Urban vs Rural

It is interesting how one leap of faith opens doors one never knew was possible. Then that open door leads to another and then another. SEND North does ministry in rural Alaska and Northern Canada. Our rural focus made people wonder why we moved our headquarters to Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city. Some people feared that being in the ‘urban sprawl’ would lessen our focus on the remote far north. We found the opposite to be true.

We made better ministry connections in this urban hub to strengthen our rural church building focus. The same holds true in Canada. The Canadian team’s ministry coach lives in the city of Whitehorse. They find this location helps them to better connect with the teams in the surrounding rural communities. You may remember when we planted our first team in the city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. We’ve made many connections in that urban center which is opening doors of ministry in up to five remote communities in Nunavut.

We see, now more than ever, that urban centers are intertwined with rural life in the far north. It is not urban vs rural, it is urban and rural. The SEND North field of ministry stretches across the “60-70 Window” from western Alaska into the northern Canadian Territories and this includes the urban areas of Fairbanks, the “Mat-Su Valley”, Anchorage, and the Canadian cities of Whitehorse and Yellowknife. These cities will be considered in SEND North’s new endeavor entitled “Urban Ministry.” We believe there are many more ways in which God can use ministry in one area to boost ministry in the other.

Right now we are in the initial discovery phase of this new endeavor, and Greg Joyce is leading the charge.

Greg and his wife, Kim, have over 20 years of rural ministry experience in the far north, and four years ministering in Anchorage with our Logistics and Support team. They are uniquely qualified to open this new venture. Greg describes his role this way, “My goal in Urban Ministry is to determine who lives where, what ministries are present that may effectively reach them, and how we can be involved in seizing the opportunities that exist. Big goals, with eternal consequences.”

Please pray for God’s hand of guidance as we look to Him to open more ministry in all areas of the ‘60/70 Window’.

If you want another take on this expansion, check out Dr. Barry Rempel’s final ‘State of the Mission’ speech at the 2016 conference.

Additional Posts

By Erin Brown July 2, 2025
"This probably looks impossible, but you serve a God who is greater." These are the words of Abigail Niles, a young woman who followed the Lord to Romania.
By Diaspora North America June 29, 2025
March 7, 2025 Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it in less than a week? On March 1, 1.8 billion Muslims began their annual fasting month called Ramadan. They are supposed to fast completely—no water or food—during daylight hours from March 1–Mar 29. It begins with much fanfare, promises, and declarations, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that faithfully keeping the fast ensures one’s place of favor with God. But many Muslims won’t be able to keep the fast through the whole 30 days. The reasons and excuses are myriad. Sometimes they will continue to claim to be fasting, but in reality, they are eating behind closed doors. To gain God’s favor, they must fast through the whole month, not just part of it. So, they live with the guilt and shame of not fulfilling the requirements of Islam. What was supposed to help gain their salvation now stands in condemnation. A Feast Within the Fast To complicate matters even more, Persian New Year’s Day is March 20, right in the middle of the fasting month. Persian New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays for most Iranian and Afghans, as well as many others with a Persian background scattered throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, many people with Persian heritage don’t just celebrate on one day. Their New Year’s celebrations extend over two weeks! How do they reconcile these two weeks of festivities within Ramadan? For Arab Muslims, it is a non-issue. But for the Persian world, it IS a struggle. The hard-core Taliban will try to push people to keep the fast. However, many will lean more towards keeping their more ancient pre-Islamic traditions of New Year’s. I would encourage you to take time to explore with your Muslim neighbors and colleagues why they fast. Then share why Christians fast. Perhaps read Isaiah 58 with them, summarize it, and ask for their thoughts on this passage. One more thing to note during Ramadan is the Night of Power. Each year, during Ramadan, on or about the 27th day of the month, there is a special time called the Night of Power. This year it will happen on or around March 26. Muslims believe the Night of Power is when Mohammad first received the revelations of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel. Prayers offered up by Muslims during Ramadan—especially prayers in a mosque—are believed to be weightier than prayers at any other time. However, prayers on this special Night of Power, prayed in a mosque, are considered infinitely more valuable than any other prayer. Many Muslims will stay up all night praying on the Night of Power to earn extra points with God. There is a small problem in all of this, though—Muslims can’t agree on which night is actually the Night of Power. It is sometime during the last ten days of Ramadan, with tradition stating that it is on the 26th or 27th night. There are several resources to help Christians and churches pray for the Muslim world through this month of Ramadan. I would encourage you to connect with some or all of them. Please make others in your church aware of these resources. Perhaps you could even host a special prayer time at your church, utilizing these resources. Ramadan 30-Day Prayer Guide Booklet – This can be purchased as a hard copy or PDF. Prayercast – A wonderful website with many videos on the Muslim world. If you sign up, you can receive daily prayer videos that also work great during a Sunday worship service to help raise awareness of the need for prayer for the Muslim world.
By Erin Brown June 25, 2025
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
Show More