Full Cupboards in Pelican

The Fishes and the Loaves

For three and a half years, my family and I lived in and ministered to the people of Pelican, a small fishing community in South East Alaska. The church had been abandoned for over ten years so we were essentially starting over with both the church building and any sort of congregation. For a time, I was able to find carpentry work at the fish processing plant in town to help pay the bills. Regardless of this work and the occasional work my wife found down at the school, finances were always tight. Most groceries had to be brought in by float plane, and even a gallon of milk cost over seven dollars (this was in 1990).

On our occasional trips into Juneau, we would load totes with groceries and put them on the ferry for the 8 hour trip back into Pelican. Betsy made many things from scratch so we would purchase large bags of flower, rice, beans, and powdered milk (our adult kids today still cannot stand powdered milk). To keep those dry goods 'dry' in the high moisture climate of a coastal Island, we would fill up five-gallon buckets and keep them sealed in a cupboard on a landing of the stairs.

One rainy afternoon Betsy came to me saying that all the buckets were almost empty! We were several weeks away from being able to afford more groceries at that time, and although I was able to catch fish and harvest deer to supplement our grocieries, that did not make up for the lack of other staples. After looking at each other as if saying “what shall we do”, we both knew we had to turn to the one dependable supplier of all our needs. We called the kids together, ages five, seven, and nine, and we all ascended the stairs to the landing to the cupboards that contained the empty buckets. We opened the cupboard and noted that all of the buckets, beans, rice, flour, milk, etc., were within inches of empty.

They say necessity if the mother of invention, and I believe that likewise need is the great motivator of faith. We had a great need that day and we knew we served a Great God. We came together in prayer, laying our hands on the closed cupborad doors and asking the Lord to provide “all our needs" as He always had. Scripture also says “faith without works is dead”. Since we had prayed, now was the time for the works. After praying, we opened the cupboard to see if the Lord had heard and answered our prayer. Each and every bucket, from the most essential staple to the least, was full to the brim. Betsy and I and our three children stood before the cupboard once again witnessing the Lord's faithful provision. Although the Lord had provided for us many times before, no words could express either our gratitude or our amazement.

God is faithful to His promises. We have seen this type of provision numerous times throughout the years. Whether our needs are food, money, building supplies, or even appliances, God has always been true to His word. He has never left “the righteous begging bread”. He has always “supplied all our needs according to HIS riches and glory”.