Nunavut The Land of the Inuit

The wind seemed to wail as no wind we have ever heard...

God Is Calling Through His People,
How can we say NO?

Some Facts about Nunavut — Baker Lake        

Nunavut, Canada's true Arctic, is by definition a desert.  

Some 2,000,000 square kilometres of land and sea will be frozen and white for at least half of the year and will explode in colour and life under 24 hours of sunlight in the short summer. The winter although dark and cold is great for sky watchers with millions of stars and northern lights so close you feel you can reach out and touch them. 

The temperature may drop to – 40°C (Celsius or Fahrenheit, it doesn't matter as the thermometers meet here) plus wind-chill and whiteouts. It may get as cold as – 60° with wind chill on top of that. It may also be – 15°C or 0°C with no wind and bright sunshine as the snow crunches under your cross-country skis. 

The bug jacket over your T-shirt will be important as the area is infested with insects for several weeks in the summer. A light down jacket and boots are important for the possible snow flurry. Always changing, always unexpected, the Arctic can be both a challenge and the fulfillment of a dream. Baker Lake, perched on the edge of a huge lake, surrounded on all sides by hundreds of kilometres of tundra, reinforces how remote this village is, located at the geographical centre of Canada.

Exploring the wilderness around Baker Lake can be exciting, but also challenging. This area can be very windy and the weather may change quickly, without warning. It may cause you to stay put till it changes again. Nunavut means ‘our land’. This is Canada’s forgotten land and unknown people. But they are not forgotten or unknown to God. He longs to draw them close, expressing His love.

The People

The people have been waiting and praying for years for an ordained minister who will not only preach on Sunday, but teach and train them, pray for and stand with them. They long to learn.

During June each year, most of the town heads out on the land. This is their summer and after being at the mercy of the long arctic winter, it is time to go camping. Weather conditions would cause us to stay home, not considering venturing out, let alone go camping.

This is the time for hunting, fishing and then spreading their meat out to dry in the sun. It’s a time of hard work yet a time to rejoice that winter is over. It’s time to enjoy before the mosquitoes invade in swarms so thick they coat the tents like a freshly painted surface.

 Spiritual Oppression              

Shamanism is very deeply rooted in Inuit’s past. It is a desire of some to bring it back as the religion of choice today. Although it may not be out in the open, its effects are widespread. You can see its demonic thread woven through art and what many call tradition.

Baker Lake’s, Paul Toolooktook's carving ‘The Powers of the Inuit Shamans’ appears on a millennium edition postage stamp.

Transformation is a consistent theme among Inuit artists. The shaman or witch doctor, possessed mystical powers. To assist him (or her) and to placate the gods, a shaman is able to transform into another form. He would choose a form appropriate to the need. For agility, he would choose a caribou; for strength – the Polar Bear or Muskox. For traveling long distance the bird would be chosen and to meet the sea gods, he would transform into a seal, a whale or a walrus. If more than one trait was needed, an unusual combination of form would emerge. The Inuit both feared and revered the shaman and turned to him in times of need.

Although unseen, there are many factors that allow an air of hopelessness to rule over the area. From the lack of outside support and shallow teaching, many Christians have grown content to just exist. Old traditions still hold many in bondage. Combine these conditions with all the other negative factors of life in the arctic, provides an open door for hopelessness and despair unless God is allowed to break through and invited in to rule and reign.

The people need to know that God is concerned about them and their lives today. They need to know that Jesus still works to set the captive free, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim the year of the favor of the Lord. They need to feel the touch of the Master’s touch in their lives, homes and church in this moment in time.

Other Areas of Opposition

When you mix the spiritual oppression with the alcohol, drug and physical abuse issues, top it off with the hopelessness so many face, it is really hard to put into words or explain all a pastor would be facing in Baker Lake.

We saw the on-going effects of church abuse from years gone by still creating havoc in lives today. Those who survived the famine of yesterday now often face starvation once again, this time from a high unemployment rate that has hit almost 80% in this community. They do receive welfare but with the unbelievably high prices in the stores, many people still go without even the basics. There is also a lack in basic medical care. There is a health center with resident community nurses and a Doctor who flies in every few months. If a serious situation arises, a plane must be sent in to fly the patient to Churchill or Winnipeg. The time element alone, even in good weather, causes its own share of problems. Other things that we often take for granted in the south are not to be found in this isolated community, things like a pharmacy, or a bank, not even decent communications to the rest of the world. The wear and tear of life in the arctic is scarred across so many faces. You see people who have adapted to conditions that we would call criminal.

Food is often as much as 6 months past the shelf life and still the prices are insane. A 12 pack of coke is $25.00; regular ground beef is over $8.00 a pound; two liters of no name pop is $11.95 and for those who can somehow afford it, a bottle of Sunny D (always on sale in Manitoba for $3.99) is about $17.00. Prices run from 4 – 8 times higher in Baker Lake. The cost of our tiny 280 sq. ft apartment is $963.00 / month.

You can see that we are entering an area, not only of demonic activity, but an area of isolation where so many of the things we take for granted do not exist. This does not even take into consideration the climate conditions we would face nor the separation from family, friends and the whole way of life we have grown accustomed too.

 

The Call To Baker Lake

As I mentioned earlier, during June most of the people in Baker Lake head out on the land. I say this to try and set the stage to share how important the move to Baker Lake is. Normally at this time of year the church may have only 10 or 15 people on a Sunday when the weather is bad; if it is good there may be only three. Since we arrived, not only did we start two services on Sundays but we began midweek Bible studies as well. People came and asked for more! The last Sunday afternoon service had about 40 people attend. It was mentioned over and over how good it was to see new faces in church, old faces from long ago and others who had wandered away coming back. At that service all but one stood, many with tears streaming down their faces, asking us to stay and become their pastor. They said we were an answer to prayer.

One Wed. evening during Bible study, a precious older lady come in weeping about half way through. One other lady mentioned that this dear lady was wanting prayer. Not only did she re-dedicate her life but told us of a dream God had given her the night before about a great feast. Prior to attending the feast, those in the dream had to go to the dump and get rid of the junk they were carrying before they were allowed to come in. After we had prayed with this lady, a younger woman stood up and asked for prayer. She was tired of the lifestyle she was living and wanted God’s fire in her life. As we prayed the power of God fell in a remarkable way ‘glueing’ her to the floor as He performed spiritual surgery. Two other girls then asked for prayer and God did a similar type of thing. At one time as I prayed under the prophetic anointing, God’s power came in powerful ways I had not seen before.

Later we learned that the dear older lady that God gave the dream to had been the first one involved in a major move of God in Baker Lake some 50 years ago. Now she was able to witness a new move.

God was not only bringing people to the church but touching them and giving them a hunger for more. It was very obvious that it was not man’s doing but God Who building His church in Baker Lake.

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