Celebrate the Win!
Today I was reading about a celebration in heaven, the celebration over one lost person who is found. In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables highlighting the efforts expended seeking to find that which is lost. A shepherd diligently sought a lost sheep even though there were ninety-nine left. A woman diligently sought a lost valuable coin even though there were nine left. A man diligently watched for a lost son even though he still had a son left at home. In each case, that which was lost was found. In each case this led to an amazing celebration. You see God is very interested in finding the lost and when He does, there is a party in heaven. God knows how to celebrate the win!
This summer God led Michelle and me to the Arctic northwestern part of Canada as part of His plan to seek the lost in this part of the world. As we explored our target communities, we found the situation in many of the communities better than we thought, but at the same time worse. Better because there exists an Evangelical fellowship in seven of the ten communities we visited. Worse because many of the communities were overwhelmed with alcohol abuse, purposelessness and self-destructive behavior. Though most of the people would claim some level of ‘faith’ in Christ, it means little to them. They see Christianity as a set of rules: get baptized as an infant, get married in the church, and get buried in the church cemetery. They hold to an attitude that filling these squares would gain them a ticket to heaven. Most have been exposed to just enough Christian truth to inoculate them from the life changing power of the Good News.
Combined with this inoculation, most native people have a strong distrust of outsiders due to broken treaties, broken promises, and broken lives (at the hands of the residential schools). This lack of trust creates a stronghold in their lives that is difficult to penetrate. A number of faithful missionaries (spiritual ice road truckers if you will) have worked in several of these communities for decades facing these cultural and historical headwinds, even before considering the challenges presented by the climate. They need our consistent prayers.
Paraphrasing Paul in Ephesians 6, ‘Pray in the Spirit at all times … and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. … Ask God to give these missionaries the right words so they can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan … preaching this message as God’s ambassadors’. Ask God to thaw the hard hearts of the people with the warmth of the hope found only in Christ. Ask God to raise up workers to send into the harvest in Old Crow, Tsiighetchic and Paulatuk, where there is only the faintest remnant of a gospel witness.
About this time, I hear some of you saying, “Hey Jim, I thought you said, ‘Celebrate the Win!’ This doesn’t read like a win.” Well it is.
We went with three major objectives. First we were to explore ten communities to learn of the spiritual condition of the people and to pray God would draw their hearts to himself. We traveled to each community and called upon the Lord on behalf of the people. Many of you have been praying for us this summer and will join us as we pray God will glorify His name in these communities. That, my friends, is a win!
Second we sought to connect with those whose heart God had prepared for an intimate relationship with Himself. God allowed us lead a number of people to place their faith in Christ and begin mentoring relationships in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alberta. We look forward to building on these relationships in the days ahead. Yep, another win!
Third we sought to determine with certainty if our conceptual strategy for reaching these communities made sense and if relocating to the Arctic was God’s leading in our lives. Based on the number of ongoing evangelical works in the region, the hub and spoke concept as originally envisioned is likely less than optimum. A better plan would be to ask God to raise up workers for Old Crow, Tsiighetchic, and Paulatuk. Without going, we would not have known if the plan would work. Now we know. This is definitely a win!
By God’s grace we accomplished all three of our objectives for the summer, met a number of wonderful people and learned much about a relatively forgotten corner of the world. Join us as we jubilantly praise God and celebrate the win. Oh yes, and don’t forget to pray.