There’s a longer story to be told here but suffice it to say, Joel’s had an interest in ministry in the northern parts of our planet for many years. Early on he learned that long-term ministry in those regions probably wasn’t in the plans, but the interest stayed alive.
Over the course of the last 15 years or so, our co-workers with Ethnos Canada have had a burden on their hearts for the people groups living in the northern parts of Canada’s provinces. Ethnically distinct and with incredibly complex heart-languages, these people groups, some of whom are identified as the Inuit, have had exposure to the gospel for a long time now and there are churches among them. But very little ministry has ever been done at the “pace of relationships” (meaning a long-term commitment to embodying the gospel in a community), with a focus on helping these peoples understand God’s Word in their own language and through the grid-work of their own culture.
There is currently a team of three families (one of them we shared a prayer request for when the husband was severely hurt in an accident last year) living in the northernmost provincial capital in Canada, Iqaluit, on Baffin Island just outside the reaches of the actual Arctic Circle. They, like our church-planting co-workers all over the world, are there to stay and are committed to learning the language and culture and developing relationships.
Where Joel comes in is that the Communications Team is featuring this blossoming ministry in a future issue of the Ethnos360 magazine (do you get this magazine? It’s a free print subscription and we would be happy to add you to the quarterly mailing list) and he was asked to travel up there to take pictures and video to accompany this article and several other pieces of content.
For Joel, this is a “bucket list” type of trip and to combine it with his love for photography and video is an unmistakable gift from the Heavenly Father’s. That said, Ethnos360 and before that, New Tribes Mission, has a rich legacy of incredible photographers who have captured the stories of the work we’re a part of, and to say that Joel’s not a little intimidated by the high standards wouldn’t be honest. So, would you pray for a settled and confident heart for him, knowing that the Lord’s the one who has brought this opportunity and that Joel’s talents, offered in service to the Lord, will be enough?
Read more about Iqaluit here and about the work that Ethnos Canada is doing here.
[…] Joel is traveling to Iqaluit, Nunavut, the northernmost city in Canada to take photos and video that will accompany a future article in the Ethnos360 magazine about the team working to develop relationships and plant a church among the Inuit People group living in that region. It will be very cold and further north than any of us have ever traveled (just outside the Arctic Circle). Besides being SUPER-EXCITED to do this, Joel needs your prayers for safety, quick acclimation, and a sharp mind to capture all the media and stories needed. The trip starts next Thursday with a late night flight and they hope to return by the following Wednesday; the 10th through 16th. If you want to read more of the backstory about why this trip means so much to Joel, head to this po… […]