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David Reese

Featured Article - FUTSAM Partnership

Summer is typically the busiest time of year for MARC with more transportation requests than we have pilots or planes to fill.  This summer, however, we have been blessed with Flying Under the Son Aviation Ministries (FUTSAM) from California relocating one of their Kodiak planes and three pilots to Alaska, partnering with us, and enabling us to expand our impact for Christ.  

Three pilots (Bill Burr, Matt Little, and Mark King) flew together to bring the Kodiak to Alaska, a two-day journey of 2100 miles and 11.5 hours of flight time. After familiarization training in the region, Bill Burr stayed for the first month's rotation, flying mainly out of Fairbanks in the north central area of Alaska that we have not always had the resources to efficiently serve.  

Bill Burr and FUTSAM Kodiak

Bill has enjoyed his Alaskan experience, particularly in building relationships with MARC and with the many villagers he has been able to meet and serve.  Bill has been teaching our MARC pilots how to fly the Kodiak, and they have been teaching him the intricacies of flying in Alaska.   Bill related that he's more accustomed to flying over the mountains, whereas in Alaska you're typically flying through the mountains following the rivers and valleys.  Our summer mission of carrying kids to Bible camp and the varied flying and weather conditions here in Alaska have proved to be very rewarding experiences for Bill and the FUTSAM pilots.

Bill Burr (FUTSAM)

MARC is grateful for FUTSAM's support and for the accompanying partnership with the Fairbanks chapter of the Christian Pilots Association of Alaska (CPAA) that has allowed us to better serve a part of Alaska that we have historically needed extra resources to reach!  Yet again, we're humbly reminded of what our collective efforts in Christ can actually achieve together.

 

"God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply."

- Missionary Hudson Taylor

 

Please keep Matt Little and Mark King as they begin their flying rotations, accompanied by our MARC pilots, as well.  Kids Bible camps are beginning to go "full steam ahead" now, so we're particularly thankful that our MARC/FUTSAM partnership is allowing us to better serve Kokrine Hills Bible Camp and Covenant Bible Camp this summer.  Add the other vital work the Kodiak has enabled for Child Evangelism Fellowship and the many Vacation Bible School teams, pastors, and missionary families working in northern Alaska, and the impact for Christ in remote Alaska becomes even more evident.  Thank you, FUTSAM!

 

 

 

 

You can read more about our flying partnerships and view more ministry pictures at MARC's Facebook page. It's a great way for you to know how to pray for our needs here in Alaska each day!

Director's Note

Unity

"I am in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." (John 17:23 NIV)

Christ had many amazing and challenging words for us. How do we boil them all down into a practical approach to serving Him? Maybe we start to answer this question by asking another: Why does He allow us to serve Him? I believe the answer is simple. Everything we do is to promote God's glory, because the salvation plan is all about the Creator, not the created!

As Christ was approaching His time on the cross, He prayed for Himself, His disciples, and us (future believers). The theme was simple: just as the Father and Son are one, so we should be one with the Father and other believers. Unity was His prayer, because it is part of the greater plan; seeing Christians united in their love for Christ and each other helps draw unbelievers to Jesus.

As a service organization, MARC has an opportunity every day to declare our unity with other ministries and churches. As partners in ministry, we are ultimately striving toward the same goal of glorifying God and making Him known in Alaska. In the 47 years of our existence, MARC has served with over 50 partners in the Gospel, including several church denominations with many churches dispersed across Alaska. Each of these partners represents many individuals serving together.

Even with these many believers working in Alaska, the harvest potential could soon be many times greater than anything seen in the past. God is continually calling people to Alaska, and more harvest field workers are increasingly needed. We're doing our best to position MARC to be able to support the increased workload, but we know the unity we demonstrate through our love for each other in Christ will have a far greater impact than our individual efforts. Your help is vital to the continued partnerships we enjoy here, and not one day goes by that we do not thank God for our partnership with you. God bless you!

Drew Baker

Field Director

It's complicated ... but oh, so worth it!

Have you ever asked the question, "How hard can it be?"  Well, here in Alaska we don't ask that question too often because the answer is usually "very hard" more often than not.  Our MARC and Samaritan's Purse team was recently privileged to transport 198 youth and chaperones to the 7th Annual Alaska Moravian Youth Fellowship (AMYF) Singspiration.  Even in places where you can actually drive, it's quite an achievement transporting that many kids!  However, unless you've been involved with an event like this in remote Alaska, you probably can't imagine the challenges here, so we wanted to take a moment to give you insight into just how hard it can actually be.

This event brought together youth from across the Bristol Bay, Yukon Delta, and Bethel regions of Alaska and required three aircraft and five pilots.  We picked up and returned youth from Akiak (9 passengers), Tooksook Bay (18), Kwethluk (36), Tuntutuliak (9), Atmautluak (9), Manokotak (7), Bethel (9), Nunapitchuk (9), Chevak (9), Twin Hills (1), Kipnuk (9), Tuluksak (18), Kwigillingok (36), Akiachak (9), and Soldotna (10).  Since most of the kids were teenagers, the analogy of "herding cats" came into play once or twice during the weekend :-)

However, our flight services saved these church congregations over $82,000 in flight costs; and the joy of sharing the unconditional love of Jesus Christ simply made the 96 flight legs, the 192 takeoffs and landings, the 5 pilots being away from their own families for 5 long days, and the 198 "cats to herd" all seem inconsequential in comparison to being able to serve these young men and women in the name of Jesus.  The best part for us was hearing that, out of the 400 youth who attended the singspiration, about 80 made professions for Christ that weekend.  It's exciting to see teenagers respond to God's love, hope, forgiveness, and freedom!

We're privileged to serve God here in remote Alaska, and we thank you for your faithful involvement!  Your stewardship helps us say at the end of the day, "That was easy!" 

Thank You

A recent note from Unalakleet Covenant Church    

 

"Dear MARC,

 

We wanted to express our gratefulness to your organization and dedicated pilots and mechanics that work so hard to keep up the spreading of the Good News of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Last year and again this year you flew our teens from Unalakleet to Soldotna, Alaska, to attend a 10-day Child Evangelism Fellowship training.  Since last year the students have been teaching and leading Children's Church here in Unalakleet every Sunday.  They have grown in the Lord this year, and this fruit can be attributed to those who have invested in their lives like MARC.  This week the teens are teaching Vacation Bible School, and we wanted to send you a picture of the teens and the kids they get to share the gospel with.  Thank you MARC!  May God bless you greatly as you dedicate your lives to His service! 

 

In Him,

Joel & Sarah Oyoumick, The Unalakleet Covenant Church & The CEF Teens"

Help us fly kids to Bible camp!

One of the greatest blessings we have each year is being able to provide transportation for children in remote villages to attend Bible camp. The chances of a child beginning a relationship with Jesus is five times that of an adult, and for many kids here in Alaska, Bible camp is the one time each year when they can escape from the heartbreaking norms of alcohol, addiction, and abuse that constantly inundate their lives in the villages. 

Did you know?

- Alaska's suicide rate is consistently more than twice the US average

- The suicide rate for Native Alaskans is four times the national average

- Virtually half of the Native suicides are committed by 15-24 year olds

- Child sexual assault in Alaska is almost six times the national average

- The average sexual assault victim in Alaska is only 16 years old

- Nearly 8,000 children are physically or sexually abused each year in Alaska

- The Alaska Native infant mortality rate is more than twice the US average

- Alaska has the highest Fetal Alcohol Syndrome rate in the nation

Halting the downward spiral of spiritual decline and sin is essential for the future of the Alaskan people.  Your financial support toward our Kids to Camp Fund allows us to increase the number of kids we're able to fly to Bible camps throughout the summer.  More importantly, your donations help us to share the unconditional hope of Jesus Christ with the future generations of Alaska early in their lives.

Will you join us in our mission to share Jesus with this generation of young Alaskans?  Your help can make a life-changing difference in a child's life.  You can give by sending a check or by donating online.

Your help is important because the typical round-trip cost to Bible camp is $378 per child for the isolated villages we minister within.  Each summer, fuel costs MARC approximately $100,000 for Bible camp flying.  Would you consider making a special donation to help make these life-changing opportunities possible this summer?

Volunteers 

Brendan & Rebekah Yoder

We've Been Blessed

 

Throughout our 46-year history, MARC has enabled many families, individuals, youth groups, church teams, and others to serve God on the mission field through their volunteer service. In addition to volunteering with MARC, our ministry partners often have many opportunities for service throughout the year.

 

We've recently been blessed by the volunteer efforts of two great families.  Brendan & Rebekah Yoder from Virginia have been here with us since April.  Brendan (pilot/mechanic) has been a phenomenal help to us in our maintenance shop, and Rebekah has been amazingly helpful in our parts services area, especially when she was able to assume the responsibility for running our parts shop during Bob Martin's recent time away.

 

Bruce & Sue Rudholm

Bruce & Sue Rudholm from California also recently spent two weeks of their vacation time volunteering with MARC.  Bruce (a mechanic with United Airlines) provided a huge boost in our maintenance shop, and Sue volunteered her time helping with our office administration needs (which are many!).  We greatly appreciated their selfless assistance.  (And, we also benefited from the joyful musical skills of Sue as she cheered us with her fluting abilities.)

 

Fred Wilkins, a mechanic with Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, Michigan was also able to spend several days working with our maintenance team in conjunction with a trip where he was supporting the Alaska Bible Institute in Homer, Alaska.  We appreciated his help!

 

We would love to help you get involved with us during your summer vacation, school break, or other schedule opportunities. 

 

Please email or call (907-262-5388) if you'd like to volunteer with MARC.