Meadow Lake SK: Week1 Day 4

Good Evening Prayer Warriors

Happy Tuesday - We are excited to report in on another great day in Meadow Lake!

We have officially claimed our mascot for the trip - UNFORTUNATELY:

…and they are out for blood - in full force - we have a wide array of repellent and afterbite and we seem to be trying something new on the daily to combat the after effects of our very enthusiastic buzzing friends!

We started off our day today sharing on our team devotion about Welcoming the Next Generation - reflecting on Jesus' actions in Mark 10:14 when he prioritized having the children come to him for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Our focus was to be intentional about investing in youth and children with a genuine and unhurried love. 

We arrived a the center a few hours before it was open to the youth to allow us to go through an orientation time and start to prep the center for visitors.  We were able to dig in and start some cleaning in the kitchen and were also treated to custom coffees thanks to one of the team members at TPYC (Brandon) who is quite skilled with their espresso maker! He even went as far as including latte art!

We did a prayer walk around the building praying over the different areas and the ministry and impact of the center and then shared a devotion time with the Turning Point team.  They have been reading a chapter a day and were on 2 Timothy Chapter 1 - a charge for us to not be ashamed to testify about our Lord - God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, love and self discipline.

The youth arrived and the volume and energy took a big upswing in the center - it was fun to see their excitement to see old friends and to be together.

Belinda had been working on a "pantry hunt" soup for us which was an amazing hamburger soup creation and once the teens arrived they helped us make Bannock to go along with the soup.

It was a great experience to have them explain the process of making the dough - and this time it was to music - with one of the teens Nadine recalling her favorite worship song from camp My Lighthouse (complete with actions).  We sang along with her as we added flour into the dough to get it to just the right texture ready for baking.

While we waited for lunch to finish cooking, we had the opportunity to spend some time with youth doing some of the things they love to do when they are together at the center.

Video Games - Smash Bros and Maurice is the champion but so willing to teach and give tips to those wanting to learn!

Uno with Tanaeya & Olivia - Those of us visiting should have known we were in trouble when Tanaeya could shuffle the cards so well at the start that it was going to be tough to beat them at a game they LOVE so much!Once we had lost - 2 times in a row it was time for our delicious lunch - a chance to chat with the youth and have them start to teach us some of their Cree Language - starting with the numbers and a few animals.  We were practicing during our debrief and hope to surprise them with our progress tomorrow.

Pool with Olivia - complete with jump shots and an introduction to the Grannie stick!

After lunch, and clean up (everyone does their part), Uncle Bill led us through our first sharing time with the teens with the theme of identity.  Starting with our names and who named us and what they mean, and words that we use to explain who we are or what we are known for - it was an exploration of how God sees us and our identity in Him.  Uncle Bill then also shared some great photography tips and tricks around photo composition and focus points.  We had purchased a photo printer for the youth center to use and for the kids to be able to print out their creations - so we look forward to them being able to capture memories and print them out there for years to come!

While part of the team spent that time alongside Bill with the teens, the other part of our team went on an errand run to put plans in place for a landscape upgrade that we will start tomorrow at the center and some groceries for a meal that we will prepare tomorrow evening.  Auntie Lise has been drawing out a plan for us to follow as we work to freshen up some of the outside areas of the building.  Stage one was removing some paint from a section of fence.

Stay tuned for phase two of this project that will be putting stain on instead of taking it off, and our update for tomorrow - day two of our time with the youth and this time around the theme of Resilience!

Thank you for your continued prayers for our team, we have so enjoyed our time together serving.  Our morning devotions and nightly debriefs are filled with encouragement and often a lot of laughter - not to mention some scratching of mosquito bites.

 Week 1 - Meadow Lake Team!

Meadow Lake SK: Week1 Day 3

Good Evening Prayer Warriors

It's that time again to bring you our day 3 update from our Missions Trip Week One Team.

Today was a different day in that we split into two groups to be able to share in two different locations during the day.

Half of our team - Bill, Lise and Alice headed to Door of Hope.

Door of Hope is an organization here in Meadow Lake that is a daytime shelter dedicated to providing a safe, welcoming space for those in need.

Along with the Executive Director from Turning Point Youth Center (Belinda), our little team there dug in with kitchen support to get things ready for serving lunch to over 40 people who came to seek community, and sustenance at the shelter.

Door of Hope

Door of Hope

In helping to prepare lunch and then assist with the clean up and general upkeep of the center, our team was able to experience the important impact that the shelter is having daily.   It was heartwarming to hear that people came to Door of Hope today with the intention of meeting up with old friends from SCCEFC that they had interacted with on previous missions trips and were so happy to connect with again - we look forward to more of those reunions.

The opportunity to serve and support the ministry at Door of Hope also brought some times of personal reflection and heartache today.  Sadly many of the people that seek shelter and food at Door of Hope are struggling through various life events and addictions - our team was impacted by the sadness and state of some of those at the center today.  It served as a reminder that the tendency to seek to numb the difficulties in life isn't only shown in the homeless and those with addictions but many of us seek our own way of coping by distracting ourselves through other worldly things (entertainment, gaming, food etc).  Instead if we were to fix our eyes on the creator and healer of our hearts how much more He can correct our path and restore our peace.

If you are curious about the work happening at Door of Hope - I've included the link below.  Experiences such as these truly remind us to be grateful for what we have been blessed with in our lives and have us considering how we can further support and bring impact to similar organizations closer to home as well!

Door of Hope

The other half of our team (Emily, Jenny and Jackie) headed out to Bethel Gospel camp to assist in the kitchen on a busy camp day!  The head cook for the week Rochelle welcomed us with open arms and fresh aprons for us to take on the day with her preparing lunch and supper for over 70 campers and camp staff!

The camp and kitchen are very well run and organized with an order of events per day - focused on making sure food was prepared for that day and preparations were happening in advance for the days to come.
Snap, Crackle and Pop (the Rick Krispie Characters) would have been very proud of us for our first great success of making Rice Krispie treats on the stove (and not the microwave) - stirring a Very Large Pot of Marshmallows and then mixing in the cereal to create a snack masterpiece.  We learned a great baking idea today for anyone cooking with marshmallows in that way - putting cooking spray on your spoon before stirring them and it isn't half the mess it usually is!! 

That Huge Pot went back to work after prepping Mac and Cheese for Lunch with home made bannock - we had the chance to serve the food to each of the campers cafeteria style and were so impressed by the manners and friendliness of the campers.  Many of the campers even expressed excitement for the peas we had at supper alongside fried chicken and rice - but the favorite of all for that meal......... Pickles - we saw kids coming for seconds and thirds of them!!

We really appreciated the opportunity to work along-side of Rochelle and her heart for camp kids and the importance that each role plays at camp.  While we might not have had opportunity to sit down and really share with the campers, we know that the food we helped prepare could fuel them up and allow them to be present for the work that God is doing in their lives through their experiences this week!  We all have our part to plan in supporting and encouraging the work of the kingdom!

We had an amazing volunteer Chantelle who was doing our dishes throughout the day - we so appreciated her willingness to keep things clean with all of the preparations underway.  She had been a camper previously at Bethel and shared with us some of her experiences living as an Indigenous person in Meadow Lake and working with other cultures that were disrespectful and racist.  It was a reminder to us that each and everyday there are obstacles and challenges that so many are facing just to do the day to day things we take for granted.

We had a time of prayer and devotions in the afternoon that was from a devotion book that Rochelle has had for a long time called Disciplines for the Inner Life.  We reflected on Gratitude and the fact that there is no in between - you are either thankful or you aren't. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a hope for tomorrow.

As we returned to Tim and Judy's home we were reunited as a team and spoke about how we had missed one another that day while ministering in different places.  God truly has formed us into a cohesive small team where each member plays such an important part not only in ministering to those we encounter but also as a key component of encouragement and support for one another.

We are so thankful for this time we have together and we remain excited about what God has in store as the week continues, we are trying to continue to be flexible with the plans we have made to make sure that we are open to encounter more God surprises along the way.

Thank you for your prayers for our team!

Meadow Lake SK: Week1 Day 2

Sending along our update from Day 2 of our time here in Meadow Lake!

Following our update last night, there was quite a storm that rolled through Meadow Lake - with lightning for over an hour, wind and significant hail.

We know of several houses in Meadow Lake that had flooding and damage from the storm, we are so grateful for our hosts Tim and Judy and their care and attention rain or shine.  While we lost power here at the house for a couple of hours and there was one broken window from the hail that came with the storm - we were safe and secure!

We were reflecting on God's provision of safe travel from us during the day yesterday.  Oftentimes these hail storms happen in the afternoon or early evening and with the severity of this storm, it would have made the drive very challenging.  Many that we spoke with today mentioned it was one of the strongest storms they had seen in some time and that is was unique that it happened so late at night.  God's hand was on us during the journey and his hedge of protection over the house for us as well.  You can be in prayer for the people of Meadow Lake that sustained damage to their homes and for the days ahead as they clean up debris.

We woke up this morning to an amazing breakfast from our hosts Tim and Judy - the french toast even had rhubarb compote that Judy had made from her garden harvest!  We enjoyed visiting with Tim, Judy and Maurice and talking about some of their road trip adventures in Alberta this year.

We were able to join the congregation today at the Evangelical Free church for service this morning with a great time of worship and a powerful message from Pastor Jhune surrounding our fears referencing scripture from Joshua.  Joshua often found many reasons to be afraid and we have a tendency to focus on the same, sometimes before anything has even happened.   It doesn't matter what is ahead of you, ONLY that God is with you.  

We were reminded that our calling to serve is God's idea - that if we remain focused on what God will do in our lives that it will diminish our fear.  When God makes a promise is certain.  His scripture is our Prescription - just like we do for any medical prescriptions - we should read and apply his specific instructions in His word.  God doesn't give us a spirit of fear but the ability to live a full and glorious life.

We shared lunch at the church with friends from Turning Point Youth Center and had the opportunity to learn more about their passions for Meadow Lake and the work that is ongoing in the community and what has drawn them to engage in ministry here!  We had the absolute pleasure to have some baby cuddles with twin girls that belong to a young couple here Michael and Kim who have been involved both with Turning Point Youth Center as well as the Bethel Bible Camp and who will soon be off to Barrhead to begin ministry there as a pastoral family. 

We next were headed out to Bethel Bible Camp - but took a quick stop to check in on Belinda (Executive Director and Turning Point) and her husband Matt's incredible renovation project.  They purchased an old church and have been gradually renovating it - they are making great progress but lots of work to go still.  We were really impressed with the potential and some of the really interesting elements they are using - Belinda's uncle is making handrails out of willow trees from their land!  

Once we made it out to Bethel Bible Camp - through another rain storm - we were able to tour their amazing camp with the director Cory and his wife Olivia.  Olivia was an amazing tour guide and we were able to see their great facility that can accommodate up to 64 campers a week - with a cool craft cabin (seen below) great activities and water sports on a very clean but cold lake!  The mosquitos certainly were a force out there but we kept the bug spray on hand and really enjoyed seeing all facets of the camp - including all the wild berries that grow there - raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and saskatoons - we may have slowed this down a little hunting and sampling the "organic" treats!

Craft Cabin at Bethel Bible Camp

Water Sports at Bethel Bible Camp

We had a great meal with Belinda following our camp trip and ended the evening with a team debrief where we reflected on the impact of the day, the impact of the message of putting aside our fears and embracing what God has in store for us really resonated through our conversation and the excitement of meeting up with new and old friends throughout the day. 

Our individual and team prayers really surround being aware of opportunities to serve, share and make connections as we interact with people in our areas of service.  Please pray for us to be aware and bold to make an impact for God!

Tomorrow half of our team are headed to Door of Hope to prepare and serve food at the drop in center and half will be heading to camp to prepare food for the campers!  Help us to be present, focused and flexible to God's plans!

Week 1 - Meadow Lake Team!

Meadow Lake, SK: Week1 Day 1

Good Evening All

We are so happy to be able to share our first official update from Meadow Lake Saskatchewan!  

After a great send off this morning from Tim Hortons:

We are so grateful that God provided an amazing travel day complete with a quick stop in Vegreville for lunch and a quick peek at the beautiful spinning Pysanka egg!

The team agreed that the trip really didn't feel like 7+ hours on the road as we had great devotions, conversation and views on the drive - Canola Fields as far as the eye could see!

God was reminding us throughout the day that His Plan and His Purpose is what is in store for us this week, not our specific goals or agendas on our own schedule just as scripture tells us in Proverbs 16:9 - In their hearts humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps.

 Our steps lead us to arrive even a little ahead of schedule at the Turning Point Youth Center - see the Director Belinda and her husband Matt and drop off the supplies that we will be utilizing over the next couple of weeks.  The team even took a turn at trying out the pool table and foose ball - we will be ready to spend some time with the youth - including some learning times and games together!

We got settled in at Tim & Judy's place - our hosts for the week in their amazing house where their heart for people is so evident!  The big beautiful skies of Saskatchewan made for some stops for photo ops and marveling at God's creation.

Not a great photo but Alam was so engaging and was very interested to learn about our backgrounds and share about his experience and family - we spent quite a long time talking with him and it was a reminder that so many are lonely for connection that if we can allow God to open doors for conversation that we can connect - sometimes over AMAZING pizza!

Tomorrow we look forward to joining the morning church service at the E-free church here in Meadow Lake and then will head out to tour Bethel Gospel camp together - one of the places that we will serve this week helping in the kitchen.

Please pray for us as we settle into the first week here that we can make meaningful connections - whether places we expect them - church, the youth center etc, or other places that God is making a path for us, like we experienced over supper today.

We pray for health, unity, humility and an openness to the work that God has in store in and through us this week.

Thank you for your prayer support and encouragement to us.

Week 1 - Meadow Lake Team!

2026 July 12: Team #1 Send Off!

Dear Prayer Warriors,

We are excited to announce that Team One is officially sending off for their short-term mission trip on July 18, 2026.

Our primary focus for this trip is twofold: to serve and encourage the long-term missionaries on the ground, and to build relationships through outreach within the local Indigenous community.

Your ongoing prayers and generosity have made this journey possible. As they prepare to depart, please cover the team in prayer for safe travel, unity, and impactful ministry.

We want to ensure our hearts are spiritually prepared to serve with deep humility and love.

Please join us in praying for these specific needs:

• A Servant’s Heart: Pray that we can be a true source of refreshment, encouragement, and practical help to the local missionaries who labor there daily.

• Cultural Sensitivity & Respect: Pray that God gives us eyes to see, ears to listen, and hearts to honor the culture and history of the Indigenous people we will meet.

• Trust and Connection: Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before us to soften hearts, break down any barriers, and allow genuine connections to form quickly.

• Boldness and Sensitivity: Pray for the right words to share God’s love clearly, while remaining deeply sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

• Spiritual Attack: Pray for Lina, (she is the one who connects us with Waterhen) In March, her doctors diagnosed her with cancer. In the past couple months, she has had reactions to her chemotherapy.

• "The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." – Psalm 126:3: God has been incredibly faithful, and He used your amazing generosity to provide the amount of funding needed for our trip!

• Praise the Lord! We are so thankful to Waterhen Lake First Nation for allowing us a short visit to their community.

During the trip, our team will send daily email updates. Thank you for being such a vital part of this journey with us!

Blessings,

SK STM Team

2026 July 3: Two weeks to go!

In just 2 weeks, our team will depart for our short-term mission trip! We are incredibly grateful for your partnership as we prepare to step out.

Our primary focus for this trip is twofold: to serve and encourage the long-term missionaries on the ground, and to build relationships through outreach within the local Indigenous community.

With 14 days left, we only have 2 training sessions left before we are sent out on our short-term mission! We are so excited and grateful for your support as we enter this final stretch. Please keep us in your prayers as we wrap up our preparation!

We want to ensure our hearts are spiritually prepared to serve with deep humility and love.

Please join us in praying for these specific needs:

• A Servant’s Heart: Pray that we can be a true source of refreshment, encouragement, and practical help to the local missionaries who labor there daily.

• Cultural Sensitivity & Respect: Pray that God gives us eyes to see, ears to listen, and hearts to honor the culture and history of the Indigenous people we will meet.

• Trust and Connection: Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before us to soften hearts, break down any barriers, and allow genuine connections to form quickly.

• Boldness and Sensitivity: Pray for the right words to share God’s love clearly, while remaining deeply sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

• Spiritual Attack: Pray for Lina, (she is the one who connects us with Waterhen) In March, her doctors diagnosed her with cancer. In the past couple months, she has had reactions to her chemotherapy.

• "The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." – Psalm 126:3: God has been incredibly faithful, and He used your amazing generosity to provide the amount of funding needed for our trip!

We will be sharing regular updates as the trip gets closer. Thank you for being such a vital part of this journey with us!

Blessings,

SK STM Team

2026 June 21: How to Help Without Hurting

Good Afternoon Prayer Team!

I'm excited to bring you this week's update on our Short Term Mission Preparations for our team going to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan!

We had a great training session yesterday continuing on the study of our book - Helping without Hurting in Short Term Missions and putting plans in place for both weeks of our time there.  Jean and Beatrice lead us through a lesson focused on an understanding that not all poverty is created equal - that people going to serve communities as part of outreach can be for several reasons:

Relief - Urgent and temporary provisions of emergency aid to reduce immediate suffering

Rehabilitation - An effort to restore people back to pre-crisis state

Development - Walking with people across time in way that move all people involved closer to being in right relationship with God and each other.

Our trip will be focused on a development approach.  We further discussed the definitions of two different kinds of development service opportunities.

Needs Based Development - An approach that focuses on the deficits and shortcomings in life of a person or community - the solutions come from the outside.

Asset Based Development - Focusing on identifying, mobilizing and connecting the God-given capabilities, skills and resources of a person or community to solve individual or community problems.

We feel God is truly leading us to be prayerfully considering our approach to being asset based in our preparations and time spent with the people of Meadow Lake.  We reflected on a part of our book yesterday that states that Healthy, effective poverty alleviation approaches start by recognizing and celebrating the gifts and resources God has already placed in a community, weather natural resources, people, families, neighbourhood associations, schools, businesses, governments or individual skills.  This isn't ignoring the problems that exist, but rather it is recognizing that there are assets available within the community and its people to attack the problems and create new opportunities.  The exciting process of asset-based development is focused on identifying, mobilizing and connecting these assets.

Team prayer for the week related to these preparations:

Pray for the work that God is already doing in the community of Meadow Lake, and that he would give us open eyes and hearts to recognize that work and see the gifts He has given to them.  Help us to have wisdom as we prepare to enter the community, coming alongside of our brothers and sisters at Turning Point Youth Center, Door of Hope, and the other organizations we work with as they engaged in the long term process of poverty alleviation.  Also continued prayer over preparation of supplies and our donation drive.

2026 June 13: Introducing the Team!

We had the opportunity last week to present to all of our three church congregations the plans for the trip - we know that ultimately God has a plan and we are excited and open to what He has in store for us - so we continue to prepare so that we can go with open hearts and hands and feet ready to dig in to support the community.

The past 2 training sessions that we've done in preparation for our trip - we’ve focused on understanding our approach to missions and serving the people that we encounter in our day to day life as well as when we have opportunities to Go! Understanding the root cause of poverty and our approach to serving with humility and empathy have been the foundation of our discussions so far.

Our fundraising for the trip is well underway and we are well on track!

I'm excited to continue to align as a team as we prepare the schedule for our time in Meadow Lake!