Fly-by Pastor

It is a little cloudy, but overall we've had a clear view the last 30 minutes. Four people are squeezed into the Cessna 182. Our destination should be already in sight, but clouds are covering the area. Our pilot circles the area and finally finds a gap. A few seconds later we land on the snow covered airstrip. At the end of the runway are two men waiting for us on their snow machines. Everybody finds a seat on the machines or in the sled. A dozen people in the small log cabin church are already waiting for us. I start preaching right away.

The little congregation has no pastor and for weeks we had planned to go there once a month, but there were two blizzards the last two weeks, and the minimum temperature for flying with the Cessna is -25° F. But now we are here. After the service, we have a potluck together. We have moose stew, salmon sandwiches, and dry fish. The people praise our coming out to their village.

It´s afternoon, and the first teens show up in front of the church. We invite them in for lunch as well. The next two hours we have a teen program. In the beginning we play some games, later on, we talk about the first Christmas in Bethlehem.

It is almost three o'clock, so we gear up again in our warm winter clothes before it gets too dark to fly. A tail wind gives us a quick return home. Our mission for today is accomplished. In the evening we get another foot of snow.

-A SEND North team member

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When God First Widened My World: Remembering Urbana 1996 I still remember the winter air. It was December 1996, and I was a junior at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan, serving as a small group leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—the ministry that had profoundly shaped my faith since my freshman year. I was growing spiritually, serving faithfully in my local church, and stepping into leadership on campus. Attending Urbana felt like the natural next step. Urbana only happened every three years, and I knew that once I graduated, I might miss the chance altogether. My church believed in that moment enough to cover the cost. They entrusted me—and my campus minister—with a van full of college students, driving from Detroit to Champaign-Urbana during the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s. I had heard the stories: thousands of students, passionate worship, a clear call to live fully for Jesus. What I encountered exceeded every expectation. A Campus Taken Over by the Kingdom Buses poured in from every direction, unloading students onto a snow- covered campus. Dorm rooms filled. Cafeterias buzzed. The entire university seemed overtaken—not by noise or spectacle, but by a quiet, collective hunger for God. For the first time in my life, I met students from places far beyond Michigan— Harvard, Loyola, Wheaton. My world was expanding in real time. I don’t remember every speaker or session. What I do remember is the unmistakable clarity of the invitation. God was bigger than I had ever imagined. Not just personal. Not just local. He was King of the nations. And there were people—millions of them—who had never heard His name. The question was simple, but it felt weighty: Would I commit my life, in whatever way God asked, to the Great Commission? Explore God’s leading toward the nations with a SEND missions coach.
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