And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. Luke 9:5
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| The highway to Gingolx (Kincolith) |
I hope that would never happen to me. To be
that guy who is told to leave because no one is willing to receive the gospel
message.
I was waiting to receive word on whether I
would be able to meet with our community contacts in Kincolith. In anticipation that my phone would ring, I
drove slowly to the community. As it turned out, our contacts happened to be
attending a funeral in Prince Rupert and were due back later in the day. As I approached a community close to
Kincolith, Greenville, the thought of stopping in to introduce myself and the
ministry of LAMP occurred to me. But,
another part of me wondered, “Would I be accepted or be told, no thanks!” and
have to shake off the spring mud from my boots.
I said a quick prayer and headed into the
Greenville band office. The receptionist was very friendly as I introduced
myself. She then paused and looked at her desk. My heart sank, Oh no, here it
comes, I thought, she’s going to say no thank-you.
“I’m trying to see who is here that you could
talk to,” she responded. I relaxed and waited
briefly before the staff memmber came out to greet me. We walked back to her office where
I re-introduced myself and explained about our LAMP VBS. She thought that it was a great program and
asked if we had activities such as archery and horseback riding, etc. Again,
not sure how I would be received, I clarified, “Actually, we come into the community
and teach about Jesus through crafts, games and storytelling.”
“Wow, really and what does this cost?” she asked.
I explained that there was no cost, we just ask the communities to
provide a space to teach and a place for the mission team to stay. Excited at
the possibility, the staff memeber mentioned that they had a newer church the team could
use and apartments that the team could stay in. Here’s where the story takes a
turn.
No, I wasn’t kicked out, and I kept my boots
on. I wish I could have said that we would have a church team coming this
summer to teach the children. The truth of the matter is we don’t have enough
churches to fill all the communities LAMP used to serve, let alone any new
ones. Reluctantly, I had to inform
Pamela that we currently did not have a team available but were hopeful it
would be a possibility in the future.
As I drove back to where I was staying, there
was a mix of emotions inside of me. I wasn’t able to meet with the contacts in
Kincolith, but I had an excellent unplanned visit with a new community. On the one hand, I am excited for the possibility
of a new team coming in to serve and, on the other hand, saddened that we can’t
fill that community’s need yet. Please pray that God will make a way and raise
up more mission teams to fulfill the need.
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| Gitsegukla School |
The rest of my trip that week in B.C. went
very well. All of the community arrangements have been made for the summer and
VBS posters were dropped off for advertising. Part of my trip I was able to help with a field trip fundraiser at Gitsegukla school. I was also able to spend time with Jarvis in Gitanyow and attend Bart's church where he and Korin lead the worship music. I was eventually able to reach
our community contacts in Kincolith, and everything is set for a new team to
come in. Please pray for all the teams as they get ready to share the gospel
message this summer.
