However, there was irony in the fact that I only travelled under two hours away for my week-long break. Where I found myself felt like I was a world away. I was in a different nation. I was in a new world. And yet, I found myself in a place that I would call home. I was in the trees, rivers and forests of the North. I was in Lac Courte Oreilles.
This week wasn't a service project; although I chopped, split and moved enough logs to make any building project jealous. This week wasn't a study abroad experience; yet I was faced with a new, beautiful culture that gave me a new perspective. This week was not a mission trip; yet I was able to hear brave testimonies from strangers, participate in native house-church worship, and be present with brothers and sisters in which the only thing I share is Christ. This week was not in a different time zone; yet the pace of life slowed down to replace tasks and schedules with people and conversations.
This week I experienced a brand-new snap-shot into the life of Ojibwe people. I met and witnessed a community of believers in Lac Courte Oreilles who are embracing their original God-given native culture while walking with Jesus. I have received deep generational hurt; generations burned by the ignorance of churches, the removal of culture, the focus on the white-man, the plight of changing native-thought through structured religion and colonialism. Life on the LCO reservation for many is super difficult. People here have experienced just about as much pain and tribulation than one could take- yet what makes it even harder is the underlying injustice that has continued over generations. However, this week I have met many folks filled with Hope.
One way that God impacted me the most this week was through meeting two brave men, Dave and Chris.
Dave was our contact on the Res. He's been the leader and pastor of both the Church of Love and Compassion at LCO as well as a missionary on the 'Discovery' YWAM base where we stayed. He's what I would describe as a denim santa; large white/grey beard, long, grey locks; he's a large man. He wears huge hands. That's one thing I noticed first. He's also a genuine and compassionate steward who's been serving the LORD with his wife at LCO for 25 years. He builds log cabins because he can. He gets excited about tapping trees for maple syrup (in the forest he calls the 'sugar-bush' ) ,cutting wood, is a wicked guitar player, and really has a heart for Ojibwe culture and those around him. Some of my favorite parts of this week have been listening to Dave tell stories; whether its been standing in the woods, around coffee at the kitchen table, or sitting near the wood-stove. Dave was invited to come onto the LCO reservation by some tribal members many years ago, and he's been there ever since- helping people come to know Jesus while pursuing their Ojibwe culture.
Chris is a man who has been through a lot. During one of our first nights at the Church of Love and Compassion, Chris shared with the group his recent story and what God has been doing in him. He's a guy who has been on-fire in his desire for the LORD. Since November, God has been transforming Chris from a hard past to a strong future. A couple times this week I had some great opportunities to sit down with Chris and hear his stories. It has been so encouraging to me to hear that God's been growing him a crazy lot as of recently, to the point that he believes God is preparing him to lead not only his family but the general community to come to the LORD with Power. He's a man who does not look at himself. He's slow to plan the future, quick to ask the LORD for guidance; in something as complicated as business planning as well as baking fry-bread.
I hope to see these guys sometime again.
I've met the LORD and been blessed by a lot of my favorite things this week.
-Silence in the woods
-Community with fun-loving and LORD-seeking friends
-Learning about new culture ( as well as my own )
-Meaningful conversations
-Meeting new people
-Making fires, chopping wood, cooking food
-Playing music
-Painting, writing, reading
-Spending 4 days at the Boys & Girls Club hanging with kids
-Canoeing
And yet through a lot of this delight and joy, the LORD has also been highlighting in me this week some tendencies and feelings that I need to work through to relinquish. Thoughts of otherness. Seeing others as different. Internalized racism- both from my culture as well as my mindset. Recognizing the privaledge of backing away from culture because I am a white male. Recognizing the privilege of leaving a difficult place, which may be a continuous reality and a place that is unable to be left for others.
One question that arose in me while at LCO; in the hope of bringing others closer to the LORD, am I hoping that they become more like Jesus, or am I hoping that they only become more like me?
This is a hard question to think about. Yet, I trust that God is a whole lot larger than my tiny attempts to fix my own thoughts and feelings.
Thanks for journeying with my thoughts from this week, friends. I hope to share with you more soon!