May 14, 2007
Dear Friends,
Greetings once
again from Fairbanks. Our “global summer” has
arrived earlier for us than for many of you in the
Lower 48. We’re grateful for Al Gore, but you need
him down there to direct your crusade against global
warming. If only “Big Al” could figure out the
problem of these mosquitoes!
The annual
inspection of the plane has just been completed and
only cost me $42 for an exhaust weld and $260 to get
the altimeter set to correspond with the
transponder.
Now the busy
summer starts with missionary flying, camp flying,
etc. Some of you have already sent in camper fees
which provides for Eskimo and Indian teens to be
transported to youth camp. This costs around $150
per camper and we encourage you to send a specified
gift for this cause. Alaska has 58 suicides per
100,000 mostly among the native people, compared to
11 per 100,000 in the Lower 48. Camps are scheduled
in June and July.
Five work
teams will come up this summer to help us put up a
log cabin by the hangar. There are a lot of
expenses associated with maintaining and heating the
guest house and hangar light bills. We consulted
about various options with Bob Vallier, a Christian
financial counselor, and he advised us to build a
small house by the hangar and rent it to pay for
these expenses.
As we were
weighing our options, another miracle of perfect
timing occurred. A Lutheran church in Montana
ceased meeting, and the elderly farmer who had given
a piece of his farm land for the life of the church
would have to pay taxes on the empty building. Now,
I do not know these folks and had never been to
their church. However, Zerbe family members living
nearby notified me of this empty church and the
farmer’s dilemma, and the property was donated to
the Caravan Connection. I checked out the
possibility of finding a preacher to take the church
with no payments and starting a new work. The
locals advised “No. It’s not feasible in that remote
area.” We were able to sell the property to a man
who will build a custom gun stock factory there. We
got just enough money to put up the shell of the
cabin to rent to pay these high fuel and electric
bills. To God be the glory! Two elderly ladies in
Nebraska have sent us $500 each for windows and
doors. We still need kitchen cupboards, a wood
stove and bathroom fixtures for it. The water and
septic are taken care of.
Dr. Duane Gish,
from the Creation Research Institute, came recently
to lecture on Creation and debate Evolution at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks. Although he is in
his eighth decade of life, he still does an
excellent job presenting the facts. In those
debates the evolutionists lose every time.
Thank you all
for your help financially and your prayers.
Far North Flying Chaplain,
Les Zerbe
P.P.S. Prayer Post Script
1. Youth camps and missionary
flying.
2. Deaf ministry—Jane is
currently taking a 3 week class module to hone her
skills.
3. Les’ parents, in their
eighties, have significant health issues—melanoma
and heart disease.
4. Thanks for God’s provision
through his people and through miracles of timing
like the “little church on the prairie.”
Your Far
North Flying Chaplain,
