Candidate Training 2025 Part 2...The Sequel!!!

Some highlights from our two weeks together are:

*The Band - Michael, from Pine Ridge Bible Camp, had a very understated way about him.  The first day of classes, I led in a song to open our time with worship.  No one else had stepped up or offered to help with worship leading/music so I didn't pursue.  But at the first coffee break, Michael was strumming on one of the camp guitars and I said, "Hey!  I didn't know you were musical.  Wanna play for our next chapel time?"

Next thing you know, Jordan was banging on the drum kit and seemed to know what he was doing!  So by the evening of Day 1, we had a 3-piece band!  Linsey joined with vocals between feeding and keeping baby Asher happy, and by Day 3, we also had a keyboard player!  We never found a name for our musical group, but we enjoyed playing and singing together songs like "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High", "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" and "Holy Forever". When the group was leading, there was just Walter, Emmanuel & Chalsie sitting in our audience!  On Sunday evening, we had a worship night and "The Band" led in a wonderful time with folks from the church in Big River as well as our candidates.

* Walks - The first evening that we were at the camp, we saw the mother bear and twin cubs.  The next day we saw a bear down by the waterfront of the camp!  So I wasn't so keen on taking walks by myself.  When the opportunity to stroll with others came, I jumped at the chance!  Caylea, her Bernese Mountain dog Lindy and I took a lovely walk with baby Asher in the stroller.  We wound our way along the Philips Grove resort/subdivision area next to the camp.  We gazed longingly at lovely cabins, some very big and modern, some quaint and humble.  The early green of spring was appearing on the trees and the cool spring air was refreshing.  I also took a couple walks with Walter in between our busy teaching schedule.  And Linsey, Asher and I enjoyed a short jaunt to the stop sign and back, just to get some fresh air and exercise.  (No bears accompanied us on said walks!)

*One afternoon, Walter took Ade & Emmanuel (our Nigerian trainees) to the Big River First Nation, at the invitation of a man from church who works in construction on the reserve.  They met a couple of people who work for our friend, Ed, and had a nice visit.  Then someone suggested that Walter and his friends from Nigeria meet another lady who is from Africa, as well.  Turns out Sister Rose Marie is from Kenya and assists the Catholic priest, who serves several reserves and towns in the area.  They had a wonderful time of fellowship with this woman who felt a definite call to reach First Nations people in Canada.  Then Walter, Ade & Emmanuel also had opportunity to pray for a man who recently had a stroke, and then for another relative who wanted prayer!  The doors seemed wide open to share about Jesus and comfort folks through a ministry of visiting and prayer.  

*For us personally, it was a joy to visit with Tony & Janet Ens from Whitehorse.  They are great listeners!  But we were able to connect on both nights they were at Big River Bible Camp, catching up on family, grandchildren, ministry stories and personal stuff.  Lifelong friends are a treasure and we felt cared for even though we aren't officially under their "Candidate Care" portfolio!

On the last Friday morning, we had a wonderful time of worship together, a  final debrief of the overall courses and topics.  It was helpful for us to hear some of their take-aways and what impacted them most.  We could easily have had another full day of class just debriefing and unpacking the many deep areas that we only covered in a general way.  We gave each one a gift card to Subway and a little personal note of thanks and blessing to these folks whom we grew to love and feel close to in the past 14 days. Linsey gave us a thoughtful gift of fresh ground coffee (roasted locally) and bath salts, also SK made on behalf of the class of 2025. Before we dismissed, we handed them a "Feedback" sheet to fill out and give us some suggestions for improvement for the next training.

 What an honour and privilege to help train and prepare new missionaries/volunteers for ministry!  Even though we know much more could have been taught, more discussions facilitated and more hands-on experience offered, we trust the Holy Spirit will finish the real-life training and equip each one for their service beyond what we could provide!  

As each of us packed our vehicles and grabbed a bag lunch for the road, we felt like we were launching our own kids.  We felt proud, excited and a little nervous for them!  We prayed for them as if they were our own, and will check in with them in the coming weeks to see how they're doing.  

"Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations..."  Matthew 28:19

"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation..."  Mark 16: 15

 II Corinthians 9:8 "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

I have experienced this truth first-hand as Walter and I led Candidate Orientation & Training for the past two weeks!  We packed the mission's Ford F-150 with bags, plastic tubs and suitcases with enough supplies to keep us going.  Clothing, books, rubber boots, sandals, coats and hoodies, gifts for the candidates and thank you cards for the staff at Big River Bible Camp were stuffed into every nook and cranny of the box and the cab of the vehicle.  Driving to the location of our training, via Saskatoon and Prince Albert to pick up a few more items at NCEM's headquarters, took us over 6 hours and we arrived in time to unload before returning to the town of Big River.  

Some snow clung to shady spots along the bush, but it appeared as though spring was just around the corner.  The camp itself was dry and a fire ban was in effect.  After supper in town, we brought Caylea and her boyfriend, Eric on a nice leisurely drive around the back roads to explore some of the resorts along Delaronde Lake and Nesslin Lake.  Our drive proved fruitful as we saw a mother bear and twin cubs!  The north of our province is beautiful.

As we unpacked and arranged our supplies on tables, setting notebooks and NCEM mugs on the tables for each participant of the training, I felt a bit nervous.  This was our fifth or sixth such training and I should have felt more comfortable and confident.  But this time, Walter and I would do most of the teaching as we shortened it to two, rather than three, weeks and some instructors weren't available.  I prayed, took some deep breaths, and tried to relax.  No use worrying beforehand.  God had always helped us in previous years.  We had trained and sent out over 30 new missionaries and they seemed to survive our leadership!  But we needed God's grace each and every time!

Sunday morning, Walter preached at the Big River Evangelical Free Church.  We greeted familiar faces and enjoyed down-home fellowship!  Then we returned to camp to scrounge some food for lunch.  Fortunately we had enough leftovers from home and Caylea raided her own fridge to make a reasonable meal.  We relaxed in the afternoon, awaiting the arrival of our new candidates.  Michael, preparing for camp ministry, Chalsie who was about to serve in the NCEM office and Jordan, already involved in media production of "Generation Hope" arrived in time for supper.  Our recent graduates from training 2024 (Bob & Juliana) were cooking for our group for the two weeks and made a delicious ham & scalloped potatoes supper for us.

Our late arrivals were Ade and Emmanuel, two Nigerian gentlemen, who flew in from their homes in Toronto area.  One of our office staff picked them up and drove them the 2 1/2 hours from Saskatoon airport to the camp.  Bob stayed up to greet them and show them to their cabin.  The rest of us were already in bed, resting up before our 8:30 am session Monday morning!

I woke before the alarm, seeing sunlight through our bedroom window in the basement of the camp's lodge/dining hall/chapel.  I wanted an early start, so I quickly dressed and went up to make coffee - the first of many pots that sustained many of us through the two weeks of classes! I found a sunny spot by the fireplace and big windows that displayed the glory of a new day.  With coffee and Bible in hand, I received God's Word, my daily bread, for the day.  I had just begun reading through Psalm 119, which is the longest psalm in scripture, and it would be my daily diet during the entire time at Big River Bible Camp.  

Everyone found their way to the dining hall and helped themselves to the "self-serve" breakfast.  We then gathered in the basement chapel area to start off with a worship song and prayer.  Then we got right down to the orientation session and made sure everyone had been introduced to one another.  

I forgot to mention Jordan came with his wife, Linsey, and three-month old son, Asher.  Linsey had taken the training two years prior, and returned to lead our daily "Debrief" sessions in the afternoons.  Sometimes, I would be the designated "Grandma" and take Asher for a stroll outside or just put him to sleep upstairs when Linsey was needed in the sessions.  In past years, we've had young kids that needed childcare but Asher was passed from person to person or napped during our long days.

We condensed the training, so the first week, we had morning, afternoon and evening classes.  Wow!  By Friday we were all exhausted. So we gave Friday afternoon until Sunday night as a break for us all.  But to hit it hard at the beginning paid off and we were on track or ahead when week two began.  

One thing we did to break up the monotony for the trainees was to show two movies for teaching purposes. The first was "Smoke Signals" and gave a good look at First Nations/Native American life on a reservation.  The movie was made in the 1990's but the issues, the humour and the themes throughout the storyline were very relevant even in the 2020's.  The second film was produced by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation back in 1988, but again the issues of residential school and the experiences of those who were students in those institutions in Canada was pertinent.  We spent class time unpacking the movies to glean all we could.  (Check out YouTube or some other streaming services if you are interested in these movies.)  

We were blessed to have Jim and Marian from the office come to share about the administrative support and financial aspects pertaining to serving with NCEM.  They brought an IT intern/short term missionary who is First Nations from Stanley Mission, SK to share his testimony.  Dimitri took the training two years ago, and then a few months later applied to study at Bible College in MB.   

The following day, we had Tony & Janet from Whitehorse, YT share three sessions on Member Care and related topics.  They also met individually with the new missionary trainees as part of the Candidate Care program.  It is a priority to support and encourage the missionaries all along their journey in ministry.

I'll write more about our time at Candidate O & T 2025 soon!!!