Arctic Hope

Tulita means, “where two rivers meet,” in the Dene language. Tulita is located on the south bank of the Bear River and east shore of the Mackenzie River approximately 40 miles upstream (southeast) of Norman Wells. Just across the Bear River from Tulita stands Bear Rock, which is a spiritual place held in high regard by the Dene people. Tulita was founded in 1810 by the Northwest Trading Company as Fort Norman and maintained that name until 1996.Today Tulita has approximately 350 resident whose homes are generally well maintained and whose morale seemed as high as any community we visited in the region.

While in Tulita, we stopped in at the Catholic Church and spoke with Sally Ann, a member looking after the church while Sister Celeste was on holiday. Sally Ann described the activities of the church, gave us a tour of the sanctuary, and showed us some of the intricate bead work she and other ladies had made for the church. Unlike other communities we had visited in the region, the Catholic church in Tulita seemed to have a vibrant ministry among people of the community. For example, they had a very well attended Children’s Bible Camp last year, and look forward to this year’s camp.

As we continued to explore the community, we also found Tulita Pentecostal Mission. Though we did not meet the pastor, we heard that the church is reaching people with the gospel and has a growing congregation. We also met two of the elders of the community who were walking along the road, Rosie Andrews and Nellie Boward. These two sisters attended the Catholic Church and love the Lord, before we parted company we prayed with them for their health concerns, as well as for the youth of Tulita, and the spiritual needs of the community.

Specific Prayers:
Pray for the pastor of the Tulita Pentecostal Mission as he reaches the community for Christ.
Pray for Nellie Boward healing of her broken hip, ability to walk without pain.
Pray for Rosie Andrews arthritis in her hands.
Pray for Sister Celeste as she ministers to the members of the Catholic Church.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 11:37 and is filed under Summer of Exploration, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.