Sunchild News - Karen & Holly's Letter - August 2010

www.arcticoutreach.org --- e-mail rinker@arcticoutreach.org --- phone 403-989-3715

Greetings from sunny Alberta!

There is so much to tell about the work here, but I shall begin with two very special parts of my life. Besides supervising the Sunday School each week, I have been privileged to work at the O'Chiese school (three days a week) in the Literacy department. It has been exciting to walk in the school each morning and have the Sunday School children that live on O'Chiese come and give me a big hug. Then when they are depressed they come and share. This has been a special part of this year. The second thing is ladies meetings. There have been hurting ladies come and find Jesus as their comfort. This special ministry is expanding to Big Horn. While having VBS there we were again asked to do this. This has been on my heart for two years, but now a special young lady has come to live with us, and this will now be a possibility. In the next paragraph Holly will introduce herself and say something about her coming here.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Holly Mayfield. I am 26 years old and from Pennsylvania. I have come to stay and help here at the mission for four months. I had come last summer with a team from Priority 1 Ministries to do VBS here. When I got home from my trip, the children from the reserve and the ministry here still pressed on my heart. I felt like God wanted me to come back. So I prayed about it and approached the board of Priority 1 and asked them if I could come under the ministry and stay longer than the short trip they send. They agreed and unknown to any of us, it was an answer to a prayer that we didn't even know we had. But God knew. The young woman who was supposed to be leading the team that was coming to do VBS had a family emergency and couldn't come. Since I was already coming up with the team, I stepped into that role. God is Good.

(Karen Adds:) Each VBS had special qualities and I would like to share a scene from each one. Sunchild was held by a unique team of young people who were really united in loving the children. They spent hours just giving hugs and receiving hugs. There were 4 nights of sleep-overs, plus a daily schedule that began before seven in the morning. I was very happy to see a number of the boys and girls serious about asking Jesus in their hearts.

The Big Horn VBS was next. It is 1 ½ hours away from our Sunchild base. We drove this round trip for 4 days. The first day as we passed out fliers it rained and the YWAM team and the Priority 1 team joined forces to invite children. At one home a team member was smothered with dirty dog paws as we tried not to run over puppies crawling under the van. Our prayer for Big Horn was that the regular teens that consistently had been coming for years would show up again, and also some new seed would be planted in some younger children's hearts. God answered our prayers and the number of new children doubled and all of the older ones showed up. The team got to spend some special time with a Band councilor concerning the future of the Reserve.

In March we were contacted by a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) leader about students in Korea who needed an outreach activity while they were in Canada. I suggested we plan a VBS for O'Chiese, an adjoining Reserve to Sunchild. Some O'Chiese children came to the Sunchild VBS, but O'Chiese is very big so many children couldn't come. She accepted our offer and we set up 3 locations where a one day VBS could be held. I should say at this time, this team had never done a VBS together before, but by working with the Priority 1 team at Big Horn and using their own special drama skills they did an excellent job. At every home adults attended and received a deeper understanding of the Gospel message. The YWAM team to end their 2 weeks with us had a mini-cultural night, where they wore their traditional attire as they showed us their beautiful fan dance and treated us to Oriental spring rolls. In turn the local people brought their traditional foods for them to enjoy. In closing the 3 weeks of VBS the YWAM team did a drama depicting the Gospel message with different colors of cloth. A number of adults recommitted their lives again to Jesus while they were here. Even weeks after we are still reflecting on the blessed presence of God during those 3 weeks. Again a great big "Thank You" to all who prayed.

I would have to agree with all that Karen wrote. All three VBS's were blessed by God in a special way. The first week here on Sunchild my team, from Priority 1 and I lead the VBS. We were so very happy and encouraged to see the children listening and truly seeking God. In addition to several children accepting Jesus in their hearts, many others asked a lot of very thought provoking questions. This showed my team that they were really hungry to know more about God. Then we had our VBS at Big Horn. It was so encouraging to see the number of kids double from last year! It was fun to have the YWAM team there with us for that VBS. Then my team left for the States and I got to assist the YWAM team with the VBS on O'Chiese. It was different from the others, since we had each day in a different home. But it was a very good club. Every day we saw different kids and got to share the love of Jesus with them. Looking over all the clubs, you can only say "God is Good!"

(Karen Adds:) To some who want to know about our family, I again have some special news. Melany Hope and I are going to South Carolina for her twin sister, Melody's wedding. We had a trip planned to see Joshua in Wyoming, where he works on a ranch, but we weren't able to get someone to fill in long enough for us to make that trip. Jenny's news is not too good. Her father-in-law had a heart attack and although they won't ask for it – I know they would appreciate your prayers. I went to visit Reuben and Jennifer at Easter to see our newest grandson. That make 6 grandkids for Rodger & I. David, our youngest, has completed another correspondence High School course and daily roofs houses in Calgary, 3 hours away. I guess that is all of them (Smile)!

I know this is long, but thank you again for caring about us and the dear people here.

Karen and Holly

Below is just one of the VBS classes.