Spring 2014
Photos by Valerie Thomas
Bethel’s Care Ministries Recognized for Compassion Bethel Evangelical Covenant Church's (BECC) involvement with community compassion efforts has been recently recognized in at least two articles featuring two efforts to care for those needing food and shelter. On November 29, 2013, the A laska Dispatch published “Nobody's Turned Away From Bethel's Friday Night Supper Club” by Jill Burke featuring the church’s ministry that feeds hungry people. Burke explained, “Beginning in October and running through March, the church opens its doors to volunteers and diners every Friday night. What began nearly eight years ago as an effort to provide hot meals to the needy has grown into a well-organized meal service. Between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., whoever crosses the threshold is warmly welcomed.” According to the A laska Dispatch website, as the one online-only news site for Alaska, it is devoted to “to cover stories of importance not only to Alaskans but to the rest of the nation… A laska Dispatch's goal is to take an unflinching look at the state, from its massive riches to its abject poverty, and tell these stories to Alaskans and to the world.” The article covered one extraordinary night when 130 individuals came to eat at the supper club–65 to 90 eaters is the norm. Hoisin Chicken was on the menu--chicken glazed with a soybean-garlicchile sauce sometimes known as Chinese barbeque sauce. With the crowd that came, volunteers had to make an emergency soup to help stretch the meal, and volunteers who usually join in the meal went home without getting to eat the meal they served. Pastor Hugh Forbes said, “Feeding and caring for your neighbor is such a meaningful, simple way to meet a need.” He went on to explain that as the rotating churches are diverse, they adhere to a strict “no proselytizing” rule. “We have been real careful to keep it a community effort, not a religious effort. We are here to serve a meal. We keep it very neutral,” Pastor Forbes explained. If people are interested in prayer or guidance, they are encouraged to write it down and leave it as a note in a prayer box. Chris Byrnes, chairman of BECC said, “Reaching out with the nonproselytizing approach has actually afforded more conversations about grace, Christ and salvation to a broader cross-section of Bethel than would otherwise be reached.” On December 11, 2013 the Anchorage Daily News published
“Bethel Opens First Emergency Winter Shelter” by Devin Kelley that featured what has come to be known as “Bethel Winter House Uksumi Uqisvik”. Eva Malvich, one of the visionaries in the grass-roots group who organized the venture explained that uksumi translates to "during the winter"; uqisvik translates to "sheltered spot". Malvich, a former Covenant High School student from 1983-1985 wrote a letter to Field Director Curtis Ivanoff in October sharing the vision of the project responding to four exposure deaths in Bethel during the winter of 2012-13: “Our mission is simple: zero deaths from exposure in Bethel.” The letter read: “Despite its size and reputation as a social service hub for the delta, we have an unmet need in our community that affects adult males (from late teens to early 30’s) and females (ages 5060). At this time, there is no place for these at risk people to stay temporarily, if he or she is sober.” Curtis forwarded the letter to the Covenant Church in Bethel on October 30, encouraging them to “prayerfully consider how BECC could respond and partner.” On Christmas Eve, a large, empty conference room in the Bethel Covenant Church first opened its doors to the community's population of homeless adults and children needing shelter from cold. They hosted the shelter until the end of January. The Catholic Church and Lions Club facility share the 90-day rotation to provide a warm place for people to spend the night. Malvich reported that in the first two weeks, the winter house provided shelter from the cold, 32 individuals, all Alaska Natives, used the shelter. “The ages of people we have served in those weeks range from 20 to 60+. Six reported to have slept outside the night before and 12 have reported to have been homeless for 12 months or at least four times in three years.” Initial reports on services provided through mid February show that 105 individuals were served, 103 being Alaska Native. “In October, our Covenant pastors and leaders met to consider the theme of 'Witnessing through Compassion and Justice', from Isaiah 58:9-10 and Matthew 25:34-45,” Ivanoff recalled. “I am thrilled to see that the Bethel Covenant Church is an active part in living out this call in their community.” (Continued on page 10)
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16