History

Our founders, Madison and Cody Smith, began serving  diligently in Christian ministry and domestic missions nearly 20 years ago. After working with churches and missions projects in Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Texas, and other places across the United States, they settled together in interior Alaska. There they began interacting with the incredibly dedicated missionaries serving across interior and northern Alaska, and realized that these missionaries were facing enormous difficulties  logistically and financially to accomplish their work. Alaskan communities are mostly off the road system, meaning that for full-time missionaries to get to a grocery store or dentist appointment typically requires an aircraft. Once they get to town via an expensive commercial flight, most missionaries have to spend a large amount of money for lodging and ground transportation. The logistics of keeping a full-time missionary family supplied and cared for in bush Alaska is daunting, and is much of what they have to spend their time doing when not serving the communities that they live in.

With an extensive background in commercial aviation, outdoor education, small business administration, wilderness survival, backcountry logistics, search-and-rescue, emergency medical services, and Christian ministry, Madison and Cody felt that they could come alongside these dedicated missionaries with their training and experience to lead a highly professionalized support organization that would alleviate many of the challenges of living and serving in bush Alaska. After months of prayer, interviews with remote Alaskan missionaries, and research showing that no one else was doing this yet (comprehensive and professionalized lodging, training, and transportation for missionaries based in interior and northern Alaska), they founded what is known today as Muskox Ministries.  

The muskox is a symbol of strength and provision among Alaska Native peoples and all Alaskans. Muskox Ministries embodies this to the missionaries they support.

To jumpstart the ministry Madison and Cody purchased a Cessna U206, along with five acres and three unfinished structures for the base camp. Thanks to the favor and blessings of God, all aspects of the ministry have grown quickly since then, including diligent work towards completion of the base camp and expansion of our aviation program with several volunteer aircraft owner/pilots. Our team is also working on development of a training handbook for out-of-state missionaries that will teach unique aspects of ministry in Alaska and enable them to connect better with the remote communities they'll be serving. 

Since its founding in 2023, Muskox Ministries has gained partners from across Alaska and the entire nation who see the vision and the need for an efficient, professional, comprehensive, and consistent means of logistical support for Alaska's rugged missionaries. The ministry works hand-in-hand with a team of faithful volunteers to ensure that we can keep supporting the incredible work of Alaska's missionaries who are serving the isolated and unreached peoples in villages across the remote parts of interior and Arctic Alaska.