Sunchild News - January 2007

January 2007 News - Sunchild Reserve

www.arcticoutreach.org e-mail rinker@arcticoutreach.org

Dear Friends,

The New Year holds excitement for us as we anticipate being able to accomplish some things we have worked long and hard to see. This was my 40th Christmas on the mission field, after graduating from Bible College. It doesn't seem so long at all! What does seem long is the stack of unfinished things to do, projects to develop, jobs to finish, and people to follow up on, to visit, to disciple, to spend time with in some way, places to go, promises to keep…to find out what's over the next hill, and the one after that. I won't be going to some new place that I haven't been before, but I hope to get to see a lot of what I've passed up or missed between here and there.

Christmas is a very hard time for us. It's also a time which all the people on the Reserve are saddened by those among their families who use the holidays as an excuse to 'celebrate' in a destructive manner. We brought some young people home to stay with us for a while who recently lost the father in their home. What is so different for us is that we have a lot of help right now in working with the people. The special services and all the activities are not at all exhausting with the College student's cheerful and willing help to carry the major part of the load. The young people we brought home were even cared for half the time in an exceptional manner by one of the families on our team, taking so much of the load off of us.

The public school on the Reserve has a number of Christian teachers. This year their Christmas program focused on the Nativity. The quality of this program, along with the respectful deportment of the students was far above what we've seen in past years. Baby Jesus was in a teepee in a moss bag, and the wise men were chief's. The beauty of this was how it made Christ personal to them. Most of the songs were Christmas hymns or carols, and in the skit, Jesus was called 'The Son of God'! If you understood the forces in battle and the issues at stake you would marvel with us at this event. Of course it would never happen in most 'public' schools in your community, so we are in awe at what we saw. Even though so many were busy and traveling etc. we had at least 40 in our Christmas Eve service, with some new people finding our mission for a church home, as well as some folks from the local Alberta Christian community coming to help and take part for the first time. Also, especially encouraging and in answer to many years of prayer for the involvement of the local Alberta churches-the Nazarene church in Rocky Mountain House has taken on a significant monthly pledge to help financially with the expenses of the Bible College student ministry team traveling to the Reserve.

I struggled so much to take on the projects and programs that we are doing, wondering how it would all be financed, but thanks to you folks who love the Lord and have faith in His work here, it is being done! Every month is a special miracle, and my pitiful lack of faith is constantly exposed, but it has to be an example for all time of how faithful God is to provide, even if we aren't George Mullers* or some kind of gifted personalities, but we are simply willing to put forth the effort and love and want to be faithful.

The best thing you can do for us in 2007 is to remember to pray for us and the work here!

In Jesus, Rodger, Karen, and Family

(*George Muller was the Englishman who founded the orphanages by faith, and prayed in the finances.) (We have these monthly newsletters on our web site with pictures included. New ones are posted the first of each month)

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