Courtesy: The Christian Missionary
Bradley Williams is lead pastor at Arviat Alliance Church, in Arviat, Nunavut.
Since moving to Arviat, Nunavut to pastor at the Arviat Alliance Church, my wife and I have had a shift in how we view time. We moved from Saskatoon five years ago and have come to enjoy the slower pace of life in the hamlet of Arviat. In addition to leading a church for the first time, we have experienced our first June blizzard, first child, first polar bear sighting and first time in another culture. For Inuit people, time is fluid. It is difficult to determine when things happen and to think in terms of a timeline because all events, good times and bad, are not kept chronologically in the memories of the Inuit people. Their relocation from the land to towns is fresh in their minds. Their decision to follow Christ and baptism is fresh in their minds. The death of a loved one is fresh in their minds. Considering that happenings in life are not remembered in chronological order, memories bringing happiness and grief can be fresh in their minds.
We have done our best to change and allow time for Jesus to heal, so that the church body can move together, toward what God is calling us to do in our community and in our world. As our congregation is becoming healthier from hurts that have happened in the past, I am looking forward with expectation to see the great ways in which our church will serve our community and continue to reach out with the message of Jesus.
