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Nome Community Baptist
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Bruce & Gloria's Testimonies
I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior on the last Friday in
February 1988 while watching Jerry Falwell on television at about 9:00 p.m. while at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma training as
an AWACS Communications Operator. The day before my 29th birthday, what a wonderful
day. Recognizing fully that I was a sinner,
I got on my knees and prayed the sinners prayer then asked God to lead me in the direction HE wished for me to go. I was 28 and had been a member of another denomination when I accepted Jesus Christ. Early the next
morning I awoke and went to the gym on Tinker AFB, and after working out I went into the sauna. While in the sauna, a small room about 10 X 10, brother Ed Summers came in and asked me if I needed
a church to go to the next day. I accompanied him to a Baptist Church in Oklahoma. My wife Gloria
was still in Biloxi, Mississippi and when I returned to drive up to Alaska, I told her that I had accepted Jesus Christ as
my Lord and Savior and that I would be attending other services than we had previously.
I hoped that she would be able to make the transition and accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior also. Upon arrival
in Alaska we began attending Muldoon Denali Baptist Church, where we were baptized in early 1989, it was a Southern Baptist
Church in the Chugach Baptist Association of the Alaska Baptist Convention. Praise God,
Gloria did accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior and we were baptized in 1989
at Muldoon Denali Baptist Church. We attended
the Baptist Faith and Message and several other classes and trainings offered at Muldoon Denali and served as choir members,
in the drama department, I also served as an usher and assisted in putting in the wooden pews that are in at Muldoon Road
Baptist Church. I answered Jesus
Christ's call on my life in October of 1995. God spoke to me for several
weeks through daily readings and fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. God
was telling me I needed to give my life to HIM to do whatever HE willed for me.
The question I had and we all have is
"would I follow God or mammon, would I follow God or the ways of the world." Even
though I could not understand then why God would call me, God was telling me HE could use a fully surrendered me to accomplish
HIS good and perfect will. Gloria and I prayed about this and I gave my life
in any capacity God could use me at the next service. I have since
served as a youth minister/pastor, bible teacher, elders board member, church board member, usher, and as communion and offering
leader, Alaska Baptist Convention Board Member, Alaska Native Baptist Fellowship Board Vice-Chairman and Board Member, Alaska
Native Youth Camp Regional Director for Bristol Bay, Alaska Native Youth Camp Director and Camp Counselor, and as Administrator
of the largest Youth Camp ever held for Southern Baptists in Alaska and the only Alaska Native Outreach conducted by
Southern Baptists in Alaska. I have
completed all academics for a Master of Biblical Studies Program from Trinity Theological Seminary, Newburgh, Indiana. My current GPA is 3.5. God called us to plant
a church in Dillingham in January 1999 which continues to grow and has resulted in many lives dedicated to Jesus Christ,
changed lives, and a better community. We have attended
the NAMB Church Planters BASIC Training Course, BASIC II, and Mentor Training. We have
also attended a Bible Storying Conference and a Native Wellness Conference mini-conference. I have had training
in multiple areas relative to native ministries, Fetal Alcohol Prevention and team facilitation, Suicide Prevention, and serve
as Emergency Foster Parents in the Norton Sound Region. We have now been called
to minister to the wonderful people of Nome and its 15 surrounding communities. We are excited to see what God has planned
for HIS people here. Gloria and Marcia
Bryant continue to do an excellent job working with the Kid's Club, and needs in this area are small toys for
the kids, treats, and kool aid. We have several different
exciting outreaches in Nome, a Monday night crafts night, Tuesday night Anvil Mountain Correctional Center Prison Bible Study,
Wednesday night Discipleship/Prayer, a village based health outreach, a sports/recreation outreach, and an open door to those
who are hurting and in need of Gods love. I send Sunday
sermons worldwide on a weekly basis and would be glad to add you if you send me your e-mail address. We simple
seek to serve God and His people in a full time capacity while striving to be a light for Jesus Christ as we continue to work
with all those who God has and will "set apart" unto HIS good and perfect will with a focus toward the Alaska Native People
in Nome and it's surrounding communities.
Testimony and Call Statement Gloria Landry
I was born in the Philippines, illegitimately to a poor and illiterate mother. This was always a hard truth to accept. My
mother gave birth to 6 children with one child raised by an aunt from my fathers family.
My mother a
Catholic of course from the Philippines, never neglected to tell us about God but it was not from a personal experience and
relationship. She raised all of us as a single-mom, cooking and selling
food on the street.
She died when I was 9 years old and my father was killed when I was 5. Being
the baby I was transferred from one sisters care to another. I grew up with an
overwhelming sense of self-pity and poor self-esteem.
When I thought about God, I often wondered if HE saw the injustice being done in our lives, especially my
own.
Christmas is an event celebrated grandly by Filipinos. Those who can afford
to open their houses do, with plenty of food for their relatives and guests. Since
my family was poor, I felt abandoned by my relatives. I would spend the holidays alone without gifts of any kind
from anybody. My clothes were hand me downs, and I sewed and altered them as needed. I have admitted and know now that I was seeking answers from
all the wrong places in life. I knew God was always there because HE always kept
me from danger, when I called on HIM.
I graduated high school and entered college yet felt truly hopeless.
I was still seeking to fill that missing void in my life, and I thought as others do that I could fill it with different things
but I could not.
I
met Bruce, my husband, who was in the Air Force in 1980. We married in 1981
and after about 7 years--he came home and started telling me about how his life was changed after he accepting the Lord Jesus. Big deal, I thought, I know God, what is this man talking about?
We moved to Alaska in 1988, and we started attending Muldoon Denali Baptist Church.
I accepted the Lord Jesus in November 1989 and became American citizen in the same month, what a wonderful set of blessings!
In 1995, just after retiring from the Air Force we moved to another home and had started looking for another church.
I was working as a GCI representative to the Filipino Community, I had an opportunity to visit and attend
the Filipino Bible Church. During my visit God showed me a lot of things and
opened my heart to teach youth Sunday school for grades 4-6.
In 1997, Bruce felt led of God to apply for a job and asked me to pray about Gods direction in our lives. This was somewhat stressful in that at the time I was pregnant with our second child. I did feel God's leading
in our going to Dillingham. God was surely opening doors for us because later on Bruce was approached by
Eddie Lindsey to start a Bible Study in our home in January 1999.
We were invited to attend the NAMB Church Planters training course in 1999 and have continued to do what God places
before us, trusting God fully. We had a slow and difficult
time reaching out to the Alaska Natives to which we ministered in Bristol Bay, for they are set in their ways and do
not make friends with outsiders easily. Largely this
is due to our coming in, pointing out all that is bad in their native villages, life, and culture. Stating the only reason we are telling them is because we care for them, then leave in six months later
to never be heard of again. In this light we saw and now know firsthand how difficult
it is to get to know and care for someone who will most likely leave.
We continue our ministry in Nome with multiple services, Foster care and being with our people to which God has called
us. I cook meals a few nights a week and also for the
Kid's at Kid's Club. God has given me a burden to reach out to the Alaska Native kids. Currently,
we have an average of 15 to 20 regular attendees that vary in age, with 25-35 kids registered.
Marcia Bryant is my co-laborer and such a blessing and joy to strive to accomplish Gods work with.
Many of our kids come from broken homes, and are being raised by single parents.
Many of the children deal directly with the problems of alcoholism and abuse in their daily lives.
I feel I am called to share Gods love with these children, the kind of love that is unconditional, the same love I
sought while growing up and finally found when HE chose me to serve HIM.
I acknowledge the hard work thats ahead of us and I always meditate on His word, Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through
HIM who strengthens me". God continues
to provide for our needs and I know we will continue to trust and serve HIM until HE comes again.
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