Update 3 - Chris and Cheryl

Chris and Cheryl (and their family) are serving in the Dominican Republic for the summer.

Hello again from the Dominican Republic.

Thank you all for your prayers for our safety during tropical storm Chantal. Chantal never did make it to hurricane status and went around to the south side of the island. We got quite a bit of rain, some thunder and lightning and some wind but it was very minor here. It was enough of a storm to cancel classes for one day and the weather did cool off to where it was actually quite comfortable for us. The people here thought it was cold but we were enjoying the cooler temperatures. On the south side of the island they did experience some flooding due to the heavy rains. Please pray for the people that were effected by the flooding.

I also want to thank you all for your prayers for God to provide a new translator for our class. Pastor James Tunnicliffe stepped in to translate on Monday and we had a new translator start on Tuesday. If he works out well he will be available to translate until we leave in September. I have had a number of people asking me if I would be teaching this class again after September. So far that is not on the schedule but we would appreciate your prayers in this matter as well. We do not know what Gods plans are for us after this so your prayers for clear direction are needed.

The classes are going very well and the attendance keeps increasing. I was told that usually after the first week some people tend to drop out and stop coming but so far that has not been the case.
God is providing everything that we have needed to do this course as we go along and the people here are really excited about it.

Jacolyn and Jennifer have been having some health issues here like ear infections and some minor stomach problems. Your continued prayer for physical, emotional and spiritual health are both needed and appreciated.

Jacolyn has been working in the village along side Pastor Jim's wife (Debra) with getting some long over due clean up done in the offices and helping her with some shopping for supplies.

Cheryl has been busy with tending to the health needs of Jennifer. This has been her priority for the past week again. She has been in the village giving the custodian in the schools some much needed guidance in proper work procedures and ethics. She has also been working with preparing food portions for the feeding programs.
Now she will also be helping with preparing the children's church and the supplies for a DVBS program.

Mostly we are doing well and are confident that God will give us the strength that we need to do the work that He has called us to do here.

  Thank you again for all your prayers and support.

  Chris, Cheryl, Jacolyn and Jennifer Peters

Week 9 - Update from Travis

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is the week 9 update:

I am seeing the prevalence of the Word of Faith movement more in the North the more I am here. I met recently with a man from Cormorant and in a conversation about the Holy Spirit with him and I noticed several tenets of the Word of Faith movement in his theology. A problem with isolated communities is that when there is no solid Bible teaching church to go to, many people look to the television for their Bible teaching, often with disastrous results. They do it because there is no other option. Folks that cannot travel to a larger community for church are left with the feel good but malnourishing spiritual "food" on TV. The Word of Faith movement represents teachers such as Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, John Hagee and Joel Osteen.

 This week I learned that things that bring out the worst in me are not bad. They are good. If circumstances in my life did not challenge  me to strive for Christian living then I would not be growing as a believer. I am speaking about past events at school and not in the Pas, but I am learning more about how God has worked in my life and is working to sanctify me and it is very exciting!

This week a woman that has been struggling with liver failure went home to be with the Lord. Thankfully she went quietly and peacefully and now she is in glory. We can celebrate that she walked with God and with hope many more folks, including her husband, will come to know God through her life.

I am glad to report that I was able to talk deeper with a fellow from Cormorant and pray he will come to the Lord yet this summer. I have found that folks do not mind so much that I am a Christian and so I hope to shine brightly and present the gospel to them at the right time and to continue to speak about spiritual things with them as they ask. Pray for my connections in Cormorant that fruit would grow!!

-Travis Harms

Success of a worship service?

Is it success if a worship team sounds great but the congregation does not sing?

Is it success if a worship team sounds terrible but the congregation sings?

Of course ideally we want both.
But if I have to choose I would choose the congregation singing.

Update 2 - Chris and Cheryl

Chris and Cheryl (and their family) are serving in the Dominican Republic for the summer.

Well I finished my first week of teaching in the college. I have about 15 students in the two classes combined, (it seems to change daily). They range in age from 15-40 years old with the average at about 25. It has been a challenge to explain things first to my translator and then have him explain it to the class. This week I have been teaching basic engine design and fundamentals as well as some carburettor and fuel injection principles. I have been encouraging the guys to ask lots of questions so I can get an idea where they are at. The intelligence level is quite high but the there is a large variation in their knowledge level. I had one of the students ask me "what is a magnet?" when I started to introduce some ignition system theory. With the help of my translator we were able to explain what a magnet is so that he and the rest of the class had a good understanding.
 We have been starting each class with prayer and I have had no problem getting other guys to take a turn at praying. One of my afternoon classes got of to a bit of a frenzied start with people coming in at various times and we forgot to open with prayer. When I dismissed the class for the day one of my students said that no one was allowed to leave until he prayed for the class as we did not open with prayer. I was very humbled and encouraged by this.
  We have been faced with another challenge at the end of this week in that due to personal reasons our translator quit and we need to find another one to start Monday morning. Your prayers for God to provide a new translator are much needed and appreciated.
 Cheryl has been off to a bit of a rough start. Jennifer had an ear infection in her right ear with a fever and a lot of pain. We think it was caused by getting water into her ear (swimmers ear). We just got over that then her left ear did the same thing. With the pain and the fever she was just not happy at all and said she wanted to go home several times. This has been hard for Cheryl as she is Mom and usually Mom is what the children want when they are ill. Along with Jennifer being sick there is the culture shock and the changes in how we need to do things here. Everything is different from the way we do laundry to the way we wash and prepare food to the way we get drinking water for the house etc.
  We have been very encourage by our many missionary friends here. With out their experience and knowledge to draw from it would be much more difficult.
  The public transportation system here is much different than at home but we did manage to figure it out. I found a GuaGua (van) that picks us up close to our house (a 10 minute walk) and drops us of right in front of the college where I am teaching. It also picks us up there and brings us back in the evening. It is about a 15 minute drive so it takes about 1/2 hr from when we leave the house until we are there (if the bus is on time). It only costs us 100 pesos ($2.50) each way for the four of us.
  Could you please pray for complete healing for Jennifer's ears, continued health for all of us and for contentment and wisdom for us as we deal with the cultural differences and serve here?
Thank you and God Bless
Chris and Cheryl Peters

Singing

I love to sing in church.  Not up front (my voice is not the best).  As part of the congregation I love to sing.

There is something significant, powerful about standing with others and singing praise to God.

On a normal Sunday in the congregation there are some people I know and some are strangers.  But we stand united, singing the same words.

New songs are fantastic.  Just not too many on a Sunday because I want to sing not just listen.

Week 8 - Update from Travis

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is the week 8 update:

My last visit to Cormorant was good in that it opened up opportunities for more visits. I got to know two new people in the community and I hope that I can especially connect with the one guy more in the coming weeks.

An issue in the town of Cormorant that I am seeing more and more is the sheer boredom. People there have next to nothing to do and kids are bored. There is vandalism and lots of break-ins there and the majority of them are because the youth in town are bored. I want to know what I can say or do for people that have nothing to do. Many people work outside of Cormorant in the mines or in the Pas. Boredom for lack of work is a lousy way to live.

Steeprock Bay Bible Camp is under way; the first week of camp started this week and staff training was this weekend. There is a long history there of ministry and because they have been going for 50 some years they are well known. The consistency of Steeprock has been a blessing to them. Keeping them in your prayers would be much appreciated.

While reading a book on Native issues, The Dispossessed, I am learning about some of the stories of people in the local area. I learned part of the Easterville story; about how developments such as hydro dams often ruin trap lines and hunting areas. This is important because one of my contacts from Cormorant is originally from Easterville. I have learned some of the history of the Pas as told from the Native perspective and this information helps me to understand why I see some of the things I do in the community.

Prayer for my visits in Cormorant for the connections I have made and for camp registration would be awesome!!

 -Travis Harms

Update - Chris and Cheryl

Chris and Cheryl (and their family) are serving in the Dominican Republic for the summer.

Hello from the Dominican Republic. We made it here safely without incident, all in all a good experience. When our friend from Toronto area picked us up to stay at her place for the night on Monday she took us to Montana's for supper where we were surprised by several people from the team that we worked with in the DR on our last mission trip in January. It was really nice to connect with them and have supper together. Supper was followed by what seamed to be one of the shortest nights ever. We got to bed at around
11:45 and got up at 4:30 to be at the airport by 6. Our flight took off around 9AM and we got to the DR around 1:30PM. We picked up a few groceries so we could make supper, unpacked a few things and had an early night. We are pretty well settled into our house now.
We were in the village a few times this week to get the small engines class set up and have some orientation.
It looks like I will be teaching 2 classes of 10 men. One in the morning 8:30-12:00 and one in the afternoon 1:30-5:00.
Cheryl has met some of the people that she will be working with and has been given a schedule of what she will be doing. (Out here schedules are often subject to change.) I think we have the public transportation figured out. We will find out on Monday morning as that is when we start using it. Up to this point we have been getting the pastor in the village to pick us up and drive us there. We have been able to work with his schedule up to this point but starting Monday I have to be in the village before 8:00AM for the classes.
Please pray for our health and for wisdom as we minister here.
Thank you and God Bless
Chris and Cheryl Peters

Week 7 - Update from Travis

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is the week 7 update:

During this week I made two visits to Cormorant and I am planning on making another soon. I have gotten to know a young man from Cormorant and I hope to get to know him better. He really likes fishing and I really like fishing so we are good that way. He is also super quiet and not all that open. But I hope that I can hear his story and be a good friend to him. Many in Cormorant are not walking the good path and I believe that he wants to walk the good path but doesn't have many friends into that.

I sometimes wish I was actually living in Cormorant because it would be easier to invite folks over if I actually had a house there. But this is good practice for the future. This maybe the only way to reach out to a village and so I hope to learn well from this experience. Its a frustrating issue but it forces me to be creative.

I was challenged yesterday by the genuine faith of a man Frank Ducharme. He suffers terribly with his back but he loves the Lord. Yesterday while praying he said, "I thank you Lord for who you are". He is just in awe of God. Faith is a simple thing, simply being in awe of God. Frank understands this. Things in life can distract us from God, but it is a beautiful thing to simply be in awe of God.

I have learned a good way to start conversations with random strangers, ask them about fishing or where someone lives. People are will courteously answer your questions.

I also preached last Sunday; I did not feel as though I was very dynamic. Dennis tells me the best way to learn to preach is to preach, so preach I did. He tells me a point I made about not labeling people stuck with him for the day. That is a good encouragement.

I have been doing a lot of work for speaking this summer at camp. Prayer for that would be greatly appreciated. Pray for staff training at Steeprock this weekend and for the summer weeks that are fast approaching!! Pray also for continued open doors in Cormorant to meet new people and connect over spiritual things and that kids from Cormorant would come to camp.

-Travis Harms

Should churches do state weddings?

Found this interesting article on Jesus Creed - (originally here).
By Robin Dugall:

Ok - this is bound to be a bit "controversial" for some of you.  For others, it will be a no-brainer.  I believe it is time to separate the civil and "religious" ceremonies of marriage.  In light of the conversations, issues of civil rights and cultural discourse that has surrounded the issue of marriage for "centuries" (believe me, for you students of history, we are not the only people who have struggled with what marriage means - monogamous, man/woman, polygamy, etc. throughout history), it is time to revisit what some countries already practice - first, have EVERY couple seek a marriage license and a state marriage validation through the civil processes.  Get the Justices of the Peace busy with every wedding sought by people within whatever civil definition prevails.  Secondly, for those couples who would like to have a marriage "blessing" from the church (note that I used the small "c" because there is not even unanimity in opinions about the definition of marriage even among relgious communities), have them seek that wedding blessing from within the definition and faith/belief system to which they adhere.  That way, for those faith communities who believe that marriage IS defined by one woman/one man, these communities can continue to abide by their faith/doctrinal systems and embrace their definition of marraige from within the protection of religious liberty.  In this way, NO MORALITY is imposed on the culture in any manner.  In this way, faith communities can continue to practice what many of us feel is an issue that is non-negotiable, that being, a biblical worldview perspective, a biblical narrative/story perspective on the institution of marriage.  For some of my pals this might be seen as a bit dualistic.  I'm NOT trying to imply a separation of the spiritual and material realms.  I still believe we live in a God-soaked world in which there is NO separtion between the secular and sacred.  God's presence in reality as Ultimate reality implies that there is NO SUCH THING as secular space or pure secular living.  What this DOES DO  is give followers of Jesus an opportunity to practice our faith and celebrate our "culture's" adherance, commitments and obedience to our hermeneutic and application of the biblical story (in regards to human relationships, our understanding of family, marriage, etc.).  I don't think there was EVER an expectation within the biblical story that the faith community would be in agreement with cultural norms.  In fact, there are very clear perspectives throughout holy writ that imply that there WILL BE a differentiation with culture.  So, I think it is time to do this with marriage.  In actuality, I think I'm going to begin some discussions with my friends, faith community and fellow scholars about how this idea may take shape in creative action in the days to come.  In this way as well people of faith can support civil rights and NOT get bogged down by accusations of bigotry or hatred due to the legality of ONE issue.  I have compassion and humility with this issue...I also have strong feelings and long-held beliefs about what Christ followers are supposed to uphold when it comes to sexual and relational ethics.  By splitting the two "realities," we live in the best of both worlds.  So, push back anyone?  

Water tower?

I picture God’s love like a giant water tower.  It is full of love towards me.

However when I fail it is like I open up a tap and let out some of the water out.  Small failures is a sink faucet.  Large failures is a fire hose.

There is a lot of love.  So I don’t have worry about running out.  Right?

But the whole tower seems to have a lot of taps that are leaking (or spraying).  And the water (love) is getting lower and lower.

But possibly God’s love is not like a giant water tower, vast but still limited and slowly getting less and less.
Could his love be a river?
Vast and unlimited.
Always flowing and running.

Late night with the dog

My dog kept me up from 2:30-4:00 am.  Why?  He just wanted to play.

At 3:00 in the morning I took him for a walk hoping that this would calm him down and then he would sleep the rest of the night.

I was not pleased.  I enjoy my sleep.

Why on earth do I have a dog?  My kids finally sleep through the night and I go get a dog.  Am I stupid?  (No need to answer that)

Walking down the street I began to imagine tying my dog up in one of my neighbour’s yards.  A gift.  Very tempting.  But my dog is distinctive so my neighbours would figure out he was mine.  Then I would have to explain.  And still have my dog.

It was at this point that I realized I had a choice.

The night was beautiful.  It was calm.  The town silent.  No cars.  No people.  Just me and my dog.  And the stars.  The stars were breathtaking.  It is only in the dead of the night that the stars truly shine.

A choice.  Continue to whine and complain in my head.  Or enjoy the night.

Can’t do both.  I tried.  Which meant I whined and complained and failed to enjoy the night.

Listen

We hear many things.  Are we listening?
Juilian Treasure – 5 ways to listen better

Week 6 - Update from Travis

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is the week 6 update:

This week I have spent a lot of time planning for Sunday School and also planning a skit to perform along with George Constant and his wife, Janice. The promotional visit to the Cormorant Lake School went very well. There were many kids that came and we had a very good reception. All the kids had lots of fun and they took brochures home; hopefully they will come back and we can send some kids to camp!!

The Bible study at the Umperville church is going very well. It has directly spoken to me recently and we are growing in our walk with the Lord and learning about the Holy Spirit together. I am enjoying the small church community!

I have spent a large chunk of time this week preparing a sermon. Preaching is part of missionary work and I am learning about tailoring a sermon to where the audience is specifically at. My message is on Luke 8:26-39 and could potentially be a touchy subject for someone who believes in traditional religion. That is not where I want to tread but I want to be an encourager to the Umperville Church through sharing the Word.

I would appreciate prayer for one youth in our church, Phil. He was recently diagnosed with diabetes, which was a shock to the family. Hopefully he will adjust well with the necessary lifestyle changes and walk more closely with God through this experience.

Recently I have been learning about faithfulness; the rubber has met the road. There are times when I just want to stay home and not go out into the community. However, that is simply the task to which I have been called. If I am going to have any connection with folks here, staying the task is crucial. Dennis has faithfully lived here for forty years, I can continue to give.

Growing up in the south close to a reserve, the tendency is to focus on the differences between myself and my native friends. Amanda mentioned yesterday that focusing on what we have in common and see them not as native but as friends, does wonders for building relationships with others. She was absolutely right because that is how I used to live.

I still tend to lead as a white man, in a very direct way, the same way that I would lead while at school. This works well for me but the north is spontaneous. I am still learning about how to lead this way. Preparation is still important but things are just far more relaxed here. I suppose I am learning a more relaxed style of leadership.

-Travis Harms

Listen to the Bible

The majority of Christians have been illiterate for most of history.
They could not read the bible.  They had to listen to someone read it.

The bible was probably written with the assumption that it would be primarily listened to, not read.

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Deuteronomy 31:9-13

Listening to the bible is not less spiritual then reading it.

Week 5 - Update from Travis

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is the week 5 update:

Just a very short update for this week: The camp registration for Cormorant will hopefully be taking off soon. A fellow George and I are doing a presentation tomorrow in the school that should get kids thinking about camp and hopefully there will be a good handful of kids coming from Cormorant. So far the reception at the school has been good and so I am praying that tomorrow goes well.

George is also concerned for the youth of OCN and he is starting up a basketball night on Saturday at one of the schools here for the youth and I will also be there. George really hopes to make an impact amongst his family and the reserve as a whole through leading a basketball night.

There is also still some tension amongst some of the young believers concerning the prosperity gospel. Some folks are making great progress in rethinking their theologies but some others are very hesitant to change. I have become very thankful for the good theology that I was raised to know. People tend to change as little as possible and in this case the change could really hurt some people here; so pray that the changes go well!!

-Travis Harms

Gay Marriage

Some interesting thoughts that Greg Boyd has:

Week 4 - Update from Travis

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is the week 4 update:

This last Tuesday I was able to visit Cormorant and I visited the usual circle of folks that I know there. These folks are Barney and Annie Ducharme and Barry and Lynette and Lynette and they have connection to our church.. I have gotten to know a few other folks in the community through the school and Steeprock registration and in that area God is opening doors. Next Friday I am scheduled to go into the school to do a presentation for camp and it will be an effective way to get the word out. However, I have found through word of mouth that not many folks in Cormorant have the resources to send their kids to camp. I just pray that parents in Cormorant will see this as useful and want to send their kids.

However, native folks are friendly and courteous but I really feel like a complete outsider when I visit. To many people I am a visitor, Native people have aloofness about strangers, and they wave but do not go out of their way. But I have found Native folks open up more with complete strangers than the average white man. I have found folks will share their story with a fellow that will listen. However, that said, the reality of time to build trust and to become a member of a community has become a reality to me.

Recently a friend Peter Constant has been introducing friends to a video series that shows the faults of the Word of Faith movement by Justin Peters Ministries. The dangerous thing is that as in my previous post, there are some that have different views of the Holy Spirit but there are also some health and wealth and traces of Word of Faith doctrines amongst believers in The Pas. Peter has been trying to help some of his friends that have been caught up in such, as he also once was. So far the reception has proved well. Pray that it continues to do so as it is shared with more folks in town.

I am learning to see the people that I visit and meet with dignity. I have noticed that folks in Cormorant and reserves in general, do not spend as much on their houses as on their truck, quad, snowmobile and boat. Folk’s houses are just average, some are very nice but most are average. However, many people have nice trucks, quads and boats. How does this apply to dignity? Well it’s just different than what I do. I would probably spend the other way around; but it is not wrong what they do here, just different.

I am learning to ask questions personally about what each person’s story is. I know an older fellow who drinks a lot. Why? What might he have experienced that I know nothing of? What might a residential school or otherwise have done to cause him to drink? There are others that have gone through the same and have healed. Some folks here seem very well off, emotionally, spiritually, financially; how did they grow up, good or bad and how might they have dealt with pain? I know some need to talk about it, some go to traditional religion, some find the Lord. And I pray that people here will find their healing in the Lord.

 

-Travis Harms

Travis Update - Week Three

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is an update:

This week we have heard nothing about the suicide pact. It has not been brought up as of yet. I will take no news as good news.

I spent a few mornings at the soup kitchen and met a fellow from Pukatawagon who apparently I was able to comfort and to put at ease. He mentioned that he was really anxious about getting a job; we discussed residential schools and the harm done in the name of Christianity and we talked about faith also. Good guy, glad to have met him.

A theological issue that is very prevalent in The Pas is the working of the Holy Spirit. There are several churches that are promoting the “second filling” of the Holy Spirit and there are many new believers in this church. A fellow here, Peter Constant who is also a KBI student has been sharing with some of these young believers about what he has learned and he is concerned that they are not deceived or led astray. As Mennonites, the natural tendency has been to exclude the working of the Holy Spirit and we need to admit and repent of our guilt in that area. However, we also need to seek a biblical position of the Spirit; such a position likely includes speaking in tongues but likely also includes quiet promptings and workings within our hearts.

I have been learning that people here somewhat can seem aloof in general life. For example, at a gospel jamboree I sat next to a fellow that I had met at the soup kitchen, we both recognized each other but we did not chat between songs. However, the next time that I saw him he greeted me with a smile. People generally do not make eye contact or face each other when talking. This has taken some getting used to.

Prayer for Steeprock Bay Bible Camp registration in Moose Lake and Cormorant would be appreciated. Also keep a lady Louise who recently lost a son in your prayers. His body was just found in the river and his funeral will be soon.

Update from Travis

Week Two

During this week, three days were spent at the NCEM Central Field Conference in Lumsden, SK. It was a good time to meet others that have spent their lives in Northern ministries and to learn from their experiences and wisdom. It was a blessing to see some of what NCEM is doing and how they are doing it. There was an emphasis on personal holiness and godliness that I really appreciated and inspired me to walk closer with my Lord. After I thanked the gentlemen who shared about holiness he said two very important words, “Apply it”. Holiness means nothing if it is not applied. Godliness is very important for mission work.

Another emphasis from the conference was shared by Florence Flett. She said that methods and programs are all secondary in trying to reach her people. Love is what mattered. Holding the door for someone or smiling and saying hello is what really count. This brings it all back to 1 Cor. 13:1-3; we can do anything but if we do not have love we will get nowhere.

After the conference I met a man in the mall here that was involved in traditional religion. He shared with me many things that I had not known about the historical Cree way of life and what certain things mean. He also said that all religions have the same God. I shared that I was interning as a missionary and he could see that I was not a local, (blond hair). However, he said that openness was the best policy for me to learn. Listening to people’s stories is a good policy; many are willing to share about their lives and what they are going through.

This week we also made it to Cormorant for the first time and I am learning about visitation culture and how they are conducted in the North. I may be going in again on Saturday. I have learned about the history of some who have ministered in Cormorant in the past. I really hope that I can get a Bible study going there. It is very overwhelming because I know very few people there and most people ask, “What is a guy like you doing here?” But God is faithful and He is opening doors to share about camp this summer in the school there and a connection with the recreation director. 

Pray that God would continue to open doors for connections in Cormorant and for getting a Bible study going. Pray also for health; many well known people from the area are sick with cancer and this is a strain on the people here. Pray also for the youth of Opaswayak Cree Nation, there were suicide attempts last week and there still is a suicide pact and people are concerned.

-Travis Harms

Update - Travis Harms

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is an update:

This is my first week in the Pas; on Tuesday I could hardly believe what I was doing in driving myself up to live somewhere I had never been to before with people I did not know and not really knowing all that specifically what I would be doing. This week has consisted of orientation to a new area and a different culture.

During this week I attended a lecture series by Bill Jackson from Thursday night to Sunday morning on the topic of native spirituality and attended the Wednesday night Bible study here at the Riverside Bible Church. I have been blessed to get to know many of the people that live here. Many people came out and I was able to meet some folks from Cormorant, the town I will be visiting during summer, and the regulars of the church.

I was bit by a dog on Thursday when we were doing door to door invitations to the Bill Jackson meetings in our neighborhood. One lady from the church commented to me about the spiritual battle that we are in and I was reminded to “put on the full armor of God”. Taking ground from the enemy will always result in kick back.

I have learned about the importance of building trust and building relationships. It can take a long time to build trust in a reserve. It can take years of community presence to build that trust. The Anderson’s have been serving here since the 1980’s and they have the trust of the people. Relational influence is closely linked to trust. I was able to have some good conversation with a local fellow that has earned the trust of people close to him and how that is lived out in this culture. Integrity is very important, if trust is ever broken it will likely never be recovered in these communities.

Time is required for trust to be built and most people here are not overly friendly or talkative as we would consider in a western culture. However, as Bill Jackson and Amanda have both said “the gospel transcends cultures”. Knowing the people is important but you can always share the gospel and it still is effective. This is good encouragement for me.

I have also learned some about the spiritual realm here. Many houses on Opaskwayak Cree Nation have eagles painted on the outside of their houses. The eagle is a sign of good fortune in this culture.

Next week we are going to the NCEM Central field conference in Lumsden, SK and preparing for Steeprock Bay Bible Camp registration. Pray for open doors in Cormorant and continued building relationships with those in the church and community.