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A "NORTHERN
LIGHTS" MAGAZINE ARTICLE
(from Issue #500)
TIME to RETURN
Relationships
Renewed Through Resumed Visits
 "They
had plans to leave today," David Kanakakeesic explains to the
gathering, "but I want to thank them for staying for another service
tonight."
With that NCEM associate Cliff
Bird is welcomed to the platform to preach. His ministry partner/pilot,
Gary Brown, sits among the folks gathered at Weagamow Evangelical
Fellowship.
If you're a Northern Lights
reader from earlier years, Weagamow (Round Lake) will sound familiar. So
will Garden Hill (Island Lake), Red Sucker Lake, Gods Narrows, Gods River,
Sachigo, and Shamattawa.
These are communities in
northeast Manitoba and northwest Ontario where NCEM missionaries served
beginning in the 1950s. The Lord blessed their efforts and in some of
these places significant numbers were saved, leaders trained and churches
established, joining the Native Evangelical Fellowship (NEFC).
Even though these churches
have been organizationally independent of NCEM for many years, there's
still a special connection with our Mission. The oldest believers remember
visits from NCEM cofounder Stan Collie and Native evangelist, Tommy
Francis (who later cofounded NEFC). In fact these two men led some of them
to the Lord.
So if you're in the area, and
you're with NCEM, you'll get asked about the well-being of retired
pilot/field director, Ed Hickey, about Bible Education facilitators, Joe
& Helen Pope, and about other missionaries they remember.
We shouldn't be surprised they're
still asking. While church planting involves transition of responsibility
and leadership, there's another dynamic to consider: Native people's
understanding of relationships -- real relationships are more permanent.
Unfortunately, for various
reasons, our Mission hasn't spent as much time with our Christian brothers
and sisters in these parts the last decade or two. We're happy to report,
though, that our relationship is being renewed through visits initiated by
Gary Brown in the last year or so. With their open invitation, we hope to
resume regular team trips, at least twice yearly. In July NCEM Director
Albert Heal is speaking at a Weagamow Fellowship conference.
So what about these recent
visits, and our plans for more? What are we hoping to accomplish?
"Encouragement is number
one," says Gary, who is familiar with these communities, having flown
missionaries and Native evangelists throughout the region in years past.
"They want us to come for the simple reason that it encourages them.
You might not fully appreciate that unless you're a believer living in a
remote community."
Bible teaching is a part of
each trip, and so is evangelism. These communities may have churches, but
there are still many unsaved. The churches seem to be particularly
challenged in reaching even their own youth.
And speaking of youth, though
it didn't extend as far east as Weagamow, a trip by road in March included
six teens/young adults, most of them missionary kids. "What a
blessing!" says Gary. "We adults came home revitalized by their
enthusiasm. The long winter ice roads seemed to fly by with all the
singing, praying, Scripture and laughing."
Cliff Bird, who recently
joined NCEM as an associate, isn't surprised that these nonNative youth
are made very welcome. Even if they're unfamiliar with local culture,
their humility and love for others will speak volumes, he says. On this
trip the MKs visited Oxford House, Norway House, and The Pas, three
communities with NCEM missionaries, but with great potential for more
youth outreach.
Another hope for these trips
is to get more Native Christians coming along, and not necessarily NCEMers.
Besides the communities with churches, there are also places like Muskrat
Dam (ON) that have only in recent years been open to visits from
evangelicals.
What are the challenges in
these visits and how can we pray?
"There's potential for
more youth teams," says Gary, "but we need team leaders."
Flying a large team with our small aircraft is not too practical, but we've
been invited to many places accessible by winter road.
The believers in these communities face big
challenges. We believe NCEM should do what we can ... but it's certainly
not one-sided. As the team reported from Sachigo last winter, "We
stopped in to encourage Jack Barkman (local believer), and returned
encouraged ourselves, knowing we'd met with a man of God!"
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