intentional connection. We have heard of mission teams that go on a highly anticipated mission trip only to paint the same house that was painted the week before by a different team. This leaves people asking, “am I even needed?” The Thirst Missions model is not to bring teams to a centralized compound and have each team do the same thing over and over again, but to partner with a local church and organizations that are making a difference in their community.
In all of our locations of Alaska, Appalachia, Belize, and Puerto Rico, each of our teams is partnered with a unique church partner. Rather than creating dependence, we simply provide encouragement, support, and manpower to help that church partner pull harder in the direction they are already pulling.
Thank You
To each of our church/ministry/lodging/recreation partners: we are grateful to be able to partner with you in ministry.
To each of our Thirst Missions teams that choose to register for a trip to one of our locations: we are grateful to be able to partner with you in ministry.
To each of our staff that are preparing to serve our mission teams that will be arriving in Alaska this year: we are grateful to be able to partner with you in ministry.
To each person reading this article and praying and supporting missions in any way: we are grateful to be able to partner with you in ministry.
God is at work in Alaska. I am grateful to be a part of it.
— Diana Corzine
If you are interested in registering for a mission trip this summer in Alaska you can contact us for more information and register here. There is still time to bring a team to be a part of what God is doing in Alaska.