Hope for Humboldt

I sit writing this in my old familiar corner in the basement of Nick and Mary Kalynuik”s home in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. I have made at least eight trips here over the past three years. Each time I stay in the same room and get up early in the morning and sit in the same rocking chair next to a furnace to meet with God in their basement.

When you read the word basement you do not know what I am talking about. Their basement has two full bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and a living room. It is like another home within a home. In this very spot I have interceded on behalf of Humboldt, read scripture, sought the face of God and studied for messages. My prayer today is much the same as other prayers have been over the course of the past three years. “Lord, please call and send a pastor to this church,”

Like I have done on every other trip I have asked God if I was the man. Just like I have heard on every other trip I have been told that I am not. My calling is in Seminole and to prayerfully funnel people in this direction.

While praying I made a list of all the challenges stacked against this church ever succeeding. The first one is obvious. In the over five years they have been meeting they have never had a permanent pastor. Never. Still they keep praying, pressing on, hoping and trusting that God will send someone to them. It looks pretty hopeless though. There are not enough pastors in Canada for the existing churches much less the two thousand more churches the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists want to start by 2020.

I cannot imagine getting up close to two thousand times on Sunday mornings to go to church without ever having had a true shepherd. I am inspired by these people who simply will not give up. They keep meeting. They keep praying. They keep opening doors. If nothing else this little group is tenacious. Isn’t there something to be said for simply showing up over and over again for five years? They could have grown weary and walked away. They could have found an easier road with less challenge but they keep walking the road of starting this church. I am moved by their dedication and humbled by their dauntless faith.

There are other challenges. The few core members of FBC Humboldt are tired and discouraged. For five years they have had a rotation of different people come and fill the pulpit. They have not had a true shepherd, a leader, or one who week in and week out would feed their souls the life giving word of God. I am not saying that fine sermons have not been heard but there is no consistency. Some of the members are losing heart and can you blame them. They have very little to offer a prospective pastor. What pastor wants to come to FBC Humboldt where there are less than a dozen people and most of them over fifty five? Which pastor wants to come minister in a place of such hard hearts spiritually among the people of the town and harsh winters?

The winters are long and brutal. We saw freezing rain yesterday. There is no snow on the ground but they had four inches just a week ago and it melted. One man told me once that it can begin snowing as early as October and there can be snow up until May. As I write this it May, 01, 2010. The forecast calls for rain the entire time we are here. There are only three good months to get to enjoy being outdoors and then the cold weather returns. Who really wants to live in these conditions? Only the person whom God calls.

How will the members of FBC Humboldt ever be encouraged and inspired to do more if God doesn’t call a pastor here? That is the most critical key issue facing this church. The members could be encouraged if they really had hope that God was going to send them a shepherd. If they really had that hope they could press on. Hope can help people press through adversity. Hope does amazing things for a person’s attitude.

The other challenge facing this church is that they do not have a music minister or even someone to play the piano. Most Sundays they play a tape of someone who recorded some hymns played on piano. One of the men gets up and leads the small band of believers in these songs. Week after week they are the same songs.

Stay with me here. Suppose you were looking for a church home and you happened to visit FBC Humboldt. When you walked up the stairs at the Seniors Hall and into the main room, this is what you would see. Less than a dozen people in a room that would comfortably seat three hundred. Next, you see a man pull out the portable tape player and push the play button while trying to lead the small congregation in worship. This man often sings off key and the whole scene is demoralizing. This is followed by a man preaching who has no vested interest in the group. If you were to come back the next week there would be someone different preaching. One man has at least committed to coming every other Sunday of the month.

The next thing you might notice is the absence of children and young families. There are none. They do not have any kind of Sunday School program. Now let, me ask you. Would you come back to visit that church and to get firmly entrenched in the life of such a fellowship? Many have visited over the years but few have ever come back.

The challenges are monumental. While praying this morning I asked the Lord what difference our being here for these few days really makes. Where is the hope? In those moments the Lord impressed a scripture on my heart to answer the question and to preach in the morning. [Mark 11:22-24] The hope is found in prayerfully believing God can move every mountain. God has been, is, and will continue to be the hope for Humboldt.

I know we are not here in vain. I have a message to share with these people and in every way possible I want to point Humboldt toward hope. Perhaps these verses may be used to minister hope in your hearts as well. They certainly have mine.