DAKOTA

My Lord Owns the Horses on a Thousand Hills

Afew years ago as I was returning home from Wyoming camp meeting at Mills Spring Ranch, I learned of a range fire ripping through my part of the country. There’s always hope that a fire is not too serious or it might go around my land, as if fire would just somehow learn to respect property rights!

I was looking forward to arriving home and relaxing from the camping and the long drive, but judging from the direction and intensity of the smoke it appeared to be somewhere around my well pasture. And it definitely wasn’t under control.

I knew I should try to rescue my three horses in that pasture, so I saddled up my horse Apache and headed for the Cheyenne River with the intent of riding through Indian Canyon, the only access to the pasture from that direction. But when we got there, the whole canyon was engulfed in flames, as was the canyon wall of the river on both sides of the mouth of Indian Canyon.

Apache was terribly nervous, but we were safe across the river from the fire. With no alternative left, I turned it over to the Lord. On the ride home I prayed that He keep the horses safe, and if there was anything else He wanted me to do to make it clear. I modified a camp song to fit the occasion: “Who owns the horses on a thousand hills? Nobody but my Lord!”

That evening I packed some belongings in case of an emergency call in the night to evacuate, since my house sits on the river bottom. The call never came, though, because the fire didn’t jump the river. The next morning we saddled up and headed across high ground to reach the pasture from another direction.

When we were within sight of the well pasture, there were all three horses standing unharmed at the

fence watching for us as if they were expecting us at any moment. Not a hair was singed on any of them, but I couldn’t find a patch of grass in the whole pasture that hadn’t burned! When I threw the gate open the horses followed us out to find new pasture.

God does answer prayer! God does care about His critters! I even considered changing the horses’ names to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Ben Hobbs faithfully attends the Hot Springs Church in South Dakota and is heavily involved in the church’s ministry.

Neil and Jacquie Biloff Retire after 30 Years in Second Careers

Elder Neil and Jacquie Biloff celebrate retiring from their second careers. Neil has been Dakota Conference president for the past 15 years, and Jacquie has worked as Dakota Conference communication director for almost 11 years.

Elder Neil Biloff and his wife Jacquie spent most of their first 20 years of work in the professional world as business owners. But in 1990, at the age of 40, they felt a strong call to ministry. Many miracles corroborated this decision, which led to accepting a pastoral position in Anchorage, Alaska.

Within a few years, Neil accepted a position as Sabbath school secretary and family life director in

Holly Widicker

addition to pastoring. He later became ministerial director for the Alaska Conference. During those years, he was instrumental in building four new churches and a school.

Jacquie renewed her passion for aviation, acquiring additional ratings and becoming chief pilot and director of operations at a flight school, where she taught over 50 people to fly. She also worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to reintegrate those who had lost their license. Not long before moving to the Dakota Conference, she was hired as a commercial pilot for scenic tours, which included glacier landings on Mt. Denali.

In 2005, after 15 years in Alaska, Neil was called to be president of the Dakota Conference. At that time, the office was located in Pierre, South Dakota, where they spent seven years. It was voted to move the conference office to Bismarck, North Dakota, where he and Jacquie have spent the last eight years.

Neil sat for a building contractor license exam in North Dakota and was able to save the conference over $100,000 in the construction of a new conference office building. Under his leadership, a new roof was put on Dakota Adventist Academy and a boat house, boys’ and girls’ cabin, and new cafeteria built at Northern Lights Camp. At Flag Mountain Camp, new metal roofs were placed on the boys’ and girls’ cabins. The lodge received a new roof as well as the painting of the exterior.

The couple retired at the end of September with many fond memories. They plan to spend more time with family, which they moved away from over 30 years ago when they went into ministry.

As told to Jodi Dossenko, communication director for the Dakota Conference.