SENT ON MISSIONS

Missions in Alaska

At First Baptist Prattville, one of our core values is that we are Sent on Mission. One way that we live this statement out is by praying for, giving to, and going to serve alongside churches and ministry partners.

Go

One of our partners is Liberty Church in Craig, Alaska and each Summer we have had the opportunity to send a team to serve alongside them. This year our team helped host sports camps and a disciple now weekend.

Lela Barnett’s first time serving on the Alaska trip was in 2022 when she was FBCP’s mission intern. Since then, she has returned each Summer. While reflecting on this summer’s trip, Barnett said “I really made connections with some of the local students in Craig and was able to share experiences with many of them while helping conduct a kids sports camp and teach them through a disciple now weekend.” Barnett continues, “During Dnow, and even the Kids camp, I feel like God was tugging at strings in these students’ hearts as they asked questions about the messages and their faith.” 

There is a desperate need for the gospel to be shared in southeast Alaska as the area does not have many churches. Kendall Pierce served on this mission both in 2023 and 2024. While reflecting upon why he decided to return to Alaska, Pierce shared something that Pastor Cody Schwegel (Liberty Church) told him in 2023. Pastor Schwegel said, “majority of the people you meet in Craig have never heard the gospel before, they have no knowledge of who Jesus is.” Pierce went on to say, “that comment resonated with me over the past year and compelled me to come again this year. We live in a place like Prattville where it is hard to go a mile without seeing a church. In Alaska, you may go several miles without ever seeing one. Knowing that my encounter with someone might be the first, or even only time they ever hear the gospel, placed a desire on my heart to join this team and go.”

At the end of the mission trip, the team had the opportunity to visit Liberty Church's future camp site. The church will begin development of the site soon and once completed will is it for youth outreach events for many years to come.

Give

In addition to volunteering on site with Liberty Church, First Baptist Prattville gave to support missions throughout Alaska financially via our annual VBS missions offering. Breaker Rock Beach was the theme of this year’s VBS and as students learned about the rock-solid truth of God’s word they also learned about the needs in southeast Alaska. which paired perfectly with our mission's focus located in Southeast Alaska.

During the five-day VBS, students had the opportunity to bring money to support the “Sponsor a Village” project through the Alaska Baptist Association. These villages are without the gospel witness of a local church and these funds would be used to purchase the equipment needed for them to livestream Liberty Church’s weekly worship services.

For every $1,000 dollars raised, Anna Stockman, FBCP’s children's ministry director, promised to have an ice bucket poured on her. In the end, she had four ice buckets poured on her as over $4,600 was raised for this offering!