DID YOU KNOW...
...that in North America, there are more than two and a half million indigenous people representing over 500 Native American or First Nations tribes. In 2006, Canada's Aboriginal population reached 1.3 million, a 45% increase from 1996.[1] Since the mid-1980's, the number of Canada's First Nations newborns has more than doubled so that currently almost half of Canada's Aboriginal population is under the age of 25.[2] As a result, the First Nations population of Canada is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades. More than ever before, there is an urgent need to reach these unreached people with the clear message of the Gospel of the grace of God.

OUR VISION
Like all effective missions ministry, work among First Nations people is relational. While our goal at BMW is to plant reproducing churches through evangelism, discipleship and leadership development, building trust through redemptive relationships is an important first step in this process. Our goal is to reach one person at a time, invest ourselves through biblical discipleship in individuals and Native families, establish local churches with committed Native leadership, and eventually to provide quality, structured training for First Nations people.

OUR CHALLENGE
Historically, First Nations people in Canada have endured broken treaties and numerous atrocities at the hand of their government and even in the name of the church. Walls of anger, hurt, and deception need to be toppled and replaced with trust, biblical love, and Christ-like acceptance. Suicide rates among Native youth have reached epidemic proportions. A 2001 survey revealed that 41% of Native people living on Canada's reserves reported that suicide is a problem in their community. The rate of suicide among Native youth is five to six times higher than the Canadian average.[3] Alcoholism, broken families, crowded homes, violence and gambling plague Native communities.

Although 48% of Aboriginal people hold loosely to the Roman Catholic and Anglican church[4], the past decade has brought a purposeful return to language acquisition, preservation and traditional spiritual beliefs associated with their culture and ancestry. Now, more than ever before, a subtle and dangerous syncretism of Native spirituality and Christianity is becoming a widely accepted illusion one writer defines as "two railroad tracks heading in the same direction...as we look to the horizon, both tracks come together and lead to Heaven."[5]

While many organizations are actively involved in efforts to provide important economic and social stimuli to Canada's First Nations communities, BMW understands that the most pressing need of all people is not reformation, but regeneration through “sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” (2 Th 2:13 NKJV)

STARTING IN ONTARIO...
With a population of more than 12 million people, Ontario is home to about one-in-three Canadians. Eighty percent live in urban centres, largely in cities on the shores of the Great Lakes and in Ottawa, the nation's capital. In northwestern Ontario, there are 47 Native reserves[6], 27 of which are accessible only by air or winter ice roads. A BMW missionary family, currently on deputation, is preparing to serve in northwestern Ontario and focus on First Nations outreach and church planting. We are excited about what the Lord has in store for this new ministry to the First Nations people of Ontario!

If you're interested in this new ministry, please contact Rob Heijermans, BMW's Director for Canada.

Sources:
1 Statistics Canada
2 The World Fact Book (Canada)
3 Glen Coulthard, University of Alberta
4 www.cia.gov/library/publications/geos/ca
5 Adrian Jacobs, “Syncretism, the Meeting of the Two Roads”
6 firstnation.ca

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