“There were times when the treatment center 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, and eat breakfast at a specific time…” We went on to talk about the pros and cons of the ways that many treatment centers 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. Getting a good start on the healing process can necessitate being away from temptation and destructive family and community dynamics. Many of our friends and neighbors had finally gotten off the addiction track through the wonderful work of treatment centers around the province. At the same time, we kept coming back to the question in our minds. Why can’t we bring the treatment to the community? Why can we not heal at home where the whole family, whole community, can benefit from the learning and growth that happens? What happens to people from small, isolated reserve communities like ours when they return from six weeks in treatment, ready to make a fresh start? 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 that they had 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 see people 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. Four and a half years ago it blossomed into a vision for ministry that my husband and I have been praying and working towards. We live in the community of Ndazkoh BC (in English—Nazko), 100 km (62 miles) by winding forest roads from the nearest town of Quesnel. Ndazkoh is made up of a reserve of about 130 people and another 100 non-Native people in surrounding ranches and properties. We work in the Nazko and Area Dakelh Outreach (NADO) which is part of the larger ministry of the Cariboo Presbyterian Church. Connections with the Lhoosk’uz and Lhtakoh bands give us a large geographic area to pastor and share Christ’s love.

The Dakelh (Southern Carrier) people are a beautiful nation that has been in pain for several generations. The healing power of Jesus is the key to helping them to become all that the Creator meant for them to be. But does not Jesus have the power to heal right on the very land that they are connected to? Jesus went into the home of Jairus in order 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 when we think of healing, it means taking people away from home, away from the land that is a very part of who they are as a people. The vision we see is to bring healing home to Dakelh territory in the name of the great healer Jesus. We hope that this might become a model for other ministries in the future as well.

The first step to bringing healing home is to model what it means to be reconciled in Christ. We are seeking a person of First Nations ancestry to join us in ministry as equal partners, demonstrating to the community that the church is not about white people leading and First Nations following, but that their own people can be leaders. This person 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 worker’s time. We would offer support during times of crisis as well as offer regular programs and special events aimed at issues of healing spiritually, socially and emotionally. Special attention would be given to supporting those re-integrating to the community after coming out of treatment centers. At the same time, we would seek to disciple and train new leaders from the community to take on ministries of their own. Bible College courses could be offered for short periods of time. Funding for this missionary has been provided for up to one initial year through the Healing and Reconciliation Fund of the Presbyterian Church in Canada who has caught the vision for long-term healing ministry in the First Nations communities. After that the team would help the worker to raise the needed support to keep the position going.

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 people they are a part of, and where they learn how to live a new way on a daily basis on Jesus’ path.

Shannon Bell

Our village from the air.

We would love to hear from anyone who is interested in pursuing a call to a ministry like this. Please contact us by email: cariboopc@xplornet.ca