LAMP 2010 Blog

[By Lori]

We had planned to worship at the church in Winnipeg, but decided to do our own devotions as a group. Pastor did a short lesson from Mathew 5:14 where Jesus tells us the we are the light of the world, and to let that light shine before men. We sang a song together “You are the Light of The World”.. After prayer, We all loaded up and headed south to the border. We arrived back in Fergus Falls at about 2:15 PM. Shawn Schneeberger had pizza waiting for us at the church. Thank you Shawn!  Everyone loaded up and went the separate ways. It is great to be back home again, but the memories of this week will remain with us for a long time. Thanks for all of you who took the time to follow our blog, and a special thank you to Kyle Sorkness, our webmaster. Most of all, thank you for your prayers…they upheld us this week. Praise God for this opportunity to serve Him!

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[By Lori]

Boarding the ferry on the way home

We packed up and left Thompson at about 8 a.m. We stopped at a beautiful waterfall a few miles south of Thompson. Just as we got to the Norway House corner, we saw four vehicles pull out onto the highway…yes, it was our Norway House team…what timing! Just another neat little God thing…one of so very many this week. We met at a gas station in Ponton where we switched people around so that we had an opportunity to visit with folks from each team, to share stories, experiences, etc. with each other. We drove all the way to Winnipeg, arriving at a church there at about 7 p.m. All 22 of us settled in at the church for the night, then went to Perkins/Pizza Hut for supper. When we arrived back at the church, we gathered together in one room and had share time, with everyone relating their most profound experience, etc from the week. All agreed that this was an awesome week and most plan to return next summer. We closed with prayer and the doxology before bedding down for the evening.

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Team #1 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #1 packed up all of their VBS-related things, drove over to their new location, the multiplex, and got set up by the big indoor stage. Today’s lesson was the parable of the lost sheep. What was ironic was that Jane had brought along a stuffed sheep to use for the lesson today… and they couldn’t find it! The sheep was actually lost. Jane and Joanie drove back to the other churches to look for the “lost sheep” and still couldn’t find it, so they returned empty-handed. As they looked through everything at the mutliplex, it looked to them as if some kids had come in during the night and messed around a little with some of their VBS things, including the sheep, which they finally found hidden elsewhere on the stage. Because of all the sheep searching, Team #1 didn’t have enough time left to get totally prepared for VBS, but it sounds like everything still went well. Again, VBS today also included songs, a craft, which was a bead bracelet today, and a game, which today was musical chairs. They took a group photo on the bleachers with the kids holding the Bibles that had been given to them today. Pamphlets on Luther’s Small Catechism were also given out to some of the older kids. Although it was more challenging for Team #1 to hold VBS in the very large and sometimes “distracting” multiplex, it sounds like their last day was still very successful.

Team #1 had to clean up quickly because Sara, Kayla, and Olivia told the kids that they would meet them at the beach for a 4:00 swim. “That was kinda a neat way to end it,” said Shari. “Quite a few kids showed up to swim.” While at the beach, they could see the funeral procession moving through town toward the United church. As Shari said, “It was a big deal here for the body to be coming in. All of the kids, even the really young ones, kept talking about ‘the body coming into town.’”

* * *

Team #2 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #2 had 7 new kids today. They had 110 different kids over the 5 days of VBS, with their average attendance in the upper 70s. “And that’s all we had room for,” said Pastor Lange. “So many kids give you a hug. They say, ‘We’re gonna miss you. Will you come back next year?’ It’s a wonderful experience.”

Team #2 acted out the story about the lost sheep today. “The kids like role playing,” said Pastor. “Tim took one of the little boys out into the trees to hide, then I started the story of the lost sheep. I was telling the kids that the sheep only know the Shepherd’s voice. Then I said, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a sheep missing.’ We had 50 or 60 kids today, and the kids thought everyone was there. ‘Well, someone’s brother or sister must be missing,’ I said. Then here around the corner comes Tim with the boy slung over his shoulder like a sheep. The kids loved it. We told them that we can’t loose track of each other and that Jesus doesn’t lose track of any of us either.”

“We have nice facilities,” Pastor added, “but we had no room for more kids. If more would’ve come on days two and three, I don’t know what we would’ve done.”

“I’m so glad I came up here.  I would recommend this for everybody. If you really want a mission experience, this is the way to do it.”

* * *

Team #3 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Commenting on this last day of VBS, Chuck Dale said, “The puppets are always a big deal. The kids are always mesmerized by them. The kids also loved doing the hokey pokey dance today. Even the little ones… watching them try to spin around was a riot (laughs). This is a new site for the group. We didn’t really know what to expect. We had 18 kids on Monday, 25 on Tuesday, 35 on Wednesday, then only 19 yesterday, but we jumped back up to 23 or 24 today. For the first year at this new location, we’re quite pleased.” To tell the story of the lost sheep, Team #3 cut some sticks into staffs, seated the kids on the floor, and acted out the dialogue from the lesson plan. “It worked pretty well,” said Chuck.

“This has really been a very different experience for us,” added Chuck, who, along with his wife and a handful of members from the Norway House teams, are “first-timers” with LAMP. “We didn’t really know quite what to expect, but it’s been a fantastic experience. We’ve had more fun this week than we’ve had in a long time. Those kids are just the most precious. They’re a joy to be around.”

* * *

Once the three teams were back together, they went to a home in Norway House for the fish fry they had been invited to, where they were served pickerel, fries, and beans. “Oh my goodness, it was a wonderful outdoor meal,” said Shari. Pastor Lange put it this way: “We had a fish supper to top all fish suppers.” As a fisherman himself, Pastor added, “Our meal was at 6:00. They had gone out to catch the fish at 2:00… There’s no lake in Minnesota where you could fish for 35 people and have it ready for supper!” Dan Carlson joined some kids in an outdoor pool during the meal, and everyone had a laugh when one of the little boys ran up and said “Daddy! Daddy!” to Dan. He probably thought “Dan” sounded a lot like “dad.” Some of them played football and the rest just visited for a long time. They also took more photos, and then, after everyone joined in singing the common doxology, everyone stood in a big circle, holding hands, and the locals presented the LAMP team members with T-shirts from the Cree Nation that say “Norway House.” Shari said, “They even had a cake for us at the end of the meal that said something about VBS on the top. It was a wonderful evening. It takes a while for groups to get accepted up here, so this is a pretty big step from last year.”

“Now people have scattered to take food and left-over VBS supplies to different churches,” said Shari. Some went off to the rectory to take showers and some went back to the dump to see the bears again. “Dan’s plan for tonight is to stay up late playing games, because we’ve had very little downtime,” said Shari. “We have to get up at like 5:30 or some terrible hour tomorrow anyway, and there should be plenty of time to sleep in the vehicle on the way home.”

Pray for safe travels for the Norway House and Shamattawa teams as they begin the long journey home tomorrow.

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It’s another beautiful morning in Shamattwa, the town is quiet and so is our apartment here in the teacherage.  Most were up quite late last night. It’s 7:00 AM . This morning we will need to pack up and be ready to fly out before we go to Vacation Bible Scool, as we will have little time for packing after class today.

Early Morning View Outside Our Door 7-30-2010

Today’s lesson for us and the children is about how Jesus keeps us close. The story is the parable of the lost sheep from Luke 15:1-7 . Our craft for the day is making cotton ball sheep, the main song for the day is Jesus Loves Me.

We may not finsish this blog for a day or so, because internet connections are not always available. Our travel plans are not yet certain for the trip home. We know we fly out at 6:20 PM from here in Shamattawa, going straight to Thompson. Daves vehicle is in Thompson, so can pick that up, but then we are not yet where we will stay tonight, Friday, before driving to Winnipeg with the Norway House Group on Saturday.

Keep us in prayer as we say our sad goodbyes to these people of Shamattawa. We also ask for your prayer support for the many hurting people here that do not know Jesus.

* * *

[The following was added on August 1st by Lori.]

Our last day teaching at Shamattawa…makes us feel sad that this awesome week is almost over. We got up and showered, which was a good thing, as they shut off the water in the city right after that. Radio said that we should boil the water when it comes back on at noon, then refrigerate it before drinking it. We have been filtering all of our drinking water anyway, so we had quite a bit in the fridge already.

We were happy to see Chasity today, as she just flew in from visiting her Mom in God’s River Narrows…she was a special VBS student from last year and we had missed her this week. We were so glad we got to see her again and note how she’d grown. Sure didn’t take her long to warm up to us again!

VBS banner Church Basement in Thompson our Friday night accommadations

We packed up most of our belongings before VBS, ate grilled cheese sandwiches and headed out for our last day of teaching. We had 53 kids today and I think most of them had sugar for lunch….very wiggly today! But by craft time, they had settled down pretty good and enjoyed making their lambs with cotton balls…today’s lesson was the story of the Lost Sheep. We were surprised when we asked who had ever seen a sheep and only a few kids raised their hands! After class, we cleaned up the schoolroom and headed back to the apartment to finish packing up there as well.

Heading to the airport (no taxi, but alot of help)

We had a handful of kids with us the entire day, especially our two special kids for the week, Tristian and Karien…and a special thank you to our airport shuttle crew…um, that would be the five of us adults, Tristian, Karien, Dyrell, and Greg carry/drag all of our gear/sleeping bags, etc. across the field and the loose gravel field, over the road and up to the airport…dusty and hot! Pretty funny sight, though, all of us straggling along, dragging our stuff…

More kids gathered at the airport so they could see us off and say goodbye. They plane coming in was over 1/2 hr. late, so they were there for a long time…I think the airport employees were getting a little annoyed with the crowd we had in there. It could have been the balls that were bouncing around, too, maybe.

Shamattawa team boarding plane for Thomson. Photo coutesy of the pilot.

We finally said all of our farewells and gave last hugs and headed out to the plane for departure from Shamattawa…what a feeling, flying off over the town, looking down at it from the air and knowing that part of your heart will be staying there with the children for another year. We have committed to pray for the people there, especially those kids on the fringe…praying that God reaches out and gathers them to Himself before the dark side does. We had a safe flight to Thompson, arriving at 8 p.m. Al Anderson, Director of Ministry for LAMP, met us at the airport and gave us a ride to the place where he is staying for the summer in Thompson. He and his wife, Darlene, gave us a delicious supper and offered us the opportunity to shower before heading over to the church for the night. Al got us to the church, where we settled in and had our popcorn/devotion time.

Aerial shot while leaving Shamattawa

The original plan had been for us to drive to Norway House from Thompson, but with all of the road construction and the fact that our team there had to move out of the church where they had been staying for a funeral, we decided it would be best for our team to stay in Thompson and meet up with them on Saturday.

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[Note: As I mentioned in the last Norway House blog post, the teams have been busy moving from the United church, so today's update is very short.]

The enrollment at all 3 locations went down today. This was possibly partly due to having Family Night last night and partly due to the funeral (see July 28th post).

* * *

Team #1 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #1 only had 50 or 60 kids today instead of the usual 80 some. Team #1 used a flannelgraph to tell the Bible story today, which worked well. The multiplex Team #1 will be using for VBS tomorrow normally functions as a hockey arena.

* * *

Team #2 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Dan Carlson’s only comment from Team #2 today was that Tim King did a wonderful job performing Jill the puppet in a woman’s voice.

* * *

Team #3 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Attendance was down for Team #3 also, but they still had about 26 kids (which isn’t too bad for Team #3). Again, the kids enjoyed a puppet show today and also “loved making and coloring origami boats” (the story today was about Jesus calming the storm). “The kids are writing all over our shirts again today,” said Cathy. Team #3 took a group picture with the kids, leaders, and the puppets (named Jack and Jill). The kids also worked on making a poster. “Hopefully we’ll get more kids tomorrow,” said Cathy, who just happened to celebrate her 50th birthday today. “I got offered prunes and told to look forward to a colonoscopy… Lots of old jokes today (laughs).” Remember to wish Cathy a happy birthday when the teams return!

* * *

When the three teams had finished teaching at their churches and were back together, they somehow ended up photographing  11 or 12 black bears at the Norway House garbage dump. (We’ll upload those photos when we can.) The now-older Cathy joined Sara, Kayla, Olivia, and Dan for their nightly dip in the lake. [With age comes wisdom...?]

As I spoke with the teams for a short time tonight, I could hear them playing Yahtzee in the background. Between the initial planning, the packing and the traveling, the settling in and the week of teaching, the time taken up with the kids and the working around surprises like having to change locations, the teams have certainly been through a lot together, and it’s great that they can have some time at the end of the day for group devotions, games, and fellowship. Continue to pray for our teams as they complete their last day of VBS tomorrow.

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It’s a beautiful Morning in Shamattawa today! Yesterday was an eventful day, by the time the last light went out here in Shamattawa, all five of us were exhausted. Today is a new day in the Lord we are anxious to see just what is store for us.

An update on the condition of the teenagers involved in the 4-wheeler accident on Wednesday: The two girls are okay with only bruises, but the boy suffered three fractures and was sent out by medi-vac flight for treatment.

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An Arial View of Shamattawa

It was a little later for some to get going today, Lori had been up late writing Wednesday’s blog. Dave made his famous pancakes for breakfast today. As always they were great!. Before lunch many of the kids came over to play ball etc. Dave loves to play outside with the kids, he is so good at that. The kids so crave that one-on-one time with adults. I don’t think that happens much in their everyday lives.  We had a light lunch before heading over to the school for VBS. The children congregate here at our door as we eat lunch, they stand just peering through the screen waiting patiently for us to say, “OK, we are ready to go.” They walk with us, holding our hands as we walk. The older kids carry our materials, books, or whatever they can do to help.

A Typical Trek.. Sharlene and Friends

We arrived at the school classroom today a little early, set up for the day, got song lyrics on the board, etc. Registration begins when the children start arriving. Most are there shortly after the start time of 1:00 but a few drift in until maybe 1:30 – 2:00. The lesson for today is about how we need to trust God in all that we do. The Bible story was the story of Jesus calming the storm. Today the children received the beaded bracelets that we made for them earlier in the week. The coloring page for today was the image of Jesus and his disciples out in a boat, in a raging storm. For a fun craft, we also made paper airplanes with the kids. We had a total of 53 kids today, 14 of them were new attendees and still have 19 of them here all 4 days so far.

The Airplane Factory

We sang “I Am Trusting Thee Lord Jesus” as our main music for the day, but the kids have many other favorites that we do over and over again.  Just before snack time today, we went outside with the bubbles that we had brought with us. We used the outside playground for this event. When the children returned inside, it was snack time. Today it was goldfish crackers and juice. The crackers were a hit.

Once again, some of the youth stayed behind to help clean up, pick up, and get organized for the next day. Back at the apartment by4:30, we regrouped and discussed going to a memorial for a community member Marcia (Marcee-a), a 25-year old woman who had been raped and beaten to death about five years ago, leaving behind 3 small children. The plan was to all walk together as a group to the spot out in the woods (the location of her death) and then return to the Crisis Center for a “community feast” (round trip distance of approximately 4 miles) We decided that this would be a good way for us to be a part of the community and to more visible and accessible to the adults here in Shamattawa. All five of us went on the memorial walk  and attended the community meal following. Lori will write about the details and her experience next.

Hi, this is Lori...just to give my impression of our experience on the memorial walk, the memorial service in the woods, and the community feast following the event. The community has been planning this event for the past few years, but this is the year that it finally came together. The Crisis Center gave out T-shirts for everyone with Marcia’s photo on them, decorated the Crisis Center with balloons and photos of Marcia and her three boys. The Crisis Center used this opportunity to bring awareness of domestic violence to the community.

This event has been especially painful for the community, as the person who committed this crime has still not been found and justice has not been served in this case. It appears that the investigation has stalled; the family feels this may be due to the fact that she was aboriginal. It was good to see the entire community gather together for one purpose, to support the family in their pain of loss.

When the group arrived to the site in the woods, they formed a circle and the family and pastors said a few words to the crowd. Then the pastors asked people who wanted to pray to come forward. Soon, they were motioning to those in the back of the crowd, asking the “missionaries” to come forward. Dave and I were the only two left in our group, as the rest of our group headed back because the bugs were so bad. I looked at Dave, he looked at me, and we both turned around and looked behind us. The people behind us pointed to us and said, “They mean you.”  So we worked our way to the opening in front of the crowd and stood with the church and community leaders. I immediately started praying that the Holy Spirit would give Dave the words to speak, the message that He wanted His people to hear. After Dave’s prayer, Pastor Daniel prayed in Cree…a very moving and emotional experience for all in attendance.

The family then posed for photos of their signs, domestic violence intervention, memorial signs for Marcia, etc. Marcia’s sister shared her pain, how they were not allowed an open casket at the service due to the extent of her injuries, etc. After she spoke, I slipped my beaded cross off of my neck and as I did, the girl next to me handed me another one. Dave had taken his off as well and passed it to me through the crowd. I went to Marcia’s sister, expressed our sympathy to her and her family, and put the necklace around her neck. I handed her the second cross necklace and she placed it on Marcia’s memorial cross. People then placed flowers on the cross and the crowd walked back to the Crisis Center for the meal, where we mingled with the adults and children. We felt very much a part of Shamattawa and its people, sharing their pain and sorrow, their ups and downs…very fitting, as our theme for Vacation Bible School this week has been “JUMP – Jesus Understands My uPs and downs”.

What  an opportunity, to be accepted as brothers and sisters in this community; it was a huge honor for us, and very humbling. God continues to amaze us this week; He has made His presence known in many ways.

Again, thank you to our faithful Prayer Warriors back home; you don’t know how much we appreciate your faithfulness in lifting us up this week.

The Memorial Walk For Marcia 7-29-2010

Memorial Service Remembering Marcia, Mother, Sister, Friend 7-29-2010

The Feast After The Memorial

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[Note: The Norway House teams have been busy with the move (see below), which explains why this blog post is a day late.]

Team #1 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Playing hot potato

Team #1 had close to 80 kids today, and quite a few of them were new. The skit today was about the good Samaritan. “Sara and I got to beat on Kayla with foam sticks,” said Olivia Becker. “You get to hit a person really hard without hurting them (laughs).” The craft today used the materials prepared by the Trinity Crafters: hole-punched foam pieces, which the kids “stitched together” to make little bags for first aid kits. The kids practiced songs to be performed for their families at Family Night tonight. “It was really windy and cold outside today, so instead of playing games outside, we laid out a big roll of brown paper, and some of the kids filled it with pictures and words. I think the plan is to hang this banner up at Trinity for a while,” Olivia added. “A TON of the kids stayed after VBS today, so we played ball outside with them.”

A very memorable thing happened when one of those girls who had stayed after was talking with Sara. She asked Sara if she was a Christian. When Sara said yes, the girl asked how she could become a Christian, too. Sara continued talking with that girl when another young girl entered into the conversation and asked the same question. Pastor Lange joined the three girls and prayed with them. May this powerful story be a reminder for all of us back home to pray for these two girls and all of the children and community members reached with the Gospel this week in Norway House and Shamattawa through these LAMP teams. “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

* * *

Team #2 (see blog header for team members’ names)

With limited time on the calling card, Dan Carlson simply said that it was the normal routine during VBS for Team #2 today. “I did a rap during the skit, which went over pretty well,” he added. “I’m also going to do a rap with Pastor on Friday… I talked him into it.”

* * *

Team #3 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Barb and kids

Team #3 had 31 kids today. “The kids loved the skit today,” said Cathy Christianson. “For the story of the good Samaritan, Joe was robbed. He came up to the window and asked for help. He was such a good actor. Our puppets gave him water and a bandage. The kids absolutely love the puppets. We always try to include something about the York boats in the skits, which the kids really like.”

But it wasn’t just the puppets and the skits the kids liked today. As Cathy said, “They actually really enjoyed looking up verses in the little Bibles we gave to them.”

The weather allowed Team #3 to go outside today for games. “We got lots of hugs today,” Cathy said. “I was chasing kids, and if I caught them I’d get a hug.”

* * *

Once the teams were back together, they had a little downtime before they had to start preparing for Family Night, which sounds like it went very well. “Probably about a third of the kids, 60 or so, showed up with family members, so it was pretty successful,” said Dan. Olivia said that the family night festivities included games like a fish pond, beanbag toss, and “something with rubber duckies.” She said there were blocks for the younger kids to play with, and popcorn, cookies, and lemonade for everyone. “A lot of parents or other family members came. A lot of them just watched the kids, but some of them played, too,” she said. One of the mothers was especially involved, and she has invited the teams to come over to her house tomorrow. “A bunch of kids got prizes, so that made them happy, and the kids sang a couple songs for their family members,” said Olivia. Like last year, the teams asked the kids to sign their shirts. As Olivia put it, “My shirt is completely, like, completely covered. The kids loved writing on our shirts. They had us start signing some of their things, too.” The teams were also able to exchange mailing address with some of the families during the event.

Drying off after swimming

After Family Night was over, Pastor lead devotions about tomorrow’s lesson: Jesus calming the storm. Then Dan, Sara, Kayla, and Olivia went down to the lake again. “All four of us are determined to not take a real shower, so we are washing our hair down in a lake… which is actually kinda gross,” Olivia said with a laugh.

As successful as Family Night was, it wasn’t the biggest story in Norway House today. Edward Gablin, a relatively famous musical artist from the area passed away yesterday. “All of the flags in Norway House are at half mast because he’s known all over,” Olivia said. “People from Nova Scotia and everywhere have been calling people in Norway house today to see if the news is true.” The small community of Norway House is preparing for a couple hundred extra people tomorrow for the funeral. According to what has been told to the teams, when the body is flown in tomorrow, it’s customary that everyone in the town will be waiting at the airport. From there they will make the long procession to the church. “It’s a huge thing,” Olivia said. “A bunch of families will come to the church and cook. A bunch of them will be at the church from Thursday through Saturday. Whenever someone dies who was from Norway House, they fly them back to Norway House to have the funeral. There are a lot of really big funeral traditions here, I guess.”

The teams received this news when a couple community leaders came and filled them in. “They felt really bad about asking us to move to a different place,” Olivia said. “They explained the funeral traditions and said that we could stay at the Catholic Church. They said that we could continue teaching at the multiplex in town. I haven’t been there yet, so I can’t tell you much about it. I just know it’s a really big building. We told them that we completely understood.” Ironically, there’s also going to be a wedding at the same United church on Friday. According to Olivia, “They’re going to have a wedding in the sanctuay on Friday even though the viewing is going on in the next room.”

Team #1 is still able to teach VBS at the United church tomorrow before moving their VBS to the multiplex, but all three teams had to pack up their personal belongings tonight to prepare for the move to the Catholic church. Although it’s an unexpected change of plans, Cathy says that “the Catholic church is very nice inside, so it should be an okay move.”

In closing, Shari quotes David Schneeberger and the semi-official mantra of Trinity’s LAMP trips: “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape.”

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6:30 AM…… The weather is cloudy this morning in Shamattawa. It is quiet at the door. that will most likely change soon, as the children will be up and looking for us. Today we expect Steve Dreher, the LAMP pilot from Red Lake, to come today for a midweek visit. He will be flying into Shamattawa in the 6- passenger red LAMP plane that  brought us here for last year’s Vacation Bible School. Read on……..

The "Red Airplane"

Dogs run loose in Shamattawa

The photo above was taken by Dave on Tuesday. Dogs do not need to be tied up in Shamattawa. This little puppy found a snack in an potato chip bag. Check in later today for more Wednesday happenings in Shamattawa. Read on…

Hi, everyone… Lori here……I’m going to do the update for Leon today. Bear with me, as I tend to be more detailed…the “painters” out there will love it; the “pointers” may not. :-)

The day started out pretty normal; we had breakfast, filled 100 water balloons, and took supplies over to the classroom. We ate mac & cheese and alfredo broccoli pasta for lunch and then headed over to prepare for VBS. The kids started streaming in and we did registration, nametags and wristbands for the children. (We had 55 kids today!)

We were happy to see Steve Dreher, our LAMP pastor/pilot, who came to visit us at VBS today…he took pictures and posted them to his blog. Leon also posted a message on this blog, too. Check it out at:  www.lightaboutmypath.blogspot.com Steve also brought along two aviation friends with him today as well; it was great to have some new faces with us.

Sandy and Maryanna Steves Friends

Steve (The LAMP Pilot) and Tyrell

We sang, “Shake Another Hand” and other favorite songs. The lesson for today was the parable of the Good Samaritan and our puppet, Bonnie, told the story to the kids. We handed out the Bibles to the children and they looked up the highlighted verse, “Cast all your anxieties upon Him, for He cares for you.”     1  Peter 5:7  We sang the B.I.B.L.E song while looking through our new Bibles.

"Look, We have our Bibles"

We colored a picture of the Good Samaritan and then ran off some energy outside by throwing water balloons onto a bedsheet and bouncing them up and down until they burst. The kids thought that was great! We returned to our room for snack and to make our craft of the day. Each child made a little first aid packet, which held a Bandaid and an antiseptic wipe. A HUGE THANK YOU to the dear Trinity Crafters for preparing this craft project for the kids. They LOVED this craft! They even used the items on their many bug bites. We closed with a Rap by Dave and a few more songs…some of the kids have been staying to help us clean up, which is a good time to interact with them individually. Our VBS session today was more orderly than any we have had to date and it was just plain fun for us, too. But God was not done teaching usyet…

Our "Walkabout" on Wednesday after VBS

We decided to take a walkabout town, to see where some of our kids live. There were three teenagers (2 girls and a boy) on a 4-wheeler just tearing around recklessly as we walked, (we had about 13 kids walking with us). The 4-wheeler made a pass through a large mud puddle ahead of us, spraying water all around. They turned around and came back at the puddle for another go at it; they were really coming fast. When they hit the puddle, the front wheels cranked to the side and the 4-wheeler rolled, landing right-side-up on top of one of the girls. She was screaming and Dave ran over and lifted the machine off of the girl, who said she had a bad headache and had a big bump forming on her forehead. The boy had landed quite a bit away from the machine. We think he may have broken something, as he was in a lot of pain. The third girl, the driver, didn’t seem to be hurt too badly. We sent some of our kids to homes in the area to have someone call for help and stayed with the teenagers to keep them calm. The police came and then the white van that they must use for a medi-van. They didn’t have a stretcher, but put the boy on a rug and we helped lift him into the van; all three kids were taken to the nurses station to get checked out.

We finished our walk and decided to have a “teaching moment” when we got back to our place. We had everyone sit down in a circle to talk about what happened,  and how dangerous it is to drive recklessly with any vehicle. We also mentioned that what happened this afternoon was just what we learned in our Vacation Bible School lesson today, how God had placed us in that place at that time so we could lend a hand and help our neighbors who were hurt. Some of our children were good Samaritans by running to nearby houses for help, Dave by lifting the 4-wheeler off of the girl, and others for providing comfort while we waited for help to arrive. We ended by saying a prayer for the kids who were hurt and asking for protection for all of the children of Shamattawa. It was a very teachable moment.

We then all walked down to the river to swim, singing our VBS songs all the way.

What a day – God was surely present in Shamattawa today. All praise and glory be to Him! Thanks for your continued prayers, everyone!

Thankful to be serving our Lord,

Lori Dawkins and the LAMP Shamattawa Team

Jessica and 6 new friends

Sharlene and Kids at Coloring Time

The Water Balloon Toss

Ready for Music Time

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[The Norway House Teams found Internet access at the local "mall," so enjoy the photos!]

Team #1 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Joanie lead the skit today. It was the parable of the wise man and the foolish man building their houses on the rocks and the sand. It involved kids building the houses with their bodies. Team #1 symbolized a thunderstorm during the skit using a spring drum. As Jane Hughes said, though, “God gave us stereophonic sound. There was real thunder and lighting at the exact same time. It was like surround sound. It was enough to make believers out of a whole bunch of kids (laughs) because it was very authentic. The kids were just surrounded by the storm. It think it’s something they will probably not soon, if ever, forget.”

Kids playing games

Team #1 almost doubled the amount of kids they had, going from 43 on Monday to 82 today, so the team was scrambling. “We had to get out more chairs and more tables. We’re trying to get ready for tomorrow, but if get any more kids, we’re going to be hard pressed for space,” said Jane.

It poured when they were supposed to be outside doing games, so Olivia brought all of the kids into the “dining hall,” where they had snacks. A lot of the kids stayed around for a long time after VBS ended to play.

* * *

Team #2 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #2 had 83 kids today. Because all of the LAMP groups are using the same curriculum, their skit for the day was also centered on the wise man and the foolish man. “The important part of today’s skit,” said Dan Carlson, “was that it hailed right at the time we were talking about building our house upon the rock, so it was very timely.” Unfortunately, it also hailed during the outdoor games, so the kids had to come back inside early to a snack that wasn’t quite ready. “There were crackers going all over the place,” Dan noted.

Kids coloring

“Time goes by really fast. We wish we had more time. The kids stuck on me like leaches. They just love ya,” Dan said. “And it’s exciting to see so many kids, but man, they wear you out in a hurry. The puppets go over really well with every group. Ginny and I have done them so far. The kids are most attentive during the puppets, so that’s kinda fun.” Even after the VBS is over, the kids know where Team #2 spends the night (at the United Church), so they visit the team there. As Dan said, “They know that we go swimming. I take my showers down in the lake (laughs). It’s cold, but the kids follow us.”

Commenting on his York boat practice yesterday, Dan simply said, “Oh my gosh, that was an experience.”

* * *

Team #3 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Donita Kimball, a member of Team #3 said, “We had an awesome day with lots of extra kids – new faces came in with the old faces. We enjoyed a puppet show today, which we hadn’t done before. We’d like to duplicate that because it was so successful.” The storms mentioned by the other two teams affected Team #3, too, hitting them about the time the puppet show ended. “We just stood at the windows and watched this miraculous hail storm. Many of the younger kids had never seen hail before.

Playing outside

Everyone was talking about the storm. It really tied the lesson in together. Perfect timing on God’s part,” Donita said.

A few Team #3 members watched some of the York boats practicing. Donita, Tim, and Sandy got to meet the CEO of the Cree Nation. He thanked them and shared some insight about the community. “He said that there are plenty of jobs for the community; the problem is the people’s lack of willingness to work,” Donita relayed, as she talked about the importance of the teams understanding the communities they’re serving. “He said that the boat races are an awesome thing because the youth get involved, and the races really involve the whole community.”

* * *

Kiwi and Kayla

When the teams were back together for supper, Olivia made 3 big pans full of lasagna. Some started relaxing and playing the infamous Banana-grams game for the first time, a favorite pastime with last year’s LAMP teams. Some of the team members also played one of the community’s favorite pastime’s: bingo over the radio. None of them won, but it was certainly the first time any of them had played that game over the airwaves. Dan lead group devotions about Jesus’ parable that the kids learned about today and about the choices we make in life. Jane handed out instruments, and the group sang some songs together.

“It ends up being an extremely full day. Tons of activity, work, but pretty, pretty cool,” Jane remarked. “We’re very glad we are able to do this. The people really seem to appreciate it. We’re not even getting started until 3:30 because there are so many kids to register. If this growth continues, we’re going to have to have more churches to do this in!”

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Lori and some girls coloring on the floor

This is our second day teaching VBS in Shamattawa. We are excited about the day before us. Looking forward to more kids today as more find out about what the Vacation Bible School is all about.

The Theme banner for the week "JUMP" Jesus Understands our Ups and Downs

The teaching time today was very full of activity. We had a full classroom with 68 children from 2 yrs old to 15 yrs old. 42 of those had been ther Monday as well, and we had 26 new kids today.  We sang songs using the guitar to lead, we had the story about the man who built his house on the rock. We sang the song “The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock” The coloring sheets for today had the same theme. The outdoor activity was freeze tag, a much needed chance to get into the fresh air away from a closed classroom made for just 25 kids. We came back to the classroom for Juice and snacks. Next on the agenda was the craft for the day. Today we made Cross/beaded necklaces 68 kids from 2-14 with 14 beads and 1 wooden cross. Wow! Actually it went quite well, we enlisted some of the older kids to help, and I think they all got put together. The kids left then, (almost all) and  it was time for clean up, sweeping and picking up crayons, and scraps of paper. We were back at our aprtment by 4:30. Dave, Sharlene, and Jessica are outside playing ball with the kids. They are begging us to go to the river to swim, but it is a bit cool and cloudy, we can save that for another day. Wednesday, we have visitors coming, Steve our LAMP pilot from last year, and a friend of his are visiting. They will be here mid morning through the afternoon I think.  We are not looking forward to Friday when we fly out to Thompson, going home will be nice , but leaving our special friends here in Shamattawa will put asadness in our hearts.

Lori and Karien (Our Tuesday Helper)

Jessica's new Friend

Recess from VBS (Freeze Tag)

Tuesday Clean-up Crew

Shamattawa 2010 LAMP Team

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The Norway House teams got up around 7:00 this morning. Al and Darlene joined them for breakfast. Team #2 and Team #3 made their lunches and took off early to the other churches because they wanted to have enough time to set up for this first day of VBS. Team #1 ate a quick lunch and also started preparing, setting up tables and chairs, getting supplies out, and running through their plan for the day.

* * *

Team #1 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #1 had 45 kids today. “Kids started showing up early. Went very well. The kids sat and listened very well like last year,” Shari said. Joanie played guitar and lead the music. Jane lead the lesson. “We handed out Bibles and had the kids read out of Matthew with us, about how God cares more for us than anything else in creation.” They also played games and ate snacks. “We recognized some of the kids from last year’s VBS, and some of them remembered us,” Shari added. Some of the kids stuck around afterward to play games with Olivia, Sara, and Kayla.

Nathan Bone, a friend and helper from last year, showed up. “He’s already remember the nicknames he gave to team members last year and giving the new people nicknames. Joanie is ‘Joanie Phoney Baloney,’” said Shari, within earshot of her aunt, the now-nicknamed Joanie Tonneson.

* * *

Team #2 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #2 had about 72 kids! “Pastor’s taking a nap right now,” Shari commented with a laugh. Ginny Lange, a member of Team #2 said, “Had a great day. Exhausted. We were totally out of space, out of tables. Don’t know if we’ll switch to shifts or what.” Ginny also said that “Dan is an absolute joy. He’s wonderful with the kids. The kids love the puppets. Even with a group that large, they pay attention to the puppets. Dan also played keyboard and the kids loved the music. The kids are very respectful. Of the 72 kids only about 20 of them have ‘the wiggles’.”

York boat. Photo by Verne Equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:YorkBoat_FEP.jpg).

Every year, Norway House has a big celebration called York Boat Days. (If you don’t know what a York boat looks like, see the photo here or check out this Wikipedia article). Part of the celebration is a York boat race. The top prize is $25,000. “Two of the girls from our group are in the 9-13 year-old bracket, which has its own prize. The kids train for an awfully long time,” said Ginny. Ginny says that Dan Carlson saw some people practicing in their boat and offered to be a cheerleader for them. Instead, they handed him an oar and told him to join them. So, sure enough, he took one of the huge oars and joined one of the women’s teams as they practiced. After he got back, Ginny said, “He looks a little stiff around the edges. His back probably aches a little (laughs). Hopefully he’ll still be able to pound on that keyboard tomorrow. You’ve probably never heard music like this before. It’s pretty peppy (laughs).”

“We’re prepared for 100 kids tomorrow,” Ginny said. “We had two mothers show up to help us today, which was assistance we really needed. We could use more staff. We’re all gonna sleep really well tonight.”

* * *

Team #3 (see blog header for team members’ names)

Team #3 only had 18 kids. “This is the first time VBS has been held at the Catholic church,” said Joe Peloquin. “Some kids came by car, some walked, and some came by boat.” The church, a rather small, but new building, is located on a river. The old church still stands on the same site. There is also manufactured home on the site, which is the office for the priest in charge of the church. “The priest is not full time. He’s not there this week. He has a church in Grand Rapids and also in Winnipeg, so he travels a lot,” Joe added. Some church members who assist the priest were there to help with VBS today. Joe said, “It was an excellent session. Kids were interested in what they were hearing. Only one of the 18 kids who were there today had been to a VBS before. The kids also enjoyed the songs and were very active in the games. We’re hoping for an increase in the number of kids tomorrow. It looks like we might have a couple mothers come with their children to help out.”

* * *

As I talked to these team members on the phone, everyone was back together at the United church. “People are taking it easy and spaghetti is on the stove,” Shari said. “After supper, we’ll have to get ready for tomorrow.”

The teams are inviting the families of all the VBS kids to come to the United Church on Wednesday night for a Family Night, which is something the teams didn’t try last year. Keep reading here on the LAMP 2010 Blog for updates on that night, as well as day-to-day updates on the rest of this week of teaching Vacation Bible School in remote areas of northern Canada.

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Shoes, shoes and more shoes, our room was carpeted, and removal is a school rule

The Registration table Lori , Sharlene, and Jessica

One happy girl!

Leon and his friend John

Up early, gathered together to eat breakfast, this morning will be working on todays lesson review, checking with the Band office, putting Dave on the radio to advertise, getting our school room lined up for the weeks session. More to follow……………………………………………………..

Ok I’m back it’s about 5:00PM on Monday the rest of the team went with the kids to the river to swim, I have stayed back to edit pictures and write this to the website, It is 5:15 as I start this again. We had a great day of teaching, 58 kids today. We were able to use a classroom at the school. Just pushed the desks back and used the floor. We used the puppets Ronnie and Bonnie for the lessons, sharing with the children how God cares for us each day. They really settled down when it was time to color, and did enjoy the music. It seems dificult to get them to listen to the lesson, but many seemed to be attentive. We just pray that God’s word is heard and understood even if it is a simple message.  Tonight we will evaluate our day, looking at what was effective and what was not. We will be doing our devotion together as a team based on Mathew 6:25-30 showing us how God really cares about us. Those of you that have the devotion books please follow with your devotion time as well. Thanks for your prayer , we do have much to be thankful for, we have been provided all we need, and more, here in Shamattawa. From all five of us, Leon, Lori, Dave, Jessica, and Sharlene, Thank you!

Dave doing a little "screen door ministry"

The Dave in the Morning Show 96.9 FM Shamattawa

Our LAMP "Team Shirts" for 2010

Dave and Puppet Ronnie interacting with the kids

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The teams left Grand Rapids, where they had spent the night at a church. They had breakfast at a gas station restaurant, drove further north, crossed the Jenpeg Dam, then took the ferry (they were able to fit all 4 cars on at once) and made the last leg of the drive into Norway House. They got there just in time for a worship service at the United Church, where all 3 Norway House teams are staying and one of the teams (Team #1) is hosting a VBS. The other two teams are at the Anglican Church (Team #2) and the Roman Catholic church (Team #3). The worship music was lead by a guitarist and an accordionist. The last hymn was sung in Cree, as is their custom. There were 2 baptisms at the end of the service, like last year (apparently there are a lot of babies in the community). The teams were introduced to the congregation at the end of the service.

They then checked out other two churches. The Catholic church has a rectory (parsonage) with a shower that the teams will be able to use.

They went back to the United church and everyone staked out their spot in the sanctuary for sleeping. Some people from the community, mostly pastors and their families, made supper for the teams and brought it to them. Al and Darlene Anderson from LAMP showed up and also ate with them. Al and Darlene try to visit the LAMP teams in various areas of Canada to help them get set up for VBS. (Al was recently forced to make a crash landing, and explained to the teams how God helped him through it safely. His plane still sitting in a bog, waiting to be rescued.)

There was a big thunderstorm outside during supper, similar to the thunderstorm last year. Some of the team members saw two rainbows in the sky afterward. “It’s beautiful on the lake. The breeze is nice. Having a good time,” Shari said.

Some went and took showers at Al and Darlene’s hotel room, while others took showers at the rectory, while others still jumped in the lake, namely Olivia, Sara, Kayla, and Dan. Dan fell down in the water and cut his knee open on a rock. Apparently Tim King offered to stitch it up for him. [I'm writing this blog post for the team a day late, and they say Dan's knee is looking much better today already.]

Pastor Lange had a devotion for them in the sanctuary related to King Hezekiah, whom the sermon had been about earlier in the day.

Everyone was exhausted, so they went to bed a little early, except Olivia and Sara, who stayed up to work on a puppet script for tomorrow. (It was also noted that there are a bunch of snorers in the group…)

[It's looking like Olivia doesn't have reception after all, so you'll just have to enjoy the Shamattawa team's photos for now. We'll post the Norway House photos when the teams get back.]

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Shamattawa Girls

Sunday morning 7:02 AM in Shamattawa. We had  visitors last night. Our friend Howard Canabie and Daniel Redhead, who is a pastor at new church start here. They stopped by to welcome us and to get to know us again. The night was very late, we had our devotion and prayer time earlier, but still kept talking and laughing and talking and laughing. It was long after midnight when all retired. Church is not until 3:00 at the Anglican church where we had VBS last year so we can relax a bit and maybe enjoy Dave’s pancakes this morning.

Sharlene and friends

Today we will be doing our “walk-a-bout” trying to advertise the Vacation Bible School. Word travels fast here especially among the children, Yesterday we had many at our door getting reaquainted. We will add more to this Blog later in the day. Thanks again for keeping up with us, and thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers as we share Jesus with our friends here in the northern region of Canada.

6:10 PM

This afternoon we went down to “The Rock” on the river Dave went into the  river with the kids to swim, they all had fun. At 3:00 we went to the church at the Anglican Church. It started late but still a long service. Just got back about 15 minutes ago about 6:oo. We are now preparing supper. A storm is brewing in the west so looks like rain in the next 1/2 hr or so. Tonight we will prepare for our first day of Vacation Bible School.

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Norway House teams

NOTE: Unlike the Shattawa group, the Norway House groups have no Internet access, so I (Kyle Sorkness) will talk with them on the phone every evening and write their comments here on the blog. Hopefully they’ll still be able to send some photos via text messaging with their cell phones.

The 17 people (3 teams) headed to Norway House left Fergus Falls early this morning. They drove for around 13 hours today, covering about 560 miles. Sara Christianson said it was “a long ride” and that “the border was interesting.” She said that they saw a couple bears and deer along the way. There also seemed to be debate about the amount of junk food eaten on the road.

Tim King said, “We’re tired of being in the car. Beautiful country. Nice weather. … Wish you were all here with us. Keep praying for us.”

The 3 Norway House teams will be spending the night tonight at St. James Anglican Church in Grand Rapids, Manitoba. They’ll hit the road again tomorrow morning and arrive at Norway House later tomorrow.

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Shamattawa team in Thompson

Today was a long day of driving for the five of us. Dave our fearless leader has driven the whole trip. We were up at 6:00 AM, glad to get up off the hard floor. Out the door of the church at 7:00 AM sharp. Stopped at the ESSO gas stop for a quick cup to go, and off we went. Our plane flight up in Thompson was at 12:15, so we had to keep moving. We arrived in Thompson at about 10:30 stopped at an A&W for quick food and then on to the airport.

Dave helping pilots just after landing in Shamattawa

We checked our luggage and were over weight by alot, as we have all supplies for VBS and food for ourselves. The trip home should be no problem. We flew about 1 hr + out here to Shamattawa arriving around 2:00 PM. The plane is Perimeter Airlines, a 12 passenger twin prop loud airplane. First hint is they hand out earplugs as you get on the plane.  Upon arrival MaryAnn Mile the Anglican priest picked us up in her pickup and gave us a ride to our apartment. We spent some time cleaning unpacking and organizing things, making a trip to the Northern Store, (where milk is only about $14.00 / gallon), then returning to a wonderful lasagna (just add boiling water)supper prepared by chef Dave.

Jessica with Rosina at the Northern Store in Shamattawa

As I write this the other 4 team members, Lori, Dave, Sharlene, and Jessica went to see the store that Howard Canabe our Christian friend from last year has started in the last few weeks.  I thank Kyle Sorkness for getting our church website redone and giving me step by step instructions how to add to this blog. I hope to add pictures as soon as I figure out how. Words will need to suffice fro now.  Please pray for this community this week as we share Christ with the children. Pray that they hear the Word and can know the hope that we have in Him!

Leon

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Shamattawa team

Left Fergus Falls on Friday morning 9:15 AM. Drove all the way to Grand Rapids Manitoba by about 9:00 PM. Stayed at the  St James Anglican church  in Grand Rapids, (on the floor, but thankful for a place to stay). This team heading to Shamattawa Manitoba consists of Sharlene and Jessica Schmidt, Dave Schneeberger, Leon and Lori Dawkins, served in Shamattawa in 2009, and is very excited to see their friends young and old in Shamattawa. Please follow us each day as we share our experience.

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A brief article about this year’s LAMP mission trip appeared in Friday’s edition of the local newspaper, The Daily Journal. You can read the article here: “Trinity Church group heads to Winnipeg“.

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