Saturday, September 15, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
God <3 Kinistin
"Why do you still have such an old camera? Even I have a digital camera now!" - Justin (one of the Natives at Kinistin)
As promised, i'm posting my pictures from my time in Kinistin. It was all taken through a Holga (aka cheap toy film camera) but i think they came out decently well. I wanted to write about my time and experiences in Kinistin but figured i need to give some background info first. So i'll do that with pictures.
1. This is the road to Mr. Neal's (the missionary) house from the Reserve. It's mostly open fields and farmland. Normally, we stay on the Reserve and do our ministry there, but this year the house got flooded and condemned. So Neal graciously allowed us to stay at his place (and even cooked us food) and we made a 15min van ride to the Res daily.
2. This is some of our team. Susan, Sarah, Eugene, Tina, David, and Joy. I think person not facing the camera is Jesse, Mr. Neal's son. Sarah, Eugene, and Tina were part of the SMI (i think it stands for Summer Missionary Intern) program and were in Kinistin a month or so before we arrived.
3. This is one of the signs leading into the Res. While Canada may not seem as exotic a mission field as say, Asia or Africa, there are still dark and hurting places there like the Kinistin Reserve. It struggles with drugs, alcohol, and abuse, among other things.
4. These are two of the houses on the Res. Almost all the houses look similar to these. Since we didn't have a place to stay, we did a lot of hanging out at people's houses and backyards. This made things a little different from previous years. Normally, kids and teens knew where to find us and came by whenever. This year, we had to find them. It made ministry a little harder i suppose but we ended up making deeper relationships with those we've met.
5. This is Martin. I first met Martin on my last trip to Kinistin. I ended up spending a lot of time with him and Wyatt, another kid on the Res. That was like three or four years ago. Now he's as tall as I am. He still remembered me even though i had spent time with him for only a few weeks several years ago...
6. This is Aiden. He's still very young but he's a good kid. He takes care of his friends and younger sister. It seems like the kids in Kinistin grow up faster than you would expect. But i suppose they kind of need to given that their parents do not take care of them all the time. They are tough kids. We happened to be at Kinistin during Treaty Day (big Native holiday) and some other natives from other reserves came by. You could tell which kids were from kinistin on the playground. They were the ones that didn't cry, even when they got hurt and such.
7. This is some of our group, along with Warren (second from the left), coming back from a Bible Camp Revival thing. Even though our church has been coming to Kinistin for some six years now, it was only until this past year that our team got to know Warren. There are still so many people we haven't met yet.
8. This is Brenden. I remembered him as a tiny boy to whom i gave my Nalgene bottle to as i left Kinistin...but now hes tall and gives off a "i'm too cool" persona. haha. This picture was taken a few days after his father passed away while we were at Kinistin....
9. This is Jinwoo telling kids about Jesus during Kids Club. We had Kids Club for the younger kids on the Reserve. It involved basic Bible stories, singing and dancing, and arts and crafts. It was one of the ways we shared the Gospel with the kids. However, with the older kids, most of the ministry happened by hanging out. By sharing about our lives and showing love to the teens there, they opened up and allowed us to share about God.
10. This is Kayla. I always smile when i think of her. She no longer lives on the Res but came back to visit. I met her the first time i was in Kinistin too. And even though shes still young, she is among the first Christians at Kinistin. We were even able to fundraise enough to bring her down to MD so that she can visit and go to our youth group's winter retreat. She's such a great kid and has a lot of potential. There is an evident hope within her. Neal says that you can look into her eyes and notice that they still sparkle. They aren't clouded with drug use or dulled with hopelessness.
11. This is brad. We call him B-Rad. Although he may look a bit intimidating in this picture, he is actually a nice guy. Very softspoken too. I remember the day after Brenden's father passed away, he went with us into Prince Albert (the closest town with a walmart) to go watch a movie. on the way, he mentioned some of the teens were smoking up as he left. he said he would have done the same but felt it wasnt right since it was the day after someone's passing. drugs are still a big problem in kinistin.
12. This is Andy. She's a bit of a tomboy. She's grown up quite a bit since i last saw her. In fact, i didn't even recognize it was her until sarah or tina mentioned it to me. As i left, she gave me a card she made. It said "i will miss you" and gave me her MSN info. it also had a picture of a slug-like thing. the caption said "You in the future." typical andy.
13. Sarah and Kayla. Sarah was an SMI this year. SMI is a program offered through NAIM (a canadian native outreach ministry) where you pretty much are a missionary for 2 months in a native reserve in canada. This is Sarah's first time as an SMIer, but i think she's been to kinistin three times before.
14. Jinwoo, Hunter, Susan, and Kevin. This was taken during a scavenger hunt that the Reserve had that day (Andy and Krista were also part of our team but they didn't want a picture). We had no idea that there was going to be a scavenger hunt so we pretty much cancelled our planned activities and joined in the fun. Things like this happened many times. So while we went to kinistin with many activities and such planned, we were ready to drop it and wing everything too. the fact that everything runs on a different time/priority schedule there is partially why simply hanging out with the kids/teens is such an effective form of ministry there.
15. This is Kyle with Jinwoo. Kyle was going to move away to another city soon after we left. Jinwoo asked him, "So, what are you going to miss most about Kinistin?" He was expecting for Kyle to say something like his friends or relatives. But instead, Kyle said, "I'm going to miss the Christians the most."
I have more photos (minus the commentaries), but i put them on my facebook gallery (its easier to upload a ton of stuff there). I'm pretty sure even if you dont have facebook, you guys can check it out here: http://jhu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040675&l=a2559&id=5400253
I can write so much more about my time in Kinistin. If you are still curious or whatever, just find me and we can talk. Or go to www.naim.ca. Incidentally, theres an article there about some of the Christian natives from Kinistin in their Spring Newsletter. Neal takes some of the kids down to Mexico each year to go on missions. You can read that article here: http://www.naim.ca/NAIMNews_Spring07_WEB.pdf
God really does love Kinistin.... i hope to go back and remind them of that fact again sometime...
As promised, i'm posting my pictures from my time in Kinistin. It was all taken through a Holga (aka cheap toy film camera) but i think they came out decently well. I wanted to write about my time and experiences in Kinistin but figured i need to give some background info first. So i'll do that with pictures.
1. This is the road to Mr. Neal's (the missionary) house from the Reserve. It's mostly open fields and farmland. Normally, we stay on the Reserve and do our ministry there, but this year the house got flooded and condemned. So Neal graciously allowed us to stay at his place (and even cooked us food) and we made a 15min van ride to the Res daily.
2. This is some of our team. Susan, Sarah, Eugene, Tina, David, and Joy. I think person not facing the camera is Jesse, Mr. Neal's son. Sarah, Eugene, and Tina were part of the SMI (i think it stands for Summer Missionary Intern) program and were in Kinistin a month or so before we arrived.
3. This is one of the signs leading into the Res. While Canada may not seem as exotic a mission field as say, Asia or Africa, there are still dark and hurting places there like the Kinistin Reserve. It struggles with drugs, alcohol, and abuse, among other things.
4. These are two of the houses on the Res. Almost all the houses look similar to these. Since we didn't have a place to stay, we did a lot of hanging out at people's houses and backyards. This made things a little different from previous years. Normally, kids and teens knew where to find us and came by whenever. This year, we had to find them. It made ministry a little harder i suppose but we ended up making deeper relationships with those we've met.
5. This is Martin. I first met Martin on my last trip to Kinistin. I ended up spending a lot of time with him and Wyatt, another kid on the Res. That was like three or four years ago. Now he's as tall as I am. He still remembered me even though i had spent time with him for only a few weeks several years ago...
6. This is Aiden. He's still very young but he's a good kid. He takes care of his friends and younger sister. It seems like the kids in Kinistin grow up faster than you would expect. But i suppose they kind of need to given that their parents do not take care of them all the time. They are tough kids. We happened to be at Kinistin during Treaty Day (big Native holiday) and some other natives from other reserves came by. You could tell which kids were from kinistin on the playground. They were the ones that didn't cry, even when they got hurt and such.
7. This is some of our group, along with Warren (second from the left), coming back from a Bible Camp Revival thing. Even though our church has been coming to Kinistin for some six years now, it was only until this past year that our team got to know Warren. There are still so many people we haven't met yet.
8. This is Brenden. I remembered him as a tiny boy to whom i gave my Nalgene bottle to as i left Kinistin...but now hes tall and gives off a "i'm too cool" persona. haha. This picture was taken a few days after his father passed away while we were at Kinistin....
9. This is Jinwoo telling kids about Jesus during Kids Club. We had Kids Club for the younger kids on the Reserve. It involved basic Bible stories, singing and dancing, and arts and crafts. It was one of the ways we shared the Gospel with the kids. However, with the older kids, most of the ministry happened by hanging out. By sharing about our lives and showing love to the teens there, they opened up and allowed us to share about God.
10. This is Kayla. I always smile when i think of her. She no longer lives on the Res but came back to visit. I met her the first time i was in Kinistin too. And even though shes still young, she is among the first Christians at Kinistin. We were even able to fundraise enough to bring her down to MD so that she can visit and go to our youth group's winter retreat. She's such a great kid and has a lot of potential. There is an evident hope within her. Neal says that you can look into her eyes and notice that they still sparkle. They aren't clouded with drug use or dulled with hopelessness.
11. This is brad. We call him B-Rad. Although he may look a bit intimidating in this picture, he is actually a nice guy. Very softspoken too. I remember the day after Brenden's father passed away, he went with us into Prince Albert (the closest town with a walmart) to go watch a movie. on the way, he mentioned some of the teens were smoking up as he left. he said he would have done the same but felt it wasnt right since it was the day after someone's passing. drugs are still a big problem in kinistin.
12. This is Andy. She's a bit of a tomboy. She's grown up quite a bit since i last saw her. In fact, i didn't even recognize it was her until sarah or tina mentioned it to me. As i left, she gave me a card she made. It said "i will miss you" and gave me her MSN info. it also had a picture of a slug-like thing. the caption said "You in the future." typical andy.
13. Sarah and Kayla. Sarah was an SMI this year. SMI is a program offered through NAIM (a canadian native outreach ministry) where you pretty much are a missionary for 2 months in a native reserve in canada. This is Sarah's first time as an SMIer, but i think she's been to kinistin three times before.
14. Jinwoo, Hunter, Susan, and Kevin. This was taken during a scavenger hunt that the Reserve had that day (Andy and Krista were also part of our team but they didn't want a picture). We had no idea that there was going to be a scavenger hunt so we pretty much cancelled our planned activities and joined in the fun. Things like this happened many times. So while we went to kinistin with many activities and such planned, we were ready to drop it and wing everything too. the fact that everything runs on a different time/priority schedule there is partially why simply hanging out with the kids/teens is such an effective form of ministry there.
15. This is Kyle with Jinwoo. Kyle was going to move away to another city soon after we left. Jinwoo asked him, "So, what are you going to miss most about Kinistin?" He was expecting for Kyle to say something like his friends or relatives. But instead, Kyle said, "I'm going to miss the Christians the most."
I have more photos (minus the commentaries), but i put them on my facebook gallery (its easier to upload a ton of stuff there). I'm pretty sure even if you dont have facebook, you guys can check it out here: http://jhu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040675&l=a2559&id=5400253
I can write so much more about my time in Kinistin. If you are still curious or whatever, just find me and we can talk. Or go to www.naim.ca. Incidentally, theres an article there about some of the Christian natives from Kinistin in their Spring Newsletter. Neal takes some of the kids down to Mexico each year to go on missions. You can read that article here: http://www.naim.ca/NAIMNews_Spring07_WEB.pdf
God really does love Kinistin.... i hope to go back and remind them of that fact again sometime...
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