www.arcticoutreach.org --- e-mail rinker@arcticoutreach.org --- phone 403-989-3715
Dear Friends,
June has been busy with our routine ministry, which is somewhat boring to read about, but a very good thing because a consistent ministry indicates we are meeting the needs in a way that builds a strong church and trust among the people for the long run. I was almost a week late getting the May Update posted, so if you looked for it before it was posted, please check it out.
One event that took place in June was a vehicle accident by our neighbors in which their pickup truck rolled over in the middle of the night between here and town. The four young people in the vehicle were close friends of Karen and myself, and grew up as part of our ministry and lived just next door. Evidently, several of them needed CPR to be revived, so it was a very scary situation for them. That night I was working until about 4:00 in the middle of the night, which is something that I hardly ever have done before, very few times in my life. These young people are part of my daily prayer list. So as I went to bed at that late hour, I was praying for them, while at that same moment, unknown to me they were laying out there on the desolate stretch of road fighting for their lives! God was merciful and they all came through without serious injury.
This reminded me of a very similar situation that took place years ago in my youth, when I was ministering on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. One afternoon I felt burdened to go into the church and pray, and as I prayed I had a deep burden to pray for Wilbur, and I was praying God would protect him until he could give his heart to the Lord. Later he told me that, at the exact time I was praying for him, he was drowning just a few hundred yards away in the Kyle dam. He couldn't swim, and after he surfaced for the last time a passerby saw him and jumped in and pulled him out, saving his life. After praying for Wilbur I had a special burden to pray for my Dad. I later found out that at, or near the time I was praying for him, a roof collapsed on top of him on a construction site and he was miraculously spared from being killed.
On June 18th, Karen left for the Yukon to lead a VBS in the village of Old Crow. We lived in Old Crow for a number of years and we know the people there very well. It was at their request that Karen went last year and was asked to come again this year to hold VBS for the young people and a daily Bible Study for the adults. Since we couldn't get help to take our place here at Sunchild, I had to stay and take care of things here while she went up there. Next month we will have a report and pictures about that. This year a local lady, Darcia, went with Karen to help her with that and this was a great help and blessing.
The Koreans from Calgary returned on the 22nd to hold a youth event on the O'Chiese Reserve and meet with us here on Sunchild. We had a special time sharing with the team members afterward the event, before they returned to Calgary. More repairs this month on an older mission vehicle, but we are thankful we are able to keep it running and in safe condition. We first posted our mission website on November 12, 1998. All of the accounts that it takes for hosting, the developing software, etc. have all been at our personal expense all these years because there was never enough support in the mission account to pay these expenses. This month we were able to transfer these accounts over to the mission, so that is an answer to prayer. At the end of June I (Rodger) left to get a knee operation in the States, and there is information concerning that in earlier monthly updates. The operation is scheduled for July 5th, so please help pray this will go well.
Below is a picture of Karen and Darcia as they were leaving to fly to Old Crow, in the Yukon to hold the VBS.
This month we were blessed to have the help of Claudette, who lives about an hour and a half north of here. We are very dependent on volunteers to help with the ministry here. In this picture she is making some drawings for the Old Crow VBS.
In this picture below, Claudette is helping Karen with a Sunday School class.
Below, this shows Cheryl, a volunteer, helping with a Sunday School class. They are planting seeds for a lesson.
This is Karen's school student working on a sewing craft. Sewing is part of her curriculum that she enjoys.
On this particular Friday there was no help for the youth group, but a good number wanted to come anyway.
This is Karen roasting a smoky sausage in our fireplace. In June we had some cold weather and freezing at nights, which took out a lot of our garden.
