Pond Inlet, Nunavut, in 2008 and Beyond

In a previous post on this blog, we looked at "The History of Pond Inlet, Nunavut," which has been called "the jewel of Baffin Island." Please see: THIS SITE

Subsequently, in a post entitled, "Others Have Laboured, We Have Entered into Their Labours," we noted how that the gospel message in Nunavut was pioneered by Anglican missionary Edmund James Peck between 1894 and 1905 in the Cumberland Sound area, near present-day Pangnirtung, and how it eventually spread from there to Pond Inlet under the ministry of Canon John Turner who was based there from 1929 until 1946. Please see: THIS SITE The ministry of Canon John Turner and the present-day moving of God's Spirit in Pond Inlet right up until the time of the founding of Nunavut in 1999 were prominently featured in the Sentinel Group's video entitled Transformations II. At the time of Nunavut's founding in April of 1999, Joshua Arreak, the Anglican minister in Pond Inlet said that he felt like this was a time of transition for Inuit, and that they were about to enter their "Promised Land."

It was in this Anglican Church in Pond Inlet that the Holy Spirit entered the service on February 28, 1999, as "the sound of many waters" (Revelation 19:6). It was like the sound of a mighty waterfall, something like the Niagara Falls. "Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me" (Psalm 42:6).

"At this also my heart trembles, and leaps from its place. Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, and the rumbling that comes from His mouth" (Job 37:1, 2).

However, the moving of God's Spirit is never static, but dynamic, and there is always a need for something more, and for the working of God's Spirit to go deeper, before God's Throne in Heaven and His Footstool on the earth in a community like Pond Inlet can be established. God is looking for communities on the earth where He can come to as a habitation, and not just for a visitation.

Therefore, from March 20-27, 2008, the Arctic Bible Conference that was held in Pond Inlet had as its theme, Heaven on Earth, according to the Lord's Prayer, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

James Arreak, the Pastor of the Iqaluit Christian Fellowship, has his family roots in Pond Inlet. In fact, he was the one who was leading the worship back on February 28, 1999, when the Holy Spirit came, and he is here challenging the delegates to the Arctic Bible Conference.

The theme of the Arctic Bible Conference in April, 2007, in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, had been Crossing the River Jordan. During Easter week of 2008 in Pond Inlet, James Arreak challenged the delegates that it is time for the Inuit to enter into their inheritance through faith in the promises of God, to inherit their Promised Land by becoming mature sons and daughters of God, and to see His promised blessings fulfilled in the land that He had given to them and to their ancestors.

Maturity involves moving from dependence (as a babe) to independence (as an adolescent) to interdependence (as a mature adult). Just as Israel in Egypt was totally dependent on, and controlled by the Egyptians, so the lives of the Inuit had much much depended on and been controlled by the federal government prior to 1999.

With the forming of the new government of Nunavut in 1999, and the Inuit being finally released to lead their own Arctic Bible Conference by believers from the South in 1998, they went through an independent stage, which is analogous to Israel in the wilderness. The people were now freed out of Egypt, but they still had to get the Egyptian or slavery mentality out of them.

Autonomy is a good thing, but it can lead to independence and isolationism, and we soon learn that we need more unity, more connectedness, more relationship to accomplish our goals. We cannot go into the Promised Land independently or by ourselves. We need to learn to hear the voice of God for ourselves, and then to overcome the obstacles and giants in the land through obedience to Him. We need to be transformed from a mob into a army that obeys the voice of the Lord, and walks in unity with other spheres of ministry.

That is why God is now building relationships, not only within the Inuit community, but between Inuit and non-Inuit, and between Inuit and First Nations and Metis. It is all about unifying ourselves so that we can fight for one another as different tribes, and go in together to inherit the promises of God, and to live in freedom and in security under God in our Land of Promise.

Living in the Promised Land is living where God's Throne in Heaven touches the Earth. When one looks at a map of the globe, Pond Inlet is up there at the top, and there continues to be a strong remnant there who want to see God's will done in their part of the earth as it is in heaven, and to see freedom from the abuses and hurts of the past as God's glory comes to inhabit the land. They desire to see God form a habitation, and not just a visitation which they have already known.

Here the mayor of Pond Inlet, Abraham Kublu, is welcoming the Conference guests, and the Holy Spirit, to Pond Inlet. In a letter written on January 11, 2008, Mayor Abraham Kublu stated, "The Hamlet Council of Pond Inlet invites you to come to Pond Inlet. the invitation is extended to all the participants and invited guests that wish to gather here. Council is encouraged to have the Arctic Bible Conference provide some counselling and healing services for the community. You are more than welcome to come and hold the Conference here.

"We hereby give you our support to hold the Bible conference in Pond Inlet. Council has supported this invitation by a resolution made at the regular meeting on the 10th of January, 2008."

Pond Inlet MLA James Arvaluk also gave his official welcome to the Conference delegates who had come into the community that he represents in the Nunavut Legislature.

During the middle of the Conference, both the Mayor Abraham Kublu and MLA James Arvaluk led in an official opening of the new community centre where the Conference was held. The platform was filled with territorial and municipal leaders, including MLA Levi Barnabas from Arctic Bay (pictured with the red tie) and other dignitaries. Notice that all leaders joined in prayer as one of the Anglican ministers and Moses Kyak lead out in prayer, giving thanks to the God of heaven from whom all blessings flow, and dedicating this facility for His purposes.

This time of prayer, thanksgiving and dedication was followed by a community feast which was made up largely of Inuit country food, food that is the product of the land that God had given to them and to their forefathers from time immemorial.

The thanksgiving and praise that is in the hearts of the Inuit youth of many in the North and in Pond Inlet does not stay within church buildings. Here Karen Nashalik and other youth are singing a song of praise to the Lord right at the Pond Inlet Airport Terminal Building, and everybody in the place is thoroughly enjoying it, and being blessed by it.

Here are some of the youth from Pond Inlet who led praise and worship on Youth Night. These young people have a style of worship that is a little different from the older generation, but when they are let loose, they always raise the level of the presence of God several notches. These youth are still in a time of preparation for what God has in store for them, and are under the leadership of Martha Kyak.

Rather than bolt off independently on their own, there is a sense that they are learning to be faithful, to respect their elders, and to await the day when they will be fully blessed and released by the previous generation. They are determined, I believe, to become an army, and not a mob.

One prophecy that came out during the Conference stated that "just as many of us older ones who were involved in Holy Spirit renewal when we were young had opposition from the older generation, this time the younger generation will represent something as different as we did to our parents, but this time, the older generation is going to bless them, and to release them fully into their destiny in God, a destiny which involves coming into the Promised Land, and seeing the promises of God fulfilled, and His glory fill the earth."

One thing that God is doing is restoring things that are ancient, and this time using them to glorify the God of Heaven. One of these is the Inuit drum. God is releasing ancient sounds, that are releasing ancient sounds, that will bring down ancient strongholds.

Another thing that God is doing is to reconnect Inuit with other indigenous groups, such as the First Nations. One of the people attending the Conference in Pond Inlet was Kenny Blacksmith from the Cree tribe in northern Quebec. Here he is being prayed over, and blessed by the Inuit, as they covenant to walk in agreement for God's purposes in each of their tribes as original peoples of the land. They covenant to walk together to see God's promises fulfilled.

As you can see, the services are not at all boring, as the children are released to enter in, and to have a good time, as the whole congregation focuses on the presence of the Lord. These children's hearts become soft, so that their hearts become an open doorway for the word of God to enter their minds as they continue to grow older, and are discipled.

These two Inuit girls create their own choreography for some powerful praise and worship numbers. It is just another avenue of creative worship in which Inuit are revealing God's glory, and causing others to see something that attracts them to a place where their bodies can be used to glorify God, and be filled with His Spirit, rather than with drugs and sexual immorality.

Here, on Youth Night, Elizabeth Annahatak has just brought a powerful word to the youth of Pond Inlet, and many of them are responding for prayer, and are opening up their hearts for more of God's Spirit.

The very look on these faces demonstrates how that the spiritual and the natural worlds are connected. There is a spiritual presence of God that impacts people's very faces and countenances--first in identifying with their pain, and then in healing them of that pain by the power of His love and forgiveness.

Notice how that the young and the old both partake of Communion together in the presence of the Lord. The Holy Spirit integrates and connects the generations and the gender, and breaks dividing walls.

This is just a portion of the crowd in Pond Inlet that gathered daily and each evening for the Arctic Bible Conference from March 20-27, 2008.

This lady (Rhoda) was just healed on Easter Sunday at Pond Inlet, and has just been able to get rid of her cane! She is the mother of Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who is the Member of Parliament for Nunavut in the House of Commons.

She is accompanied by Jushua from Clyde River, who had recently shared at the Conference about the great and mighty things that God had done in his community by the way of the healing of their land since the Canada Awakening Healing the Land Team was there in August of 2007.

There was a growing sense throughout the Conference that the leaders of Pond Inlet wanted to see this same healing the land process come to their community, as it had to Pangnirtung and to Clyde River before them.

This is Martha Kyak (right) together with her son. Martha is the youth leader in Pond Inlet, and is a strong intercessor. She is vitally linked not only to Pond Inlet's past and present, but also to its future destiny. Her longing and intercession is to see this part of the earth filled with the glory of the Lord, and to become a habitation for the Lord.

On this blog, we have seen something of Pond Inlet's past, and how the Inuit way of life was impacted negatively by the whalers, how that Canon John Turner came and proclaimed the gospel. Even James and Joshua Arreak's grandfather, who had been a shaman, welcomed the missionary when it was shown to him by inquiring into the spirit realm, that this was the message they had been waiting for. He used his authority as a recognized gatekeeper to open the door for the teaching of the Bible.

We have seen how that the grandmother of Gela Pitsiulak (who is presently a member of the Canada Awakening Healing the Land Team) lived in Pond Inlet, and helped to pioneer the way for future generations to go further. We have seen how that Pond Inlet has always contended for something greater, and how that in 1999, God did show up for a powerful visitation.

Yet they are still contending for a habitation. There are still defilements on the land that have affected future generations, and now the gatekeepers in Pond Inleet are opening the door to address these issues on a deeper level during the last week of July in 2008. As the land is healed, it is their prayer that Pond Inlet will truly become a habitation for the Lord!

On May 27, 2008, Martha Kyak sent an e-mail to Canada Awakening Ministries, in which she wrote, "I just spoke with our mayor, Abraham Kublu, and I am happy to inform you that you and your group are invited to come to Pond Inlet for the healing of our land...He will write an official invitation letter to you.

"As Rhoda Katsak mentioned earlier, the Anglican vestry is in full support of your group to come...We look forward to your arrival and we'll keep praying for you and your group. Be blessed!"

On May 28, 2008, she wrote, "When we met with the vestry, they wanted it this year (2008), since you will be in the north Baffin already. I was praying about this almost all night, and the Bible verse came to me: Joel 2:18-29 Especially '18Then was the Lord jealous for His land and had pity on His people. 19Yes, the Lord answered and said to His people, Behold, I am sending you grain and juice [of the grape] and oil, and you shall be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.' and the rest of the verses.

On June 3, 2008, "Rhoda Katsak and I met with the elders last week, and we will meet with them again. They were so thrilled that finally they are able to speak about the subjects that were hidden for so long. They can't wait for you to arrive and start praying for the healing of our land. There were already tears when they spoke. Be blessed!"

So there is a sense that Pond Inlet's future is as bright as the promises of God as they press on to enter their Promised Land, and to see their land healed on a deeper level from generational issues that have brought defilement, and to see Pond Inlet become a resting place, and a habitation for the Lord!

Pond Inlet will yet bring greater honour and glory to God! Will you pray with us to that end?