By Rev. Ron Opmeer, pastor,
Athabasca Reformed Congregation

Athabasca Reformed Congregation is the northernmost church in the Regional Synod of Canada, and is ready to reach even further with your help—60 kilometers further, to the predominantly Cree native community of Calling Lake, Alberta.

Six hundred people live in a 10-kilometer radius of Calling Lake; 75 percent identified themselves as Roman Catholic in the 2001 census, but the only evangelical witness in Calling Lake is a Bible study group of about a dozen Pentecostal believers. The Athabasca congregation sees the Lord’s hand at work in drawing Cree native elder and pastor Norman McCallum of Edmonton to accept an outreach position for Calling Lake at the same time as the Regional Synod’s Mobilizing for Mission five-year campaign is preparing to invest in a Canada-wide mission.

Norman McCallum has worked in native employment as an addictions counselor, a Big Horn Reserve Band administrator, a Native Friendship Centre director, a career services information officer for native bands in Saskatchewan, and most recently as supervisor over numerous inner city homes for troubled street youth in Edmonton. He is now on the Edmonton mayor’s aboriginal advisory committee. He speaks the Cree language and knows the culture from the inside. Best of all, he is a Spirit-filled believer who has compassion for native peoples.

Last May, Norman researched the needs of the Calling Lake community. He concluded that there is urgency in placing a worker in Calling Lake, especially as Alberta’s largest native land claims settlement will come into effect in 2008, totaling $300 million for the Bigstone Cree region. He believes the result could be a “trail of tears” for those who come upon money but who are unable to withstand the accompanying temptations.

While this ministry will take place through the sponsorship of Athabasca Reformed with its partners, the initial intent is not to plant a Reformed church in Calling Lake but to have Pastor Norman lay a foundation for future ministry in Calling Lake in partnership with other believers there. His work will include preaching and teaching, worship leadership, visitation, and evangelism to adults and children. He will reach broadly to seek many avenues of witness both on the Cree reserve and off the reserve. In the first year he and his wife, Maria, will live in Athabasca and begin to reach into Calling Lake, and then move to the Calling Lake area in the years to come.

We ask you, the churches of the Regional Synod of Canada, to pray for Pastor Norman and consider if the Lord would have you designate funds to the Calling Lake outreach through Mobilizing for Mission over the next five years. The annual budget is around $50,000 and could include up to $20,000 from partnering churches like yours. The work starts this spring.

If you would like to be a part of this new and exciting Mobilizing for Mission ministry through donations or prayer,
please contact the Regional Synod Office at (519) 622-1777
or donate on-line above at the right side of the page