For the Feast of our Lord's Theophany, Archimandrite Isidore traveled with members of the board of the Aleut Corporation to stake out a new site for a church in Adak. While there he was also able to provide pastoral care to the less than 100 people on Adak, a population which promises to surge in the near future.
Adak, which was once a major Naval Installation, was abandoned in 1995 and given to the Aleut Corporation. The Aleut Corporation has been working hard since to develop this city in the sea. Once home to over 5000 people and 4th largest city in Alaska, homes stand empty, businesses such as the McDonald's seen in the slideshow, abandoned. Slowly but surely, the Aleut Corporation has been working to attract Aleut people back to Adak -- it is believed that the Aleut people who once lived on Adak abandoned the Island in 1821 after a catastrophic geological event.
Adak teems with wildlife -- a caribou herd of over 2500 provides subsistence meat to the people of Adak. Bald Eagles, so rare elsewhere in America, are here in abundance. Hoped though it was that the eagles would control the rat problem, the fact that rats are nocturnal and eagles sleep at night has contributed to their living together in perfect harmony.
The Aleut Corporation hopes to attract thousands of people to Adak. If that happens, the Church will be ready to care for its faithful there. Fr. Isidore chose one site for a temporary church and priest's residence and looked at several other buildings to convert to church structures later.
Click here to see a slideshow from Adak, Alaska!
