 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
2008 Spring Update!
Dateline: Kotzebue, Alaska, 14 April, 2008
by Jim Kincaid
Alaska Conference Executive Secretary Ed Dunn, his wife Cheryl, and Darlene Heckler spent three days in the native village of Selawik staffing a health fair at the local school and holding meetings designed to meet spiritual needs in the evening. The school is the central meeting place for the community of over 900 people. Ed Dunn is made of the right stuff for doing ministry among Alaska’s native peoples. Part native himself, his family tree grew out of the Ojibway Tribe of Ontario, Canada. Ed is equipped with a Master’s Degree in Public Health. He also has years of pastoral ministry experience among both native and non-native people. His wife Cheryl is a nurse. Darlene Heckler grew up in Selawik, and attended Adventist Vacation Bible School, and summer camps as a child and teenager. She is one of the few Inupiat people who went on to college, where she obtained a BA in Elementary Education. She has taught in many native villages and recently retired after 25 years as an Alaska teacher. Darlene is also a licensed pilot with goals of becoming current and using that skill in her continuing ministry. Darlene has experienced a spiritual renewal over the last several years, and God is directing her into a ministry of renewal for her own people. She is receiving training as an evangelist. The recent Selawik trip was the first opportunity to exercise her new-found ministry. Although preaching in one’s own village can be intimidating, she found acceptance and affirmation. With 225 native villages in Alaska, Darlene has a multitude of communities in which to share the power of the Gospel. Home | Who We Are | What We Do | Ways to Help | Media |
 |
 |
 |
 |