InterAct Ministries, Inc. 
The information on this page was last updated 5/9/2023. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
We desire to see reproducing disciples among indigenous, immigrant and unreached people groups across Alaska, western Canada and Siberia.
Contact information
Mailing address:
InterAct Ministries, Inc.
31000 SE Kelso Rd
Boring, OR 97009
Website: interactministries.org
Phone: 844.360.3482
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 926004561
CEO/President: Dale Smith
Chairman: Dr. Kroeker
Board size: 10
Founder: 16 missionaries
Ruling year: 1959
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 03/31
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 2000
Purpose
Vision: InterAct Ministries desires to see reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ impacting
communities across the North Pacific Crescent.
InterAct Ministries ("InterAct") activity is cross-cultural church planting through indigenous leadership development. Church planting has one main goal: to see local, culturally relevant evangelical churches established and led by indigenous leaders committed to further missionary outreach. It's an arduous task, and it requires special communication skills and a knowledge of the Word to convey the love of Christ within a different culture.
InterAct ministers to largely unreached groups of people in Alaska, Canada, and Russia, whose backgrounds, languages and cultures isolate them from the rest of the world. Many have never heard the gospel in an understandable way, even though they may have churches all around them. InterAct's church-planting missionaries share the gospel while living among these people, befriending them, and learning their culture (and language, if necessary).
Staff at The Resource Center (Alaska) and Native Bible Center (Canada) train native leaders using extension Bible education, correspondence courses and Area Bible Schools on location. Other missionaries serve as administrators, mechanics, secretaries, bookkeepers, pilots or in radio and video production. InterAct was founded in 1951 as a non-denominational mission agency of nearly 130 staff members supported by a large number of churches and individuals.
Mission statement
InterAct Ministries exists to glorify God by fulfilling the Great Commission among unreached people groups.
Statement of faith
Scripture - We believe the Bible is the verbally inspired Word, revelation of God, inerrant, infallible and God-breathed. It shall be our guide in all matters of faith and conduct. (Psalm 19:7-11; Matthew 5:18; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21)
God - We believe in the triune Godhead, composed of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, coexistent, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. (Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:1; Acts 5:3-4; I Peter 1:2)
Man - We believe that man was created in the image of God. Man chose to sin and thus became totally lost and absolutely incapable of saving himself by his own works. Therefore, apart from Jesus Christ, all human beings incur physical, spiritual and everlasting death. (Genesis 1:26; 3:1-24; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 5:12, 19; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1, 8-9)
Jesus Christ - We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth and sinless life, that He is God incarnate, very God of very God, for whom and by whom all things were created, and that He is the head of his body, the true church. (John 1:1-14; II Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:18)
The Incarnation - We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary, and was fully God and fully man. We believe in his sinless life, his miracles, his death for sin, his bodily resurrection, his ascension to the right hand of the Father, his ministry on behalf of true believers, and his personal return in power and glory. (Matthew 1:18; 28:6; Luke 1:27; 24:6; John 19:30; Philippians 2:5-7; Colossians 3:1; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Hebrews 4:15; 7:25; Revelation 19:11-16)
Salvation - We believe that Christ died for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who receive him as personal Savior and Lord are declared righteous by faith on the basis of his shed blood. (Isaiah 53:6; John 1:12; Romans 5:1, 18-19; 10:9; Ephesians 1:7; 5:2; Hebrews 10:14)
The Holy Spirit - We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to give unbelievers a new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ and permanently indwells them at the time of salvation. The filling of the Spirit enables believers to live a godly life and empowers them for service. (I Corinthians 6:19-20; 12:13; Ephesians 5:18; Titus 3:5-6)
Christ's Return - We believe in the personal, bodily, imminent, visible return of our Lord Jesus Christ to complete his work as Messiah and to judge all people. We believe in the bodily resurrection of believers and unbelievers. Those who accepted Christ as Lord and Savior will be with him in heaven forever, and those who have rejected him will be separated from him in the lake of fire forever. (Matthew 25:41; I Corinthians 15:50-59; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:19-20; 20:1-6)
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Foreign Missions
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 448 of 1104 | 50 of 143 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 147 of 1105 | 23 of 143 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 633 of 1105 | 79 of 143 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 694 of 1104 | 79 of 143 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 6% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 5% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 4% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 99% | 92% | 91% | 93% | 93% | 92% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 4% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 1% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 84% | 83% | 82% | 80% | 77% | 79% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 99% | 105% | 105% | 93% | 106% | 107% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 82% | 88% | 86% | 75% | 82% | 85% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 1% | -5% | -5% | 7% | -6% | -7% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 2% | -6% | -5% | 7% | -7% | -7% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 8% | 16% | 17% | 18% | 21% | 17% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.35 | 1.18 | 0.99 | 0.93 | 1.10 | 1.02 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.22 | 1.29 | 1.24 | 1.24 | 1.29 | 1.25 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.02 | 1.53 | 1.22 | 1.15 | 1.41 | 1.27 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 19.08 | 51.92 | 51.36 | 119.00 | 87.16 | 39.83 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 5.58 | 7.71 | 9.65 | 10.36 | 8.39 | 9.18 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 7% | 9% | 8% | 6% | 9% | 10% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 68% | 77% | 93% | 101% | 83% | 88% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Cash | $26,776 | $24,617 | $85,649 | $40,432 | $3,221 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $15,404 | $10,764 | $10,567 | $11,288 | $6,829 |
| Short-term investments | $1,632,666 | $1,942,510 | $1,920,838 | $1,516,503 | $1,739,910 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $1,674,846 | $1,977,891 | $2,017,054 | $1,568,223 | $1,749,960 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $487,606 | $466,974 | $480,943 | $449,285 | $439,287 |
| Other long-term assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term assets | $487,606 | $466,974 | $480,943 | $449,285 | $439,287 |
| Total assets | $2,162,452 | $2,444,865 | $2,497,997 | $2,017,508 | $2,189,247 |
| Liabilities | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $25,243 | $27,046 | $8,269 | $17,993 | $38,241 |
| Other current liabilities | $7,018 | $11,466 | $8,681 | $0 | $5,700 |
| Total current liabilities | $32,261 | $38,512 | $16,950 | $17,993 | $43,941 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $20,189 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $160,543 | $161,193 | $141,743 | $166,293 | $165,183 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $160,543 | $161,193 | $141,743 | $166,293 | $185,372 |
| Total liabilities | $192,804 | $199,705 | $158,693 | $184,286 | $229,313 |
| Net assets | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Without donor restrictions | $1,969,648 | $2,245,160 | $2,339,304 | $1,833,222 | $1,959,934 |
| With donor restrictions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net assets | $1,969,648 | $2,245,160 | $2,339,304 | $1,833,222 | $1,959,934 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Total contributions | $2,238,993 | $2,102,865 | $2,316,011 | $1,943,215 | $1,931,710 |
| Program service revenue | $134,040 | $155,772 | $120,010 | $103,139 | $108,115 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $42,391 | $44,880 | $39,266 | $42,410 | $50,333 |
| Other revenue | $13,235 | $4,322 | $11,441 | $3,063 | $1,559 |
| Total other revenue | $189,666 | $204,974 | $170,717 | $148,612 | $160,007 |
| Total revenue | $2,428,659 | $2,307,839 | $2,486,728 | $2,091,827 | $2,091,717 |
| Expenses | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Program services | $2,126,307 | $1,982,892 | $1,864,207 | $1,716,089 | $1,767,815 |
| Management and general | $399,713 | $403,354 | $422,458 | $456,156 | $375,229 |
| Fundraising | $30,306 | $26,652 | $31,115 | $46,253 | $87,869 |
| Total expenses | $2,556,326 | $2,412,898 | $2,317,780 | $2,218,498 | $2,230,913 |
| Change in net assets | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Surplus (deficit) | ($127,667) | ($105,059) | $168,948 | ($126,671) | ($139,196) |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | ($127,667) | ($105,059) | $168,948 | ($126,671) | ($139,196) |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Dale Smith | Executive Dir. | $97,257 |
| Gale van Deist | Board Member | $3,671 |
| Dr Mike Matthews | Board Member | $974 |
Compensation data as of: 3/31/2023
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 5/9/2023. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
1941 - John and Nadine Gillespie answer the call to mission work in Alaska. Married for just seven weeks, they board the SS Denali from Seattle, Washington to Valdez, Alaska.
1945 - After serving in Chintina, Copper Center and the El Nathan Children's Home in Valdez, the Gillespies moved to Anchorage to help start Youth for Christ. They began attending The Church of the Open Door (TCOD).
1946 - John Gillespie is called as pastor of TCOD. Seeing the need for more cooperation among independent missionaries in Alaska, he helped organize a missionary conference to bring them together.
1948 - The Gillespies establish Victory Bible Camp on 40 acres of land near Index Lake. This camp would later be run as part of the ministry of Arctic Missions (InterAct Ministries).
1951 - Sixteen missionaries came together to form Alaska Missions Incorporated. The first meeting took place at the home of Marvin Webber, a member of TCOD.
1956 - It was discovered that another organization was using the name Alaska Missions. Because of this and other reasons, the name was changed to Arctic Missions. The mission released the film Call of the Arctic highlighting the great need for pioneer mission work in Alaska.
1957 - As the mission grew, the need for an administrative base of operations in the "lower 48" to respond to requests and inquiries from churches, furnish literature, screen missionary candidates and represent the mission at conferences became evident. The Gillespies moved to the Portland, Oregon area to establish a home office.
1959 - Alaska becomes the 49th state! Victory High School (VHS) was opened to provide a Christ-centered education to Native Christians so that they would be prepared to teach others, especially their own people. Scholarships were provided for students who needed financial assistance. No student was turned away for financial reasons.
1964 - Missionaries Russ and Freda Arnold started Kokrine Hills Bible Camp (KHBC) on the Yukon River, about 200 miles west of Fairbanks. The camp was established so that children from Alaska's interior would have a summer Bible camp experience. Though KHBC now functions independently of InterAct Ministries, it continues to impact the lives of children throughout Alaska's interior.
1965 - The ministry of Victory High School (VHS) expanded as more students enrolled. Missionaries continued serving in villages, evangelizing, discipling and church planting. The importance of trusting relationships in the communication of the gospel was seen early on.
1966 - Arctic Bible Institute (ABI) opened on the campus of VHS as a residential training facility to equip and train church leaders for ministry in villages and urban areas.
1967 - Arctic Missions began work in Canada among First Nations peoples in British Columbia. The potential for this expansion was envisioned from early days of the mission.
1971 - In Alaska, Victory Bible Camp (VBC), originally founded by the Gillespies in 1948, became part of Arctic Missions. The Mission was also given the Lazy Mountain Children's Home and the surrounding property near Palmer, Alaska. In Canada, the vision for a training center became a reality as the Native Institute of Canada (NIC) was opened. This ministry included both a high school as well as a Bible institute.
1973 - Multi Media Productions began on the Lazy Mountain campus to better meet the needs of spreading the gospel through radio and audio recordings.
1976 - Arctic Missions celebrated its 25th anniversary. The mission reflected upon God's blessings over twenty-five years: church planting work among Native communities in Alaska and Canada was ongoing. Institutions like ABI, VHS, VBC and NIC continued to train and equip people for ministry, making a significant impact in the lives of Native people in Alaska and Canada.
1977 - All of the Mission's training institutions, ABI, VHS and NIC, experienced record high enrollments.
1980 - The Mission received its charter in Canada, and Arctic Missions of Canada was officially founded. While a distinct legal entity, Arctic Missions continued to function as one mission organization in both Alaska and Canada.
1984 - Becoming increasingly aware of the large, unreached immigrant populations in the urban areas of western Canada, the Mission began to explore reaching out to Punjabi-speaking Sikhs from India.
1988 - As the mission continued to spread across less "arctic" regions of western Canada, the name of the mission was changed to InterAct Ministries.
1989 - As the Iron Curtain began to be dismantled in Eastern Europe, opportunities to visit Russia opened up. Going back to the Mission's roots, when it was stated that "the entire Arctic region lies within the scope and prayers of the organization," the Mission began to pray about reaching across the Bering Strait to the native peoples of Siberia.
1991 - InterAct General Director Gale Van Diest, along with several other missionaries flew to the city of Yakutsk, the capital of the Republic of Sakha. While there they connected with Russian pastors, spoke on several occasions, shared the gospel with people and witnessed a baptism. Upon visiting the nearby town of Olekminsk they were told that they were the first American missionaries ever to visit there.
1994 - InterAct placed its first full-time missionaries in Russia. Dave and Kay Henry moved from Alaska to the Siberian city of Khabarovsk to study language and culture. The following year they moved to the city of Yakutsk.
1996 - The gospel continues to spread in Russia. Among the Sakha people, more and more came to know Christ.
1997 - The large, growing Muslim immigrant population in Canada prompted InterAct to begin a ministry to these communities in the urban areas.
2001 - InterAct Ministries celebrates 50 years of God's faithfulness! New mission and purpose statements were adopted that focused on reaching the people of the North Pacific Crescent (Alaska, Canada and Russia).
2003 - Bold steps in church planting, missionary training and community development in the North Pacific Crescent were launched.
2004 - InterAct partnered with the Institute for Bible Translation to fund the completion of the New Testament into the Sakha language for the almost 450,000 Sakha speakers in Russia.
2006 - In Russia, ministry began in the Republic of Tuva, a region of Russia on the country's southern border with Mongolia. Missionaries worked in partnership with Russian and Tuvan churches to help disciple believers and plant churches.
2011 - InterAct partnered with the Institute for Bible Translation to fund the completion of the first translation of the full Bible into the Tuvan language.
2012 - The EnGage! summer internship program was launched in Canada, emphasizing a relational approach to summer ministry. This internship model was later expanded to Alaska and Russia.
2015 - The Association of Christian Evangelical Churches (ACEC) celebrated its 25th anniversary in Yakutsk. InterAct missionaries worked in partnership with ACEC for many years to help plant churches among the indigenous Sakha people. Since the early '90s, the number of Sakha evangelical believers has grown from less than 10 to almost 1,000.
2016 - InterAct celebrated 65 years of ministry in Alaska. New strategies and goals for ministry in Alaska were put in place emphasizing discipling, church planting and facilitative ministries both in village and urban areas. In Canada, the ministry expanded eastward into Manitoba as Midway Christian Leadership merged with InterAct Ministries of Canada.
Program accomplishments
3 Countries
100+ Missionaries
70 Years of making disciples
Needs
WHAT IS THE NEED?
60% of Alaska Natives reside in remote villages with limited discipleship opportunities.
12,000 communities in Siberia without an evangelical church.
200+ First Nations reserves in western Canada with limited discipleship opportunities.
100+ Remote villages in Alaska do not have a gospel-centered church.