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A "NORTHERN
LIGHTS" MAGAZINE ARTICLE
(from Issue #509)
NEVER THE SAME
A youth
team leader tells of summer ministry in Canada's Sub-Arctic
by Wally Bidwell
We're
back! After a 14-hour journey by air and road, we arrived back
from Kuujjuaraapik last night at 11:30. Our one-week mission trip was
filled with many personal surprises and blessings for all of us. All
12 of us grew spiritually during this adventure into Canada's
sub-Arctic along the coast of Hudson Bay.
We learned about the Inuit
people, especially the children and youth. We also learned a great
deal about ourselves and, most importantly, we learned a great deal
about our Lord Jesus Christ and His power to do wonderful things in
the lives of His people!
On the way back, Sally and
I were talking about being humbled through this experience. We've been
changed, and I know that the lives of our accompanying youth have
changed as well. Missions is a real opportunity for individuals to
grow spiritually! A couple of our youth told me that they think God
sent them on this trip so that He could work on them.
What impressed me the most
about this trip was seeing our youth connecting with the local
children, hugging them, showing them love, working with them
one-on-one.
The Inuit children loved
them back and took every opportunity to be with them. Besides our VBS --
held every afternoon -- our youth also took it upon themselves to go
to the local gym to play hockey and volleyball with the Inuit teens,
and made some good friends. After presenting a very effective drama to
them at the gym (their own idea!) about Christ's love, they were able
to talk to some of these youth about their faith. The response was
positive and very encouraging for our youth. For some of them, this
was their first experience in evangelism.
Our youth have become
closer and more enthusiastic about their faith. To hear them pray
during this trip was totally amazing -- the sincerity and the love
expressed in their words. They want to stay connected and work on
their faith within our youth group this fall and winter and -- if God
wills it -- return to Kuujjuaraapik.
We had two wonderful host
families, David & Joanna Bouck, the sponsoring missionaries, and
Alain & Minnie Girard. Their hospitality was beyond what we could
have imagined and they really welcomed us into their lives. David is a
gifted teacher and, in our daily devotions from Ephesians 6, really
opened up to our youth about how to guard themselves from attacks on
their faith.
Alain, a relatively new
Christian who came from a very troublesome background, spent every
opportunity to talk to our youth about the power of God in changing
lives, and the power of the devil in destroying them. Both were very
honest in opening our eyes to the reality of life in the North, and
what goes on in the lives of the children that we were ministering to.
Our other experiences
included eating caribou, goose, and freshly caught lake trout;
swimming in Hudson Bay (yes, swimming with ice floating out in the
distance!); traveling up rocky terrain to a remote camp on
four-wheelers; firing a rifle ... and experiencing how bad black flies
can be in the sub-Arctic when you get away from the protection of the
wind!
We appreciated very much
the prayers and support we received during the preparation and
carrying out of this short-term mission trip. Without those prayers,
it would not have happened. Our youth have seen the power of the Holy
Spirit in keeping away the evil one during this trip.
We learned that
Kuujjuaraapik is a community that, at this time, is open to evil
influence. The Boucks were impressed by how resistance to our work was
kept at bay during our time there. There were attempts to resist what
we were doing, but they were met with failure. We believe that it was
the prayers of God's people that made this so!
Now back home, we plan to have a
special presentation of our trip at the Youth Centre this fall. We
will show pictures, perform drama, and our youth will talk about their
experiences and how God has changed their lives as a result of this
trip. Also, our youth bulletin board at BFA will be filled with
pictures about our mission trip. And I'm sure our youths' (internet)
Facebook pages are filled with photos. I don't think our youth
meetings will ever be the same.
 Missionaries
David & Joanna Bouck (pictured here) hosted this team from Bible
Fellowship Assembly, South Porcupine (Timmins), ON. The Boucks
themselves have been hosted by families from this same church while
waiting for flying weather on their way to Kuujjuaraapik, QC.
WANT TO
SERVE SHORT-TERM?
Short-term workers
complement the ministries of our career missionaries. We have
short-term opportunities for individuals & teams year-round.
Please call or write us.
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