The Mission:
As you’ve probably heard before (and if you haven’t, check out www.arcticanglicans.ca/ulu), God has brought together a number of factors to tell us that it is time to intentionally focus on and invest in re-planting the churches in the Western Arctic. The churches in Ulukhaktok, Sachs Harbour, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk had been closed for 5-20 years. Fort McPherson is holding its own. We relaunched weekly worship in Inuvik in April 2025. Onward!
A Report from Rev. Nick Kigeak:
Our first morning in Ulukhaktok we did some old-fashioned ministry, going door-to-door knocking and inviting the local community to the training sessions and services. They have a great singalong group in town who helped us each night with prayer and praise; many people came forward for prayer. It was such a blessed time of reassuring people as they turned back to Jesus.
So we did, each morning and evening, for three days and three nights; inviting, preparing, equipping, healing, and sharing testimonies. Saturday morning we had invited children to come to do activities, and there was a young Inuvialuit man wating to learn how to read the prayerbook (in Inuvialuktun). I’m familiar with the roman orthography, so I took my time to teach this young man whose heart is willing to learn more about Jesus, and to understand how to read in his own mother tongue. I was blessed to be able to help to encourage, build up, and equip.
The Team:
It’s pretty incredible how the Lord brings people from the furthest ends of the earth to be part of that same mission to minister to the ends of the earth! L-R we have Jennifer Knight, part of the national staff of Youth for Christ who has joined our team part-time and is living in Inuvik. Then we have Rev. Andrew Allan-Johns from New Zealand, a trainer and board member with SOMA International. Then Rev. Whitney DeWare, the priest-in-charge from Yellowknife and ministry lead in Ulukhaktok. Then Rev. Abraham Kublu from Iqaluit and Rev. Nick Kigeak from Arviat! Probably the first time Inuit from the East were sent ministering to Inuvialuit in the West!
We flew to Inuvik, where Bishop Alexander met us with a rented truck to drive nearly 100km over the ice to Aklavik – in the snow so we could hardly see! It’s a small but very welcoming community of 300. We did some more old-fashioned door-to-door ministry, telling the local community “this is what’s going on at the church: healing ministry, testimony sharing, and laying on hands for prayer”. We did this for three more days and nights, with discipleship training in the afternoons. Bishop Alexander confirmed 4 young adults who want to follow Jesus more fully, and we went to the Northern store and met a man who shared his full testimony right there, of deliverance from addictions. He asked for prayer, and it was wonderful and good, right there in the store, maybe like the apostles praying in the marketplace long ago.
We drove back to Inuvik on the ice, now getting tired and laughing way too easily, especially with 5 of us and our bags all squeezing in the bishop’s rented pickup! That’s when we met up with Jenn, the new lay-leader in charge of the re-opened church there. We didn’t go door-to-door here, and a blizzard gave us an unexpected day of rest (nothing wrong with that!) We had a great discipleship and training session about the work of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer. On Sunday, when Jenn was to be installed, the church boiler had broke and everything was very cold! So we packed everyone into the mission house – it was a great start to a new church re-planting, disciples meeting in an overflowing house to share around the Lord’s table!