Ruby, Alaska is a tiny, isolated village on the Yukon River. Like so many unreached villages in Alaska, the tiny dot on the map may seem like an insignificant place to invest long-term, life-on-life ministry. But God’s heart for the lost spares no expense and doesn’t measure sacrifice in numbers. God saw the people of Ruby, was filled with compassion and sent messengers to share the Good News.
“In September 1946, missionaries came down the Yukon River by boat. I will always praise and thank God for sending these people to Kokrines and Ruby, because they told us about Jesus. … I did not change my ‘religion,’ I asked Jesus to come into my heart and life as my Savior and friend, and God did the changing.” (Clara Honea)
For Athabaskan Native, Clara Honea, life started in 1930 in Ruby, where she was born Clara McCarty. Ruby was founded by miners in 1911, and quickly became a thriving gold rush tent city. As the gold rush declined, so did the village of Ruby. When Clara was seven years old many of the residents moved 27 miles upriver to Kokrines and lived there over a decade before returning to Ruby.
Around this period, missionaries who were burdened for the spiritual needs of remote Alaska began to move into villages. Many Alaska Natives heard the gospel for the first time.
Tears poured from Clara’s eyes as she listened to single missionary, Louise Robinson, tell about Jesus. She wondered how she could really know the Son of God. Louise noticed the girl in the small crowd, sat down with her and gently explained God’s immense love and sacrifice for her. Clara gave her heart to Jesus that night.
For decades God has been weaving together a tapestry of missionaries and residents, like Clara, who are making His name known.
In 1957, InterAct missionaries Russ and Freda Arnold arrived in Ruby with four kids in tow. They dug right into the work of ministry and learning the art of frontier living. They quickly became acquainted with Clara’s family, as a log cabin owned by her parents was the only place for them to live their first summer in the village.
That fall God provided a house for their growing family in just the right location. Russ and Freda had already been teaching Sunday school in their cabin, but now had the space to host church services as well.
Freda dropped whatever she was doing when women stopped by unannounced, which usually ended in prayer together. She also began attending the village Friday night sewing club. Why they called it sewing club when all the ladies knitted, was a running joke among the women.
Russ’s missionary medical course training became a literal life saver to the people of Ruby. Often he made rounds through the village, and was frequently on the radio with a distant doctor going over various symptoms to determine what treatments to administer to the ill. Trust was built with villagers opening doors for the opportunity to pray with people and share the gospel.
For the Arnolds, it was not as much about preaching to people in a building, as it was about serving the people’s needs. Yet having a building for church services did become vital. A few years after arriving in Ruby, the first Bible Chapel was built—providing a welcome reprieve from doing three Sunday school classes at once in their bursting-at-the-seams home!
Russ shouted, “Thank you God—this is it!”
One unseasonably warm spring day, Russ was cutting wood across the river. As he paused for a moment from ax-swinging, his gaze rested on the tiny village and school. “Man, it would be nice if these kids could go to a Bible camp!” he thought. Quickly his spirit heard the Lord say, “You do it.” Soon Russ was on the search for the right piece of land to build a camp. Ideally it would be high ground so it wouldn’t flood, have trees for logging and a good fresh water source.
On May 31, 1965, Russ and some friends loaded his boat and motored up the Yukon River. After cruising into a side creek, they spotted a brushy area on shore and pulled the boat in. A short walk from the boat the underbrush gave way to an open clearing, and Russ shouted, “Thank you God—this is it!” Russ and crew immediately began clearing the surrounding brush and peeling trees for logs. Nine-days later, Kokrine Hills Bible Camp had its first building erected.
In July, the camp came alive! A gospel team arrived to help with counseling, classes, music and cooking. Campers jumped excitedly from their boats. Young people were studying the Word of God daily. Burdens were unloaded in tent devotional times and commitments made to follow the Lord.
Russ deemed it a miracle that the camp ran as well as it did and God continually supplied a bounty of volunteer teams and missionaries year after year. For many of them, it was a full family affair. Kids worked and played alongside campers until they could become counselors and mentors. Even after the Arnolds moved to Nenana in 1967, their family still spent summers ministering at Kokrine Hills.
“It wasn’t me—it was the Bible.”
George and Judy Richardson began their ministry in Ruby in 1973 and took on directorship of Kokrine Hills a year later. As with the missionaries before them, Clara McCarty-Honea and her family welcomed the Richardsons and paved the way for their acceptance into the village.
Clara and several in her family had been strong Christian witnesses in their community for many years. Yet, some family members continued to struggle with a full commitment to the gospel. George and Judy had the opportunity to see years of prayer for one of those relatives answered.
Clara’s brother Morris was a bachelor, but had been staying with another sibling, Alan, during a difficult season in his life. Alan’s shoulders were slouched and his face grim, as he stepped up on Richardson’s small front porch one day to speak with George. “My brother hasn’t slept for at least five nights and just sits on his bed. I don’t know what to do. Would you please go see him?” George paused for a moment, then agreed.
First, George needed to spend some time in prayer asking the Lord to show him what to say or do for Morris. Psalm 119 came to mind. He wrote out verse 130 on a small piece of paper and the next day walked through the village to Alan’s modest home.
Morris was indeed sitting on his bed with a blank expression. “I hear you’re having trouble sleeping,” George quizzically stated. “I prayed about talking with you today and I think God gave me this verse for you. ‘The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.’ Morris, you need God in your life. God can change your life, but you need to let Him in.” As George handed Morris the paper with the handwritten text, he said, “Please read this verse…and memorize it. I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.”
When George returned the next day, Morris still hadn’t slept, but the paper was dotted with greasy finger marks so he knew the struggling Native man had been looking at it. Day after day, George went back with a different verse each visit, and explained that God wanted to make Morris a new man.
Two weeks later, Alan visited the Richardsons to report that his brother was a completely different person and had begun sleeping again. For many years Clara had prayed that Morris would find salvation in Christ and stop drinking. When she overheard him speaking to a group in the village about following Jesus, elated surprise marked her voice. She thanked George for leading her brother to Christ. “It wasn’t me,” George responded, “it was the Bible.”
Morris continued in faith, read his Bible, and was a consistent attender at church. He loved talking with people about the Lord and acknowledged that the key to his transformative change was God’s Word in his life.
New Missionaries Encouraged
Just before Christmas 2021, a new InterAct missionary family, Jordan and Jessica Martin, and their six children, were warmly received into the village. Earlier in the year, George [Richardson] helped introduce them to the Ruby community. Shortly after their arrival, Jordan called George and Judy and reported, “The people constantly talk about you like you just left yesterday!”
As with missionaries before them, Clara’s family has been an encouragement to the Martins while they learn and adjust during their first year in Ruby.
For Jessica, some days are more eventful than others, but almost always unpredictable. One day might bring an unexpected invitation to participate in a village meeting or activity. Another time, teenage girls might appear at her door wanting to come in and visit just as she’s gotten her little one’s bathed and ready for bed. Rather than viewing these as interruptions, she treats them as opportunities—and often those come in multiples on any given day.
Jordan spends much of his time working alongside others in the community. This may involve anything from putting in flooring at the school gym to helping a villager train his sled dogs. Jordan is also pastoring the small congregation at Ruby Bible Church while praying for discipled men from the community who will eventually lead the church.
The Martins are finding Ruby to be quite unique among Alaskan villages—not only because of location and history, but also its consistent faith history which started with Clara and continues through her family.
“Clara was and is always supportive of missionaries no matter what. She has had plenty of tragedies in her life, but she will not talk about the negative, only about God’s faithfulness and goodness. Now at age 92 she still says, ‘The blessings are so great and God is faithful!’ She is truly a hero in the faith and the community of Ruby!” (Barry Arnold, former InterAct missionary and son of Russ and Freda)
As God’s plan has unfolded through generations of faithful missionaries and people of Ruby, Alaska, the impact of His Word is evident. Lives have been and are being transformed by the power of the gospel. Yet, there are still many isolated communities as well as urban centers in the North Pacific Crescent in need of Christ followers to direct them to our Savior. Pray that God will use us, and maybe you, to reach those so easily overlooked.
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Luke 10:2
Never enough time! That cry is on the lips of every mother of young children, every university student, every pastor and possibly even you. Not one of us has been dealt more than 24 hours in a day. So how do we best use this limited allotment of time God has given? Knowing and living by our values aids the decision-making process, helping us best utilize our finite time. InterAct’s Values follow on the heels of our previously unpacked guiding principles – Mission and Vision.
Although mission and vision are foundational, our Values offer further organizational direction. Six foundational values guide our decision-making process. Having a set of biblically-based values provides the grid we look through as we wrestle with decisions. Their purpose is to keep us in line with both biblical guidelines as well as those issues that define InterAct’s unique calling and niche.
InterAct’s Core Values
- Scripture – Authoritative and sufficient for life and ministry
- Relationships – Loving God and loving people
- Cross-cultural ministry – Recognition of worldview and cultural implications in ministry
- Whole-life discipleship – Walking with disciples through all stages of life and growth
- Gathered believers – Recognize the centrality of the local church
- Commitment – High priority on long-term ministries
It is easy to simply squander our energy chasing the “urgent, but unimportant issues of life.” By knowing and viewing ministry through the framework of our values we are better able to determine the truly eternal places to expend our efforts!
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV.