Christian missionaries who are called to share their faith with others often embark on the journey of a lifetime — and leave a lasting impact on the communities they serve.

Some missionaries may minister to others in their neighborhood or on a college campus, while others may travel overseas or to unknown territory.

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For 99-year-old Alice Green, the missionary journey started an incredible 72 years ago — when she moved from Denver, Colorado, to the remote village of Savoonga, Alaska.

“She made God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus loving and understanding,” said Jenny Alowa, a retired woman living in Anchorage, Alaska. She recalled celebrating Christmas at the church that Green helped build in the 1950s, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

Alice Green turns 100 next month (photo credit: Bob Hallinen/Alaska Dispatch News).

Located on the St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, Savoonga is home to an estimated 700 people.

The Alaska Dispatch News featured a profile of Green this week, which is how her story came to light.

“Carol Combs, a teacher in Savoonga in the 1970s, introduced me to Green,” wrote an Anchorage resident, Charles Wohlforth, in the column.

Wohlforth hosts radio shows on Alaska Public Media and noted that Green turns 100 next month. She now lives at the Anchorage Pioneer Home.

She went to seminary to become a Presbyterian church worker. There was no church in Savoonga when she arrived, so she helped build the Savoonga Presbyterian Church, and it is still in use today.

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“Green officiated at funerals, hosted children for games in her little house, traveled by dog sled and skin boat, and taught her faith,” Wohlforth wrote. “The church was full every Sunday because almost everyone in the village of 250 attended.”

In 1972, Green also became Alaska’s first ordained Presbyterian woman.

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“Green stayed in Savoonga until 1955, worked as chaplain at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage until 1970, then returned to Savoonga as a priest until 1982, when she was required to retire at age 65,” according to the piece in the Alaska Dispatch News.

The faithful work and service of people such as Green help spread the love of Jesus around the country — and the world.