Two days we sailed our canoes
The following are pictures from Roy's Wilderness Trails Adventure

our catch for the day

Ben our Guide, a devout Christian cooking our days Catch

Stanley Mission oldest building in Saskatchewan only being used for weddings and funerals and occasional service
18 fairly recent graves were in this site. I was told that most were suicides. Being here was the most moving experience I had on Trials. I could not get out of my mind that the gospel needs to reach Stanley Mission. There are very little or no Christians in Stanley mission, and no Christian encouragement nor influence here. Please pray that the Lord will send someone to this area

Week 6

Week 6 was very interesting. I worked on team building skills in a wilderness setting. We set out two Fridays ago and dropped our canoes 130 kilometers north of where we would be picked up eight days later. (The Pictures posted wednesday June 11 are from this trip, the pictures under tuesdays posting is Laura's mini trails experience with the kids.) Every day another one of the team would be in charge of navigating through many islands and often portaging was involved to avoid rapids that could sever to canoe. A couple of the days we tied our canoes together and raised a tarp and set sail. We were very fortunate with the weather we got, hardly any rain. One severe windstorm sent us into an island and God protected us from what could have been the end of our lives. The wind came up so fast that almost instantaneously there were whitecaps on the lake and the wind was blowing down dozens of pine trees on nearby islands. Small water tornadoes were popping up around us and I fought to keep my back and the canoe straight to the wind and blow to a nearby island. God protected us in this instance. Through the eight day experience I learned more about myself and working as a team and some of my strengths and weaknesses.

While Roy was out in the wilderness the girls and I were back at Timber Bay Bible Center. We participated in some of our own trails activities. We did the ropes course, climbed the climbing wall, went camping at the beach, and went for a nature walk. On top of all this we were also responsible for cooking our own meals, for 20 people, because the cooks were given the week off. We are still recuperating from becoming so tired last week. We learned that we really don't like it when dad is away.

So far this week we have had class on the effects of the residential school system. The effects are still very devastating to many people. Just think, if you were my age and older, we would have maybe attended one of the last residential schools open in the country. Being away from parents for months at a time, and most of the time abused in some way or the other has left a lasting negative mark on the Native community. Overcoming the pain is only possible through the healing powers of Christ, and that is part of the message we hope to bring to those we will be working with.