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{{orthodoxyinamerica}}
After John and his family built and moved into an earthen hut, he undertook the construction of a [[Holy Ascension Cathedral (Unalaska, Alaska)|Holy Ascension Church]] on the island and set about studying the local languages and dialects. He trained some of his parishioners in construction techniques and with them undertook the construction of a church, which was finished the following July.
Father John's parish included the island of Unalaska and the neighboring Fox Islands and Pribilof Islands, whose inhabitants had been converted to Christianity before his arrival, but retained many of their pagan ways and customs. Father John often traveled between the islands in a canoe, battling the stormy Gulf of Alaska.