Arctic Easter Conference -- April 21-25, 2011

The annual Inuit Easter Bible Conference was hosted this year by the Quaqtaq Christian Fellowship in Quaqtaq, Nunavik.

Eva Deer was the host leader, even though these annual Conferences are being slowly but surely transformed into gatherings whereby one can scarcely tell who the human leader is. There is such a flowing together with a team of leaders, and the corporate anointing of a team is always much stronger than the individual anointing.

Eva Deer is very much respected in her community and region as a past mayor, school principal, and pastor. She is presently on the board of governors of the Makivik Corporation, and directs the Aaqitauvik Healing Centre which is based in Quaqtaq, but serves all of Nunavik with a message of hope and healing healing for all who will open up their hearts to God's healing love.

The opening night of the Conference featured the lighting of the qulliq (pronounced kudlik), the Inuit traditional lamp, which is fuelled by seal oil. Similarly, this Gathering ignited Inuit believers to scatter the darkness in their communities, and to become the light of the world, fuelled by the oil of the Holy Spirit.

The blowing of the shofar (ram's horn), calling the people to assemble, took place during the Conference with Quaqtaq Mayor Johnny Oovaut leading.

Here Mayor Johnny is leading Inuit in joyful, heartfelt worship at the Easter Conference. Johnny also leads a men's ministry in the North, and he also sings in the well-known Inuit music group, Johnny, Lizzie and Rhoda.

Also on the opening night, the Quaqtaq Youth led in a celebrative, joyful worship dance. This type of dance is breaking out in communities all over the North.

One of the main catalysts in this youth movement is Elizabeth Annahatak who has been hosting Youth Conferences in various Nunavik communities which encourage creativity and movement in praise and worship. It is now very common to see youth flow during worship times with flags, banners and creativity.

Here Elizabeth Annahatak is releasing a "new sound" from a "new generatin" along with Angel Deer, the daughter of Bobby and Eva Deer. Elizabeth became a believer during the annual Inuit Easter Bible Conference when it was held in Kangirsuk, Nunavik, back in 2003.

My daughter Ruth met Elizabeth during that Conference, and imparted something to her by way of dance as an expression of worship, using flags, movement and creativity. Even though Ruth has hardly travelled North since that time, Elizabeth has run with that vision ever since, and through her this vision is now spreading to other communities, and is giving the youth an outlet to release their giftings and anointings.

On Easter Sunday evening of April 24, these young boys from Puvirnituq, on the Hudson Bay coastline of Nunavik, did a powerful spiritual warfare dance which is similar to some of the dances that the Island Breeze Manitoba team did in Puvirnituq last July.

This spiritual warfare is not a physical battle. It is not against flesh and blood, but is for human beings, and against suicide, against domestic violence, against abuse, and against drugs.James and Looee Arreak lead the Kuut Uumanaqtut Tuksiarviit (Rivers of Living Water Churches), a Fellowship of churches in Nunavut and Vunavik which host this Easter Conference. They have long had a vision for the Youth of the North.

In the picture above, James and Looee are leading praise at worship at the Quaqtaq Conference last April.

You can here see James and Looee here with their newborn son Seth who was born in January. This son has a good heritage rooted in a multi-generational faith.

On the closing night of the Quaqtaq Conference on Monday, April 25, Looee Arreak preached a powerful message which she began by paying a special tribute to her mother.

Later that evening, she called up her brother-in-law, Joshua Arreak, from Pond Inlet, who described what happened in February of 1999 when the Holy Spirit moved into a Sunday afternoon Youth Service in the Anglican Church in Pond Inlet after Looee had preached to the young people.

Looee's husband James Arreak was leading the worship during that time in Pond Inlet when the Holy Spirit moved powerfully into the service in a way that was miraculously recorded on tape, even after all of the sound equipment had been turned off. James described his perspective on what happened that afternoon in Pond Inlet which took place about a year before he and Looee were married.

Moses Kyak was at that time the local minister at the Anglican Church in Pond Inlet, and he, too, described how overwhelmed that they were with the Presence of God as the Holy Spirit invaded the meeting. It was such a holy moment that there were still tears in the eyes of those who testified about it as they described this awesome event some twelve years later.

James and Looee have not often talked about it publicly since, because it was too precious to in any way merchandize it, or to take any of the glory for themselves.

As the tape recording of that earlier 1999 Outpouring was played on the final evening of April 25, 2011, there was a strong sense thatGod is doing a "new thing" in our day, and is bringing the move of God in the North to a higher level, a level that will result in true transformation. Transformation is permanent in contrast to a temporary revival that comes and goes. God intends to do more than to visit, but to tabernacle, or permanently dwell with His people in a way that He will be seen and heard in the midst of His people.

Evidence that great manifestations of God's Presence are already taking place in more recent years was borne out by testimonies at the Conference by such leaders as Aupalak's Mayor Johnny Akpahatak and his wife Maggie (pictured above). Johnny's deliverance from alcoholism was a miracle of God's grace. Maggie also told the story of how God used her to raise a man from the dead who had committed suicide in her community. The man is still alive today.

On the last evening, Youth Leaders from all over Nunavik and Nunavut came forward for prayer from leaders of the previous generation who gave them their blessing to move forward, and to go beyond the past generation.

This picture, taken at the busy Quaqtaq Airport just as people were returning home from the Quaqtaq Conference on Wednesday, April 27, was taken of three people who very much share this vision of releasing the next generation. They are (left to right) Elizabeth Annahatak, Eva Deer and Roger Armbruster.

These are intergenerational ministries that are diverse and yet connected, and they are unitedly believing God for transformation, that is for change that does not simply come and go, but change that will be from "glory to glory," with ever increasing glory!