Nearly every summer for the past 45 years, children from across Alaska have flown into Unalakleet for Covenant Bible Camp. It’s a mix of religious programming and summer activities organized by the Alaska Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
The camp is tucked into the meandering Unalakleet River. The grounds are surrounded by a dense evergreen forest, with narrow gravel trails linking cabins and gathering places.
On a sunny afternoon, the middle school campers took part in a round of “Angels and Wolves”, a camp favorite according to Bible Camp Executive Director Jeff Keyser. The campers attempt to carry a tiny bead to the beach without being tagged by counselors playing the role of a wolf. If tagged, the campers return to the start and try again.
There’s also angels that campers can team up with, which offer short-term protection from wolves.
“We'll have some wolves out there pretending to be angels, so there's some biblical themes,” Keyser said while laughing.
Days at Bible Camp start with breakfast, then time in the chapel for Bible study.
“We are giving them opportunities to learn different spiritual practices, like art journaling and lectio divina, Bible study, praise walking, and prayer walks, and just opportunity to be more active in their faith outside of what they know,” Keyser said.
The camp is about 10 miles from town. There’s no cell signal – and no TikTok.
“I think it brings us more into the heart of God's creation, and just into His presence,” Keyser said. “Almost every year by day three, kids have kind of detoxed from their devices and their distractions. The trust has been built there, they've let go of the things they've been worried about.”
The no-distractions, tranquil setting of Bible Camp is reminiscent of the very first one, retired Pastor Chip Swanson said.
“Let's go way back. Jesus was a Bible camper. He was the first official Bible camper,” Swanson said.
Swanson said locally though, Bible Camp can be traced back to the arrival of Swedish missionary Axel Karlsson in the 1880’s. Karlsson established a Covenant Church in Unalakleet and later a children’s school. In 1954, the church established the Covenant High School. By the late 70’s, the church made plans to open its first camp.
“Our bishop said, ‘I think it's time for us to start a Bible camp’,” Swanson recalled. “Now remember, Jesus had this long ago, so it's not our idea.”
The first Bible Camp was set up near Elim and Swanson said it had just 20 to 30 campers. After a few years, the church decided to move the camp to Unalakleet, where there was better infrastructure and a larger clinic. Initially, campers slept in cold-war-surplus canvas tents. The only permanent structure was a chapel, which today serves as the mess hall. Every day started with a song broadcast on the Nome-based commercial radio station KICY.
Listen to Chip Swanson sing "Goodmorning"
“They just had a wonderful time. One of the staff told us after a while ‘now they're going to the real world.’ No, Bible Camp is the real world. This is the way God designed it, not the way they find in their hometown, with hundreds of bad things, some good things, but also some bad things,” Swanson said.
Curtis Ivanoff was at the second-ever bible camp in Unalakleet in 1982. After graduating high school, Ivanoff returned every summer to serve as a counselor. He said he’s been at all but three bible camps since.
“For me personally, it was a real significant place in my journey in becoming a pastor,” Ivanoff said.
Over the years, Ivanoff said he’s watched campers grow in age and faith.
“You see kids learn to serve. They grow in life, where there's joy and aliveness,” Ivanoff said. “This is a place where our youth find peace, and that can be found in Jesus.”
Ivanoff said relationships formed at camp go far beyond the week-long stay.
“They're singing while they're doing dishes. There's joy, but man, those friendships that are knitted together through a relationship with Jesus, you know that you walk together,” Ivanoff said.
There’s room for nearly 100 campers on site. Camp director Keyser said he hopes to expand it even further in future years. The 3rd and 4th grade “Pathfinder” group will round out this year’s camp June 18-23.
