TAKING SPIRITUAL SUPPORT TO REMOTE COMMUNITIES
LAMP brings Christian education to Indigenous people in the North
In the late 1960s, Pastor Les Stahlke was called to plant a Lutheran Church in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Stahlke was also a bush pilot and spent much of his spare time flying trappers and miners to remote northern locations. There he saw how Indigenous people lived off the land, with no access to roads. He also saw the residual effects of the residential school system.
As Stahlke got to know the Indigenous people and learned how many of them were praying for Christian pastors to come and minister to them, he was struck by a vision to bring Christian education and spiritual support to Northern communities. To that end, he established LAMP, Lutheran Association of Missionary Pilots, in 1970, to be a cross-cultural ministry in remote communities of Canada.
The mission grew rapidly. Pastor-pilots were called to remote bases all across the country, mostly in northern latitudes. LAMP missionaries were welcomed and hundreds of volunteer missionaries were trained to serve.
“LAMP doesn’t just go into a community and say this is what we’re bringing you,” said Ron Ludke, who became executive director of LAMP in 2003. “We dialogue with the people, ask about their needs and goals, and learn how we can work with them to fulfil those needs. The most frequent request is: ‘Come and walk alongside us. Teach us how to pass on our faith to the next generation.’”
The people of the North are not unreached, Ludke said. In fact, 65 per cent of Northern people count themselves as Christian, a higher percentage than in the South.
“The problem is, they don’t have supports or resources. There are no Bible studies, no children’s programs. And this is a generation that’s really struggling. There are extremely high suicide rates.”
LAMP’s ministry protocol is to send in teams — “not to go in and come out, but teams of people who are prepared to commit to minimum of five years in a community. This allows for establishing longterm relationships. We work with clergy and leaders in the community.”
In Saskatchewan, LAMP’s missionaries, aircraft and pilots go into remote communities as far north as Wollaston Lake and down to Southend (which is at the south end of Reindeer Lake). The ministry is active in Stanley Mission, Grandmother’s Bay, Pelican Narrows, Deschambault Lake and Sandy Bay. Indigenous communities served in Manitoba tend to follow the Churchill River.
In recent weeks, Ludke says, LAMP planes have been flying into Flin Flon, Man., where the organization rents a parsonage for the church there.
LAMP is active year round at Hall Lake, Sask., southwest of LaRonge. At Christmas, a team goes in on Dec. 26, sets up a Bible school program in the school, and at the end of the week, hosts a dry New Year’s party. The celebration offers a variety of fun activities for the community, including Christmas tree judging in homes.
“Whenever a team goes, they always take clothing and food,” Ludke says. “One Christian school in Alberta gathered enough food to fill a trailer to stock the kitchen at Hall Lake for LAMP’s breakfast program.”
The same team went to Hall Lake later in the year for Cultural Days. They took along clothing, as well as the baby layettes the community had requested.
“Deschambault Lake asked us for grad dresses. We took 50, and our volunteers helped the girls get ready.”
During Cultural Days, the children at Hall Lake were taught traditional Indigenous customs and crafts like skinning beaver; making muskrat stew, duck soup, fish and bannock; crafting bows and arrows; and learning how to whittle a wooden canoe paddle. LAMP team members were there lending a helping hand.
Ludke says LAMP teams respond to whatever needs the community has. It may mean visiting homes, working with the children, helping young pregnant girls, or just offering moral and spiritual support. Teams may lead grief workshops to teach leaders how to provide spiritual and emotional support in tragic situations.
“Our missionaries are teaching and training lay leaders,” he says. “One of our pastor-pilot missionaries is currently teaching parenting classes to a group of leaders who will, in turn, educate parents in their community.”
One of LAMP’s big focuses is programs to establish and build children in their faith. Thousands of youngsters have attended Vacation Bible School. Forty-two VBS camps will be held this summer, as well as youth Bible studies.
LAMP workers are recruited, carefully screened, and then trained for mission teams. Ludke says, “We require a commitment of five years which will be spent in one community. We’ve found it’s important to build strong relationships.”
LAMP has more than 400 active volunteer missionaries. The longest-serving team has been together for 38 years.
For more information on LAMP Ministry, visit lampministry.org.