Announcing Thirst Missions Alaska

By Adam Swenson, Director of Alaska Operations

“We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.” — John Stott

In the early part of 2016, God placed Alaska on our hearts and minds. Alaska is a vast and beautiful state filled with people of every nationality. Inside her largest city, Anchorage, are the most diverse neighborhoods in the 50 states. In these neighborhoods—Mountain View, Fairview, Spenard, Russian Jack—are people who desperately need to hear of the love, grace, and forgiveness Christ has for them. Family structures are struggling, and many people have given way to hopelessness.

Ministering with the Local Church

Much like we do in Belize, our teams will partner with a local church already doing the work of outreach in the community. The churches we are partnering with are small, vital churches doing good work in tough conditions and without a lot of resources.

Teams will be able to choose from 10 ministry options that will fit their abilities, and Thirst will partner that team with a local church that has asked for help in those areas.

Ministry options will include:

• Church Ministry
• Service Projects
• Mercy Ministry
• Outreach
• Sports
• Evangelism
• Prayer
• Youth Ministry
• Children’s Ministry
• Job Skill Training

It is our hope and fervent prayer that God will work through our teams and the local church to bring about real change, to bring light into the darkness.

Lodging and Food

Our teams will have the option of sleeping on the floor of one of our partner churches (think indoor camping!) or staying at a guest house in Anchorage. Food can be customized to the group and for the most part will be traditional American fare with a couple of fun restaurant visits thrown in for good measure.

Seeing the Real Alaska

There’s an incredible amount to see and do in Alaska, and the 20+ hours of summer sun give us a good chance to get out and see it all. Our midweek recreation will be sea kayaking on a pristine glacier fed lake high in the mountains and mountain biking the trails near the lake. During the week we’ll be outside for many of our ministries, and we’ll also offer a few optional evening activities like hiking or disc golf.

For our final day recreation some teams will make the scenic drive down to Whittier where they’ll take an awesome glacier cruise, spotting whales, sea otters, dolphins, and seals along the way. Others will go an hour and a half north of Anchorage to a wilderness camp where we’ll go horseback riding, ziplining, canoeing (and more!), and sleep in a bunkhouse nestled in the mountains.

The Details

Our trips will run Saturday – Saturday from June through August. Floor stay trips will be $950, and guest house trips will be $1,100. Airfare will typically be anywhere from $500 to $800, keeping average overall cost around $1,700.

You can find all of the information on our Alaska trips here. If you’d like more information, email us here and a missions consultant will get back to you shortly.

See you in Alaska! An amazing ministry adventure awaits.

Adam Swenson is the Director of Alaska Operations and the Director of Sales and Marketing. When not at work, he’s typically disc golfing or watching Madam Secretary with his wife and daughter.