FEATURE By Jonathan Geraci Pastor
Gold! Gold! Gold! The news spread from person to person. Gold was being weighed by the hundreds of pounds.
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Boat coming into Seattle was reported to have one ton of gold on it. It was 1897, and there was an excitement that was building amid massive unemployment, banks in financial closing, farms and businesses on the brink of collapse. Many people, still reminiscing about the California gold rush of 1849, had another gold rush on their minds, this time in the Klondike. Thousands of men, women, and boys streamed north. Striking it rich was the hope for which they were looking. They crowded on the Pacific docks, waiting for a boat that would take them to the land of promised fortunes. In their journey north, they would have to transport a heavy load and face hunger and black flies. Each miner was required by Canadian law to bring a year’s worth of supplies — about 2,000 pounds. Carrying those supplies up and down mountains would require trip after trip. Then
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Alberta Adventist News
there would be 600 miles of floating along the Yukon River to get to Dawson City and the goldfields of the Yukon. In 1898, Jasper Sylvester, a miner-blacksmith from Iowa, caught a bit of that gold fever. He had a reputation of hammering gun barrels into horseshoes. As Jasper travelled into the Northwest Territories and Yukon, his desire was for more than just the gold that glittered. He had a burden to share Christ with people. As he would travel into the Canadian North, he would share the gospel and baptize people along his path. Churches sprung up along his way to the gold. That would be an incredible story in itself, but the legacy that Jasper left was even more incredible. His grandson was
MARCH 2020
H.M.S. Richards, the founder of Voice of Prophecy, one of the very first Christian radio programs, which has brought thousands of people to Christ over the years — a legacy that continues today. What are you doing? While you are looking for gold, paying the bills, going to work, and raising children, will you be like Jasper Sylvester? While you pursue financial goals, will you go for something of higher value? Will you look for the spiritual gold in people’s hearts? What legacy will you leave? Jasper left an impact on his family, and his witness left an influence on his grandson. God is calling you to be a missionary as well. The Northwest Territories has 33 communities spread out over 1 million square kilometres. The Adventist work is still in its infancy. Many people are craving for the hope that you and I have. People come to the Canadian North to make money, pay off debt, and leave a legacy. It attracts people from all around the world. We are looking for Adventist professionals to be pioneer missionaries and start new churches in some of the remotest places on the planet. If God is nudging your heart to be part of this missionary movement, contact Pastor Jonathan at jgeraci@ albertaadventist.ca
