One More Visit--Sandy Lake, Ontario

Don't faint.  Please!

I know what you're thinking.  "Dennis just posted a blog a couple of days ago."   Well, that's true.  But the last post was getting a little long.  Hence this one which is much shorter, but nonetheless, just as important.

This last week was a light one as far as travel into communities goes compared to previous weeks here.  I have one more community to go to before the VBS teams started to arrive and those visits began.

With a high pressure sitting almost on top of us, we headed northwest to Sandy Lake, Ontario.  This would be my first visit to this community to meet with our contacts and some of the people there.

The weather doesn't get much better than this up north!

Sidney Fiddler, our main contact was going to meet us at the airport.  We arrived within minutes of each other.  As Sam and I approached Sidney, he introduced me to the Chief, Bart Meetis.  He was going to be leaving on a flight that landed just ahead of us.   So we didn't have much time to talk, but made an important introduction to each other.  We also had a quilt we gave to Chief Bart that Sidney was going to keep for him.

We piled in Sidney's truck and headed over to the church to meet with Pastor Zack Kalegamic.  His church is the one the team uses for VBS.  It was good to see Zack again without all the hectic activity of VBS going on like last year.  It gives us a more relaxed time to talk and share with each other.

Pastor/Pilot Dennis with Pastor Zack holding a quilt made my ladies donated to LAMP

We walked over to Sandeus Fiddler's house which was next door to the church.  Sandeus is the retired pastor of the church and has been a long, long time supporter of LAMP's ministry to the community.  However, he had gone to the store.  So we got back in the truck and drove the 5 minutes to the store.
As we pulled up, Sandeus was coming out with a grocery cart full of goodies.  We also happened to meet one of the community members, Joe Harper who recognized Sidney.  In our conversation, Joe was sharing with us his health challenges.  So right on the spot, we gathered around Joe and prayed for his health and upcoming trip to the hospital for treatment of his hip issues.  I wonder when the last time you saw people praying together outside of your local grocery store.  Maybe we should be doing more of it!  Joe appreciated the prayers and we gained another friend in Sandy Lake.

With Sandeus all loaded up, we went back to his house.  We were able to meet with Clara, his wife, and Sandeus and give them a quilt as well.  They both are seniors and elders in the community who struggle with many of the issues of aging.  We gathered around them and prayed for their continued health and service to the people of Sandy Lake.

(L to R) Sidney Fiddler, Pastor/Pilot Dennis, and Pastor Zack

Before we all parted company, we talked about the details of the team's arrival and accommodations which are all set.  They are once again looking forward to the week of VBS and having the team in the community.

Sidney took us back to the airport for us to depart.  I would see him real soon since the team would be going there the next week.  But it was great to have time just for the people in the community.

This would be my last trip with Pastor Sam as he would be heading home at the end of the week.  It was a really enlightening experience for him.  Hopefully we'll figure out how to post his impressions from being up north for a couple of weeks.

Pastor Sam enjoying his last LAMP flight back to Sioux Lookout before heading home.

 Sometimes I'm afraid I sound like a broken record (or maybe I should say CD?) because I seem to be saying the same thing over and over again.  But then it does bear repeating how important the relationships and ministry is to the communities.  They need to know and experience first-hand the love and care of Jesus through the volunteers and missionaries that serve Sandy Lake and all the other communities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.

That is our task.  The Apostle Paul couldn't state it any better either.  He says, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,  and his incomparably great power for us who believe."  (Eph 1:17–19).