The Last Great Race: Iditarod 2017

By Scott Jenkins
Iditarod Outreach Project Coordinator and Alaska Missions Board Member

The Start: ​Anchorage and Fairbanks

Scott Jenkins holding engraved Bibles that were given to Iditarod Mushers.

Iditarod Outreach 2017 was an amazing experience. It all began with the arrival of our team in Anchorage. From the start, there was a chemistry among the small team that struck me right from the start as very special. We spent the morning of the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod having conversations with people on the street, providing them with a warm cup of cocoa and a Mush to Life Booklet that compares the checkpoints of the Iditarod trail to checkpoints in our lives. This little booklet, developed by a dear friend who lives in Alaska, has been an incredible tool for spreading the Gospel. 

The Iditarod Restart was moved to Fairbanks this year, only the third time in its history. So our team piled in a van and drove to Fairbanks on our second day, stopping to see Denali in all its majesty along the way and arriving late in the evening. We were up at 4 a.m. in order to arrive and register as volunteers with the Iditarod at 5 a.m. By 6 a.m. we were out directing traffic and helping people find their way. We were able to experience some true Alaskan Winter weather as it was -32F in Fairbanks that morning. Later in the morning, we moved into the team staging area, and I had the opportunity to pray with several mushers before they took their teams to the starting line to begin their race. Our volunteer team assisted DeeDee Jonrowe in getting her team to the starting line. You cannot imagine how strong these Iditarod canine athletes are!

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From there, we headed back south to assist Mike Jonrowe (DeeDee’s husband) and the Jonrowe Racing Kennel’s dog handler Derrick with some of their needs around the kennel. This gives us an opportunity to pour into their lives and for us to come alongside them in meeting their needs, which allows them more time to do what they love in training the dog teams.

The following day, I transferred to Nome to prepare for the arrival of the team while Brenda Crim stayed with our Anchorage team another day. The Anchorage team completed their week of service ministering to the needs of some of the local Native Alaskan elders in the Chugiak area, meeting their needs and getting to know them on a very personal level. What an amazing week of service.

The Finish Line: ​Two Weeks in Nome

In Nome, two of our staff members had arrived a day ahead of me and had already gotten Nome Community Baptist Church ready to receive the Nome Week 1 and 2 teams. They set up all of the bunks, arranged all of our refrigerators and freezers at the Nome Recreations Center, and performed other essential preparation tasks. On the day of my arrival, we received all of the cargo (about 18,000-lbs worth) that we had shipped up to Nome via Northern Air Cargo (NAC) to support our team and the concession stand we run at the Lonnie O’Connor Invitational Basketball Classic. Operating the Concession Stand at the basketball tournament puts our volunteers in the midst of the largest Native Alaskan “Family Reunion” in the state. We meet their needs by providing affordable food and drinks, giving away Bibles, and engaging them in conversations about the Lord. Each night we clean the gym, and these acts of service do not go unnoticed. When people see others selflessly give themselves away, they have to ask the question, “Why are you doing this?” What a great opportunity to then tell someone about the love of Christ and why He compels us to serve and give ourselves away, and how He can change their lives. Wow! What a blessing.

As a result of our work at the concession stand this year, we raised $15,000 in profits, which we then gave away in the community. At the end of the tournament, we presented a $15,000 check to the Bering Sea Women’s Group, the domestic violence shelter in Nome. This organization touches almost every family in the region in some form or fashion. This is the largest donation they receive all year, and they provide incredible care for abused women and children throughout the year. Because of these efforts, we have been allowed the privilege of ministering inside the shelter. As a result, this year a number of people made the decision to follow Christ. What an incredible blessing to be able to lead another person to meet Jesus. That privilege cannot be adequately described in words.

Alaska Missions presented concession stand proceeds to the Bering Sea Women's Group. (Photo credit: Cheryl Johnson)

"What an amazing experience, the best moment of which for me was the knowledge that I was able to lead two young men to Christ this year. Wow! What a blessing."
-Scott Jenkins, AKMR Board Member and Iditarod Outreach Project Coordinator

​Our volunteers in Nome spent time serving with the Iditarod, leaving a positive influence all throughout the community. They also served at the Nome-Golovin Snow Machine Race and at many other locations throughout the two weeks.

At the Iditarod Musher’s Banquet, we were able to give each musher a gift of a new Bible with their name engraved on the cover along with “Iditarod 2017.” This was the labor of love for a church in Texas who donated the Bibles and for several of our volunteers who spent countless hours engraving and praying over each Bible. We are trusting that God’s Word goes forth, and He uses it to change hearts and lives.

In addition to those who made professions of faith during our time in Nome, we also had the opportunity in the evenings to hold women’s meetings during which discipleship and fellowship was accomplished and experienced. Brenda Crim did an excellent job of leading the ladies in Bible study and discipleship along with meeting their needs for a deepening relationship with Christ.

There are so many more ways our team met needs to break down walls to move people from apathy to curiosity about Christ. All-in-all, our Nome Week 1 and 2 volunteers provided about 8,500 volunteer hours of service to the Iditarod and the Nome community at large. These acts of service leave an ever-deepening impact on the community, resulting in lives that are changed, hearts that are softened to the Gospel, and people who are hungry to know Christ and to live their lives on mission for Him.

What an amazing experience, the best moment of which for me was the knowledge that I was able to lead two young men to Christ this year. Wow! What a blessing.

Continued Prayer

You guys pray for Nome and the surrounding villages of the Northwest Arctic Region. Pray for us as we already have begun planning for Iditarod 2018. And pray for our circle of influence to ever deepen throughout the Iditarod organization and its staff, the leadership in Nome, and the residents as well. What a blessing it is to serve the King of Kings.