M/V CHRISTIAN
SE Alaska
What Do You Do In the Wintertime?
by Rev. Stan Berntson
Many people want to know what Sharon and I do during the fall-winter-spring months. For some reason, a lot of folks assume the MV CHRISTIAN is just a summer Vacation Bible School mission for kids. People are puzzled and wonder if we are part-time workers. If not, what do we do the rest of the year?
As I write this it is January 31, 2011. We are tied to Jack’s fuel dock, next to his store in the small village 
of Port Protection. We came in yesterday from Wrangell, just beating a storm that hit last night. We have been invited to the school today to speak about different Christian denominations and whatever else the kids want to talk about, as the Holy Spirit leads. We also want to encourage any efforts here, by folks who struggle with sobriety and help others to do the same. The CHRISTIAN has visited this village since the church brought the boat up in 1988 from the Seattle area.
Earlier this month, we took our pickup and hopped the ferry for Prince of Wales Island (POW). Looking at past log books of the CHRISTIAN, I noticed that the first 2-3 weeks of January were not the best travel times for the boat. It is dark and frequently we get a long, cold snap during that time that increases the risk of icing. This year was no different. So we went trucking on POW, as it is called. We visited five communities that are on the road system. We started Bible studies in two of the communities, one on each side of the island. We will continue the studies with them when we return with the boat this month.
We are using the “Parables of Jesus” materials, published by Crossways International. The Crossways International Bible study materials are excellent and have been successful in many cultures in many countries. We would like to host a training event on the M/V CHRISTIAN, so people from the villages could be trained as leaders using the Crossways studies.
On this boat trip we will visit communities on the west side of POW and then head north to visit the Tlingit villages of Kake, Angoon, and Hoonah. Our trip will end the middle of March. If any of you would like a map of Southeast Alaska, with the villages we visit highlighted, let us know. We would be happy to send you one. Sometimes it helps to see things on a map. I love maps.
Under Lutheran Indian Ministries, the mission of the boat is to seek out, encourage and lift up Native spiritual leaders, to help them witness to their own people. Throughout the year, we spend about four-fifths of our time in villages that are predominately Native and one-fifth in villages that are Caucasian. When the Alaska Synod of the ELCA brought the boat up to Southeast Alaska in 1988, the majority of the mission work was done on Prince of Wales Island, in logging camps and villages that were predominately Caucasian. When Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots U.S. took over the boat in 1990, the mission began to change to follow the new organization’s vision….year round….always year round.
We envision a group of adults working together to develop a contextualized curriculum for the Tlingit/Haida cultures. We have a few Native leaders that are interested in that work. Good winter time work! And a curriculum that is good for all ages….not just kids. The boat has been envisioned as a good center for teaching cultural activities in foods and crafts, gathering, processing and weaving. And in the midst of all these activities, a place for connection, affirmation and healing.
The main thing the M/V CHRISTIAN has done under three pastor-wife crews now, is to show up. To visit. To listen. To provide worship. To provide study. To provide pastoral care. To provide sacraments. To walk along side folks. To befriend. It all starts by showing up. Sharon and I continue that tradition….year around.
Past, present and future, the year-round mission work of the M/V CHRISTIAN has changed, is changing and will change. Sharon and I have been together on the boat for more than two years. We are just beginning to gain the trust of the people we visit. As our Native Christian mentors remind us,” It’s all about relationships!” We continue to build and give credit for those relationships, to Christ and to those who crewed the boat before us, with a faithful, all seasons, grace-filled presence.