FLIGHT TO GARDEN HILL FIRST NATION - FUNERAL PASTOR JOE LITTLE

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On July the 18th and 19th, the reason for our flight to Garden Hoill First Nation Commuity with  Interlake Fellowship Church was a sad one - the funeral of Pastor Joe Little.

On both flights (to and from Garden Hill) the smoke from forest fires made our trip a little bit challenging 

Interlake Fellowship Church and some of their members supporting Pastor Joe Little's Ministry in the Garden Hill First Nation Community for a number of years - it is located 2 1/2 hour flight by small airplane north-east of Winnipeg.

10 years ago, Pastor Joe started to built a church in his community mostly by himself, obeying God's call to do so.

He and his wife Juliet served this Northern Manitoba First Nation Fly-In Community all their life with counselling, Bible studies, Vacation Bible School and kids camps - they also adopted two kids and raised them together with their two children.

Here some pictures from the wake and funeral service:

August 19th till 22nd, we are going again for Vacation Bible School for kids and teenagers

THE YEARLY BLOODVEIN SHUTTLE FOR PATHWAY CAMP MINISTRIES

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Since a couple of years now, Northern Eagle Ministries serves Pathway Camp Ministries trough Air Transportation on various occasions.

Saturday, July 16th, a team of 13 volunteers from Markham Chinese Baptist Church Toronto with their backpacks and Rick, the Director from Pathway Camp Ministries had to be flown from Pine Dock to Bloodvein First Nation Community on the East side of Lake Winnipeg.






Here some highlights out of Pathway Camp Ministrie's experience during summer camps:

Dear Friends,

Week 3 of summer camp is officially over and we had our last week in Bloodvein.  This year a few of the logistics went a little smoother, but not all of them.  We arrived at the dock to ship our supplies and 4 people by boat only to hear that our boat taxi driver was out in the lake in a fishing derby and would likely not arrive until 8 p.m. (4 hours after our scheduled time).  However, we prayed and he was there only 40 minutes late - turns out the fish weren't biting that day for him.  So...with the rest of the team flying over from Pine Dock, we reached Bloodvein in good time.  There was confusion about the keys (again), but we got into the Band Hall and were able to get our supper.  The house keys were more of a problem.  We ended up with two teacherages  by about 11 p.m., but they had to break into one to get it open for us.  Apparently the locks are being changed next month, so they didn't mind.

It was a crazy night with enough mosquitoes to keep us all awake and also with a lot of rowdiness outside.  The culprits ran off as the police came by, so things quieted down by about 4 a.m. 

It was quite the week for weather - we were melting from the extreme heat on Monday & Tuesday.  On Wednesday we had to end our program early as the power went off after lunch and we had no water or working washrooms, so things could have become quite unsanitary quickly.  Then on Thursday it was cold & rainy with extreme winds.  Thankfully the winds died down on Friday, enabling us to depart on the ferry.  All of these conditions affected the attendance somewhat, but we ended up with 73 registered campers and a daily average of 56. 

It was a busy week with very active children, but despite the weather conditions, they did well with their behaviour and their time in chapel.  We knew most children from previous years, so it was a time to reinforce the Gospel message.  Some of the community teenagers were assigned to "work" with us as part of their summer jobs, but their attendance and participation was sketchy at best.  However, Wyatt, a teen we have known since he was 7 at Eagle Bay, was an active participant and did an excellent job.  Our young friend Chris also joined us for staff devotions one morning and helped a bit.

Please pray that the truth of God's love will register with the children, particularly when they are insecure or scared.  They are many families plagued with addictions and some children just don't go home for days at a time while parents are drinking.

Pray that the teens will have seen a real difference in our team members and will consider their options.

Pray for 3 young teens that are in their final trimester of pregnancies (Joellen, Martina & Danielle) - that they will be safe during delivery and that parenthood would prompt them to seek a better life for their families.

We say goodbye to our team from Markham Chinese Baptist Church today.  They did an awesome job surviving the two weeks in the heat and other conditions and the children were sad to see them leave each community.  It is a busy weekend as we pick up our next team from Bramalea Alliance and drive north to Chemawawin (Easterville) tonight to begin camp tomorrow morning (Sunday). 

Pray for our strength & stamina as we enter Week 4.

Blessings,

Rick & Elizabeth