Church of the poor - Jesus Army

and Ice
A remarkable move of God has been taking
place among the Inuit of the Arctic Circle.
Article by Trevor Saxby.
IN APRIL 1999, the Canadian government formally
created Nunavut territory, to the north of Hudson Bay.
After centuries of displacement, the Inuit or Eskimos
finally had a homeland of their own. This land mass, the
size of western Europe, is home to less than 30,000 people
– not least because it is ice-bound for much of the year and
travel is difficult.
Of the 19 people elected to govern Nunavut, many are
Spirit-filled Christians. They regularly meet to pray and
to seek God’s wisdom for national decisions. Churches in
Nunavut are full and keenly evangelistic. Given that Inuit
culture has for centuries been controlled by shamans (medicine-men
with occult powers), how has this move of God
happened?
Since the 1950s, white missionaries have reached out to
the Inuit. They have had to overcome great obstacles to do
so. Several were killed in plane crashes on the ice. There was
deep resentment to overcome, too. The Eskimos had seen
their land invaded by white men greedy for oil and gold,
who had brought their consumerist culture with them.
Yet there were important factors which favoured evangelism.
The Inuit are intensely social; selfish individualism is
alien to their culture. If they make a decision, they make it
corporately and everyone holds to it. Also, the Inuit are
spiritually aware. They know all about ‘anagkok’, shaman
power, which makes people sick and causes
evil spirits to appear in visible form. So the
missionaries found a ready response when
they spoke of the kingdom of God,
of spiritual warfare,
and of the church as the all-embracing Body
of Christ. In some meetings the power of the
Holy Spirit caused people to laugh, weep or
shake.
Despite the problems with travel, the
Inuit arrive in large numbers for Christian
conventions. At one in 1994, 1,700 people
(six per cent of the entire population) were
converted. This included 32 Cree Indians
who had driven over 2,000 miles to attend;
they have since planted a new church back
home.
The pioneering work was largely done by
courageous women like Kayy Gordon and Lynn
Patterson, but they have trained up a new generation
of Inuit men of God. James Arreak and Billy
Arnaquq tour the many Inuit churches and claim
that, in some areas, half the population are committed
Christians. Arreak preaches that radical New
Testament values sit easily with traditional Inuit ways.
He has led several shamans to Christ.
Other Inuit live on the Arctic circle in Russia. Until 1994
they were wholly unreached by the gospel. A Canadian
evangelist, Bill Prankard, took some Inuit converts to witness
to their fellow Eskimos. They travelled by helicopter
from village to village, leading many to Christ. They prayed
for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit, gave them bibles,
and left. Nine months later the team returned, anxious over
what they would find.
They found on-fire Christians! In one village, only 100 out of
1,200 were unsaved. The Russian Inuit had no Christian history,
so they took the New Testament literally and relied on the Holy
Spirit to guide them. They hadn’t heard of the ‘Toronto Blessing’
(they hadn’t even heard of Canada!), but they had clearly received
the same repertoire of manifestations. Shaking, laughing, shouting,
weeping and falling down were a normal part of church for them!
“They aren’t copying,” says Prankard. “This is a fresh move of
God. They have challenged me in their level of commitment.” As in
the book of Acts, these Inuit believers meet daily, baptise converts
and receive the Spirit’s power by faith. They regularly experience
the miraculous in healings and miracles. And, as Jesus foretold, they
are knowing persecution. They have refused the authorities’ order
to stop evangelising; they still go from village to village with the good
news of Jesus. Many have been arrested and beaten. But as one Inuit
Christian told Prankard, “They can threaten us, they can beat us, they
can even kill us, but we will never stop loving Jesus”.
JL
To watch a video of an extraordinary visitation of God in the
Arctic Circle visit www.jesus.org.uk/gallery/videos/inuit
www.jesus.org.uk
Jesus Life One/2008 Page 23