It is a joy to share the following updates with you. Once again, this year-end reflection shows God’s faithfulness as the LHNM team looks back on a year which was still affected by the pandemic—probably more than anyone would have guessed!
By Jamie Thornton
Over the years I’ve enjoyed following the Living Hope Native Ministries (LHNM) website and looked forward to receiving the Hopelines newsletter in the mail. Rhonda and I feel blessed and humbled to be able to share our calling to serve with you in this issue.
Where we live in Parry Sound, Ontario there is only a swing bridge separating the town from Parry Island (Wasauksing First Nation). When I started school in the mid 60’s many of the students from Wasauksing were bused to Isabella school where I attended and many friendships where formed. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for our First Nations neighbours….
By Stuart Swartzentruber
I have memories of baling hay as a boy on our farm in Delaware. The hay was compacted into a chamber where strands of twine were knotted around the bale. The right amount of tension was needed to produce a bale that was firm, but not too heavy. Too little tension and the bales were soft and unstackable; too much tension and the bales were heavy and the twine in danger of snapping. I remember tightening or loosening the tension on the machine.
Words like “restriction,” “stress,” “tension,” and “constraint” bring up negative emotions in many of us these days. But can there be tensions that strengthen? Is there a stress that produces beauty?
By Stuart Swartzentruber
I have memories of baling hay as a boy on our farm in Delaware. The hay was compacted into a chamber where strands of twine were knotted around the bale. The right amount of tension was needed to produce a bale that was firm, but not too heavy. Too little tension and the bales were soft and unstackable; too much tension and the bales were heavy and the twine in danger of snapping. I remember tightening or loosening the tension on the machine.
Words like “restriction,” “stress,” “tension,” and “constraint” bring up negative emotions in many of us these days. But can there be tensions that strengthen? Is there a stress that produces beauty?
By Stuart Swartzentruber
Living Hope Native Ministries is turning fifteen years old this year. How is that idea of partnership, doing these days? What have we learned? What kind of future does LHNM envision?
The working out of ideas, even God-given ideas, can easily lose their glitter as they get dragged through the dirt and debris of what we call “everyday life”. The last 15 years have not seen the complete fruition of all that we have hoped and longed for, but God’s desire for unity is like a compass pointing us the right direction.
By Merle Nisly
In the year 2005, an inspiring idea became a topic of conversation that led to the birth of a new reality. Almost one year later, in January 2006, that reality was the newly-incorporated Living Hope Native Ministries of Ontario.
As I reflect on the conversations and the hopes that fueled this new conversation, I remember one inspiring phrase the founding group repeated many times in our meetings: “We’re going to stop with the ‘us and them’ language.” I haven’t forgotten that.
© 2024 Living Hope Native Ministries.