At Indian Life Ministries, we wholly believe in the power of relationship. This is why, now that travel restrictions have opened up, Indian Life has been travelling! We are getting around to meet people and connect, let people know about the ministry, and build relationships.
We have travelled to the BC Native Christian Conference in Kamloops, British Columbia, all the way east to Thunder Bay, Ontario for the Native Gospel Jamboree! And this past weekend, we travelled north to Leduc, Alberta for the Re-Affirming Truth Conference. We hoped and prayed that we would meet some really neat people. The Lord did not disappoint.
At the most recent conference, on the last night of the conference, we were famished. We hadn't eaten since breakfast, around 8 a.m., and all of a sudden it was 11 p.m. No wonder we were weak with hunger! So what did we do? Looked around for anyone who may want to join us for a meal. We quickly found 12 people to enjoy a late-night meal with, and so, we ordered pizza!
In the Bible, Jesus was often described as reclining at a table and sharing a meal with people. He also performed a number of pretty big miracles surrounding food (feeding 5000-plus people with only two loaves of bread and one fish!). I wonder if perhaps one of the reasons Jesus shared meals with people is because he knew it to be a fairly important way that we built relationships with one another?
As our group of 12 reclined at table and enjoyed pizza together, we belly laughed. We laughed so hard we cried. We shared stories with one another that under any other circumstances we may have been too reserved to share. We learned that we could trust one another, and maybe one day, as we share more meals together, learn that we can carry one another's burdens too. And we took pictures. One group selfie was photobombed while we all laughed hysterically. It's a memory I believe that none who were present will soon forget.
Being able to travel and attend various conferences has been a tremendous joy for us. We delight in meeting new people and reconnecting with familiar faces. We are thankful more people are being exposed anew to Indian Life and see what value the newspaper and ministry have. And we are thankful for the shared laughter, and tears, over pizza, at albeit questionably late hours.
