Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Fire and Smoke and Mishkeegogamang
by Rick Martin
As we headed north we wondered what lie ahead. We had heard about the many forest fires north of our home town. They were claiming that there were about one hundred and thirty of them. But they did not seem real until the day the winds blew our way and the smoke rolled into Sioux Lookout. It was strange seeing this foggy smoke that lingered between trees and hovered over the lakes all visible from our Sioux home in north western Ontario. The burnt wood smell was everywhere and the low misty dark clouds of smoke covered the sun and conjured up an oppressive eerie feeling. It was very surreal. It felt like we were thrown back in time to something like the dark ages, to some dark forest or like we suddenly awoke to find ourselves on some strange movie set from a movie like “Lord of the Rings.” But it was not a dream, it was real. We now started to feel what so many across the United States and Canada were feeling as many fires burned out of control on this hot summer of 2011.
We had also heard that a group of mostly college students were going north to the Native
community of Mishkeegogamang (Mish), a community of about fifteen hundred. Karen, a
friend of ours, was leading this group of twelve young women. It impressed my wife and me
that they were brave enough to reach out to the children of Mish and run a day camp even though the threat of fire was everywhere. In fact the community of Mish had been evacuated before, but had returned again even though smoke lingered everywhere and there was the possibility that they would have to flee again.
Yet, we too felt that we must go to help and to try and encourage the group and the people of Mish. Mish was about a three hours drive north of us, so we left not knowing exactly what lie ahead. Thousands of acres were burning and many other isolated Native communities had already been evacuated, however, we felt strongly that it was important that we go and help where we could.
From this experience, I could not help but think of how going through fire is often a test. In our case, it was mostly the test of smoke all around us on the road. We did not see any
flames, but we knew all along that the flames were out there. But we also knew Who was on
our side and Who controls the wind and the rain. We had a sense that God wanted us to trust Him and that by faith we needed to go and let Him take care of us.
And God did. Not only did He take care of us, He also showed us new things. First He
demonstrated to us how He is the one that is in control and that without Him we have no hope and everything to fear. But with Him we have sure and complete hope and everything to look forward to and nothing to fear. It reminded me of a song a Cree pastor and friend of mine, Howard Jolly, often sings and is continually asked to sing. It is called, “Everything is Cool” written by Randy Jackson. The song is based on the story of King Nebuchadnezzar from the book of Daniel in the Bible. It goes like this:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego/ Made the King
mad when they stood for the Lord/
His face was red when he said throw them
into the fire/ So they tied their hands and they
tied their feet/ Threw them all into the burning
heat/ But the Lord was there and He said (boys)
everything is cool
Now sometimes it’s hard to stand for Him/ It would
be so easy to fall into sin/ When all around they
bow to their idols of gold/ So when your faith is
weak and your feeling the heat/ he’ll hold your
hand, help you stand on your feet/ He’ll go through
the fire with you, hey everything’s cool
Chorus: Everything is cool, everything is cool/
Don’t you worry, everything is cool/ Don’t you fret
about that fire/ He’ll be there when the flames get
higher/ Don’t you worry, everything is cool
With God in control of our lives, and even the universe itself, we truly have nothing to fear. The smoke may be all around us and the fire very near, but we can be calm and “cool” because we know the end of the story. We know that for those of us who trust in God, we are on the winning side and that we will reign with Him in the end.
This trip also reminded us of why we are in the ministry serving Native communities across
North America. We were again impacted by the challenges of Native Americans living on
“reserves.” Beautiful children came running as we joined in with the activities of camp, yet so much pain overwhelms their lives. So many were coming from broken homes and from homes where parents are still suffering from the impact of residential schools, cultural genocide and decades of social chaos. One of the student leaders asked us why so many of the children seemed so emotionally dead and why there seemed to be a strange emptiness or block when trying to connect with the children. We explained about our work as counselors and how so many Native people have “shut down” emotionally not wanting to feel any more pain, because they have been hurt so many times over and over again. And literally thousands of children have been abandoned over and over again.
The Canadian Press just released an article stating the fact that there are more displaced Native children now “than at the height of the residential school system.” It also talked about
the desperate need to help troubled families. As Native pastor Mervin Cheechoo declares in his parent workshops, we need to empower Native families and get parents back to being
parents because, “we can do it with God’s help.” This is what Linda and I long to do in our counseling ministry. We have a passion for helping people grow in their own lives, so they can go on to being better parents and strong leaders in their communities. And with God all things are possible!
In our ministry we often feel like we are going through the fire. God reminds us again and again, however as He did on this trip to Mish, of His strong, lasting hope and protection. He reminded us of how we can have peace and calm and even be “cool” when serving Him in dark, cloudy, smoky or even fiery times. And the beautiful children of Mish reminded us again of why we long to see beautiful Native families and vibrant Native communities and culture. As we slowly drove south back to Sioux Lookout the smoke still lingered, but hope lingered more.