On April 6 Alaska Watchman editor Joel Davidson asked as a title of his article “What are we to do with Anchorage as it is?” Well, I have an answer for Joel, Anchorage and frankly for all of Alaska.
I am Ted Smith, Director of the Alaska Colson Fellows Cohort here in the Anchorage area. I have lived in Alaska for a little over 30 years, specifically in Eagle River. The Air Force moved my family here in 1989 to Elmendorf AFB as a Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) Instructor. As an outdoorsman I quickly fell in love with Alaska, and we made it our home. It was a great place to raise a family. We have been blessed with three great sons-in-law and six grandchildren all still living in Alaska.
My family and I also believe in the God of the Bible and are saddened at the pace of change in our culture. If you take a quick look at news websites, you will find the following:
— “Weirdos who want to sexualize your children should absolutely be stigmatized as groomers“
— “Christian Church leads prayer to the ‘God of Pronouns,’ the ‘Great They/Them’ Who Breastfeeds“
Popular culture wants us to believe that children are able to make life choices about their own body, in some cases without parental involvement. Trans women are taking over women’s sports. And any attempt to bring truth to these cultural changes is met with the “hate/oppressor” claim with attempts to “cancel” the truth teller.
If you think that secular society is the only culprit in this changing culture, you are sadly mistaken, as was I when I looked over the latest American Worldview survey by George Barna from the Cultural Center at Arizona Christian University.
For the purposes of this article, I am not going to report on all information found in these very detailed findings, but I would encourage all Christians to take a look. What I will report is that 69% of the respondents claimed to be Christian with only 6% claiming to have a Christian Worldview. Why is that important?
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Everyone has a worldview; some are just not as well defined as others. The best way to define your worldview is to ask yourself these four questions: Where did I come from? What’s wrong with the world? What’s the solution? What’s my purpose? The answer to these questions informs the way you react to the world around you. And now the answer to Joel’s question.
The Colson Fellows program, believes that a Christian Worldview can change culture. With Christians understanding and acting on their worldview within their sphere of influence they can change the world. The Colson Fellows program is a 10-month course where individuals learn what it means to live out a Christian Worldview. They learn about worldview, culture, societal pressure points and how to walk wisely in their sphere of influence.
I found the Colson Fellows five years ago and it completely changed the way I interact with people. Over the last four years of running the program in Alaska we have commissioned 26 fellows from Anchorage, Soldotna and Fairbanks. Our intention, with your help, is to grow that number exponentially. If you are interested in this solution to Joel’s question either click on the link above or contact me via email or phone.
You were born for such a time as this.
LEARN MORE
— For more information about the Colson Fellows program in Alaska, contact Ted Smith at tsmith@colsonfellows.org or (907) 726-7470.
