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Chad rhythmically taps on my desk, mimicking the sound of the native cultural drums, as he chants the song the Alaskan elders sang on that spring day in 2013. I hear the conviction in his voice and see the passion in his eyes. Chad, a native Alaskan himself, had not lived in Alaska since he was 10 years old. After accepting God’s call to pastor a church in Togiak, he arrived back in Alaska on a six-seater prop plane in fall 2012. He recounts he had not heard the song the elders sang that day since he was in fourth grade and recalls that at the beat of the drum, hot tears streamed down his face as he remembered his Alaskan roots. This was the day he realized that God had prepared him especially for these people and these people especially for him. After the elder fathers finished their demonstration, Chad asked them if they had known a lady named Malania Bennett. The elders fell silent, looked at him intently and said, “Who did you say?” A flood of responses he never expected flowed from their tongues. “She took care of me when I was little,” “She held my first child,” “She was like my older sister,” “She was like my own daughter.” “She was my grandmother,” Chad said. “I had heard that she used to come to this village and fish, but I had no idea you would remember her.” On this Alaskan spring day, in the year 2013, Chad understood that God was a good steward of all things. He recognized that unbeknownst to him or her, his own grandmother’s life had paved the way for him to share the Gospel of Christ with the people of Togiak. To read Chad’s full story about his experience in Alaska, visit Stories of Andrews at andrews.edu/stories. Thank you, Chad, for making your story part of the Andrews story. We are better because you have shared. by June Price, chaplain

Publication Date

2-12-2017

First Department

Christian Ministry

Chad Angasan

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