Loaves & Fishes Newsletter

Feature Article, Summer 2010

Flooding Creates Mission Field for Fairbanks Church

May of 2009 brought massive flooding to a 1,000-mile stretch of the Yukon River Drainage basin in Alaska. Many villages along the river were severely damaged, including Tanana, Fort Yukon, Akiak, Stevens Village, Russian Mission, Eagle, and Eagle Village. Houses were completely lost and others badly damaged. Most of the damaged villages were at the bends in the river, where huge 25-ton chunks of ice jammed up the river, taking houses off their foundations and crushing them. Alaskan villagers have a lot of experience with flooding and know how to dry out their houses, but this flood was more devastating because of the damage from the ice.

Relief efforts soon ramped up. Organizations responding to the events included 51 National Partner Agencies in National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD). By mid-July, Presbyterians became involved when Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) response team members, Harvey Howell and Morella Larson, flew to Alaska and contacted Rev. Sandy Faison, pastor of the University Community Presbyterian Church (UCPC) in Fairbanks. The response team needed the congregation at UCPC and Pastor Sandy’s services and expertise to facilitate the PDA team.

Recovery efforts had a number of challenges. First, there was only a short window of opportunity in which to work before the winter snows set in. In order to take advantage of the constant daylight, teams worked long, long, hours which proved to be a challenge. Second, getting supplies in and out proved difficult since many of the villages, except Eagle, are off the road system. Transportation of supplies, which usually come to these villages by barge or airplane, was logistically very difficult since the rivers were still frozen or blocked up.

UCPC responded by facilitating work teams from the lower 48 states to go to villages that were damaged. UCPC became the main staging area for the many mission teams flying in to aid in the recovery. Mission teams included the Mennonite Disaster Service, Red Cross, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), and the Disciples of Christ. UCPC’s main tasks were to house the teams, feed them, provide cultural sensitivity training, and transport the teams to and from the airport. They also arranged for charter flights. On the way back, they debriefed the teams and provided spiritual and emotional care.

The Mission Teams worked in 2 week intervals. By end of the 6-week period, the teams rebuilt all the houses in the villages: 14 homes were completely rebuilt in Eagle and in Akiak, and 40 homes repaired in Eagle and Stevens Village.

All in all, this was an amazing experience for this congregation of 114 members. Prior to the floods, they were in a financial crisis when all of a sudden this huge mission opportunity was dropped in their laps. PDA sent $10,000 toward a long term recovery team, which the congregation participated in developing. The long term recovery office is now housed at UCPC, and UCPC is going through FEMA training to prepare for the next disaster.

On May 13, 2010, the University Community Presbyterian Church of Fairbanks received the 2010 National VOAD award for their participation in the Yukon River Flood rebuilding project. UCPC , PDA, and New hope Church in North Pole were leaders in the response that included 51 National Partner Agencies in National VOAD.