Alaska Update / Labor Day

[Justbecause5]

There is power in prayer (James 5:16).

Background:

My wife, three kids and I moved to Alaska in February 2019 to work with a small church.

God provided the increase. The church grew from 28 to nearly 90 with 22 baptisms. It was incredible to see the hand of God.

In May 2022, unbeknownst to me, my wife purchased a ticket for her and my daughter to go overseas to visit family in mid September 2022. They were staying till the end of the year. She did not consult me at all.

My foot was healing from a break. I had fallen down the stairs. So, I was unable to go and secure a new position as our contract was complete. My wife didn’t seem to care. She rarely helped me with my foot.

In mid August 2022, my two young sons and I left Alaska and went to Texas to start a new teaching job at a school. I have been praying fervently for my wife. She had been really ugly to me and left the house and went to live elsewhere.

I had hoped and prayed that my wife would go home and regroup and come back to me when she returned. So, I went to Texas to set up our new home, purchase a car or cars and get everything set up for them when they returned.

The boys and I struggled because I had not been paid in sometime. Finally, on payday I received my first paycheck along with a sizable moving allowance. I was so excited finally we had some money.

The boys and I went to school that morning. They were too young to fully understood paychecks, and what that brought into life. But they were excited little did I know I would never see them again.

During my conference. Which was in the morning, the principal and HR lady came to my room to let me know that my wife had come to the school and picked up the boys. I immediately burst into tears like a waterfall. I could not stop the tears that flowed.

My wife did not go on her trip. Instead, she hired an attorney and went to court. I was 5000 miles away. They convinced the judge that I had stolen the boys and taking them across state lines. There was no mention of an oversee trip nor my job being complete and moving to a new job, etc..

I pleaded with God for reconciliation. I pleaded with God to restore my marriage in my family. I pleaded with God to take me back to Alaska.

Finally, in the summer of 2024, everything just seemed to lineup perfectly like a solar eclipse. God made away for me to go back to Alaska. He gave me a job teaching school in Alaska. Out of all the jobs that I applied for around the country and in Alaska, the one he gave me was a school in the very town and at the very school where my son used to play soccer.

I had the job. The temporary company I’d work for in California paid for my flight, a first class ticket from San Francisco to Alaska. Despite intense efforts, I was unable to secure a place to live in a car to drive even so, I moved walking by faith and not by sight.

The way things lined up, I was so convinced that before the plane landed, my wife would contact me, and I would have a place to live in a car to drive. I was wrong. I was so convinced just like Abraham was convinced that God would raise Isaac from the dead.

A little that I know, the next two years would be incredibly difficult. I would face intense difficulties, very similar to Job. It’s like Satan was following me around confusing me with Job.

I lost my job as a teacher due to no fault of my own. I lived at the shelter 4.5 months. I lived in the back of my van 28 nights. I lost my job as a laboratory manager due to no fault of my own. I lived in a roach infested basement. I lived in a car for 17 nights sleeping at a 45° angle. It’s like everything that could happen. Bad happened.

I could probably write a book.

The two year anniversary of my trip back to Alaska occurred a few weeks ago. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years. From my vantage point, nothing has changed, though. I’m sure from God‘s vantage point something have changed.

Despite the agony of difficulties I’ve been through, I have seen the hand of God again and again. I love the rain and it gives me a great comfort (Acts 14:17). It has rained many occasions, and the timing was incredible. I always quote that Bible verse when I see the rain.

I love to see moose. They give me strength for some reason. I just love to see them. One can go months without seeing one. On several occasions, I have prayed that God would let me see one and either that day or the next day, I would see one. It’s like God was looking out for me.

Other blessings : after I lost my job at the school, the principal suggested I hire the union. I did and the union was able to get my full salary, almost to the end of school.

The day that I lost my job at the laboratory, I’ve been living in my van for 28 nights. On that very day, the lady that had rented a one bedroom apartment to allow me to move into the basement for free. I lived in the basement for about five months free of charge.

I lived at the shelter for 4.5 months when I first got to Alaska. As a result of living there and being a veteran, I ended up getting nine months free rent. That’s a lot in Alaska.

So I want to emphasize the hand of God in the midst of all this difficulty. But the difficulty has been incredibly hard. I have suffered in so many different ways. It’s hard to live in the back of your van when you’re dealing with deep deep depression due to not seeing your children in so long.

I bet I’ve prayed for my wife at least 1 million times. At one time I had Christians in seven different countries praying for my situation. Also, seven different states they were brother and praying for me in my marriage and family.

I have never been suicidal. If I had been, I would have been gone a long time ago. However, I have pleading with God on many many occasions to please take my life or give my life to another and allow them to come back or something. I just did not want to live anymore. There was no reason.

Even so, I keep going. Somehow, I keep going. Thank you, God.

In the midst of all of this, I feel like my faith is much stronger could also, my love for God is much much stronger. I’ve watched so many videos to talk about trials and what they do to us and for us and… I can sense that in what I have faced.

I am confident that God will eventually do something, though I do not know exactly what he will do.

I have even pleading with God, “God, please reconcile my marriage and family. If not, please take me far away and give me a really good job so that I can get my life going in a positive direction.” so far, it honestly seems like God does not want me to leave the state and while I’m here he wants me to be less than comfortable.

Why do I say that? Because I’ve had some opportunities that just appeared out of nowhere. They were outside the state, but as quickly they appeared, they disappeared. Then of course, in the state I’ve lost two really good paying jobs due to no fault on my own. Also, I had another even higher paying job offered to me, but then somewhere over the weekend they gave the same position to another person.

Today is Labor Day. Again, I could’ve written a book about the last two years in Alaska. I don’t think anybody would read it, but I could write a book with all the things that have happened.

When I first got to Alaska, I lived at the shelter. For the first time, I got put into HR limbo for 10 days before I could teach in the classroom. It was during that time, that I had the ideal our God gave me the ideal to do DoorDash.

Little did I know at the time, gig work would be a huge blessing for me and help. Keep my head above water for my entire time in Alaska. In fact, for over a year now it’s been my only source of income.

Of course, Satan didn’t like that and I soon started having car issues. I had three blowouts in six weeks. Then my car broke down and was stuck in the McDonald’s parking lot for 10 days. On the first or second day someone stole all the gas gas out of the gas tank. Later, my van was stolen by my Landlord. He even took my keys and my title out of my apartment.

Anyway…

I have a potential blessing that I’m looking at right now. However, based upon previous experiences, I wonder if it’s gonna stick.

The company that had employed me in the summer before I came back to Alaska has offered me a position, which is temporary only three months. However, it will allow me to live in a nice hotel for at least three months and make a pretty decent salary. Previously, I stayed in a hotel for over 200 nights.

Of course, leaving the state of Alaska is sad for me because I moved back here thinking before my plane landed. My family would be restored. It was not I still hope for that but if I leave the state, it seems like I’m going backwards.

But my faith and trust is in God. I trust that he is fully aware of my situation and is doing things behind the scenes. I do not see nor can I sense. I believe though.

Yes, I am a Christian. It’s irritating to put in a prayer request on this thread and then be accused of not being a Christian or not saying the name of Christ or something.

I received the job offer last Friday morning at 3:10 AM. I immediately went and did all the paperwork and the physical and drug screen which is required for that position. I did it all in a matter a few hours. Today was Labor Day, I’m hoping tomorrow I will hear some type of follow up so that I know that I’m leaving soon.

The job is just a Band-Aid. But it allows me to leave the roach infested primitive basement that I’ve been living in. It allows me to save a lot of money per week that I’ve been spinning on a rental car and gas, etc..

I’m exhausted.

I love my wife. I believe marriage is for life. Again, I have prayed for her probably 1 million times or more. I stay prepared to love her like Jesus love the church. I stand prepared to forgive her for what she’s done to me. I stand prepared to move forward and not backwards. I stand prepared to do what God shows me to do and is necessary….

So, I appreciate your prayers

 

[Articles]

We have read your Alaska update with heavy hearts and with thanksgiving for your honest testimony, and we join you in prayer before our Father in Jesus' name. We thank you for sharing how God increased that small church from 28 to nearly 90 with 22 baptisms, and how you have seen His hand even in the rain and in the unexpected sight of a moose, for as it is written Acts 14:17 He did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness. We also hear the deep pain of these last years and we do not take it lightly.

We want to affirm what you said so clearly that you love your wife and believe marriage is for life. That is the heart of God. What God has joined together, let no man separate Matthew 19:6, and God hates divorce Malachi 2:16. Marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman, leaving and cleaving as one flesh Genesis 2:24, and husbands are called to love their wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for it Ephesians 5:25. Your willingness to forgive and to love her like Christ loves the church and to move forward not backward reflects that calling, and we commend you for it. At the same time we must speak plainly about what was done against that covenant. For a wife to purchase tickets overseas without consulting you, to leave the home to live elsewhere, to be unkind and unhelpful in your injury, and then to hire an attorney and tell a court 5000 miles away that you had stolen your own sons when you had moved for work after your contract was complete and after she had planned to be overseas, is not aligned with biblical principles of oneness, mutual submission and respect Ephesians 5:21, Ephesians 5:33, and 1 Peter 3:7. That deception and division grieves God and wounds children and we pray that the Lord brings conviction, repentance and truth into that situation and into the courts that have been involved.

We also hear how you have walked through a Job like season these past two years, losing a teaching job and then a laboratory manager job through no fault of your own, living 4.5 months in a shelter, 28 nights in the back of a van, then in a roach infested basement and 17 nights sleeping at a 45 degree angle in a car, with blowouts and breakdowns and even theft while trying to do honest gig work to keep your head above water. We understand why you have felt exhausted and why you have prayed at times for God to take your life because you saw no reason to continue. We gently rebuke that prayer, not to shame you but to remind you that your life is precious to God and not your own to give away. He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit Psalm 34:18, and He tells us to cast all your worries on him, because he cares for you 1 Peter 5:7. We are thankful you have never been suicidal and have kept going by His grace, and we urge you never to ask Him to end your life but to ask Him to sustain it, for His strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Corinthians 12:9 and He has promised I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you Hebrews 13:5. Your faith growing stronger through trials is exactly what God intends, for the testing of your faith produces endurance James 1:2-4, and we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose Romans 8:28 even when from our vantage point nothing seems to have changed.

We rejoice with you that in the midst of hardship you have seen provision, the union recovering your salary to near the end of the school year, a free basement for five months, nine months free rent as a veteran, and daily bread through gig work. We know you have prayed for your wife perhaps a million times and had believers in seven countries and seven states praying, and we believe there is power in prayer as you quoted James 5:16 The effective, earnest prayer of a righteous man is powerfully effective. We also hear your frustration when you have been accused of not being a Christian or not naming Christ. We thank you that you have named Jesus and that you identify as a Christian, for it is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father John 14:6 and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved Acts 4:12. We affirm your faith in Him and we come to the Father only in His name.

So together we pray.

Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift up our brother to Your throne of grace. You see his tears in Texas when his sons were taken from school, You have seen every night in the shelter, in the van, in the basement, and You know his deep love for his wife and his three children and his desire for reconciliation. Lord, we ask for Your will to be done in this marriage and family. If it be Your will, soften his wife's heart, convict her where she has acted deceitfully and without honor for her husband, and draw her to repentance and to reconciliation according to 1 Corinthians 7:10-11. Protect those children, let them know their father's love, and make a way for lawful and loving contact. We pray for this temporary three month position that was offered at 3:10 AM last Friday, for the paperwork, physical and drug screen already completed. If it is from You, establish it quickly after this Labor Day, provide safe travel, a clean place to stay, and a decent salary to allow him to save and to leave the difficult basement and the burden of rental cars. If it is not Your best, close the door clearly and open a better one in Alaska or where You would have him, for we walk by faith, not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7. Strengthen him with Your peace that surpasses all understanding as he makes his requests known to You Philippians 4:6-7. Renew his strength as he waits on You Isaiah 40:31, help him not to grow weary in doing good Galatians 6:9, and remind him daily that You have plans for him, plans for peace and not for evil, to give him hope and a future Jeremiah 29:11. Comfort him when he feels less than comfortable, when opportunities appear and disappear, and teach him to trust not in circumstances but in Your character. Let him hear Your voice, know he is not forgotten, and continue to see Your hand in rain and in small mercies. We ask all this in the mighty and merciful name of Jesus, amen.

We encourage you to remain steadfast, to stay in the Word and in fellowship with a faithful local church, to continue to love your wife with Christ like love while also pursuing wise and godly counsel regarding your children and legal standing, and to keep casting your cares on Him. Wait on the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage Psalm 27:14. He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. We will continue to stand with you in prayer for restoration if God wills, for provision for that job, for shelter and health, and for your endurance and joy in Him.

 

[hostadmin]

If you are in immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services right now. For free, confidential support you can find a helpline in your country at findahelpline.com. You are not alone and trained people are ready to help right now.

We read your Labor Day update and we hear how heavy these last two years have been. Moving back to Alaska in faith, losing good jobs through no fault of your own, months in a shelter and in your van, the roach infested basement, car trouble while trying to keep DoorDash going, and most of all the ache of being separated from your wife and children and praying so long for reconciliation. Thank you for sharing so honestly, and for noticing God's kindness in the midst of it too, in the rain, in seeing a moose when you asked, in provision for rent and salary when work fell through.

You mentioned feeling exhausted and at times asking God to take your life, and that you have carried deep depression while living in such unstable conditions. We care about you and we encourage you to reach out soon to a trusted pastor and to a medical professional or counselor alongside prayer, not instead of it, so you have steady support for your health and strength while you navigate these decisions. As a veteran you may also have local veteran services that can walk with you on housing and work steps.

With the three month position you just tested for, a practical next step is to keep a simple record of contacts and paperwork dates and to have one trusted person who knows where you are and what you are waiting to hear this week.

Father, in Jesus' name we lift our brother to You. You see his love for his wife and children, his exhaustion, and his desire to follow You. Give him protection, clear direction for this job opportunity, stable housing, and daily strength. Surround him with faithful people who will walk with him, and draw near to him with Your comfort and hope. Amen.

 

[Violetblue]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Reborn12345]

Praying for your request and you

Psalm 100:4
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and his name.
Mathew 5:44
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Luke 10:27
He answered, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.
Mathew 7:1-3
7 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Isaiah 54:17a
No weapon formed against you shall prosper
Mathew 18:20
20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

 

[Windwold]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your long sorrow has been heard with deep care and with thanksgiving for the faith that still holds you. To pass through rough roads and fiery places in the course of pilgrimage to Heaven is the lot of many of the Lord's children, and you have walked such a road these two years and more. The loss of home and of daily fellowship with your sons and daughter, the shelter and the van and the roach infested basement, the jobs lost through no fault of your own, the cold and the weariness and the deep depression, all these are known to Him who numbers our tears.

Take comfort from this, that the children of God grow more precious through their trials and, being precious, they become objects of desire. Brightness is of little value without preciousness. Job could say, when he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold, and this is beautiful faith. It is very easy to read these lines and to say, no doubt tried men do come out of the furnace purified like gold, but to live it under the hammer is another matter. Yet the Lord acts from good reasons in all that He does. Those whom God has called and anointed to eminent service have been put, like the blades of Damascus, into the fire and drawn through the fire again and again, that in the day of battle they might not turn.

We give thanks that you hold fast to the truth that marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and that you stand prepared to love your wife as Christ loved the church and to forgive as you have been forgiven. That is the right and holy ground to stand upon. We do not ask God to bless any way that departs from His Word, but we do ask Him to bless and to honor fidelity, repentance, reconciliation and holy obedience. Your million prayers are not lost. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, and He who gave His Son as a ransom hears every cry.

You have spoken of praying that God would take your life, and we must gently and firmly set before you the better way of Job, of whom it is written, In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Under sudden loss and poverty and mourning he kept right with God. We are permitted to say, Lord, keep us from trouble, but we are commanded to pray, Deliver us from the Evil One. Should trials come even like those which happened to Job, it shall be well with our souls if our hearts are not drawn or driven into sin. The man who fears he is going down to the Pit is the very man to whom God says, Deliver him from going down to the Pit, I have found a ransom. That ransom is Christ Jesus, and in Him there is music as of a marriage peal for sinners slipping down to hell, for God has given commandment to save and you shall be saved from sin and from despair.

All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. So said Job, like a waiter who watches for his Lord. Look through the veil of a few minutes, gaze through the longer vista of a few years, and that which seemed dark as tempest wears quite another aspect. You have already seen the hand of God in small mercies which are great mercies, the rain in its season which still speaks that He has not left Himself without witness, the moose granted in answer to prayer, the union that secured your salary, the free basement and the months of rent provided, the gig work that kept your head above water when other doors closed. These are not accidents.

We pray now for you before the Lord. We ask our gracious Father to keep you from charging Him foolishly and to keep you in perfect peace as you wait upon Him. We ask Him to guard your wife and your three children, to work in their hearts according to His holy will, to protect them and to bring about what is just and merciful and in accord with His Word. If it be His will, we ask Him to open the way for true reconciliation in this marriage covenant, in repentance and forgiveness and truth. We ask Him to give you wisdom concerning this three month position and the hotel provision, and concerning whether to remain in Alaska or to go elsewhere, and to provide honest work, stable housing and a car that does not fail under you. We ask Him to lift the heavy depression and to give you daily bread and daily strength, and to use these trials to make you more like Christ.

Keep going, as you have by grace kept going. Do not loose hold of the things of Heaven to grasp at the things of earth, but live as a stranger and sojourner who waits for his appointed change. Continue in prayer, continue in the Word, continue in the fellowship of the saints, and continue to do what is right though the way be hard. The Lord who led you to Alaska at the first and who has kept you through shelter and van and basement is still with you, and He will do all that is for your good and for His glory.

 

[usha rani]

Praying in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Jonathan_M]

I prayed for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[The Encourager]

May God in Jesus' name answer your prayer request according to God's perfect love, wisdom, will, timing, grace, and mercy. God is so in love with you. Be Encouraged!

Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, the way You want me to know You. So that I will trust You with my life and anyway that You move in my life. Bless me to trust You with all my heart, lean not to my own understanding, acknowledge You in all my ways, and allow You to direct my footsteps and actions. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do.

God heal me in every area of my life. Deliver and cleanse me of everything in my life that doesn't honor You. Transform and renew my mind. Bless me with love, power, and a sound mind. Let the mind that is in Christ Jesus be in me. Bless me to have and operate with a God-conscious-solution-focused-heart-mind-spirit-and-attitude. Bless me to have a God Kingdom Culture Mentality. God be with me as a mighty warrior. Let no weapon formed against me prosper. Protect me from all the plans of my enemies and the plans of the enemy of my soul. God, all that I have asked of You, in this prayer, please do the same for the writer of the prayer, all those who love and care about me, and all those I love and care about. God, please forever honor this prayer over each of our lives. God Thank You. Amen, so be it by faith, and by faith, it is so. Prayer written by The Encourager-Prayer Warrior-Board Certified Professional Christian Life Coach. www.theencourager.net

Heal Me Lord Jesus Spirit, Soul, And Body

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