Ruth DeLacey | The Voice of Zion September 2024 - Featured Article --
George Koivukangas of the Cokato, Minn., congregation has retired after 34 years as an LLC board member. George shares: “I’m so glad God has given me a thankful and joyous mind as I step back from the work of the LLC board. I treasure the many years of fellowship, freedom and unity that have prevailed among the board members. It feels good to see the new God-given gifts that have been added. I feel blessed that God kept me close to the work for so many years. I gained much more than I was able to give.
“I certainly felt the prayers and support of believers throughout those years, especially during the years of spiritual battles.
“This summer’s festive Summer Services felt like a foretaste of Heaven. My heart rejoiced. The encouragement toward the work of God’s kingdom at the Annual Meeting was especially comforting. God is with us and will never leave us.”
Peter Kuopus of Ishpeming, Mich., is retiring from the LLC Board after 12 years of service due to a health situation. “The work has expanded over that time, yet God has called the right people into the work. I am thankful that God’s kingdom is present, and we can be a part of it. The main message in God’s kingdom is the message of the gospel which never changes. I will miss dear brothers and sisters that I have worked with. God has allowed this illness, and I must take time to rest. Amongst Zion there is unity and support for the work. We can trust without fear to continue.”
New LLC Board Members
Matthew Keranen
Nate Maki grew up in the Seattle and Spokane, Wash., congregations. When he was fresh out of high school, his friend told him there’d be a job for him in Alaska. So, Nate went.
Nate is now 39 years old. He and wife Riita have ten children. He works in power line construction and serves in a variety of roles in the Alaska congregation. Recently Nate was nominated to fill a position on the LLC Board of Directors. At the 2024 LLC Annual Meeting, this nomination was approved.
Nate has lived in Alaska for over 20 years. When he moved there, the whole congregation fit in a living room. Since then, God has given much growth. In the early days, everyone had to be involved to allow congregation life to happen. Nate says he had no choice but to teach Sunday school as a teenager when he was asked. He says that those responsibilities helped him grow up.
Today the Alaska congregation has many families and many youth. Nate says that when he and Riita were a young family, they learned of family life from older families. Now it is their turn to serve and guide younger families. It requires more effort to be close-knit with a larger congregation, but through working together on building projects and arranging special services, the congregation remains close.
When Nate was nominated to be an LLC board member, it felt heavy on the one hand, yet he knew he was in the care of the congregation. He’s not sure what all it means to be a board member, but he trusts it will be revealed. He understands that it is good for the Alaska congregation to be connected even in this way to the LLC and to other congregations in the Northwest Mission Area.
Nate trusts that despite the doubts that come when asked to serve in this role, there will be blessings as well. He will be cared for in the middle of the flock. He will serve by discussing the issues that arise and in other duties that are given.
Nate extends thanks to brothers and sisters in faith who remember him and his family in this time. They are grateful for prayers and support.
Steve Laiho comes from Palmer, which is near Ishpeming, Mich. His mother was a believer, and his father was granted grace to repent later in life. He learned of caring for one’s faith life from his mother. She didn’t know Scripture, Steve says, but she used the gospel often.
Steve was a member of the Ishpeming congregation for 51 years. There he and his wife Lois established their home, into which nine boys and nine girls were born. One small boy went to heaven as a 7-month-old.
Today Steve and Lois live in North Dakota, where they are members of the Williston congregation. Of their 17 living children, three still live at home. Their youngest is 15 years old.
Steve says it’s a new stage of life. He still needs to work, he says, and enjoys his work in the oil industry. His wife can get out more after spending 30 years at home. She enjoys visiting their children and grandchildren, of which they’ll have 30 by the end of the year.
Williston is a growing congregation that is working to build their own church facility. They have 150 children in Sunday school, and Steve says that the future of the congregation is bright with so many young ones. As a servant of the Word, he performs many baptisms.
Steve has served his local congregations and area mission work in a variety of roles. Two years ago, he joined the Northwest Mission Area board. When he was nominated to join the LLC Board of Directors, it came as a total surprise. The 2024 LLC Annual Meeting confirmed the nomination, and Steve became an LLC Board member.
Steve shares that he wants to be obedient and serve as asked. He knows there is lots of work to be done and he has seen that there are many willing workers. He recalls advice of Ishpeming elders Dan Rintamaki and Tom Prophet to say yes when asked to serve. Steve wishes to use his own gifts as he is able and to work with those gifts God has given others. He can help his home congregation and the Northwest area stay connected to LLC work. The work comes with blessings, blessings the enemy would want to hide from view.
Steve says many have remembered him with encouraging words and prayers. That, he says, makes it easier to serve willingly.