Sunchild News - October 2006

October 2006 News - Sunchild Reserve

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

Dear Friends,

We have a wonderful team of Bible college students who signed up to do their student ministry assignments at Sunchild this semester. Samuel is from Ontario, Rob is from Illinois, Tim is from northern B.C., Chris is from (East) Germany, Jessica is part Native from Alberta, Allan & Dawn Nelson are from Ontario and they have 5 children who also come with them on Sundays. A number of other students come at times when we can work them in also. We still have renovating work to do on the chapel, but we have got enough done to use it now. This is a very mature team that is proving to be very capable and a wonderful blessing on the Reserve. We have to take two vans, and we are trying to raise the extra finances for the expense of running two vans.

Last year we did all our work in the homes. This year we are using the chapel to have our services in. We have four separate groups, including the adults, teens, and two classes for the young ones. The rest of the day we divide up and spend in as many homes as we have time for. The people have been very receptive of the team members and respond well to them. We've had a good group coming out so far, but the people are still getting used to this, so eventually we anticipate we should have most of the families that came to VBS coming for the service. We had over eighty attending VBS. Although the program of conducting a service in the chapel is not as personal and effective on an individual level of getting close to people and working with them, it is much more effective in a social manner in getting people together for fellowship. It also enables our team to reach a lot more people. This ministry is an invaluable experience in preparing students for their future ministry. In spite of the fact that it's hard work and exhausting, it is highly valued by everyone who has taken part. We always wanted the work at Sunchild to be utilized for training Christian workers. It is a great confidence builder for those doing their internship because the people are so responsive and appreciative, their needs are great and this draws the highest effort out of the students, and the ministry is intense because there has been much prayer over many years for this field and so much is constantly happening. Last year there were four deaths in the families we were working with.

Last week Karen spent the entire week at Sunchild by herself. She stayed in the second story apartment over the chapel. She was doing her practicum for the TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) course which she has been taking here at the Bible college, by helping in the Sunchild school. Her time was full, day and night, ministering to the families who were constantly coming to her. It must be remembered that we are the only ministry on these two Reserves of about 3,000 people and the only missionaries to live on the Reserve since the Mennonite school closed in the 1960's.

I had to cancel my fall outreach to the Yukon and NWT because we had to concentrate our finances on the Sunchild work and we didn't have any extra for the Arctic outreach. I've been thinking about the group of men in the Arctic last spring, who begged me, "Tell us what God would say to us if He were here. What would He say to us?" I can see that we have to make the best of every opportunity because we can't do all we want to, when we want to do it. (We had a good garden this year and put a lot of food up for winter.)

Keep us in your prayers, Rodger, Karen, & Family

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