I thought he was taller.

            I remember the times that my family would go on a vacation to see my mom’s relatives. A couple of years would have gone by. My cousin would be taller and older looking, but somehow we would just pick up from where we last saw each other as if it was only last week.

Our first in-person staff and board meeting since 2019 was like this. When I walked into the main office in Edmonton, it felt very familiar – the paintings, the smells, and the old binder still being used as a door prop. But the offices had different arrangements. There was one change I hadn’t seen in person, our new executive director, Steve Schave. I thought he was a lot taller. 

Even though we have all seen each other online for the past few years, this was our first in-person staff meeting. After some fun and laughter catching up with everyone, we got down to business. We look forward to a summer with more Vacation Bible Schools in more of the villages LAMP serves.

 There wasn’t much time to rest. The next day was our first in-person board meeting since the fall of 2019! Both the US and the Canadian board gathered in Edmonton with only three directors missing who joined us online. The purpose of this meeting was to put a strategic plan together for the immediate future, three years from now and five-plus years. It was a very productive meeting with great ideas coming from both boards, which included two former LAMP missionaries. The time went by too quickly.

And yet my time in Edmonton wasn’t done. Tyler Steele joined me to meet up with two different teams that serve in B.C. Tyler works as a sales rep for Eaton Electrical,  he was able to talk at length on both visits because

there were people who had extensive knowledge of electrical.  On Saturday evening, we visited with the team from Barrhead, AB that serves in New Hazelton. The team plans to serve but not until the summer of 2024 as their church is presently trying to grow its own Vacation Bible School program.

On Sunday, we attended worship with New Life Community Church in Stony Plain. It was their Sunday to report on last summer’s mission trip in Witset. What timing! I opened the message part of the service with Luke 10:2, “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

 

There were six different presenters including the missionary pastor serving in Witset. The Holy Spirit was at work as each shared parts of one another’s message. It sounded like we all had worked together on writing our message when in fact no one had. To God be the glory!

Afterward, Tyler and I flew back home to Oregon. There were only a few quick days to prepare before I drove up to Canada for another in-person visit with a vehicle full of quilts…it did not go as planned. 

Summer 2022 Minsitry

 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

My summer began with a quick stop at Faith Lutheran Church, Surrey B.C. to pick up boxes of material and gifts for children in the community of Gingolx.

Since the team was unable to travel into the community, I picked up the boxes and delivered them several days later to our community contact in Gingolx.

This summer marked the first time in three summers that LAMP communities were open to teams. But like we are all learning, things are different now. Despite communities being open, many teams for different reasons were not able to travel. Across LAMP only a quarter of the communities LAMP serves had a team travel in for ministry. Most of the teams were small, for example, my home church only had three team members. 

The Gitanyow team has typically operated with a group of fifteen volunteers, but this summer we were down to a team of only three! I panicked because I was the only person with experience being in Gitanyow. 

Rewind to a week earlier. Details for a five-member team had been worked out. Arrangements were made regarding how we would teach Vacation Bible School and handle meals. Then five days prior to the team arriving in the community, one member came down with COVID. We adjusted and felt confident that we could still handle conducting a VBS program.

An hour before the kids would arrive for VBS, the fourth team member was throwing up from food poisoning. So I hastily gathered the two new members for consultation on what we should do but, more importantly, for prayer. Before we started our prayers, in walked the food-poisoned team member, who felt better. Praise God!

Thankfully, that was the last of our troubles. The rest of the week went very well with a daily average of fourteen kids in attendance. Your prayers were felt and most appreciated.

  The team worked well together, balancing roles and jumping in where ever assistance was needed. Believe it or not, there were moments when I forgot the chords to songs that I have played for many years. And yet it felt good to be back in a place that I knew well and to help lead a VBS, something that I haven’t done in nearly six years since starting my staff missionary role with LAMP.

On Thursday, our team partnered with the youth worker in the community. She planned a day of family-related activities, including a dance in the ice rink in the evening. We helped make sandwiches, packaged items for the kids, and set up the games on the ball field. Some of us even participated in the games (as you can see in the photo of Tyler Steele…) Despite a little drizzle, there were a lot of people who came out for the games. 

As I drove the team to the airport, they were very enthusiastic about their time serving with LAMP. They began to talk about their next trip to Gitanyow, and they hadn’t even left for home yet! Everyone looks forward to next summer with hopes of a larger team and the chance to show new members that it doesn't always rain in northern B.C., and that there are really tall mountains, but most of all, we persevered and shared the love and Good News of Jesus Christ.

Ten days later I drove back to B.C. to support the team heading into Kitamaat Village.

I have often written about not knowing the full impact of us serving in Indigenous communities. Several days ago, I was reminded why.

It was a slow start in Kitamaat Village. The first day in the community was a holiday, and nothing was open, which meant we could not set up our VBS program. But, in the first two hours of waiting for a key to access the church, the all-woman team from Sherwood Park visited with three women from the community. One woman made a special trip just to see the group.

It was evident relationships had been built. There was lots of laughter and sharing about what each person had gone through during the two years of COVID shutdown.

At the start of VBS the next day, we learned that there was another cultural camp taking place at the same time. Hence, on our first day, we had only one child until the end of the day when her sister showed up for about half an hour. However, this five-year-old girl and her three-year-old sister were very intelligent and outgoing. The five-year-old talked the entire time, and any time we asked questions relating to the Bible, she would answer “baby Jesus.” While we enjoyed having these two sisters, we had hoped to have more children attend.

During my discussion with the team leader about what to do to increase attendance, the father of the girls came to pick them up. We thanked him for letting his daughters attend. We shared how much we enjoyed having them and that he and his wife have done a marvelous job in raising them. What happened next was a humble reminder of why we serve and do what we do at LAMP.

In return, the dad thanked us and encouraged the team to keep doing what they were doing. He pointed out that these lessons were important to his girls since attending church camps had helped him through his drug addictions. As a child, his dad also had sent him to any church camps in the area.

As a youth and young adult, the father of the two girls had struggled and used a variety of drugs. Several times while high, he would suddenly remember words from sermons he had heard as a kid. During a hospital stay, he was told that his body was slowly eating itself to death from taking so many drugs. The dad shared a verse he had remembered as a kid, and it continues to be the verse he draws strength from: Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The dad is now twelve years sober and is the deputy fire chief for the Haisla community. For the rest of the week, the team enjoyed having these two girls for VBS.

The women’s ministry in the evening was a blessing, and gifts were exchanged between the team and members in the community. The seeds of faith have been planted, and those in the faith have been encouraged. We look forward to the next time we visit with the community.

This summer marked the second time that New Live Church from Stony Plain, AB was in Witset. Since the team is small in numbers and still getting to know their community, they partnered with the local First Nations church, Kyah Bible Fellowship, for their 2022 summer mission trip. 

Instead of the usual VBS program, the group decided to have different activities geared toward all ages throughout the week. We had no idea what to expect. But like every team who has done something new before, we prayed in confidence that there would be a person or two to share about Jesus. (Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7 NIV) We knew that God is with us through the known and the unknown.

The events included breakfast and worship at the lake, a giant slip and slide, card making for the women, and time in the woods for the men. One evening, we watched the Jesus film. On the final evening of activities, the group coordinated a pizza meal, games, and a short devotion.

While the group did not have large numbers in attendance, they did have several prominent people from the community attend different events. This helped the team get introduced and start to build relationships. In the future, they will have deeper connections in the community. 

A father attended one event with his small children. The group learned later from the Pastor of Kyah church that he had not seen this father in a long time. The next day this children’s father also came to the men’s time in the woods. No one was sure if he had faith in Jesus, but he did hear the gospel message when the team leader Ralph gave his testimony.

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…” Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)  

The seeds of faith were planted, hearts were encouraged and relationships were built.

Before the team left on Saturday morning, they were already talking about next year. In the meantime, the team plans to send Christmas packages for the kids and a spring visit.

 Every year, something exciting happens towards the end of February (besides the start of spring training for baseball), it’s attending the Best Practices Ministry (BPM) in Phoenix, AZ. Since last year’s conference was closed due to COVID, many people were looking forward to attending this year's event. A record number attended, over 2000 people! Plus there were around 300 workshops where presenters/attendees shared what they are doing in ministry, including my session on how to use social media to reach the lost.

         

Pictured here are Pastor Tim Norton, LCMS Navajo Mission Church, and Pastor Robin Abrol, Director of Ministry with On Eagle's Wings.

            It was great to visit with people while representing LAMP Ministry at its exhibit table. Many who knew or supported LAMP in the past shared their stories with me. Others asked where we served and what we do. It was a great time of sharing and connecting.

 I was able to visit in person with my instructor and dean of the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center through Concordia, Irvine. Dr. Fluegge even led our class online from his hotel room. One of my classmates was also at BPM and led a workshop on leading worship music well; less is more!

             In addition, I was able to spend time in person with the three other mission organizations that serve indigenous people throughout Canada and Alaska －Alaska Mission for Christ, B.C. Mission Boat Society, and On Eagles Wings. It was nice to finally meet in person since we have been meeting online for the past two years.

 On Saturday, I led my workshop on reaching the lost with social media, using my ministry with LAMP as an example. Although an introvert, I don’t normally get nervous when speaking, except with the LWML groups (more of a reverent fear), and I found a new one －speaking in front of my former college speech teacher, Dr. Steuve! Thankfully, she was gracious and said I did “very well”, which was an improvement when I was an undergrad at Concordia Portland.

         
           Once the conference was over, I visited with a long-term serving team from Yuma, AZ. It was a good visit, and an opportunity to thank the congregation for their many years of service.

             All in all, it was a great trip. When I left Phoenix, the weather was in the upper 70s. When I landed back in Portland, we had record lows for late February as the evening temperature dropped to 27 degrees.