Elder Neil Biloff and wife Jacquie spent most of their first 20 years of 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 yea
rs, Neil accepted a position as Sabbath school secretary and family life director in 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 w
ho had lost their license. Not long before moving to the Dakotas 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 retire 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.
Jodi Dossenko is communication director for the Dakota Conference.
