Dear Friends in Christ,

I am writing to invite you to attend a very significant gathering of believers to take place in Minto, Alaska from June 21-24, 2001. The "INHERIT THE NATIONS: Blessings of Israel and the First Nations" Conference will focus on the relationship of Israel to the First Nations of North America and the work of reaching our Native communities for Yeshua, The Lord Jesus Christ.

I have put out a call to all believers who have a heart for Israel and for the First Nations of North America, including the lower 48, Hawaii, Canada, and Alaska. It is especially inclusive of all believers upon whom the Lord has placed a burden for the work of the Gospel in our Alaska Native communities. This gathering is primarily intended for believers and uses as its model the gatherings of various leaders in the book of Acts in Jerusalem and Antioch. These leaders gathered to pray and hear from the Lord and make decisions about how the Gospel would go forward into the world. Any non-believers who attend will certainly hear the Gospel and feel the Spirit of the Lord as we worship in His presence. It is the Spirit that draws the people to the truth of Christ’s work through His servants.

Among those coming to minister are Arni and Yonit Klien and their worship team from Emmaus Way Ministries of Tel Aviv, Israel to join us in the building of bridges between the First Nations and the Nation of Israel. This is such an important vision that we all need to catch and act on. An important aspect of this vision are future planned mission trips to Israel with Lynda Prince’ 120 Drums ministry. It is our desire to assemble a large contingent of Alaska Native believers to join Lynda on her annual journey to bless Israel. Arni and Lynda will be discussing this during the conference.

One Israeli pastor in Jerusalem gave a word over me two years ago that "If you will make Israel first in your prayers then the Father will make your [First Nations] people first in His blessings." While I hold this to be true of any nation who blesses Israel, I hold hard to this word on behalf of the First Nations of Alaska to whom God has placed a special call on my life. In Alaska, there are Native communities in dire need of this promise to break the scourge of death and bring New Life and Hope. You are invited to join your heart with mine in bringing action to these words of promise.

Special invited guests are Grand Chief Lynda Prince (Carrier/Sakani) with the 120 Drums and Chief Kenny and Louise Blacksmith (James Bay Cree). Many of you already know Lynda Prince has been a trailbreaker in reconciliation and respectful protocol ceremonies between First Nations and Nations around the world and at home. Her ceremonies have led to breakthroughs in the restoration and spiritual blessings in Canada, the US, and Israel. Kenny Blacksmith has been a prominent national political leader among the First Nations of Canada and is now focusing his efforts on ministry at home and around the world.

Another major goal of this conference is to gather together Alaska ministries who have as a focus, Alaska Native villages. The purpose for this is to further the efforts of creating greater networking for the preaching of the Gospel in Alaska’s far-flung villages. This is not about VINE or any one ministry, but rather about how the body of Christ in Alaska can focus efforts together.

One exciting vision the Lord has spoken to my heart is the concept of "Spiritual Saturation Journeys" (SSJ) in which large numbers of believers and ministries gather together in a pre-selected village in Alaska for four days of ministry to that community. Eventually, I can see three or four of these Journeys occurring in the course of a year in selected villages across Alaska. The idea is to approach a village to ask if they would welcome such a gathering in their community. If they agree then we activate our network of ministers, intercessors and servants to make the plans. Then, all the villages in the area will be invited to participate. We will need the services of an "SSJ Air Force" of christian pilots and aircraft to assist in the transport of our teams. It is an exciting vision given to me (and many others) by the Lord while in prayer at Bible school in 1973 and I think it is time to come together in an expanded effort. I hope you will join with me in discussion about this idea.

If you plan to attend please contact Will Mayo at (907) 457-2991 or my email at vineak2@hotmail.com which I check frequently. The phone number given also serves as a fax number. I hope to see you there.

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Notes about Minto and what you need to bring with you:

Housing is limited in Minto. Please bring the necessary equipment for camping or plan to bring a motor home or camper. There are motor homes for rent in Fairbanks for those that can do that. The limited housing in Minto will be assigned to elders and special guests before others. Food will be provided by the community and we are fundraising for that need at this time.

Minto is about 130 road miles from Fairbanks and the road is gravel most of the way but safe and driveable. Minto has a population of about 250 Athabascan Indian members. The village is excited about this gathering (they have had prophecies of a huge gathering in their community) and could use any donations for food purchases that you wish to give or bring food to share. It is advisable that you bring rain gear in case of weather. Mosquitos are the Lord’s blessing as food for the sparrows but can be distracting when they feed on humans. It is advisable that people bring their own supply of repellent in the form of sprays and coils. Alaska mosquitos do not carry malaria.

Offerings will be taken to help defray the cost of this gathering and will be shared evenly between VINE Alaska Ministries and Minto.

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A note about VINE Alaska Ministries:

VINE is a ministry incorporated under state law in 1990 as a non-profit corporation by Will and Yvonne Mayo. VINE is short for "Village Network" hence the combining of "VI" with "NE" to form the word VINE. The vision of VINE is the networking of believers all across Alaska for the purpose of joining forces to reach all Alaska villages with the Gospel by creating a sense of unity and belonging to the body of Christ however remote the village location. VINE began its ministry by holding annual gatherings during the Tanana Chiefs and Doyon Conventions in mid-March of each year. During the years of that annual VINE gathering, KJNP live broadcast the program to the villages. In addition, VINE began to travel to villages for ministry with teams of believers. VINE published a newsletter that went out to believers in the villages.

In 1993, two years after VINE president Will Mayo was elected as president of Tanana Chiefs, VINE was largely inactive due to the demands of that election, until March of 1999. VINE has been reactivating its ministry since that time. VINE is based in Fairbanks and is carrying out plans to fulfill the vision that God gave to president Mayo in 1973 for a statewide village network of believers dedicated to the spreading of the Gospel to villages across Alaska. A major component of the VINE vision has been the creation of a Christian "Air Force" of bush planes for the spreading of the Gospel by large groups of believers of all Christ-centered ministries traveling to villages together in unity. Since 1990, there have been many who have separately received this vision and acted upon it. VINE seeks to encourage and join together with these similar ministries to further the goal we all share: Glorifying Christ in our Native communities.

Yours in Christ,

Will Mayo, President

VINE Alaska Ministries, Inc.