This past May, I was blessed with my first trip to visit some of the LAMP communities in northern British Columbia. It was very surreal. It reminded me of the first time I learned how to drive a car. For years I sat in the passenger seat, I was familiar with the car and where we were driving. However, when I had to move into the driver’s seat, I was seeing and experiencing things from a new perspective. For years, I have been in the same community at the same time in July but this time I was there in May without my church family. The kids in the communities where in school and plants were still growing, unlike in July when kids have nothing to do and the plants are in full bloom. Another difference with this trip included visiting other communities and community leaders. If I could sum up my first trip with a picture, it would be this one. I love this picture. While visiting a band office, I was admiring the view of the mountains. As I drove around a corner, out of nowhere this carnival appeared. The lights, sounds of a traveling carnival, contrasted the natural beauty of the mountains in the background. I laughed twice and had to take a picture. I wish I had time to go, I think they had deep-fried Twinkies.

There were many highlights of the trip. However, meeting several of the community leaders was one of the main highlights. Nearly all of them have lived their entire lives in the Hazelton area. Their servant hearts humbled me. Some examples of the many ways the host serve in the community are; serving at the local food bank, providing blankets for homeless people near their house, and another minster was instant messaging a person who was trying to break from their past of being a gang member. God is at work in these communities but there is always more people stuck with the consequences of their sins, which is no different from myself. There is good news found Jesus’ death and resurrection. I know my sins are forgiven by the gift of Jesus Christ and because of this, I have hope that comes from God. Many people including those in the north, never get a chance to hear about this hope found in God’s forgiveness. Please continue to pray for all people including those in the north, that their hearts would be open to receive this message. Pray for people to come and serve in these communities. Like my first time driving, I loved visiting the communities and I cannot wait to go back.
        The last picture I would like to leave you with, is my time in Kitamaat Village. While making arrangements for a summer VBS, I asked our host if we could visit the local school. It was a very interesting looking and I wanted to know more about the building. The principle grcious enough to give us a tour and we discovered that the school building was designed in the shape of a salmon!

     As the tour went along, we came upon a language class where the students were learning the Haisla language. The language teacher stopped the class and invited us in to hear the students drum and sing in the Haisla language. We felt very welcomed and were privileged to have had this experience.

Welcome to my first blog. First I must warn you, I'm not gifted with writing. Second, I lack grammar. But I hope I can communicate about my work with LAMP and serving the first nation people of northern British Columbia.       The no lemits comes from my youngest son, Isaac. Like me, the kid can't spell. One night while playing on line video game (Overwatch) myself, my two sons and other friends were all finishing up a game. Isaac in the chat window typed, "no lemits" not only to our team could read it but the people we were playing with, which were from anywhere in the world could read it as well. "Isaac" I said, "what is 'no lemits'?" Isaac paused and realized what that he misspelled. "You know, no limits! Come on I can't spell" was his response. We all laughed and from then on joked with the no lemits phrase. Isaac even made a back ground for our phones with the "no lemits". As a follower of Jesus, I'm a lot like Isaac with his spelling (and mine), I can't quite get it right. My best efforts will always fall short. As much as I try to do my best, I some how mess up. According to Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Notice Paul (the author of Romans) didn't say some, or just the really bad people but all. But if you keep reading there is hope found in Romans 3:24 "grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 (this happens to be one of my favorite Bible verses). While God might not be able to help my spelling, He does free me from my sins. That knowledge of what God has done through his son Jesus and how much He loves me makes me want to share that knowledge and love with others. So here begins my next chapter in life, a missionary.     And I'm sure somewhere in my many blogs to come, I will write another blog and refer to the "no lemits" and how God has "no limits" in His love for us as well as God has "no limit" no how or where He can use us.        So for now, thank-you for being one of the first ones to read this. Or wow, you've made it all the way through my other blogs to read my very first one. No Lemits!