Unalakleet Covenant Church - Pastor Joel Oyoumick
Brief History
Unalakleet is located on Norton Sound at them outh of the Unalakleet River, 148 miles southeast of Nome and 395 miles northwest of Anchorage. It lies at approximately 63 degrees 52' N Latitude, 160 degrees 47' W longitude (Sec 03, T019S, R011W, Kateel River Meridian). The community is located in the Cape Nome Recording District. The area encompasses 3 sq. miles of land and 2 sq. miles of water.
Archaeologists have dated house remnants along the beach ridge from 200 B.C. to 300 A.D. The name Unalakleet means "place where the east wind blows". Unalakleet has long been a major trade center as the terminus for the Kaltag Portage, an important winter travel route connecting to the Yukon River. Indians on the upper river were considered "professional" traders who had a monopoly on the Indian-Eskimo trade across the Kaltag Portage. The Russian-American Company built a post here in the 1830's. In 1898, reindeer herders from Lapland were brought to Unalakleet to establish sound herding practices. In 1901, the Army Signal Corps built over 605 miles of telegraph line from St. Michael to Unalakleet, over the Portage to Kaltag and Fort Gibbon.
Pastor Profile
Joel was born in February 17, 1950 to Axel and Clara Oyoumick. They were both active in the church. His father died in 1963 at the age of 53, due to cancer. This left his mother as a single parent to raise four children (teens and younger). At age 13, his father figures came from coaches and teachers to Covenant High School. He received Christ in high school, but it was a shallow commitment out of fear of going to hell. There wasn o relational experience with Christ at this time. He graduated Covenant High School in 1968. He attended Northrup Institute of Technology in Los Angeles for two years and spent 4 years in the Navy, living in wordly ways. Joel married Olga A. Alexie on November 22, 1975. Some tough life situations caused Joel to draw closer to God. God began to become real to him as he studied the Bible on his own and became active in Sunday School and the Church Board. God used people to prepare him for pastoral work. Joel had a Gideon's fleece story about serving God as pastor. He quit his job and applied to North Park Theological Seminary, wondering how God would provide for school and if he could survive school at age 50. He finished NPTS in 2002, performed his internship at Unalakleet Covenant Church, was hired as full-time pastor there, and ordained on June 23, 2005. Joel and Olga have three children: Joey, Eva, and Gunnar. Joey married Sarah and they live in Anchorage where she teaches elementary school. Eva served for two years at Alaska Christian School as Dean of Women, but is home in Unalakleet now. Gunnar is a high schooler at Unalakleet.
