Providing COVID-19 protection and the gospel across Northern Canada
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Linda Fehr, Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Workers prepare the plane to deliver packages.
WINNEPEG, MB-Almost 175 First Nations communities across Canada have received kits including personal protective equipment (PPE), Bibles and other support supplies from a coalition of Canadian Christian ministries led by Northern Youth Programs, Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and Samaritan's Purse.
The coronavirus can strike anywhere, even in Canada's remote First Nations communities. Many health care staff and emergency first responders in these places have had shortages of available supplies, especially in the initial stages of the pandemic.
More than 300 community preparedness kits have already been delivered to 175 communities in northern Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, plus the Yukon and Nunavut.
The PPE kits include N-95 masks, latex gloves, hospital-grade disinfectant and other supplies for communities' frontline health care workers, first responders, and community leaders, who are distributing them as needed. Bibles and Christian literature are also supplied to pastors or community leaders who ask for them.
Norm Miller, the CEO of Northern Youth Programs said, "Right now, there's a significant amount of fear and uncertainty in many communities. People have a sense of vulnerability against an unseen enemy."
Norman Miller, Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
The kits and Bibles are providing opportunities for pastors and Christian community leaders to offer the good news of Jesus Christ.
The kits and Bibles are providing opportunities for pastors and Christian community leaders to offer the good news of Jesus Christ and offer spiritual comfort to their people. "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way" (2 Thessalonians 3:16, ESV).
"Community Leadership were really thankful for the Emergency Kits but many expressed how much their youth need spiritual help" Miller said. "As a Christian ministry, the onus is on us to empower pastors to feed spiritually hungry people. Now's our time to rise to the occasion."
Miller had the opportunity to fly the kits, Bibles, and supplies to many of the communities in Northern Youth Programs' caravan aircraft. Though the interactions with the wonderful people in these communities were brief and physical distance had to be maintained, these trips were more than worthwhile to provide tangible care to those in hard-to-access places in Canada.
