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Update from Craig Smith (Ojibwe) with Team Canada
OEW goes Urban...
Since making a commitment to Canada four years ago, most of our outreaches have been in isolated First Nations communities, some of which are incredibly challenging to get to. We've had to fly into communities with no roads leading to them. This summer included taking a 24-hour ferry boat ride to another isolated community we visited. We're known for going to the hard-to-get-to places. But for now, our team's sights are set on an urban community of 50,000 people where close to 5,000 First Nations people call home.
In my last report I talked about the impact of post-modernism in Canada. We would be facing one of the greatest challenges of our tour as indifference to Christ would be the giant we'd have to contend with in a city environment.
In all my years with OEW, I've never known a more organized group of local leaders who worked diligently over the past few months praying and preparing for the team's visit. A well organized publicity campaign was organized, including radio, television and newspaper promotion, and a venue secured that had plenty of room to accommodate the anticipated crowds. The team canvassed sections of the city where many of the First Nations people lived. Everything we could ask for from a local group of leaders and from our team was in place. Plus, our network of worldwide intercessors have, were, and still are praying.
But the huge crowds never came... Night One started very slowly, as we and the local leaders tried to understand what was happening. The largeness of the venue made the size of our crowd seem even that much smaller, but our team once again brought their best efforts to this outreach event. Being an urban setting, one of the things we were praying for was the opportunity to share our hope in a multi-cultural environment. Though our crowd was small (around 100 people), it was truly a mix of the nations. We were excited to see red, yellow, black and white, gathered together to hear the hope of Jesus. Young men and women from many different nationalities joined in with our three point basketball shootout, the "young, urban professionals" brought their 2.5 kids to the adjacent swimming pool, the homeless, and many others all heard about the love of Jesus Christ from a team of Native youth who worked as hard tonight for a small crowd as they do when hundreds are in attendance.
The venue was a huge open field with picnic tables spread around, with an adjacent skate park, tennis courts, and a basketball court that all wrapped around a huge outdoor swimming pool complex. Our first night we utilized the open field to establish our presence there, but on Night Two we felt we needed to move our presence closer to the skate park, which was packed with bmx bikers, skateboarders, etc. On our third night, we moved once again to the "tucked away" basketball court so we could do our Night Three challenge basketball game. Every night saw a new crowd, and while we saw it grow each night, it still was under what we anticipated we'd see in such a large urban environment.
It reminded me of the great challenge facing the local church as it seeks to reach a society that no longer sees spiritual issues as important. In a world of tolerance, the "only way" message of the Cross is often rejected before it is even shared - disregarded by a society that embraces an "all roads lead to heaven" universalism mentality. The only problem with that thinking is if all roads lead to heaven, why would God have allowed His one and only Son to come down to earth, suffer and die as He did, if all that meant it would be another way to come to Him? This "last days living" mentality Jesus predicted would happen, and we see it manifesting itself here, and around the world. As hard as many of our Native communities have been to get the Gospel in, understood and accepted, so, too, are the urban Reservations made up of hearts of stone. As much as it breaks our hearts to see, it breaks God's heart even more.
Every decision for Christ in this community was hard fought. Our team did an incredible job of bridging the huge divide between lost people who don't know or even care that they are lost, and the Old Rugged Cross. We were encouraged that while decisions for Christ were few, eternal life had come to some, and the Cross had won again!
In a follow-up communication with his local planning leaders, the chairman of our planning committee summed up best what these three challenging days in a city that really seemed indifferent to Christ was like.
He stated, "The outreach was unusual, because it seemed they were talking to 3 different crowds on the 3 nights. It was hard to count how many people came out but we had commitments to Christ ... [and] there were also inquiries to follow-up. It did not go exactly as I had planned but it did go exactly as God had planned and the seed has been planted in many hearts. The ages of those who responded are so wide-ranging, from very young to very old ... God led us each step of the way and He knows what He is doing, and who He was reaching, and so I thank Him!
I stand together with this local leader and say, Amen! Pray for these new believers who will have to grow in Christ in an environment that is challenging. I'm so thankful that this city has some wonderful local churches, including a great Native church, where spiritual growth can happen. And I know it will!
Craig Smith
For Team Canada
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