Thanks for your faithful support in prayer and finances. We can’t be here without you.

Les with 33 and 30 pound king salmon catch

Les and Jane Zerbe
Missionaries in Alaska

July 2008

Les and Jane Zerbe


Dear friends,

My flying day starts at 6 a.m. today and ends at midnight. I had finished the annual inspection, knew all was well with the plane, and I was monitoring the engine closely. The flight was in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions). I had to ascend to 9000 feet to clear the mountains, but picked up quite a bit of clear icing, the worst kind. Fifty miles later, I was able to descend and shed the ice.

The cost of aviation fuel is around $6 a gallon here in Fairbanks and up to $12 in some of the villages. This has put a halt to some missionary flying as the missionaries hunker down and try to ride this out. I’m also going to have to do something about the guesthouse—the missionary hospitality house, which has had steady traffic through this summer. It has always been a free place for missionaries, preachers and work teams to stay, but check this out: it will take at least 20 gallons of heating oil a day or 600 gallons a month for 8 months and then around 8 gallons a day for 4 months- $25,200 for fuel alone to heat the guesthouse! I hope—or should I say, I know—you can appreciate the gravity of all this.

One summer camp for Eskimo teens had to be closed this year due to lack of fuel funds. The missionary in Russian Mission on the Yukon River, in the far western area of the state, said he couldn’t afford the boat gas, groceries, etc. this year for Kako Bible Camp. I’ve been flying for this Eskimo teen camp for 28 years. We thank all of you who gave camper fees. It will go toward other camp-related flying for two other camps that I fly for.

Believe it or not, Alaska is one of the nation’s least religious states. Church attendance is among the lowest in the USA. at 22 percent. Twice as many Alaskans (32 percent) said they seldom ever prayed, compared to 18 percent in the Outside.

I’m receiving positive feedback on my new book, Journey to the Edge of the Sky. Should you want one or more, call me at 907-322-8807, or order online at www.farnorthflyingchaplain.com.

Just keep praying for the Circle Hot Springs for a children’s place of refuge. I recently talked to the head of the department that deals with child abuse and neglect in the state of Alaska, who told me about “alcohol orphans.” These children, many of them without parents, are on the streets with no place to go, not enough foster homes, etc. Maybe the Mormons will do it. We’ll see. Are you a grant writer? Could you trade some of your farm or estate as you retire to see this happen? I don’t need the extra work, but the children need all of us. We can always help a few, but our vision needs to be larger than this. Our goal is to reach possibly 500 abused young people altogether in our plan, being loved and protected, where they live and learn the Christian life, get married, and then go back to their own people. Keep praying.

It has come to my attention, something that perhaps needs all our attention in relation to a special need of a very special person at a special time and place. A widow lady, who was formerly a missionary, and her daughter are in some serious financial straits. Kim is a missionary’s widow who lives with her daughter in Dubuque, Iowa. For nine years I flew for the family in and out of Kotzebue, Alaska, where Bob and Kim Mace built a nice church and parsonage. Bob had an airplane for a while, but sold it to be able to build that church. Bob next pastored Old Paths Baptist Church, Dubuque, for the last nine years, and recently passed away from cancer. I still fly for one of their four sons, a missionary in Kaltag, Alaska. I remember years ago when I first flew Bob Mace to see about moving to Bob, Rebekah, & Kim Mace to Kotzebue. It was the middle of winter, 40 degrees below zero, when Bob Mace, a friend of ours, and a Honda three-wheeler were in the plane. Bob lay down on top of the lumpy three-wheeler for the 3-hour, 15-minute trip and could barely stand when we arrived. In the Arctic darkness at 40 degrees below zero, we unloaded the three wheeler. Later Bob proceeded to move into Kotzebue. He was a good missionary and preacher. Now his widow could lose her house. Kim wrote in April:

As most of you know, for 27 1/2 years I was a stay at home wife and mom. Now, I am working Monday­Friday 8­5 and it has been a huge adjustment for me as well as for Beka. She feels like she has lost both of her parents, with Bob being in heaven and now me being gone all day. I don't want to sound as if I'm not trusting God or complaining. God is taking very good care of us each step of the way. I just can't look too far down the road….

Several things I would ask you to pray about for me. First of all, I am going to need a permanent job soon that would be able to support Beka and I. Second, Beka is staying home after graduation and will also be looking for a job. Pray as we search for a good spot for her. Thirdly, God allowed me to be able to borrow some money interest free to pay off all my debts except the house. However, I need to pay back the loan. Please ask God with me to provide the money I need to take care of this. The house payment each month is a struggle, but God has provided each month so that we can stay here. It gives Beka and I great comfort to be here. I feel safe here and have good neighbors. If God allows, we want to stay right where we are. Please pray about that.

Monday will be eight months that Bob has been in heaven­it seems a lifetime and yet such a short time. It will also be 29 years ago that Bob and I became engaged.

The church Bob pastored in Iowa for nine years has about 60 people and is too small to help her. Would you or your church be willing to help a widow whose husband’s life insurance policy, due to a technicality, refuses to pay? Kim is a very hardworking lady and has been a faithful servant of Christ. She has reared five children and shared hospitality with many. Contact her at kimberlylmace@yahoo.com, call me at 907-322-8807, or contact the new pastor of Old Paths Baptist Church, Ed Mast, at 563-557-7261 for more information. If you decide to make contact, please include your telephone numbers and/or E-mail addresses.

It’s August 8 as I sign this letter, and our leaves are already turning color. Snow has fallen in the mid-level mountains. Pray for me there are a number of things to do before freeze-up:

1.  Drill two forty foot wells and hook up the water.

2.  Drill a well on the Aleutian Chain for remote church.

3.  Install a wood stove in my basement

4.  Put log oil finish on log house

5.  Haul waste oil for the hangar furnace.

6.  Install electric service on pole 

7.  Overhaul carburetor

8. Install fuel pump on 1994 Suburban.

9. Repair rain gutters at church.

10. Haul gravel, re-grade driveway for Jane

11. Cut and stack 13 cords of wood

12. Locate a 1.9 liter engine for a 1991 Ford Escort, our furlough car in NC, which failed last spring. 

Faithfully yours,
Les Paul Zerbe

THE CARAVAN CONNECTION, Inc., 356 Louise Lane, Fairbanks, AK 99709

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE, P.O. Box 219228, Houston, TX 77218-9228 1-800-CMC-PRAY

Sending Church: Lavon Drive Baptist Church, 1520 Lavon Drive, Garland, TX 75040

Faithfully yours,

Les Paul Zerbe
www.farnorthflyingchaplain.com

www.farnorthflyingchaplain.com
zerbe@alaska.net