www.arcticoutreach.org --- e-mail rinker@arcticoutreach.org --- phone 403-989-3715
Dear Friends,
First thing I want to ask involves how well this page loads on your computer, because I don't want to use more than one page for these monthly updates and I'm putting all the pictures on one page. So if your computer won't load this page properly "please let me know" so I can make necessary adjustments. I haven't included any picture unless I had a significant reason to post it and I left out a lot of pictures, but October was a very busy time here. Especially since we had so much to do before winter sets in at the end of October. All pictures are from this month of October.
As for prayer requests, please pray that we can get help to come and stay at the mission this coming year for times we have to be away. We are planning a summer VBS at Old Crow, in the Yukon again this summer, and in order for Karen & I to both go we need to have someone come and stay at the mission. There are other times we both would like to be away and would need to have someone come while we are gone. If you know of anyone available to come, please let us know. Also, please pray especially for the struggles that new believers here face, and that they can learn the value of regular Christian fellowship in their lives.
Another special request is to pray for guidance and God's will be done as meetings are held and plans discussed concerning building a new house here at the mission. Our present house has issues that need dealt with, and we have an offer from a local builder concerning a new house. The chief and council, along with others will be meeting concerning this and having a class for local men involved to learn the 'Beam & Timber' method of house building, which is ideal for this location.
I'm sure that to most folks who view these pictures they may seem somewhat ordinary and nothing really special, but for myself to view them is an emotional, tearful experience. Why so? Because I understand how great the spiritural need is here, it's isolation, and how little Christian influence touches the people here day after day after day. Then, when I see in these pictures how God will put it on people's hearts from far away to make the journey out here and give of their time to share their hearts and show God's love to these people, I find it overwhelming. There's nothing more important than that, and nothing that can have a greater influence and impact on the lives of the people here. This team came from the Nazarene Church in Caroline, Alberta to help hold a Friday night youth group, and as always, did a great job! It was a late night drive home for them.
Karen often has to do the Sunday School by herself without any help, so she tries to get a teen to assist her. We have a steady group of young ones coming, but we have to "limit the numbers" because of the lack of help!
These are really a special group of kids.
They really love being in Sunday School.
In October we hosted the Rocky Mt. House Ministerial Association's monthly meeting of pastors. It takes an hour to drive here from town, but we had good attendance.
For lunch we let everyone roast a smoky in the fireplace.
We had to take down this tree in order to put in a gas line. So here I am long lining some limbs away so it can be dropped between the buildings. My knee is healing so well from my operation that I can do such work just fine now. This was taken 3 months from my operation.
This is October's first Friday night youth group with some of them outside roasting hot dogs & marshmallows.
Here I am clearing out the tree we cut to make way for the gas line.
Karen had to take care of the garden by herself this summer, as I was in the States with my knee operation, and they won't let you fly home for a couple months. Here I am getting the carrots in before the ground freezes.
This team is the Calgary Korean Gospel Dispersers from Calgary, or CKGD. This is the name of the missions group that come from the Korean churches in Calgary.
The CKGD team spent all day Saturday working with both our teen group and the Sunday School kids.
Crafts are a big part of our Sunday School class. It takes a lot of work to prepare and to supervise, but they love doing them.
Here in Canada Thanksgiving day is in October. So this craft related to Thanksgiving.
In October the Gospel Dispersers came up for a special meeting to plan for future ministry with the mission here at Sunchild. There are many challenges to deal with involving such large teams, and from so many Calgary churches. One of the team leaders had his birthday on this day also.
For lunch we had smokies in the fireplace again. Everyone always likes them.
This month we had two work teams of Carpenters come. One from the Nazarene church in Rocky Mt. House, and this team from the Nazarene church in Caroline, Alberta. We forgot to take any pictures of the team from Rocky, but they brought four windows and installed them in the church. This team made repairs and several jobs including stairway banisters that we've needed for years.
Here I am getting the gas line buried in the ditch I dug for it. It was a race against the ground freezing up.
This Friday youth group had a hot dog roast, did pumpkin carving, and studied the life of Daniel with the team from Caroline, Alberta.
When the kids came for Trick or Treat last night, we handed out Gospel tracts and Bibles with the treats. We had many car loads come to our door.
Karen took this picture on her phone at Sunrise. God Bless...Rodger & Karen Rinker