FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON
June 2020 marks one year that we have been in Fairbanks, Alaska, working hard to plant a CREC church. Although, strangely enough, we are at the beginning of our third Summer (more on that below), we have spent this last year intently watching the changing of the seasons, experiencing our first Fall, Winter, and Spring. Jason, at least, has been aware of experiencing the seasons here in the far north much more than any other time or place in the past.
We actually experienced our first Summer here back in 2018, as Jason had the amazing opportunity to be the Interim Pastor for a small CREC church. When that Summer came to an end we headed back to Virginia, hearts full of love, and wondering when we might get back to Alaska. Meanwhile, the congregation was meeting with the leaders from their sponsor church and prayerfully deciding to call Jason to be their Pastor. Jack Phelps, one of the Pastors of Covenant Bible Church (down closer to Anchorage) reached out to Jason in October of 2018 to let him know that he was officially receiving the call. We, through much prayer, decided to decline the call, as we could not see a way to accept the call in financially viable terms. It was not, even early on, an issue of not wanting to take the call, but rather not knowing how our needs could be met. God, as is often the case, had other plans. Many things slowly began to come into place over the winter, and in March of 2019 Jason accepted the call. We packed up our house (after selling most of our furniture) and made our way to Fairbanks, arriving on June 24, 2019.
God has provided for our needs every step of the way. We are thankful that Jason got an online teaching job with Liberty University Online Academy. We are thankful for a loving congregation that supports us. We also knew that when we made the decision to move to Fairbanks for this work it would be a leap of faith, on many levels, but certainly on a financial one. We began fundraising last year in order to fill in the gaps, and quickly estimated that we would need $10,000 a year for five years in fundraising to help us. Our expectations were that it would take five years for the church to become self-sustaining. We have one year under our belt, and by God’s grace there has been a tremendous amount of forward progress. God provided many faithful supporters during our first year, and we raised all of our goal of $10000, and as the year has come to an end, we have used all of that fundraising.
So, here we are at the beginning of year two, and we are appealing to you to prayerfully consider whether God might be leading you to once again (or for the first time) support this work, and the planting of this church in Fairbanks, Alaska. We appreciate your prayers, and we are forever thankful for your help and support. We look forward to continuing the work, and seeing what God has in store for us during year two.
God bless you all!
In Christ’s service and yours,
The Biette Family
