His Story of LAMP

His Story of LAMP
“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your
mighty acts. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare
your greatness.” Psalm 145:4, 6
The Dream
Les Stahlke’s wife, Paula, wrote of the “Dream” her husband had several years
prior to graduating from the seminary in 1964:
“Looking at a large map spread out on the living room floor of our small
apartment near the St. Louis seminary, Les’s eyes would wander northward and his
concerned remark was,
“I wonder why everyone
wants to go to denselypopulated places.
Someone has to go to the
sparsely-settled areas.
I’d like to go up here,”
he would say as he’d
point to the Northwest
Territories. Six years of
parish experience were
Rev. Stahlke dreams of taking the Gospel to
a necessary preamble to
northern Canada
LAMP’s birth as we grew
in our understanding of
ministry and northern needs.” *
During that time, Rev. Stahlke gained more experience in flying and a better
knowledge of the geography and conditions of the land in which he hoped to serve.
In 1970, as full-time director of LAMP, Les began to visit communities in northern
Alberta and parts of the Northwest Territories, finding and ministering to Lutherans
who were making a living in the far North. In the early days, Pastor Stahlke carried
Christian books along with him in the 1947 Stinson 108-2, hoping to encourage
remote believers in their faith with additional resources. Rev. Stahlke describes
those early visits to communities:
“Freezing drizzle forced me to land at Indian Cabins, Alberta, nine miles
from NWT. It gave me a chance to meet Inga Lund, a Norwegian Lutheran,
who has been buying furs, grub-staking trappers, and running a café there
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for sixteen years. The experience of
meeting people in Hay River, High
Level, and Cold Lake continues to
be pure pleasure. The hospitality,
the interest, the living room
communion services and Christian
fellowship are wonderful things to
share.”*
Rev. Stahlke’s 1947 Stinson 108-2.
Christians in Service (CiS)
The main thrust of LAMP’s ministry
was to place Christians into northern
Canada so they could demonstrate
the power of Christ’s love in human
relationships. First called “Lay
Missionaries,” the name was changed
to “Christians in Service,” to emphasize
that no special training was necessary for a person to witness to their faith. Pastor
Stahlke’s vision for LAMP was “to explore avenues for ministry to people who
don’t know Christ.”* Among the first Christians-in-Service to answer this call were
two girls, Eileen Janke of Edmonton, Alberta, and Rubi Johnson of Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, who began work as waitresses at the Ptarmigan Inn in Hay River,
Alberta. In addition to providing a Christian example in their work, their aim was
to witness to youth and single people whom they had come to know during the
summer. A year after LAMP began, ten people had completed applications for
placement and were looking for employment in the North using LAMP’s assistance.
Meeting Physical Needs
An unexpected facet of the ministry came to light early on, as Les wrote:
“My garage contains 20 boxes of sorted used clothing for distribution to
needy families.”*
It is plain to see that God was expanding Rev. Stahlke’s initial idea of what
exactly “ministry to a much larger area in the North” looked like!
In 1983, LAMP opened the doors of a thrift store called “LAMPWick” not to
“make a profit, but to find success through God’s continued blessings: a need being
filled, people helped, contacts made, Christian love shared.”* Several other thrift
stores were opened throughout the years, but the original location in La Ronge,
Saskatchewan, continues to serve the people in the North.
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The First Vacation Bible School
Two hundred and thirty miles north of Edmonton lies the quiet community of
Chipewyan Lake. In August of 1970, Pastor Cliff Guebert and five teenagers from
Alberta were flown into
this village by Rev.
Stahlke of LAMP to
teach Vacation Bible
School. One of the teens
wrote,
“In judging the
amount of time
w e w e re t h e re ,
the people who
benefited most were
ourselves! We were
Vacation Bible School, Cat Lake, Ontario, 1985
made aware of the
beauty of creation and we experienced being with people from another
culture. The most outstanding lesson we learned was that the people, even
though different in language, culture, and race, are people just like we are.”*
Forty years later, most present-day LAMP volunteers continue to echo that
sentiment.
Airplanes…and Pilots
Rev. Stahlke stopped in Bismarck, North Dakota,
to show the Cessna 180 to International LWML
President Florence Monz in 1972.
A plea went out almost
immediately to Sunday
Schools, Vacation Bible
Schools, and youth groups to
help LAMP “Buy An Airplane”
to help spread the Gospel to
the people in the North. By
the end of December, 1971,
Les Stahlke’s 1947 Stinson
was fully-funded. LAMP
was in for a huge surprise,
however. with operating costs.
A shopping “trip” ensued,
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resulting in finding a nearly-new Cessna 180 which would be based in northwestern
Alberta. In addition, a new “Help Wanted Ad” appeared in The LAMPLighter:
“WANTED: MISSIONARY PILOT. The man we seek should be a Lutheran pastor
with a pilot’s license who is willing to work with small groups of Christians in
northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories in settings akin to the early Christian
‘house churches.’”
God Expanded the Ministry
In answer to the plea for LAMP supporters to “Pray for the Lord’s guidance in
this matter,” Pastor Olaf Rankinen, his wife Helen, and their four children accepted
God’s call to become LAMP’s second pastor/pilot in northern Alberta, settling in
High Level, 500 miles northwest of Edmonton in August of 1972. This allowed for
the development of additional ministry. More communities were able to be reached
with the Gospel message;
so much so, that at times,
Pastor and Mrs. Olaf
Rev. Les Stahlke felt like
R a n k i n e n , L A M P ’s
he was living in a dream.
second pastor/pilot.
“If it weren’t actually
happening, I wonder
if I would believe it.
The amazing grace of
God in using LAMP
for northern ministry
this past year is almost
unbelievable—but
real.”*
…And Expanded It Some More
“The Lord is leading us on in a most amazing and wonderful way. Keeping
up with Him is the biggest challenge!”*
A third plane and Pastor/Pilot were added to minister in northern Saskatchewan
(Steve and Jane Kristenson). Soon after, another plane and Pastor/Pilot (Rev.
Neale Thompson, wife Jutta and their three children) joined the team to work in
Ontario. God then connected Wings to the North, a Yellowknife-based (Northwest
Territories) aviation ministry of the ELCC (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada)
to the mix. With more planes and pilots, more Christians-in-Service, Vacation Bible
Schools abounding, and supporters from all over the United States and Canada,
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LAMP continued to grow beyond
any expectations of the Reverend
Les Stahlke.
In 1981, LAMP added a
new opportunity for volunteers
to minister: The Volunteers-inMinistry (ViM) program. This
program involved volunteer lay
people who would receive intensive
training at a northern base for several
months and then be assigned to reach
Rev. Neale Thompson (right) is greeted by
out to people in a remote native
Rev. Les Stahlke.
community. Their stay would last for
ten months, and their task was to help develop skills of local Christians in areas
of witnessing, Bible study, Christian education and youth work. ViM’s would be
responsible for securing financing for their year’s room and board. Part of their
responsibility would be to work with teams from the south coming to teach Vacation
Bible School, which was greatly expanding throughout the North. The ViMers
were blessed to have a facility donated for training purposes at McKenzie Island
in Ontario called the Lindford-Hackman Centre.
The Work Continued
The ministry continued far beyond what anyone could have imagined. Ten years
after “The Dream” became a reality, over 700 children were delivered a message of
hope through Jesus as VBS was taught in 17 communities across northern Canada.
Just four years later, LAMP expanded into rural Alaska. Meanwhile, back in
Saskatchewan, a centre was established in LaRonge, designed to be a resource for
LAMP as well as the Christian church-at-large. Called “Mamawintoutaan” (Cree
for “walking or coming together”), it was to be a place where native and non-native
Christian leaders could meet to discuss theological concerns, or be used as a training
center for native lay workers to develop skills for ministry in their communities.
A Ship?
In 1988, the M/V Christian, a 17 year-old, 65-foot, 75-ton vessel was brought
from the Puget Sound area to Alaska to begin outreach to remote villages in
southeast Alaska. Two years later, the vessel began operating under the auspices of
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LAMP. The ship visited
isolated communities
to provide pastoral care
and opportunities for
worship, fellowship, and
ministry to many who
would otherwise not
receive any Christian
encouragement. The
M/V Christian is
still operating under
Lutheran Association of
Missionaries and Pilots
U.S.
Vacation Bible School, Sandy Lake, Ontario, 1980s.
And Then…
An important part of LAMP’s history includes an “And then.” In the year
2000, the U.S. board terminated the working agreement with Canada. Questions,
hardships, doubt, fear, accusations, and struggles abounded. Many asked, “Is God
done with this ministry?” “Is it over?” “Is LAMP finished with its desire to support
God’s people in the North?” Shortly after those questions came this one: “What
can we learn from this?” And more importantly, “How does God want us to go
forward?” Ten years later, despite predictions from lawyers and others that both
would fail, two separate ministries continue: LAMP, and the Lutheran Association of
Missionaries and Pilots U.S. And God is reaching even more people with the love and
hope of Jesus Christ throughout remote villages in Canada and the United States.
A New Decade
In 2003, LAMP began a “soccer ministry” in British Columbia. Initially led by
James Avery (now Rev. Avery), this opened up new opportunities for establishing
relationships with youth and adults in remote villages. On the second day of the
first soccer camp, a busload of guests arrived in the campground for supper and
fellowship. At the end of the week the new team, sounding very much like the teen
quoted from the very first VBS in Chipewyan Lake, marveled at how, through the
presence of God’s Holy Spirit, they were able to “take away as much from being
there as they had left behind.”*
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Today, God’s love
is witnessed through the
efforts of a very small staff
and hundreds of volunteers
to thousands of God’s people
in the western Canadian
provinces of British
Columbia, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, and Ontario.
Though many of the
communities are not as
Soccer drills at Pinehouse, Saskchewan, 2006.
isolated as they once were,
the message of hope (not hopelessness), life in Christ (not suicide and death), and a
plan for a future (not man’s plan—God’s plan) still needs to be heard by the people
in the communities that LAMP serves. In addition, the Christians in these villages
need to be reminded of God’s unconditional love, support, and encouragement. They
need our continual prayers!
The Vision
Over the years, God has instilled this vision in the hearts and minds of those
who serve with LAMP:
LAMP envisions the day when nations will walk together in the light of Christ.
We embrace the uniqueness of each heritage and its fulfillment in Christ.
We share, mutually enrich, and learn from one another. FINALLY, we
anticipate gathering on the last day when we behold “a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language,
standing before the throne in front of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9, NIV)
This vision, picturing the multitudes from every nation, tribe, people, and
language, standing before the throne of God, is why LAMP volunteers collectively
log over 50,000 hours per year; preparing, traveling, teaching, witnessing, and
receiving the love of Jesus Christ in the North. In fact, 95% of volunteers polled
say they plan to continue to serve with LAMP. The anticipation of seeing the friends
they have made in tiny, remote villages miles away from home gathered around
the throne room of the Lamb is the reason faithful volunteers commit an average
of five years (with many 10, 15, or 20 plus years!) of their lives sharing Jesus’ love
with God’s people in Canada.
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Forty years
Over forty years ago, Les Stahlke had a dream…a God-inspired dream to share the
love and the hope of Jesus Christ to people living in sparsely settled areas of the North.
Many, many people came alongside Les to help see that dream become a reality. God
brought thousands upon thousands of financial supporters, prayer partners, volunteers,
and staff together to carry out His work in the North.You see, God is
“able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
* * *
*
Quotes from LAMP’s newsletter, The LAMPLighter, various editions from the years 1970 to 2010.
Children from northern Canada will be among those joining the multitudes
giving thanks for your support of the ministry of LAMP.
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