A new zest for life!

The new found freedom and joy I was experiencing was a huge contrast to the prior eight months.  I still walked to work, but inside felt like I was skipping.  It was exciting to be aware of His presence with me.  Jesus was my constant companion, and it was as though He was physically walking beside me.  Joy bubbled up inside, and I felt at times like I would burst with the happiness I felt.  It felt as though I was born again, again!

Dozens of times I had walked down the street in tears, but now I had a burning desire in my heart, "Lord, how can we reach these people that need you?"  It was as if then my eyes were opened.  There it was, standing empty and abandoned.  Prime real estate in down town Inuvik!  What had been a drug store now stood quiet, the windows boarded up.  The gracious Holy Spirit nudged me, "What a great place for a coffee house"!  The idea stuck in my head.  Why hadn't I noticed it before?  It was nestled amongst the busiest area of town, across from the main hub, the Bay.  It was where I bought expensive groceries, such as 'tri-milk', made to be mixed with water, and costly vegetables and fruit that were flown in.  It was also the place people hung out to visit besides the 3 local bars.   Drinking was definitely the drug of choice, and the most predominant activity in the north.  I hoped that might change!

This idea that was birthed in me to start a coffee house had to be shared.  First I got together with Wes, a student Pastor at the Pentecostal Church and Brenda, a young woman helping to start a Baptist Church there.  I could hardly contain myself when I met with them!  I shared my vision, which was only an idea at first.  Wes, Brenda and I prayed that if this was God's idea, He would make it happen.   As the days and nights wore on, ideas poured in as well as needed things to make it a reality.  It was so exciting to see God at work, and we were partnering with Him and saw Him do great things. 

First, I went to meet the owner of the building and asked him about renting this facility.  I wanted it to be a gathering place of people who could come have a coffee and visit. It would be an alternative to  meeting at the bars and getting drunk.  He liked the idea, and agreed to charge us just $10 a night, and we only had to pay for the nights of the week that we used it!  Truly a miracle in a place where rents were unbelievably high!  Wow, "God is so good" was my theme!  Little did I know that 3 weeks from the day the thought first entered my mind we would be opening the coffee house!  My next thought was we needed tables, so I went to one of the local bars, and asked if they might have older tables we could use!  And yes they did have them in storage, and yes we could use them for free!  But did they know we would be taking some of their business as well?  I was constantly asking God for His provision, as I truly believed it was His idea!  Another day, I was walking around town and talking to God, and I noticed a beautiful log government building that was in the process of being built.  As I came closer, I noticed many log ends that were laying around the building site.  A worker was up on the roof, so I started to climb the ladder towards him.  As I neared the top, I asked what was being done with those log ends.  I mentioned that some Christian friends and myself were starting a coffee house, and I thought those logs looked like they would work well as 'stools' around the tables we had.  He replied that the logs weren't being used, that if we could use them, we were welcome to them.  He said they may be kind of rough to sit on, but that wasn't a problem for God!  A business man down town had plenty of carpet samples to give us.  We just stapled carpet samples on one end of the logs, and voila!  Now we had bar tables, and plenty of seating!  The building needed some paint, so we began painting it with left over paint we were given.  Instead of the bare spots on the walls where shelves had been torn down, now there was lots of colour in the room.  While we were painting one day, a guy poked his head in the door and asked what we were doing.  I told him about the coffee house, and he offered to give us fabric.  We had been just told that we could have Christian films sent up to be shown at the coffee house at no charge to us!  The only problem we had faced was that the sun shone constantly during the summer, and it would be difficult to see the film with all that light.  So almost as soon as we recognised the problem we might have, God provided the solution!  This complete stranger offered enough fabric to cover all the windows in the place.  I set about sewing the curtains, with a machine that was lent to me. I finished them the day the coffee house opened!

There were many great musicians from various churches I knew so I suggested that we start a band to minister at the coffee houses.  Wes was a good guitar player, Brenda had a fabulous voice, and there were several others who joined.  I had purchased a piano that I had moved to the coffee house, so we could use it for our band.   God provided a stage through another stranger who enquired what we were doing.  He offered large cable 'spools' that were different sizes and heights, and they worked great for the drums, and various other musicians to stand on.  I had a fairly large Christian library which I turned into a lending library for anyone who wanted to borrow books.  We got a coffee urn, and we decided to have Adult evenings on Friday and Saturdays.  We had Christian films to show, a band to sing and play, and spirit-filled Christians from every denomination that were ready to show the love of Christ to those who came in the door.  Thursday evenings were for children, and we had puppet shows as well as drama and songs for them.  My friend Pam from CLBI had come to help cheer me up, and was excellent working with the children.  There was an amazing group of friends who loved the Lord and served others in the community.  It was such a privilege to know them.

One day, about mid way during this flurry of activity, I met William Bonnetplume.  He was an Aboriginal 31 year old man who stopped me one day outside my apartment complex.  "Could you give me money to buy a sandwich?" was his request.  I could tell he was coming off one of his drunken binges.  He was a very talented artist, and was known to paint skilfully, and then would go and get drunk after he sold one of his 'treasures'.  How sad and futile I thought, and replied, "William, you stay here, and I'll bring you back a sandwich and a glass of milk".  I knew better than to invite him to come into my place.  A few minutes later, I was back with his food, and suddenly felt very bold.  "William, can't you see that your life is going down hill?  God has given you talents, and you are wasting your life on booze.  Why don't you come to see Dr. Heine tomorrow, and he can help you with your alcohol problem."  The next day, I was astonished when William showed up at the clinic.  Dr. Heine saw him and admitted him into the hospital, so he could go through detox.  I went to see him in the hospital, and told him he was doing the right thing to get the help he needed.  He asked me if I would bring him some paints and canvases, so he'd have something to do in the hospital.  While he was there, he made quite a lot of money selling pictures to the doctors and nurses! 

When William got out, he came by the coffee house.  I  talked to him about what we were doing, and he seemed really interested in helping in some way.  He said he wanted to paint Jesus on the cross, but he wanted his people to identify with Jesus, so he wanted to make Jesus look like his people up there.  There were many Inuit or Eskimos, as well as Aboriginal or Indians.  I got him a sheet of plywood like he asked, and he painted a graphic picture of Jesus' suffering.  Others as well looked like they'd been beaten and suffered, as well as Jesus.  We hung the picture in a prominent place for everyone to see who entered the coffee house.   

As William was homeless most of the time, he told me one evening that he was going to sleep at the coffee house.  I told him I couldn't allow him to, as I was just renting the space and didn't have the authority to allow someone to stay there.   It was getting close to midnight (but bright and sunny!), and he refused to leave.  I begged and pleaded with him to listen, but he wouldn't!  Feeling rather foolish, I finally threatened to call the police, and he said, "Go ahead".  I really didn't have a choice, but I felt really dumb, as he had been helping me.  The police finally came, and helped me remove him.  I guess he just wanted to sleep in a good bed and have a decent meal (in jail)!  The police just took him to see if he could 'camp' at someones house!  William also used special paints and painted 'stained glass' windows there.  It was really beautiful. 

I distinctly remember the first coffee house night, as it was very exciting for me.  Our band was playing, and a drunk guy staggered in, and asked if he could sing something.  I was a little scared at what he might say or do, but Wes graciously handed his guitar to the drunk man, who proceeded to sing 'Amazing Grace'.  Thank God, he never ever cursed!  That night, two men came to know the Lord. One was a travelling dentist who came with others from the hospital to see what was happening.  I heard that he later went to Bible School.  It would be so interesting to hear where the Lord lead him in his life.  Every night that I recall,  there were people accepting the Lord.

One day, William and two of his buddies figured out where I lived.  I heard a knock on my door, and when I saw William and two very rough looking characters, I breathed a "God protect me" prayer.  We visited and sang choruses while one of the guys played guitar.  Later, a lady scolded me for allowing these guys in my place who had spent several years in jail.  One of them held a lady at knife point and I never heard what the other one was in jail for.  God was gracious and protected me.  I often joke about my verse, "The Lord preserves the simple", but it really was no joke that He has kept me safe all these years of taking chances!


Another person I met during this time was John, who had been a taxi driver.  I met him while visiting at the hospital.  John was one of the most miserable guys I have ever met.  He had suffered a debilitating stroke in his late twenties,  had been paralysed for some time, and been in hospital 3 years. He bragged about how he used to be a heavy drinker and womaniser.  I mentioned that God loved him.  That comment brought a string of curse words from him, and 'how can you say that, when there is so much suffering in the world, wars, natural disasters, etc'.   I decided that I wouldn't mention God again, unless there was an opportunity.  He seemed to be lonely, so I decided to keep coming to visit him.  One day, his comment took me completely by surprise.  "Can you help me? he begged, "I am afraid, and I think I'm going to die".  This wasn't what I was expecting from him!  He went on to talk about a dream he had the night before, about being in a dark place, and in the distance an angel telling him he couldn't come in.  He said, "I don't want to go to that dark place, can you help me!"  I told him that I could explain to him how he could go to heaven, if that's what he wanted.  He agreed, and seemed to be so desperate to know!  I found it almost hard to believe this was happening, but I shared the gospel with him, and he accepted Christ into his life.  Then rather than dying, he started getting better, and within a month, was out of the hospital, walking with a cane.  He came to church and Bible study, and it just blew me away how he could be the same man who was constantly cursing God and blaming Him for everything!  God is so good, and I was reminded that no one or nothing is too difficult for God.  I thought of Saul of Tarsus, killer of Christians became the apostle Paul, the greatest missionary and writer of much of the New Testament.  It renewed my faith in the ability of God to change anyone!

Earlier, I alluded to the fact that Dr. Heine didn't seem to be able to tolerate me too well when I was no longer depressed.  One day, he called me into his office and said, "Wendy, if you have anything more to do with the coffee house, I will have to fire you".  It was a shock, to say the least, but I agreed, wondering who would take over the 'reins'.  The next day, Wednesday was my only day off during the week, so I went to do some work at the coffee house.  I reasoned that it was my day off, so it should be OK.  The next morning, Cezar called me in and told me I was fired.  As I walked away, the song "Hallelujah, I am free.  Jesus came and He rescued me..." rang in my heart.  That evening, as I walked, my heart cried out to be more like Jesus.  I had just read the book, 'The Calvary Road' which talks about Jesus being like a worm willing to be crushed, and not like a snake which strikes back when He was wrongly accused.  I cried from the depths of my heart that I wanted to be a worm like Jesus, not a snake like the devil is.  I wanted to be dead to myself, my old nature so that I could truly be free in Christ.  After being fired, I was determined to try and be reconciled with Cezar, so I continued to go to church.  I also went to any fellowship gatherings I knew about, and I invited Cezar over for a nice supper.  It seemed that there was still a rift, and I wasn't sure why.  But God is so gracious.  More than a year later, following a car accident near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba we had a 'chance' meeting.  Believe me, I know it was arranged by God.  Because of my car accident, I had a couple of boxes still in Brandon, Manitoba where I'd been living.  Pastor Vern Roste and his wife Sonja were driving there for a Pastor's conference, so I caught a ride with them.  Who should I meet up with there but Dr. Cezar Heine!  He asked if I would go out with him for pizza, and while there, he asked me to forgive him for how he had treated me!  I replied that I was glad to, that I had never held anything against him.  I was so grateful that God allowed us to be reconciled, especially when I heard a few years later that he passed away.  God is so good, and He works all things together for good.....in His time!

An overwhelming sadness

It was an exciting time, and my job provided alot of variety.  Dr. Heine gave me on the job training, and I pricked baby's heels in order to do tests on their blood, helped him with the chiropractic adjustments he did, and pretty much everything else around the office.  Cezar was an interesting character.  He was extremely hard working, to the point that 'workaholic' wasn't an exaggeration.  Rarely did I see him, without studying some new medical journal or preparing for his sermons, when he wasn't stitching someone up or counselling a drunk.  His living quarters were above his medical office, and he had Marc living with him, who did custodial work at the hospital.  He also had Teddy, an Inuit man who struggled with his alcoholism.  I remember having to make sure there was nothing around, especially Listerine for him to drink.  Once in a while, he would stumble into the office, and we'd have to settled him into bed to sleep it off.  Sometimes it felt like we were operating a three ring circus, but Cezar had a good heart.  He had been married earlier in his life, but never seemed to talk about it, and I knew he had a son.  He rarely saw him, I guessed, because I never met him and I was there for a year.  It must have been difficult.  The way Cezar buried himself in his work, it was understandable that his marriage had failed.  It seemed to me that he worked like a 'slave' of God, rather that a son.  That was just my opinion.  We talked about what we believed, and there was a definite disconnect somewhere.  Cezar was very gung-ho on evangelism, but understood the means of grace, or baptism, holy communion and the word of God to be only what comes out of a pastor's mouth!  He said these were the only ways of Christian growth.  I was shocked!  I challenged him, "What about prayer, reading the Bible, fellowshipping with other believers?"  He said none of these could bring growth as a believer, it had to be the 'sacraments'.  We talked about the Holy Spirit, and greatly differed on this subject as well.  I freely told him I had experienced the 'baptism in the Spirit' and knew of His empowering, prayed in tongues, and saw the Holy Spirits role as crucial in our lives.  He very much disagreed, so I set out to try and work with him, and not talk about these things to anyone.  What was curious to me, was how interested he was in evangelism.  He had gone to a weekend conference called Evangelism Explosion, a program I was very familiar with.  His expectation of me was to present the gospel ten times a week!  I was shocked!  How could I do that, I would feel like a JW!  And I had been accustomed to working with one or two others, but I'd be all by myself. 

I spent a fair bit of time in Inuvik amongst the Inuit and Indian peoples, especially those living in abject poverty.  The poverty was mostly because of addictions such as alcohol.  One place I had earlier made an appointment, I arrived only to find that everyone there was drunk on what had been bought with their recent welfare cheques.  It didn't take long for me to realise that I should be going, there was no use for me to hang around.  Harry, completely sloshed, stood in my way in front of the door, slobbered out, "You ain't goin' anywhere honey", to which I chocked out another one of those, "Help me God" prayers.  To my good fortune, Harry's wife Lucy wasn't completely passed out as I thought she was.  She staggered over to the door, heaved with all her might, and pushed Harry over, "Leave her alone, Harry" she screamed.  I was out the door like a flash and running, let me tell you!  Harry got up quickly and yelled obscenities after me, threatening to kill me.  I waited a few days before I went back!  Guess I was a bit too trusting for my own good.  What I found there made me cry.  Lucy was sprawled out on the step as she had been obviously beaten and passed out.  Their 4 year old daughter was standing in snow with just panties on and crying over her Mom.  It bewildered me, as I wasn't accustomed to seeing things like this.  A woman next door volunteered information.  She said this was a common occurrence in their household, and in fact their small daughter had put out a fire in the house that would have surely killed them all.  As I didn't know what else to do, I phoned social services.  Someone came and picked up the little girl, only to return her after a few days when everyone sobered up.  There wasn't enough safe places to take children.  I remember hearing of a baby who died from exposure, who was completely neglected because of so much drinking.  I actually had two different Inuit roommates up there, each of them had brothers who had killed their wives in a drunken rage.  Living there was an eye opener. 

One day I knocked on the door of an apartment and was greeted by a thirty-something Caucasian woman.  As usual, I introduced myself and that I was from the Lutheran church, and could I come in and talk with her about issues of faith?  She agreed, but when I came through the door and noticed the huge burly looking man in the kitchen, I got a little scared.  She motioned for me to come into the living room, where there was an unbelievable commotion going on.  There were cats, dogs and kids running, chasing around, screaming at the top of their lungs.  I wondered how this could ever work!  I breathed another one of those quick 'help me God' prayers, and please don't let that huge guy in there toss me out into a snow bank!  Our conversation progressed to the point where we were discussing how does one get to heaven, and why should God let us into heaven anyway?  Wouldn't you know, that's when the big guy decides to come and join us!  Well, I have to admit, the rest of my presentation was anything but good.  I am quite sure I was visibly shaking!  But I was completely shocked when I asked a question as to whether or not she wanted Christ in her life?  Not only did she, but her husband did as well!  Plus, later on, they wanted to be baptised along with their kids, and I got to be one of the sponsors!  Thank God that it wasn't my skillful presentation of the gospel, but it was the Holy Spirit doing his work, preparing hearts and changing lives.  What a good lesson for me to learn.

On one Wednesday (it was Cezar and my day off), I got a desperate phone call from Anastasia.  She was a Catholic lady, one of Cezar's patients and she was adamant that she needed to see Cezar that day.  Apologetically, I said that was impossible, as Cezar always made himself scarce on his day off, probably so he could keep his sanity.  He liked to spend time outdoors, and there was no way to reach him.  Alternately, I asked if I could stop by on my way to do volunteer work at the hospital.  It was a short walk, and not too far out of my way. When I arrived, Anastasia seemed quite frantic, and complained of sharp pains in her swollen abdomen, she was hemorrhaging badly and she felt very weak.  I tried to encourage her, not knowing what to do, I asked if I could pray for her.  She really wanted me to, so I proceeded.  I reminded her that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  That He is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or even dare to imagine.  I said that when Jesus walked on earth, there was a woman who had bleed for 12 years, and she just touched the hem of His garment, and immediately the bleeding stopped.  I told her that Jesus was there in that room, and that He could do the same thing for her, if she reached out by faith and 'touched Him'.  My commitment at the hospital was very soon, so I had to excuse myself, but I promised to get in touch as soon as I was able to.  An hour or so later, I got home to the phone ringing.  I picked up the receiver and I heard, "It happened, it happened, just like you said it would"  Shocked, I questioned, "What?"  Anastasia told me that just as soon as I left, the bleeding stopped, the swelling went down, and the pain was gone.  I couldn't believe it!  It obviously wasn't any great faith on my part, because when it actually happened, I was stunned!   I'm so thankful that it isn't our great faith, but rather a 'mustard-seed' faith in a great God that works miracles!  It was a good lesson for me!

With all these things happening, you would think I would be very excited.  Quite the opposite was happening.  Even though people were coming to Christ and I was witnessing miracles, I was sad.  Every day that went by, I seemed to get sadder.  I just couldn't understand it.  I searched my heart, I plead with God to change me, to bring me close to Him.  I felt like I was falling away from Him, was losing my first love.  I often would cry and didn't know why.  Things became a struggle, everything did.  I started felling like such a hypocrite.  Thankfully, I still attended on Thursdays an inter-denominational evening that was held at Terry and Blanche Buckles place.  They were a wonderful loving couple who ministered in the Anglican church in Inuvik.  We would always have a refreshing evening of worship and praise, and pray for each other.  There were people from all the various denominations who attended; Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Anglican.  Many times I asked for prayer, as I certainly wasn't myself.  This thing called depression had reared its ugly head, but I didn't know what it was and how to change myself.

Cezar noticed that I wasn't myself.  He sat me down, and talked about leading a balanced life (not sure he was!)  He spoke of the need for personal life, church, community, friends, etc. in a balance.  That sounded like good advice, so I tried to no avail to have balance in my life.  One of my biggest problems was that I could not sleep.  Little did I know that sleep deprivation would be my experience throughout my life when I was depressed or the opposite, manic.  I am getting ahead of myself now!  When Cezar saw that things were getting more desperate for me, he suggested that I go home to my family for Christmas.  He thought that might cheer me up.  Unfortunately, the opposite happened.  I was very unhappy, but tried hard not to show it, but everyone knew.  What they couldn't do was to cheer me up.  It just made me feel worse that I wasn't happy to see them!  It was very strange.  A week later, I was on my way back to Inuvik very sad  and feeling quite hopeless.  This wasn't the way a Christian should be, I thought!  I came back to my apartment to find that 16 year old Bonny, who I allowed to stay with me, had trashed the place.  She had a drunken binge while I was away, which did not help matters.  I asked her to leave, but gave her some of the food that I had bought to help her.  A couple of weeks later, I got a nasty phone bill that was several hundred dollars.  While I was away, she had called long distance to Yellowknife many times.  I called the phone company, but of course was responsible for all the calls she had made.  One of the things I struggled with was being too trusting.

One day during office hours, Pastor Terry Buckle phoned me.  The Lord had spoken to him that morning from James 5:14-16, and he was sure it pertained to me.  He asked if I would be willing to meet with him and Linda that evening, and just do what the scripture said to.  Of course I was willing, but inwardly I doubted if anything would come of it.  I was feeling so hopeless, and this had dragged on for 8 months now.  That evening we met in the quiet sanctuary, and Terry instructed me that they would pray, as I sat and wrote down everything that was bothering me.  That was alot!  The thoughts of so many bad things I had done, how inadequate I felt I was, and on and on I wrote.  After quite some time, I went in and told them I thought I was finished.  We went to the altar, and as this passage admonishes us to do, to "confess our sins one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."  That is exactly what happened.  It was a humbling experience to confess before people that I admired and looked up to so much, and then after, Terry anointed me with oil, and they lay their hands on me and prayed for me.  He assured me that I was forgiven, and prayed for protection for me against the enemy.  What I felt, I can only describe as liquid love was poured on my head, and it flowed through my whole being.  It was amazing!  I walked home, feeling so elated and so filled with the love of God.  I wondered if this would be gone by morning.  The next day, I woke up feeling fully alive, so grateful to be alive!  It felt as though I was on a honeymoon, but with Jesus!  Thankfulness and joy were my constant companions.  What a difference!

Everyone who met me noticed the change.  Cezar did not seem to like the change.  It seemed like the happier I became, the sadder he was.  It seemed rather strange, but he accused me of putting this on, he would get angry at the smallest things.  And I kept asking God to help me to love him more, I chose to forgive him when he mistreated me.  I was not going to go back to the way I felt before.

Land of the Midnight Sun

Feelings of anticipation, fear of the unknown and excitement all churned simultaneously within me..  I looked down, as the airplane prepared for landing.  The sunshine glistened off hundreds of tiny lakes.  The terrain was unlike anything I had ever seen, with unspoiled wilderness as far as the eye could see.  Down, down we went to my new life in the far north.  I didn't know a soul there.

My mind flashed back to two years ago, almost to the day.  I had gone to Bible School to 'try it out' as  I was definitely searching.  The night before Bible School started, I had gone out for one more 'fling' and got stoned with friends.  Kathy and I, neither of us Christians yet, both arrived on a Tuesday to CLBI.  We felt out of place at first, but wanted to give it a go.  That first Friday, Kathy begged me to come home to Provost with her, as she needed to bring her brother's car back to him.  I balked at the idea, knowing how easy it was to go back and party there.  But I was easily influenced, so I went with her.  Just as I'd anticipated, Jim and Brian had called my sister, and wanted to meet us at the bar in Macklin.  So there I found myself, against my better judgement and again feeling 'out of place'.  Jim asked me about CLBI, and I got rather excited when I talked about it.  I felt my desire for this 'old life' I had been living was fading.  Not that I needed to go, but went into the bathroom and prayed my first real prayer, "I need your help Lord". It's a prayer I've since prayed many times in my life.  I came back to the table, and Jim had written a message on a package of matches that read, "Wendy, you are doing the right thing, keep doing it"  (sadly, Jim died an early death at 31 from alcoholism and drug addiction).  My realisation that night was that I didn't want the life I'd been living, but wanted the new life I saw that others students had at Bible School.  The next evening, there was a film being shown in Chauvin called "A Thief in the Night".  Kathy and I went to see it.  It hit me hard.  I knew if Jesus were to return that night, I wasn't ready to meet Him!  At the invitation, I went forward and poured out my heart to God.  I sincerely repented of all the sins I could recall, and truly was born again!  Never again did I have a desire for drugs or the other things I'd been involved with.  I felt so free!

It was exciting to be at the Bible School, as I now had a relationship with Christ as my Savior and friend.  I got involved in a number of things, including working with handicapped children, playing piano for a travelling team, evangelism and prayer.  Things were pretty exciting there.  One day, a cousin of mine called me to say he had a scary experience in university.  He had gotten involved with some weird stuff, and experienced a demonic presence come into his room.  He thought the 'monstrous thing' would kill him, and out of sheer terror, blurted out, "I believe in Jesus Christ".  Immediately, the demon left!  He called me, asking why this had happened and wanted help.  I was a very new believer, so felt this was a little 'beyond' me!  Fortunately, there were other students experienced in dealing with the demonic who were able to help him and prayed for him.  The devil had some tricks he tried playing on me as well.  A few weeks after my conversion, I was in a prayer meeting, and thoughts of my sinful behaviour was all I could think of.  I was experiencing condemnation big time!  I was afraid to tell anyone about it, because I didn't want them to know what an awful person I was.  In fact, I wondered how I really could be saved when my thinking was like this.  I struggled this way for a few weeks.  Finally, I was helped by a message given by an elderly woman at one of our chapel times.  She shared how when Satan brings condemning thoughts into our minds, that we need only confess our sin once, and  after that, start praising God for the victory that Christ won for us. Even, if I couldn't push the thought away, keep praising ! I learned that the Word of God, which is the 'Sword of the Spirit' and praise are both powerful weapons against the enemy of our souls.  It would be a lesson I would need to learn again and again.  The evangelism teams that I served with would also prove to be extremely helpful in my time in Inuvik.

Dr Cezar Heine, also a Lutheran Pastor and his friend Marc met me at the airport.  We drove the short 7 mile distance into Inuvik.  It amazed me when I was told that this was the only road in the area!  During the winter, people drove on the 'ice road' which was basically driving on the Mackenzie River.  In the summer, that same river was used to transport most things that were needed in this isolated place.  Everything else had to be flown in, which made perishable things such as milk, vegetables and fruit extremely costly.  All the buildings were up on 'stilts' due to the permafrost.  Even the electric and sewer lines were above the ground in 'utilidors'.  The trees grew to be only about my height, and the growing season was extremely short.  What made this place really different, was the fact that the length of days changed so drastically.  In the summer time, the sun went around the sky in a big circle, thus the term, midnight sun.  In the winter, no one sees the sun for thirty days, and there are many months of mostly cold and darkness.

It didn't take long to realise I lived amongst many needy people.  One night, I heard screaming and crying in the night that woke me from a deep slumber.  I pulled on my robe and tried to determine where the sound was coming from.  It seemed to be above me, so I walked down the hall of my apartment, up the stairs and counted down the doors until I thought I got to the right one.  I stood there with another "help me Lord" prayer, and knocked.  A man came to the door, looking puzzled, as it was close to midnight.  Sheepishly, I said, "I could hear a baby crying, and I just wondered if I could help somehow".  He said kindly, "Well, there is no baby here, so you must have the wrong place".  I walked back down the hall, feeling a little foolish.  I went back to my place, but again I could hear the ruckus.  Then it dawned on me that it was my next door neighbour!  Marjory was about my age and had a baby, and was living with Bill Farmer, who was 52.  I cringed at the thought, and boldly went next door, and banged on it.  Bill came to the door, and I asked him the same question.  He said, "Everything is fine here" and slammed the door in my face.  "What can I do?" I thought, and went back home to bed.  About 3am, Marjory ran over sobbing, clutching her baby and pounding on the door.  She looked terrible, had a black eye, and blood was dripping from a fresh wound.  I wrapped my arms around both of them, and struggled to contain my anger.  I got a cloth, and insisted, "Marjory, we have to phone the police and report Bill"  She refused, thinking he would just come and hurt her more.  It was his drinking that caused him to do this and she begged me to not do it.  But as the night wore on, and we talked, she finally relented, and I called the police.  Marjory made a statement, and I told her she was welcome to stay at my place while I went to work.  Two hours of sleep wasn't enough, but would have  to do.  When I returned home, I was dismayed to find that Bill had sweet talked Marjory into dropping the charges against him, and she agreed to go back.  Of course he charmed her with how much he loved her, and would never do that again, that yes, he would quit drinking.  Only thing was, the same scenario repeated itself again and again.

During this time, I realised how much I needed to learn God's Word, so I began reading and taping it on my cassette recorder, so that I could listen again and again while I did housework.  It has been something that I have valued over the years, and it is such a great way for me to learn and memorise.  I remember seeing 100 Huntley Street for the first time in Inuvik, and I cried.  With so many needy people, how wonderful to think that they could be reached in their own homes by watching TV!  It was an exciting broadcast, and so positive.