God is present everywhere—even in the harsh and forbidding terrain of Alaska.
Although it's part of the U.S., its largest state situated in the northwest end of the Americas, Alaska is a difficult place to reach with nearly 225 remote villages that are only accessible by boat or plane and where the natives speak their own language called Yupik, CBN News reports.
Only a few indigenous evangelical churches exist in Alaska, a state with a current population of more than 738,000 people.
Because of this, Christian organisations like Arctic Barnabas Ministries feel compelled to send missionaries to reach people in Alaska's remote areas.
For the missionaries sent there, the challenges of living in the wilderness are quite formidable.
"Coming to Alaska's like coming to a foreign country. It takes two days of travel to get out to the villages and you get there and they keep their old language," said Michael Hassemer of Arctic Barnabas.
Michael and his wife, Ranada, have been working for Arctic Barnabas since 2008.
Hassemer said their mission seeks to strengthen and encourage pastors, missionaries and ministry families to stay in remote villages in Alaska and spread the Gospel to the people there.
Two of the missionaries now working in Alaska admit that living in this part of America "is a bigger challenge than expected."
Ed Dehnert said he and his wife, Barb, moved to Bethel, Alaska four years ago to work with the Alaska Bible Seminary. He said language is one of the challenges.
"My board of directors is all Yupik, my board meetings are in Yupik and then they shift to English when they need information from me or we're in a dialogue back and forth, but their discussion is in Yupik," Ed said.
The difficulty in getting supplies is also another problem. "For me, aside from missing my family, it's the inability sometimes to get what I need because I can't just drive down the road to get something," Barb added.
Arctic Barnabas is trying its best to ensure the wellbeing of its missionaries. It recently built a home with enough space for missionary families to stay.
"It's just a place where when they come out of the bush, they can find a place to stay and get a little respite from their 24/7 ministry," said Hassemer.
With the assistance provided by Arctic Barnabas and with God on their side, pastors and their families are not only surviving but thriving as well in Alaska's remote villages, thus helping spread the Word of God to more people, according to CBN News.
