Alaska Christian College (ACC) is celebrating twenty-five years since its humble beginnings in 2000. It opened its doors in 2001, just five days after 9/11. What began as a vision of leaders of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska has become a powerful ministry for raising up and empowering Indigenous young people in Alaska.
Alaska Covenant leaders dreamed of a college like Covenant Bible College, which had a long-lasting and significant ministry to young people in three locations. When it became apparent in 2000 that ACC would become its own conference ministry, the miracles began.
There have been countless stories of young Alaskans (and others) whose lives have been radically altered through ACC’s mission of “life-changing education.” God’s provision has been evident, too. Twenty-eight building projects completed, up from one building in 2001, on thirty acres, up from the original ten, all of it debt-free, which lets ACC do the “debt-free scream.” ACC earned accreditation. It won lawsuits against the US Department of Education when outside groups attempted to require ACC to pay back all the funds it had received from the department. And more than 4,000 individuals have come to campus each summer (and during the year) to serve as SOWERS, volunteering to build the campus and lead ACC in areas of expertise.
Some things cannot be explained, like the search for the owner of the adjacent 4.5 acres, identified as the best location for the new athletic center. After a few years of unsuccessful searching, an ACC volunteer named Alan was traveling from Duluth back to ACC through Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. In the men’s restroom, a man at the next wash basin looked familiar, though Alan didn’t know him, and the two struck up a conversation about where they were from. The man said he was from Anchorage; Alan said he was heading to Soldotna. “Hmm, I happen to own a piece of land in Soldotna!” the man said. He was the owner of the long-sought land, and he soon came to campus to sell ACC the 4.5 wooded acres for only $52,000. The next gift came when a friend of ACC paid for the land entirely. ACC affectionately calls this “the urinal miracle.”
ACC announced in late October that its new athletic center is now open.
ACC is experiencing another miracle today. A partner family of ACC asked president Keith Hamilton about making a gift in honor and memory of their mother and wife. She had been a short-term missionary at ACC in 2007 and had served in the dorms with the female students. When she died, Keith and Debbie Hamilton flew to Minnesota for the memorial service. After the meal, the family asked Keith whether there was a list of the college’s needs they could consider. They chose the top item: a new chapel for ACC someday. Their gift of $400,000 began the chapel fund, and the final cost to build it is $1,250,000. Because ACC builds debt-free, it waited and prayed.
Then ACC received a bequest from Shirley and Shirley, two best friends who were roommates in the 1940s at a Bible college in Los Angeles. They had decided that when graduating, all their funds would go to ACC. What Hamilton didn’t know was that the documentation from Covenant Trust Company carried a stipulation: the money could be used only for a chapel on campus. The bequest was $330,000.
ACC was still short of the funds needed when a great friend of the college came forward with a challenge gift of $200,000 if $200,000 could be raised by the end of 2026. With great humility and stewardship, the original family from Minnesota added a gift of $250,000 so the college could move forward. ACC intends to hold its first graduation exercises on campus, in the new chapel, in April 2027.
And one more miracle. The family that committed $650,000 to the chapel asked if the building could be named after their mother and wife. ACC did not have a policy on naming buildings for people, but the Board of Trustees approved the request immediately when they heard her name: Gloria. The Gloria Chapel will be the first dedicated worship space in ACC’s twenty-five-year history, and ACC plans to build it debt-free.
Since 2000, more than 925 students have entered ACC’s doors, ninety percent of them Indigenous young people. This is a miracle story of God’s faithfulness to raise up a new generation of students who hear the Good News of Jesus when they come to campus (you do not need to be a Christian to enroll), are discipled in the Word of God, receive an accredited two-year associate degree in one of four degrees, and receive healing from past wounds, addictions, and hurts through ACC’s New Hope Counseling Center. The center provides free professional counseling services to all students as needed. It also serves the greater Kenai Peninsula community, and ACC says it is the only faith-based center on the peninsula. The twelve-member center is led by Debbie Hamilton, Keith’s wife and one of the original staff who planted ACC along with ten other “missionaries.”
ACC’s miracle stories are told in Keith Hamilton’s new book, Miracle on Royal Place. ACC thanks the broader Evangelical Covenant Church family for its enormous support in helping Alaska’s youth have hope and a future.
