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| REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN SERVE For individuals or groups of 15 or less only General Description: Saskatchewan is the central of three Canadian prairie provinces, heavily agricultural in its southern half, and forested in the north. It also has a high First Nations population. It is predicted that within 25 years, close to half of all Saskatchewan elementary school children will be of native or part-native descent. Aboriginal population, cultural awareness, and social and political influence are all expanding much more rapidly than that of society as a whole. Regina, the capital city of Saskatchewan, is a beautiful city of 185,000 people, and runs about 10-15% native people. These are concentrated in the Northcentral sector of the city (“the hood”), but visibly present throughout the city, including the Glencairn area, where Sonlight Church is located. In Sonlight’s children’s ministries, typically more than half of the kids we attract from our neighborhood are of native background. Our SERVE project will focus on serving aboriginal families in Regina, especially in the core area. Indian Metis Christian Fellowship (IMCF) is a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church which has been working effectively in central Regina for over 25 years. With their assistance and expertise we hope to help families with minor home repair and beautification, offer VBS on site at IMCF to elementary age kids in Northcentral, and assist other helping agencies, like the Food Bank or the Circle Project, in their delivery of services. A special feature of our SERVE Project is that through IMCF, we have close relationships with many leaders in the native and Metis communities. Though the community has more than its share of need and dysfunction, it also has a vibrant internal cultural life. We hope to do some neat things together, like making soup and bannock, having the SERVErs erect a full-size tepee on the church lawn, to eat and meet there one evening, and other native skills. We also have plans to have resource people around to share with the SERVEs about such issues as residential schools, loss of cultural identity, drugs and alcohol use, life on the streets, and how these people are successfully working to restore hope and a sense of the future. Facilities: Eat in church fellowship area. Sleep on church floor in various rooms. Bring airbeds or foamies. Daily showers and swimming at the University of Regina. Work Sites: Planned work includes – Light maintenance and painting for families in need (mostly inner city); Vacation Bible School leading at Indian Metis Christian Fellowship (CRC inner city native ministry); Food Bank assistance. Day Away: Possibilities include a Native Canadian Powwow, canoeing on the Chain of Lakes (Qu’Appelle Valley), or maybe a Rodeo. Transportation: Registration fees do NOT include transportation to and from the sites. Each group of five or more must provide vehicle(s) and adult driver(s) (typically small group leaders) to transport an equal number of participants during the duration of the mission experience regardless of whether you fly or drive to the site. The vehicles you bring will be used to transport small groups to the work site each day, so 12-passenger vans or mini-vans are preferred. Cars do not facilitate the transportation of an entire small group in one vehicle, so please do not bring them. If you wish to bring a bus, please check with the Host Team to see if this is acceptable before you make arrangements. If your group is unable to provide van transportation, please have a youth leader call Youth Unlimited to discuss options and additional charges. For your decision making purposes, the closest airport is Regina International. Speaker: Rick Abma What are people saying about this site? If you have stories, comments or feedback you’d like us to share about this site, please contact missions@youthunlimited.org
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