Good Friday/Easter- Why We Do What We Do

Last night as I went to bed I tried contemplating about the Cross and Christ's sufferings. My world seemed so far from His at that moment. He was interrogated, beaten and mocked. I lay in a comfortable bed with my two soft pillows and warm blanket. His night was sleepless and led to His death. Mine led to a peaceful night's sleep. Our worlds seemed so far apart.

And yet His suffering and death remains so near. Why would Karen and I have spent the last 20 years living so far from family? Ministry has it's rewards but also it's challenges, struggles and disappointments. Why do I do this? I found myself singing this old song which really answers the question quite well in my mind:

Man of Sorrows! What a Name
(Hallelujah! What a Savior!)

Philip P. Bliss

 

 

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

 

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

 

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

 

Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

 

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

Have a blessed Good Friday and Easter weekend as we celebrate and contemplate Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Overlooked by Some but not by God

I recently picked up the book “British Columbia Coast Names- Their Origin and History” first printed in 1909 and updated since. It is full of places, both big and small, up and down the coast of British Columbia, hundreds if not thousands of names. 546 pages full of interesting stories about how different places came to be named.

The Introduction says of the author, John Walbran, that for “twelve years he and his sturdy, handsome little ship sailed up and down the British Columbia coast, fair weather and foul, into almost every bay and inlet – placing buoys, erecting beacons, taking depths, fixing angles, reporting rocks, examining reefs, making maps, servicing lighthouses….”

South end of Klemtu including the Big House on the left
CLICK ON PICTURE TO MAKE LARGER

I excitedly looked for some of my favorite spots, places that have become so familiar to Karen and me. I first looked for Klemtu where we have ministered for so many years. Oddly, it wasn’t mentioned. Neither were any of the other geographic places associated with Klemtu. No Kitasu Bay or China Hat, no Swindle Island or Kynoch Inlet. Not even the local and important lighthouse, Boat Bluff was mentioned.

Nearby Sarah Island is mentioned but no one even lives there. It was named after the wife of an employee of the Hudson Bay Company who lived far away in Victoria, BC. Klemtu at least has real people living in it.

Was Klemtu forgotten? Overlooked? Too small to mention? Other nearby communities and places are listed. Curious.

I have another book on my shelf called “No Little Places”. It was a book written to encourage people to see the potential for ministry in smaller often overlooked communities. I’m so glad there are no small places in God’s heart and mind. Even if John Malbran overlooked them, God knew of places called Klemtu and Campbell River. He knew that there were people there He loved and died for.

I also know God does not overlook your gifts of support and prayer for this ministry. Neither do Karen and I. This Christmas season we are so grateful for each of you.

North end of Klemtu including the Float Plane Dock
CLICK ON PICTURE TO MAKE LARGER

This year we want to thank you for again standing with us as we minister to the Native people of the Coast of British Columbia. Thanks for being part of ministering to John and Brent and Gloria and Clark and Eleanor and Grace and Sheldon and too many others to list. There are small places, but not insignificant places. Little known people but not forgotten.

During this season of gift giving, would you please consider a special end of the year gift? Maybe $25 or $50 or even $100. It all helps to continue to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Native people of British Columbia. Matthew 1:21 says “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Some of His people live on the coast of British Columbia. We hope to meet more of them this year and introduce them to Jesus. Your gifts help to make that possible. Giving has been down this past year. We would like to top up the account at NAIM before the end of the year.

Merry Christmas and our prayers for God’s blessing this New Year,


Scott and Karen Markloff

(NAIM staff and the ministries they represent are solely funded through
and fully accountable to North America Indigenous Ministries.)

One of the Good Guys Went Home Last Week

Many of you may remember us talking about Willard and Gloria White. They are the couple that were a big part of our fellowship in Campbell River, being part of our worship team. Willard didn't pick up the guitar until in his 60's and sang his first solo in church not long after, singing "The Old Rugged Cross".

Last Friday Willard went home to be with the Lord. One of my first thoughts was we lost one of the really good guys here, but Willard's doing so much better now in heaven. He had waged a long battle with dementia and declining physical health. Now he's with his Savior that he loved to sing so much about.

Thursday night I will be in Campbell River to be part of a song service and Saturday I will be officiating his Memorial Service. Pray for Gloria as she desperately misses her man of 58 years. They had been together since Willard first came to Klemtu as a young man on a basketball trip and stayed behind because he had eyes for this young lady named Gloria. The rest is history.

Willard was a kind and gentle man, always ready with a smile and a kiss for unsuspecting ladies, a Hershey's kiss that is. He loved to make people laugh with his goofy glasses or the fish song. Whenever there was a tragedy or illness, he and Gloria would always come and sit with people in their struggle.

Willard loved his family, loved the people around him and loved Jesus for being his Savior and God.

Willard will be missed by many and is a wonderful addition to the family of God assembled in heaven.

PS- We had a wonderful memorial service for Willard on Saturday. While it was a very difficult day for Gloria and family, God gave her the strength to get through the service. Gloria even got up during the service to personally thank the people who helped and who attended. Praise the Lord.

In Loving Memory

Latches and Picnic Baskets

This might not seem like much, and maybe it isn't, but it definitely meant something to a special couple to us from Klemtu who are living in Vancouver. They have a young child with autism who has wandered away from the house. The old latch on the gate was broken and they couldn't install the new latch with the screwdriver they owned.

It was a simple matter for me. Just bring my screw gun and before you know it, latch installed. Now they don't have to worry as much about wandering. I know that means a bit to them.

Earlier in the day we shared a picnic together out In Abbotsford. It was a delightful day, bright and sunny down by the river. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Karen drove to the city to get them and then went shopping for food for the picnic. Scott made cupcakes and got other stuff together. At the park we sat and visited, went for a walk or two, sat and visited, ate some food and sat and visited.

Our hope is to see them actively put their faith in Jesus Christ in a way that is real and impactful in their daily lives.

Today though, it was shared time together with an opportunity to minister to a small but significant need they had in their family life.

PS- Jacqueline was the very first Klemtu kid to come live with us, almost eighteen years ago as a 17 year old. Boy we've known each other a long time!

Sometimes Ministry Here is Just Like at Home, Sometimes It's Not

Last week at the NAIM Staff Conference I had an opportunity to sit down with our three of our Washington staff to talk through some issues. That's part of my duties as Field Director for the BC Lower Mainland and Washington State. They requested the meeting without telling me what it was going to be about. My mind wandered through various scenarios. Were there issues within the team? Was there something pressing in the Ministry? I knew of one relationship which had gone sideways, was that what was on their minds?

As we sat down they began to lay out the issue. It was ministry related and they wanted advice on how to handle two situations. Without going into details, the issues came down to people not getting along. One person would not come to one of their functions if another person was there. In another case, two Christian couples from the Fellowship were not talking to one another over what seemed like a fairly small misunderstanding.

Does any of this sound familiar to your life? Your church? These are common issues found around the world. There is nothing new or earth shattering here. I thought of Paul writing in Philippians 4:2-3, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life."

I thought of Rodney King, the man who years ago was beaten by the LA Police which led to the LA riots. At the time he went on TV and said, "Can't we all just get along?" Sometimes it seems that simple, but it isn't. So we came up with strategies to address the issues between the couples and the individuals. Hopefully, guidance will be accepted and God will be glorified.

Sometimes Mission work is not all that different from issues you deal with in your churches. People are people and issues are sometimes universal.

Sometimes they are different. As I sat in on our Operations Council we were struggling with some issues unique to our work. In the continuum between evangelism/discipleship and church establishment/pastoral ministry, where should NAIM be placing most of its emphasis? Are we too heavy on one end or the other? Do we want to become a denomination? No, we are a Mission agency so then where does our responsibility for local Fellowships end and where does someone else's responsibility begin?

Where do we find enough Native pastors to handle the Fellowships? Should we be only looking for Native pastors? Is God's church color blind? Do Native pastors bring unique cultural understandings to preach and apply God's Word in Native communities? How does a Native minister/missionary find support when they don't have the 'rich' connections that white missionaries have? Do we help finance them?

I could go on and on. Some of our issues are quite common. Some are unique to our work.

Please pray for NAIM and myself that we would have God's leading and wisdom as we seek to sort out answers to these and many more questions we all have.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for being interested in the work that NAIM is doing in general and what Scott and Karen are doing specifically to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to Native people.

Click Your Heals Together and Say 'There's No Place Like Home'

August 29, 2011

Dear Friends,

I wanted to drop a line and update you since we saw you this summer (and to those of you we haven’t caught up with yet). I just finished up a five week trip back in PA/NY/NJ on home assignment (eight weeks with travel and Staff Conference). I spoke in 5 churches and met with many of our supporters.

Karen and Ryan flew out on August 10th and we had a very full 5 days in PA/NJ together. Our trip home was not a direct path. We left PA and drove Ryan to Kansas to get him set up for his year at Fort Hayes State University. The morning we were to leave the Philadelphia area a check engine light came on but all was fine for a while which is good because we had a very tight schedule and no time for a repair.

After leaving Ryan in Kansas we headed due north to Staff Conference and leadership meetings near Regina, Saskatchewan. That’s above North Dakota. During that leg of the journey the engine started running rough. We had it diagnosed in Regina with assurance we would make it back to Abbotsford where our regular mechanic would work on it. We also developed a leaking tire which no one had time to work on. After staff conference I drove home alone (Karen had flown home a few days earlier to work on Payroll). During the trip home, the radiator began acting up during the long mountain climbs (there are quite a few between Regina and Abbotsford). Needless to say, between engine problems, a leaking tire and radiator challenges I prayed lots and God was good and I made it home with a somewhat functioning car. Now we need to get everything looked after.

It was an eventful trip home. But that’s the way the whole trip went- trusting God and moving from one event to another, facing one challenge after another. And all along the way we got to see God working. Pray for good results from the trip. While we did not raise any new support yet, there are a number of churches and individuals considering joining the support team.

This fall is already filling up. In my new role as Field Director for the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and Washington State, I have a number of pressing issues to deal with staff about. I will need to make the rounds to visit each of the nine staff members/couples and also check in with a supervisor who handles some of the staff in the Vancouver area.

My main role with NAIM remains Church Planting/Development. After a summer away we are reconnecting with local native people in the Vancouver area as well as our Klemtu friends and family. Already, after one day home, we are helping one Vancouver family bring their daughter home from Northern BC where she is stranded. Yesterday a Klemtu couple called and asked if they could come for a stay at our house in a few weeks. On September 17th I will be performing a wedding for a Campbell River couple. Who knows what other opportunities await. I would like to make one to two trips to Klemtu this fall before winter sets in because that is never a good time to travel on the coast. There is much we want to teach the believers there so that they might be better equipped to handle ministry in their own community.

I also will be connecting with various Church mission teams about their summer experience and begin preparations for next year.

Karen remains quite busy in her role as Financial Administrator for NAIM. In addition to her many responsibilities in that position, she is trying to train various new office staff in their positions. So her plate is quite full for now. Of course Karen continues to connect with as many people from Klemtu as she can (and then a few more after that).

Life is an adventure, whether in a van travelling cross country hoping and praying that the van makes it all the way home or in ministry where we never know what challenges lie ahead. But God is good and provides and sustains all along the way.

I would like to start making Skype calls to the Church during the Morning Worship Service as a means of checking in. For many our supporting Churches this should be no trouble to make happen. If that is something your Church would like to pursue, please let me know? I am doing it already in other venues and it works out quite well. It is fairly simple thing to set up.

Thank you for your gifts of support and prayers for this ministry.

With gratitude,
Scott and Karen Markloff

Prayer Requests:
1. For Karen and her responsibilities for overseeing NAIM’ finances
2. For Scott and his new responsibilities as Field Director
3. For the couple coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks, both for making a commitment to Christ as well as for their relationship (I am leaving them unnamed for confidentiality reasons which is particularly important to the lady, God knows who they are)

Life to Life Ministry

For many years I have tried to capture the essence of our ministry with NAIM among Native people through these almost twenty years. When people ask me what a typical day is like, I don't know what to say. No two days are the same. When people ask what are you doing, I usually have a long list: interacting with Native people from the Coast of BC both in their villages, in the city of Vancouver as well as in our home. We also work with youth mission teams taking trips to Klemtu. Karen works in the NAIM office as the Financial Administrator. I am the Field Director of Washington State and also Chair the Coastal Ministry Committee as it oversees the Solitude boat ministry. There is more. It all sounds so disjointed. It also sounds so clinical and sterile.

So I thought about what was the common thread weaving its way through all of that. That thread is 'Life to Life Ministry'. I describe it as two lives shared together with the hope of sharing Christ's life together. Its about being a part of Native people's lives and their being a part of ours. It always holds out the hope that together we might find faith in Jesus Christ and a rich full life in him.

That is what Scott and Karen are about. In NAIM we call it 'Face Time'. It's really just relationships with a purpose. All we do is to either connect relationally with Native people or facilitate others so that they might connect with Native People, always with the hope of living out the love of Christ with others.

So there it is. Now you know what Scott and Karen have been doing all these years. It's been a wonderful adventure full of joys, and laughter, and tears, and heartache and disappointments and life shared together. Along the way we have seen people come to faith in Christ, be strengthened in their faith and even seen two Fellowships started in Klemtu and Campbell River.

For those of you who pray and give, thank you for being part of the adventure too.

Reviving This Blog

Hi All,
Just wanted to begin reviving this blog. I haven't used it in a very long while. I, Scott, have been back in PA and NY for about a month now. I've had a chance to see many of you and that's been awesome. Please pray for us as I continue to look for new support for our ministry. Thanks.

Why Do We Get Grumpy Anyway?

I was grumpy. There, I’ve said it. I had just arrived in Klemtu at 5:30am for a week of ministry. I hadn’t slept well on the ferry that night and had been up since 4am. There was an inch of wet slush on the ground which quickly soaked through to my feet. Cold freezing rain came down slowly soaking through my jacket and shirt.

By the time I arrived at my accommodations I was wet and cold. I went to fire up the furnace and it didn’t work. At that point I just wanted a cup of tea to warm me up. The pilots were out on the gas range and besides which, my food for the week was locked up in a store truck until 10 am. So, no tea, no heat, no nothing.

I was grumpy and I said to no one in particular (I was in the house alone), “Why do I make these trips anyway?” I curled up in a blanket on the couch to warm up. Then the Lord reminded me why. There are people here who live without hope and without Christ. And besides, the Christians need discipling and the Church Leaders need mentoring.

I agreed with the Lord. What else was I to do? The only other option was to act like Job and try arguing some more with God but we all know where that got Job. So I changed my attitude.

The week went great…beyond expectations. That night we had a Communion service with the Church family for the first time in a long while. John, one of the Lay-Ministers, was asking for help. He recently had to handle his first funeral and was full of questions. I had opportunity to discuss with him not only how to handle funerals but Communion, baby dedications and pulpit ministry in general. I also had opportunity to counsel Alan, another Lay-Minister, about the importance of our personal spiritual life with Christ and how all ministry should flow out of that life.

I hosted a Men’s Breakfast and led the Bible study at the mid-week Fellowship Gathering. We began a Christian Lending Library. I counseled and mentored individuals. There were countless opportunities to share Christ with both believers and non-believers. Beyond that there were the meals together, visiting and numerous other activities as well. And in the end, the Fellowship Group and the Church were better off than when I arrived. And people once again heard about Christ and the hope, forgiveness and salvation He brings.

Sharing Christ with others…that is why we do what we do. He continues to change lives. That is why we go, that is why you pray and give.

This Christmas season we want to again express our gratitude for your gifts and prayers. Please remember us this season. Giving has been down. Would you consider a special one-time gift at the end of the year? Thank you for being part of a team which makes this ministry possible.

With our love and thanks,
Scott and Karen

Things Don't Always Go According As Planned

On Monday I was supposed to travel to Klemtu with some Pastors from a church in Beaverton, OR. The purpose was to introduce their new Youth Pastor to Klemtu in preparation for a ministry trip this summer.

Sunday night I received a call saying they had to delay the trip until Jan 1-5 because of the bad weather out here. (As a side note, much more of this Global Warming and we will all freeze to death out here.) I was disappointed, my bags were packed and I was ready to go.

But God, in His wisdom, had other plans. So our trip was planned. It was disappointing but understandable.

For our dear sister mentioned in the blog below, things were more than disappointing. Rather than going home for Christmas after 8 months in the hospital, she is being flown back down to Vancouver to a hospital there for treatment she can't receive from the small hospital near her home.

We will probably be her only visitors on Christmas day. I can only imagine the sadness she feels. Being home with her extended family has been her goal for many months now.

We don't always understand God's plans for our lives, especially in the short term. However, we must continue to trust in His love, wisdom and plans for us.