The sun was shining as we drove away from our home one Friday morning. The roads were dry; the sky was blue. Driving west through the prairies, watching the grasses blow in the breeze, you could almost hear a gentle whisper in the air.
My view from the passenger seat maintained this prairie panorama for countless hours as we passed through Alberta and into Saskatchewan. About 30 minutes west of Brandon, the weather changed to blowing snow. This caused a white out and hid the ice on the roads.
There are many reasons I give thanks to God for Todd. His calm, capable driving skills are now another reason. We literally skated into Killarney, MB a mere five minutes before the roads were closed. We are thankful for all the new friends we met at Calvary Baptist Church in Killarney and for the opportunity to share with them what the Lord is doing through Indian Life Ministries.
After Killarney, we travelled to Winnipeg, on slightly better roads, to attend Missionfest Manitoba. The goal in attending was to expose the ministry. Someone recently told us that Indian Life was one of indigenous ministries' best-kept secrets. We don't want it to be a secret!
Can I just say we were not disappointed! We can now actually put faces to the many names we hear from on a regular basis. We got to meet some of Indian Life's personal supporters, subscribers, missions groups, churches and a ton of new people as well.
Travelling south from Winnipeg, our sights were on Rapid City, South Dakota. Before arriving, we bore witness to farms being washing out, livestock floating, and floodwaters encroaching upon the highways. Coming from Alberta, where some of our farmer friends are desperate for rain, we couldn't help but wish we could send some of the flooded waters over to them, splitting the difference.
We travelled to South Dakota because we were invited. The Billy Graham Association was partnering with CHIEF Ministries, and they were hosting the first Native Peoples Christian Leaders Conference. The Director of CHIEF, Huron Claus, had extended an invitation for us to attend. How could we say no? Not only did we start building relationships with some key people involved in indigenous ministry in the US, we met Craig and LaDonna Smith who will be keynote speakers at our banquet in October. The conference was an equipping, relationship-building, and encouraging time (see page 1 for more information).
Now it was time to start the journey home. The roads were clear, the sky was blue, no waters were causing floods and no snow was in sight. We thought it would be smooth sailing. How naive of us.
First we hit a alkaline white out (when water is alkaline-rich and the ponds and streams dry up, a wind storm can blow the alkaline, causing white out conditions). Then we hit a dust storm with intense winds. We were grateful the tires had clear asphalt to grip to.
During our two-week journey, we experienced wind, snow, ice, floods, alkaline, dust and sun. We knew the Lord had made a way for us to attend the various conferences, but He didn't promise smooth sailing. The one constant we knew to count on was His presence through it all. May the Lord grant that we have ears to listen for His gentle whisper amidst all the storms.
