May 2026 Grieving, Celebrating, and Visiting...and bears...and churches...

 May 2026 was a very full month for me. I was honoured to be able to attend a special funeral service for a LAMP family member. I was also honoured, along with my wife, to be able to attend a special wedding for some dear ones. In addition to these special events, I was also happy to be able to visit with a number of LAMP volunteers and a number of my LAMP communities this month. I ended the month with a visit to the people of Killarney Community Lutheran Church.

May began with a trip to St. Louis, MO to attend the visitation and the funeral of Luke Schave. Luke was a special member of our LAMP family...his father Steve serves as our Executive Director and Luke, his mom Kim, and his dad have served as LAMP volunteers in Moose Lake, Manitoba for the last few years. Here's a picture of our Moose Lake LAMP team from last summer.


Luke was diagnosed last fall with cancer and he sought and received treatment for much of the time since then. He passed away just after his twenty fourth birthday. As an organization, we grieve with Steve and Kim and their family even as we hold on to our hope in the promises of Jesus. Here is another picture of Luke and some photos from the funeral. His obituary is posted here... https://kutisfuneralhomes.com/schave-luke-daniel





May was also a time to celebrate with Annie and James R. I worked with both Annie and James when I was the Director of Youth Ministry at Bethel Lutheran Church in Sherwood Park. It was a blessing for me and my wife to be there and celebrate this special occasion. Congratulations, Annie and James! We love you and pray all good things for you as you continue to build your lives together. We were also thankful to enjoy the hospitality of long time friends Paul and Margie S and see so many Bethel friends at the wedding and also at Sunday morning worship the following day. Awesome!



May also included times for me to visit LAMP volunteers and LAMP communities. I was hosted in St. Louis by long term LAMP team leaders Mike and Ellen K. It was wonderful to spend time in their home and visit their church. I also got to meet some of their team members and work on plans for the summer. Before I flew home, I also had the chance to help with the LAMP exhibit booth at the Multiethnic United in Praise Symposium at Concordia Seminary St. Louis. Here's a picture of our exhibit booth, complete with warm clothes for missionaries in northern places. It was fun to meet attendees and other exhibitors there.


May also included an opportunity for me to attend the Greater Vancouver Circuit meeting at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Surrey. I had not been at St. Luke for a long, long time! Later in May, I headed out to Saskatchewan to do some community visits in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I flew into Saskatoon and then headed north. I stayed in LaRonge and visited community friends in Grandmother's Bay and Hall Lake. I drove to Thompson, Manitoba, from there and was able to connect with Andrew, our LAMP pilot. During my time in Thompson, I was able to take a trip even further north to Leaf Rapids, Marcel Colomb Reserve, and Lynn Lake. Leaf Rapids has been in the national news here in Canada due to some particular challenges in the community. Here's a link to a recent story about this...
Leaf Rapids: Manitoba town faces uncertainty, only store to close
It was good to stop by the Native Friendship Centre in Lynn Lake (they often host our team and allow the team to run a program for community kids) and the new youth centre at Marcel Colomb. I am looking forward to being back there in the summer with our LAMP teams. As I drove north, I noticed a lot of water (even a bit of flooding) and a lot of trees that had burned last summer. We are praying for a summer with enough rain (not too much!) and very few fires. 


My tour ended with a visit in Deschambault Lake back in Saskatchewan followed by a visit with Pastor Randy, fellow LAMP missionary, and his wife Darlene. I hopped on a plane the next day and headed home.

One of my favourite things about working in Canada's north is the opportunity to see the various wildlife and birds in these areas. My special favourite is the wild black bear...and I always feel like it's a good day when I see a bear on my travels. On this particular trip, I was blown away when I got to see ten (!) bears in one day. As I drove north in Saskatchewan, I spotted two bears - each on their own and close to the highway. As I drove into Manitoba, I saw eight more...a mother bear with twin cubs, a different mother bear with triplet cubs, and a final solo bear. Amazing! Here's a few pictures and videos...no bears or humans were harmed in the taking of these photos/videos.








May ended with an opportunity for me to go and talk about LAMP with the good people at Killarney Community Lutheran Church in Vancouver. I presented for the English service there at 10 am (Marcus led the service and I presented during the sermon time) and the Chinese service at 1115 am (Winston led the service and also provided translation into Chinese for my presentation). What a wonderful bunch of people! We also enjoyed a lunch out with our long time friend Adrianna B, who currently works with youth and families at Killarney as well as Trinity Lutheran Church in Richmond. A wonderful day!






As I look back on the month of May, I'm thankful for all the places I was able to go and all the people I was able to visit. Thanks for your prayers and support as I work and travel with LAMP!!

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If you have checked out this blog in the past, you might know that I love to take pictures of churches and other special buildings. This month I was able to visit some beautiful spots...here are some pictures...

Ascension Lutheran Church, St. Louis, MO (where Luke's funeral was held)




Concordia Seminary Chapel, St. Louis, MO




Chapel of the Cross - Lutheran, St. Louis, MO



The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, MO (decorated from top to bottom inside with beautiful mosaics...stunning!)









St. Luke Lutheran Church, Surrey, BC



and finally a fun picture of the St. Louis Arch (it was fun to visit the interpretative centre at the arch and learn about its design and construction...amazing!!)






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