Dear praying friends,
Dec. 7 -- I’m making a flight to Whitehorse, Yukon
Territory, Canada. A young woman from Fairbanks had gone to teach
school for a missionary in Canada, but there was a problem with her
visa, and Canada wanted her out of the country ASAP. The weather has
cleared along the route, and I am off to pick her up.
Dec. 17 -- I flew to Anchorage yesterday to pick up
our son Nathan whose airline ticket brought him that far from a
semester at Pensacola Christian College.
Dec. 18 -- Sunday was a really foggy day. We had
planned to have our Christmas cookies and fellowship time in Manley
today. On the forty-minute flight, I had to fly below the tree line
level and above the river for a while, but the goodies and the
service were a blessing to all.
Dec. 21 -- It’s the shortest day of the year here in
Fairbanks. I’ll have 3 hours and 42 minutes of daylight to fly
today. It’s 5 AM, and time to start this long day with three shots
of coffee in a twelve ounce mug and a little half and half. You can
drink your coffee weak if you like (it’s like kissing your sister),
but they have proven now that “coffee drinkers make better
thinkers.”
The plane is in the hangar now. No frost to clear
off! no snow to sweep! But the drip oil furnace has malfunctioned
and there’s a large puddle of waste oil to clean up. But I’m warm
for the first time in 25 years of loading planes in the Arctic
winter.
I’m moving the belongings of a new missionary
couple, Luke and Amber Mace into the village of Kaltag today—just
freight. All the seats except mine come out for the 5-hour flight,
and I carefully arrange their belongings, packing to maximize the
load. Now there is not room for me to slide in a wet bar of soap!
I take off in the dark this day and land in Kaltag
with the sun barely on the horizon and land in the dark once back in
Fairbanks. The Mace family is settled in this very remote village on
the Yukon River. Luke is the son of veteran missionary and pastor,
Bob Mace.
Dec. 25 -- Christmas Day. An unhappy married couple
came by in the afternoon, and we counsel them with domestic issues.
Jan. 12 -- Today is an “iffy” flying day. I’m to fly
4½ hours to Juneau, Alaska’s capital, with part of a team of people
from Fairbanks. Juneau can be reached only by flying or by
ferryboat. Even though the weather over very large mountains was
“challenging” and a volcano erupted (shutting down commercial jet
flights), we arrived safely. The trip started and ended at about 30
degrees below zero in Fairbanks, but Juneau was 30 degrees above
zero or so each day with sunshine (which is a rarity in Juneau),
good for passing out tracts. The team will pass out 12,000
John-Romans Bible portions and an invitation to come to hear the new
pastor, Joe Mishler, at a struggling church, Lighthouse Baptist.
Within three days, together we were able to pass out most of the
Scriptures. Some folks were saved and on the weekend the church was
full of people.
Last fall, one of the leaders at the Reformers
Unanimous ladies Bible study at the Fairbanks jail was in a car
accident and suffered a serious broken leg. Jane stepped in to fill
the gap for her at the jail ministry— helping with teaching,
counseling and leading the singing. Many inmates get saved through
this ministry and begin studying the RU Bible course and principles
for making positive changes in their lives.
Jan. 18 -- Les flew to the Lower 48 to be the
featured speaker at a sportsmen’s meeting in a church in
Pennsylvania.
Jan 19 -- Jane stumbled in the house and twisted her
foot, breaking a bone in her right foot. This “Jones fracture” of
the fifth metatarsal can be a problem to heal. Now in a cast, she’s
no longer able to drive herself to the RU Bible study at the jail or
to church. She’s sleeping in the recliner in the living room to
avoid the stairs and using a wheel chair or crutches to get around.
She’s pretty glad to see daughter Michelle and son Jarrod every day
while Les is gone. Never a dull week at the Zerbe house! The price
of fuel, all kinds—auto gas, airplane gas, and home heating
fuel—have gone out of sight up here. A high inflation rate--8.7%--
hasn’t helped either. We do thank you for your faithful regular
support and for the special gifts this Christmas, which have helped
us catch up.
