Just as we rang in the New Year, my next stop on the missional engagement front was a trip to Mishkeegogemang.
The main aim of this trip was to wrap up all the details for the Summer Camp Redwood Park Church is planning for the first week of August 2026; our first time running a camp here after an 8-year hiatus. This meant getting community leadership buy-in and support, finalizing accommodations and camp location, and meeting with the school and other community leaders to discuss how they can help promote the camp. It also offered me the opportunity to reconnect with Burning Stones Ministries - a ministry that works with Indigenous youth in northern communities - while they were also in Mish (this is the ministry that Jesse Hochstetler works with).
It was a very fruitful trip and everyone is so excited for this partnership.
So, plans have been ironed out, and now we want you to begin praying. More information about staff and volunteer needs will be coming soon from our partnership with Redwood Kids in planning this camp.
But what is a trip to Mish without bringing some needed refreshment to the Church? Our relationship with the church in Mish continues to grow. When they heard I was coming to visit, they called me and asked me to get them some water. In most places in Mish, you can’t just open the faucet and drink straight from it. The church is in one such area.
We felt it was a blessing not only to visit Mish but also to bring the gift of water. I couldn’t help but think of the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in the gospels. I wish I could say that “when you drink the water that I give you, you will not thirst again”. Unfortunately, this water will run out, but the gift of our growing friendship with this community will, we trust, continue to bring life.
May it be so.
The main aim of this trip was to wrap up all the details for the Summer Camp Redwood Park Church is planning for the first week of August 2026; our first time running a camp here after an 8-year hiatus. This meant getting community leadership buy-in and support, finalizing accommodations and camp location, and meeting with the school and other community leaders to discuss how they can help promote the camp. It also offered me the opportunity to reconnect with Burning Stones Ministries - a ministry that works with Indigenous youth in northern communities - while they were also in Mish (this is the ministry that Jesse Hochstetler works with).
It was a very fruitful trip and everyone is so excited for this partnership.
So, plans have been ironed out, and now we want you to begin praying. More information about staff and volunteer needs will be coming soon from our partnership with Redwood Kids in planning this camp.
But what is a trip to Mish without bringing some needed refreshment to the Church? Our relationship with the church in Mish continues to grow. When they heard I was coming to visit, they called me and asked me to get them some water. In most places in Mish, you can’t just open the faucet and drink straight from it. The church is in one such area.
We felt it was a blessing not only to visit Mish but also to bring the gift of water. I couldn’t help but think of the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in the gospels. I wish I could say that “when you drink the water that I give you, you will not thirst again”. Unfortunately, this water will run out, but the gift of our growing friendship with this community will, we trust, continue to bring life.
May it be so.
