“There were times when the treatment centre felt a bit like residential school,” said my friend and sister in Christ. “You have to go away from your family and community, follow a strict structure, make your bed in the morning, eat breakfast at a specific time…” We went on to talk about the pros and cons of the ways that many treatment centres function. We understood the need to take people out of toxic environments to help them look at their lives and choices in a supportive and challenging environment. Many of our friends and neighbours had finally gotten off the addiction track through the wonderful work of treatment centres around the province. At the same time, we kept coming back to the same question: Why can we not heal at home where the whole family, whole community, can benefit from the learning and growth that happens? Too often we see those we care about leap from the nurturing, structured, directed environment of a treatment centre and land right back into the same old family or living situation they left. They have changed, but their surroundings are the same. There is no support. No AA group. No professional counselors. No safe place to go when the temptations begin to mount. And people fall. Hard. It is heartbreaking to watch those who have been to treatment come home and lose all they have gained.
That conversation happened a number of years ago, but has been niggling around in my mind ever since. Three and a half years ago it blossomed into a vision for ministry that my husband and I have been praying about and working towards. We live in the community of Ndazkoh, British Columbia (Nazko in English), 100 km by winding rural roads from the nearest town of Quesnel. Ndazkoh includes a reserve of about 130 people and another 100 non-Native people in surrounding properties. We work in the Nazko and Area Dakelh Outreach (NADO), which is part of the larger ministry of the Cariboo Presbyterian Church.
The Dakelh (Southern Carrier) people are a beautiful nation who have been in pain for several generations. The healing power of Jesus is the key to helping them become all the Creator meant for them to be. But does Jesus not have the power to heal right on the very land they are bound to? Jesus went into the home of Jairus to raise his little girl from death. Can he come to the home of the Dakelh people to bring them healing as well? The answer is obvious but most often healing means taking people away from home, away from the land that is a very part of who they are. Our vision is to bring healing home to Dakelh territory in the name of the great healer Jesus, and we hope this might become a model for other ministries.
The first step to bringing healing home is to model what it means to be reconciled in Christ. To do this, we are seeking a person of First Nations ancestry to join us in ministry as equal partners, showing the community that their own people can be leaders. This missionary would focus on programs and services that would help individuals and the community along the healing journey. Workshops, support groups, individual prayer support, spiritual direction and community involvement would fill the missionary’s time. Special attention would be given to supporting those re-integrating into the community after leaving treatment centres. At the same time, we would seek to disciple and train new leaders from the community to take on ministries of their own. Funding for this missionary has been provided for up to one initial year through the Healing and Reconciliation Fund of the Presbyterian Church which has caught the vision for a long-term healing ministry in First Nations communities.
If healing is going to take root in the lives of people, they need to be able to have healing opportunities at home where they are connected to the land and the people, and where they can learn how to live a new way on Jesus’ path.
If you are interested in pursuing a call to ministry like this one, contact us at
cariboopc@xplornet.ca.
