t began with an email request from a former teacher, Matt, who was participating in a church-sponsored mission trip to Alaska. Matt was heading to Savoonga, on the St. Lawrence Island off the Siberian coastline (676 miles northwest of Anchorage). His assignment was to provide programming for the children who would be attending the meetings. Since Savoonga is the location upon which the elementary Pathways book, Yuki: An Alaska Adventure, is based, Matt was asking for sponsorship to buy multiple copies of the Yuki book for distribution to the village children. North Pacific Union committed $500 toward the project which, with shipping costs, would provide approximately 35 books. What a wonderful opportunity to become involved in a child evangelism project!

I called Lynn Malony, from Kendall/Hunt, the company in Iowa that processes Pathways book orders. My question was, “How long would it take to have a box of books shipped to Savoonga AK?” Lynn, a person who thrives on solving issues, informed me that the Yuki books are published in Alaska, then shipped to Kendall/Hunt for distribution and that she was expecting to receive a new shipment in a couple of weeks. With her connections in Alaska, Lynn was able to have one box of 48 books held back from the Iowa shipment and sent directly to Savoonga. Thanks to this collaboration, the monies saved in shipping provided Savoonga with not 35, but 48 books ready for Matt to share with eager children.