LAMP
Sharing Jesus Christ in remote areas of Canada
Expect the Unexpected
The
LAMPlighter
by Nathan Schmidt, Staff Missionary to B.C. “And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)
E
xpect the unexpected. After an unpredictable and challenging year and a half, I am guessing you can relate. We all have had to learn to do or practice things differently. While some of these practices are short-lived, others have inspired new and creative ideas for ministry. People have been and continue to share more videos nowadays. Churches now are posting videos of their services, devotionals, and short messages from their pastor(s). This inspired me to initiate a collaborative project with my friend, Alex, who lives in Hazelton, B.C. I met Alex while serving as a missionary with LAMP. Alex is from the Gitanmaxx people and works for the Salvation Army Church. Alex has a unique position for the Church since he is First Nations and a youth worker. There are not many church youth workers in northern B.C. As a result, Alex doesn’t have other people in his field to
connect with, which prompted me to ask him to join the support group I belong to. The group is called the “Thunderkittens” and is mostly made up of Lutheran church workers, with many coming from a Director of Christian Education background. Each member of the group serves in a different type of ministry including worship music, discipleship, youth and family, and missionary. Despite being 1,600 kilometers apart (1,000 miles), Alex and I filmed a video that makes us look as if we are together in person. We are planning to create six videos aimed at teaching simple biblical truths about what it means to a Christian. We pray it will be a useful tool in our ministry of supporting and equipping others and building up the body of Christ. Note: Since the time of writing, the US/Canada border has opened to fully vaccinated Americans. I expect to be traveling up North mid to late August to have face-to-face visits in the communities I serve. Unexpectedly, Alex and I may be able to coordinate a video with us actually being in the same room!
Left: Nathan Schmidt, LAMP staff missionary. Right: Alex, Salvation Army youth worker.
VOLUME 53 NO. 2 FALL 2021 THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2021
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