MISSIONARY SPOTLIGHT: JOHN T. FORRESTER

John T. Forrester

John T. Forrester
PO Box 795
Kotzebue, Alaska 99752

By Debbie Sills

Snowmobiling provides hours of fun and excitement as a recreational activity. For North American missionary John Forrester hours on a snowmobile gets him to and from four mission churches located up to 220 miles away from his home. John serves as regional church starter strategist in Kotzebue, Alaska.

“There are no roads coming in or going out, so my transportation to the villages is either by plane or by snowmobile in the winter,” says John. He travels up to 12 hours on a snowmobile to reach the farthest church. A love for the Eskimo people gives him motivation and stamina. “When I first came up to the Arctic of Alaska, I caught a vision and a love for the Eskimo,” he says. “I saw that many have serious needs and the only thing that can help is for Jesus to lead their lives.”

God gave John a heart for the Eskimo people and gifted him with the tools needed for this ministry. Through numerous overseas mission trips, John feels he is equipped to communicate cross-culturally with the Inupiaq Eskimos. He credits the years spent as director of missions in Georgia as preparation for working with multiple mission churches and planting new churches.

Living in the Arctic is very different from the Georgia home John knew growing up. The lifestyle, clothes, and food are all different. The ministry there is challenging as well. “Many Eskimos feel that before they can come to Christ, they have to be perfect. They know they are not perfect and therefore feel they can not come to Christ or even to church,” he says. Most of the 3,100 residents in Kotzebue are familiar with the name of Jesus, but most are not committed to Christ. On any given Sunday less than 10 percent of the population attends church.

In addition to starting new congregations in the Arctic, helps strengthen and encourage existing churches and train native church leaders. It’s a challenge to train native pastors and leaders who move from village to village searching for seasonal work. John desires to lead them into a consistent, committed life in Christ so they can help reach the lost.

Fruits of John’s ministry in Alaska sometimes come in unexpected ways. Recently, John and his wife, Terri, received a phone call and visit from a woman in the community who asked for prayer. She said wanted to recommit her life to Christ. After John explained the meaning of baptism, he set a date later in the week for the service. On the day of the baptism service, the woman asked to pray and read scripture. As she prayed, she specifically named her sins and asked for forgiveness.

“I had never seen or heard anyone in my 28 years of ministry get so specific in confessing their sins,” John says. After the service, the woman was so committed to changing her life she requested all the clothes she was wearing before the baptism to be thrown away. She told John she came in a sinful woman, but was leaving a clean woman and therefore did not want anything from her old sinful self to follow her back home. “She was a completely changed woman—she was actually glowing”, says John.

Pray for John and Terri’s safety as they travel to minister to the Eskimo people in Alaska. Pray for encouragement and strength during the cold and dark winter when it is easy for people to become depressed. Pray also for more lives to be changed as a result of coming to know Christ as Savior.

MISSIONARY SPOTLIGHT ARCHIVE