Church History

World War II woke up the little village of Kodiak. What had once been a sleeping fishing village had now become an important and strategic military base in the North Pacific War theater. The population began to swell from a few hundred to thousands of people. The government was busy building military housing on base and civil service housing in town. Meanwhile the island was being fortified against almost certain invasion attempts. Bunkers and gun sites seem to be everywhere. Kodiak had changed forever.
In 1945 the war ended, but Kodiak did not revert back to the sleepy village it once was. The U.S. Navy base continued to be a strategic position until in 1972 when it was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard. The military presence continued to be a vital part of Kodiak life.
By the late 1940's, the Slavic Gospel Association had recognized the lack of a good fundamental, evangelical witness in Kodiak. Peter Deyneka, Sr. (founder of S.G.A.) came to Kodiak in 1953 to survey the possibility of beginning a work. Seventeen S.G.A. missionaries were in Alaska at the time, but none had come to Kodiak. Walter Covich was the S.G.A. field Chairman and together with Peter Deyneka Sr., they met with Kodiak resident and shoe repairman DeWitt Fields. DeWitt was sympathetic to their cause and gave them $1,000 toward the purchase of a quonset hut that would be home for the church. It was located in what is now down-town Kodiak.
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