By the Rev. Collis Machoko, Kugluktuk, NU

Yet another person committed suicide in the community of Kugluktuk by shooting himself dead. This is all too common as the North faces a suicide epidemic, especially among young men. He was a very prominent person in the community for he did a lot of good work and was employed with the Hamlet. Indeed, the whole community loved him. On the day of his burial we gathered in the church. The church was fully packed with mourners. It was a very emotional church service for there was a lot of mourning and weeping. Before the sermon, the family members, relatives and friends of the deceased expressed their great loss, sadness and hopelessness to me. They asked for prayers, spiritual help and guidance from me so that they can be able to overcome such a huge loss in their family. I told them that before the eulogy, I would give each of them a copy of Christian literature – a copy of the Hope magazine, full of the promises of God from scripture. I felt the Spirit of God calling me to change the short sermon which I was going to preach during the service and I gave all the family members, friends and relatives of the deceased the copies of Hope and we walked through the pages together as I explained the hope which we, as Christians have in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I combined what is in magazine with what St. Paul said in First Corinthians 15 – hope in the resurrection of the dead.

The family members, relatives and friends left the church for the burial with a sense of peace that you could feel. Soon after the burial service and again a few days after the burial service, family members, relatives and the friends of the deceased man visited me at the rectory for more prayers and thanking me for giving them the Hope magazines. They had taken them home and read them! These grieving people left with the hope of the resurrection and the knowledge that God goes with us through the valley of the shadow of death to give us victory over despair.