Updated NEED:

Reason for funds:  Pay off church loan of 500,000

Contact: Pastor Azarias Basamania | [email redacted]

MISSION:

To see the gospel shared to the whole community and beyond. To become the community center, known for being a place of safety, refuge, and a hedge of protection by the Lord Jesus.

Locally: As a beacon to the community by outreach and training.

• Training center
• Youth Leadership and Development
• Small School of Ministry/Vacation Bible Schools
• After School Programs, Tutoring
• Life Skills Training (Shop Classes, Cooking, Sewing, Food Processing)
• Music Lessons

Beyond: Offering inner-city youth from out of state a place to give them a reset. We would teaching them important life skills such as; carpentry, gardening, sewing, cooking, fishing, hunting, and even how to butcher and process meat, etc.

This will be a place where people can come to hear the message of salvation and know who their heavenly father is and how much He loves them. Greetings from Calvary Chapel Bells Flats,

The body of Christ in Kodiak, Alaska is reaching out to share what the Lord is doing up here and how you can be a part of it.

BACKGROUND:

We have been a fellowship of believers for 11 years now. The story is a miraculous story with the Holy Spirit leading each turn, bump, trial and challenge. For the past 9 years the fellowship has been meeting in a lovely little store front in a country community outside the city of Kodiak on Kodiak Island. The storefront was quaint and all we needed. Two years ago, the church began to grow and almost seem to pop at the seams. We began to pray for a larger location. As the body prayed, the Lord began to move. However, not in the way we had planned. Our church was located next to a small general store. Soon after new owners began remodeling the store added liquor. In the state of Alaska, a liquor store cannot move within 200 yards of a church. Therefore, we had to find another alternative and quickly. Nevertheless, our Lord and Savior is sovereign, and His ways and timing are perfect for our good and His glory.

The following verses, and so many more, have been our encouragement and have strengthened our faith as we have waited on the Lord to provide our next meeting place.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.” Psalm 130:5

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

As deadlines began to approach and doors closed Pastor Azarias, our beloved shepherd, began to find himself in prayer continually. What would the move look like? Where will this wonderful fellowship of Christians move to? Is the direction of the ministry going to change?

In February of this year, 2021, as Pastor Azarias was studying for his teaching the following Sunday, the Lord gave a few scriptures that spoke directly to Him concerning the church moving.

“Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.”

Samuel 7: 10-11

As he read those scriptures the Holy Spirit calmed Azarias’ heart reassuring him that there will be a place for the ministry. Not only a place, but a house for the ministry, a home with roots and stability. But as options for a building in the Bells Flats area kept closing, Pastor Azarias began to question whether the ministry should move to the town of Kodiak. Then the Lord spoke to Pastor again.

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones….and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Ezekiel 37:1-10

The Lord was telling us to stay in the valley of Bells Flats, that He wasn’t done with the work here. The spiritually dead would come to life and become an army for the Lord Jesus Christ. Then adversity started popping up the warfare was heavy as Satan was determined to get the church out of the Bells Flats area so he could have his way. Then our faithful heavenly father gave Pastor Azarias another word of encouragement,

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies”. Psalm 23:5

Then the door opened. One day a member of the church offered to ask if the church could temporarily use a space in town until permanent arrangements come available in Bells Flats. Reluctantly Pastor Azarias prayed, “Lord close the door that I would not be tempted to go where You are not leading”.

Within 24 hours the temporary arrangement fell through and the Russian River Lodge opened up.

The Russian River Lodge is an amazing building. It towers three stories high and is 6,000 square feet in size. It is located on 2 acres of flat grass area with a quaint pond and stream in the back. As we look at this property I think about where we were five months ago, all that has changed, and where we will be going. The simple little church in the store front hopes and plans to move into a grand lodge. The possibilities are endless. Pastor Azarias has hopes of using the bottom level for the sanctuary, children’s classrooms, and a small kitchen for the church family to share meals and celebrations together. The second level has a kitchen, general meeting room, and six bedrooms. The plan is to leave these as bedrooms to house missionaries, campers for summer kid’s camps, and students for a school of ministry. The top floor will house Pastor Azarias, his wife, and six children. These specific plans are just beginning plans as the Lord leads and guides each step.

Jesus is coming back soon, let us not grow weary in the race but run. For we will finish well and receive a prize that is eternal.

We are asking you to pray about being a part of this ministry. We are asking you to beseech the Lord as to whether He is asking you to give to help support the purchase of this property.

God Bless You,