Lutherans' trip a lesson in giving, receiving

Sharing their faith is important for one group of Yumans who traveled to a remote village in northern Canada to teach vacation Bible school to 60 native children.

A group of 20 people, many from Christ Lutheran Church, made the long trip north to New Hazleton, British Columbia. The group spent 10 days on the recent mission trip.

Tony Harman, who teaches at Yuma Lutheran School and has made the trek for the past six years, said he looks forward to working with the Gitxsan Treaty Society every summer.

"Obviously it is a mission trip. What we do is a vacation Bible school to share our faith of Jesus Christ, but we also go because every year we have been building up a relationship with these people that are up there. We also want to encourage missionaries who are already up there, including one who is there full time."

Harman said the area is impoverished..

"It is poor but not Third World poor. There is a lot of alcoholism and drug abuse. A lot of kids are being raised by grandparents because dad could be in jail, mom could be on drugs or they could be off working somewhere else.

"There is no employment in the area. They used to have lumber mills, but they have all shut down. There is really no sustainable economy."

Harman said the purpose of the mission trip is simple.

"We want to give them encouragement and hope. The longer you are up there, the more you learn about how tough their lives really are. It is way up north and the winter time has pretty short days. It can be very depressing for a lot of the year for them."

Even though his group only provides a very basic vacation Bible school, said Harman, the children are grateful.

"We had crafts, story time, songs and recreation time. The kids up there look forward to it all year long. I'm not kidding."

Harman's group is sponsored by the Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots (LAMP). The nonprofit organization has conducted mission work in communities in northern remote areas of Canada for more than 35 years.

According to Harman, the trip to Canada is a good introduction to mission work.

"Parents feel safer sending their kids there, and maybe down the road they will want to go to Africa or South America. It's amazing because the kids we take up there love it and don’t want to come back. I haven't had a kid yet who didn't want to go back to Canada."

Harman said the trip is a great experience for the kids from Yuma.

"It is a great mission trip because it is so different from here. We are so totally opposite. It's just brown here and dry, but it's wet and green up there. It is a neat cultural thing.

"The other thing that is nice is that they speak English so they can share one on one with the kids, there is no language barrier. We tell them over and over again that they need to get out of their comfort zone and go reach out to these kids, and they do."

When asked how he felt about traveling to Canada every year, Harman said, "I know I have never lived there, but every summer when we go it's like, ahhhh, we’re back! It’s like a home away from home because it feels great.

"As far as who gets the most benefit (them or us) I don’t know. We go up there and try to help them but I think the kids who go find they really grow up when they get there. I can't wait to go back next year."