Ahokas Advent

Stephen Ahokas, a former resident of New Rockford, has authored a Christmas devotional titled, "The Christmas Story As It Will Be Forever Told."

The four-week Advent devotional explores the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ and reveals an often-overlooked connection between Christians and the Jewish people, including their respective traditions and cultures.

Each week dives into a different aspect of the story of Christ, including Passover, the story of Mary and Joseph, the joy surrounding his birth and ultimately his death.

Each of the book's chapters also includes passages of scripture to pray along with and concludes with reflective questions for readers to think on, and those who read the book are sure to be left with a better understanding of Christmas beyond just the legends and presents.

For Ahokas, religion has always played a central role in his life. Long-time New Rockford residents may remember when Stephen's father, Elim Ahokas, was the pastor of the First Congregational Church from 1958-1967.

The Ahokas family has since moved around between locations in Nebraska and Minnesota, and Stephen, who was in the fifth grade when his family left New Rockford, has gone on to build a long and successful career with the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).

He graduated from Ohio State University in 1985 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine, and for 38 years he has worked with the USDA, where he's currently a supervisory public health veterinarian.

Ahokas recently found himself back in New Rockford for a couple of weeks to inspect the North American Bison plant, and took some time while in town to talk about his book with the Transcript.

Ahokas spent countless hours researching and writing the book, which has been available since January 2023, as well as an expanded edition which was released in December.

One pastor who reviewed Ahokas' book wrote, "Steve has put his whole heart into this project. He has relentlessly researched, sought pastoral and critical counsel, and tirelessly created a unique devotional study."

The devotional has also been reviewed by U.S. Review of Books, which has officially given the book its recommendation for reading.

Seeing his work in print was a long time coming, as Ahokas said he's been thinking about the idea behind it for decades.

"It shows the link between Old Testament Judaism and New Testament Christianity," he said. "I've been seeing that picture, the rudiments of it, even from back in vet school ... and one day I realized if I don't write it down nobody's going to see it, so I wrote it down."

And now, Ahokas says he's determined to do more than just write about it.

"I'm getting phone calls every day from literary critics and agents that want to present my book to film producers to make a film adaptation of the book," he said, and added that he's interested in making a thorough documentary, so long as it's done right.

In fact, he said he's "determined" to see his book adapted to film one day.

For now though, it's available to purchase on Amazon, and anyone interested can simply search for the book's title online.

The expanded edition is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperwork or Kindle edition. Ahokas said those interested in a signed copy can give him a call at (701) 212-8757.