Thunder Bay Vision Experience
As interpreted by Cullen Vandeburgt.
In January, a small group of Act Five staff, students, and residents visited Thunder Bay in partnership with Living Hope Native Ministries. In this blog post, Cullen, one of the trip participants and an Act Five Resident, reflects on his experience of the trip.
The first thing that hit me was the cold brisk air, next the expanse of white that covers tree, hill and land as far as the eye can see. The sun rises late and sets early, and people hiding in the warmth of their home are scarce to be seen. The lake to the side carries a mysterious aura of power and the uninhabited mountains far in front remind you that this is a frontier, a land that has not been fully tamed and which deserves both respect and an attitude of caution. The streets are indentured to weather as are the houses, typically made to simply give cost effective shelter. But of course, as it always is, the full story is more dynamic and more nuanced than one description can carry.
One takeaway that I had from this trip is that Thunder Bay is a place of unfamiliar stories that resonate across space. We all have our own individual stories of pain, and although the idea of pain is something that resonates in us, the stories of pain that I heard were unfamiliar. Through experiences of talking with residential school survivors, meeting with an indigenous couple who were deeply involved in caring for the community, and receiving background information from an aspiring politician as well as from our guide I got a taste of what the real Thunder Bay was. There were stories of abuse, trauma, the various ways people ran from their pain, separation of groups of people, blatant discrimination, deep hurt, and separation from government, particularly among Indigenous communities. Yet themes of people seeking out similarly minded people, finding safety in solitude, and division between different groups of people were deeply transparent to me.
I observed that Thunder Bay was also a place lost in time but worthy of value. The values are much more catered towards a community mentality rather than an individualist approach. People, even people that have hurt you, are precious and worth getting hurt for, and simplicity seems essential to live in the present and hold the past in hopes of not getting buried by it. Indirectness, burying certain pains under the table, and being practised in listening were all values I was shocked to witness and gave me a slight sense of unease due to their differences from my own. Due to its location both as a place separated from the rest of civilization and as a place facing the wilderness and engaged in long discussions about how to share the land between different groups of people there was a slowness to change and a separation from southern Ontario culture.
In this, however, beautiful things were found, such as a profound acceptance for people despite wrongs they’ve committed. There was a strong desire for healing which comes from knowing brokenness. And in corners, it could be seen that there was a longing for God as He was the only one powerful enough to create good. From my brief window into this new world, the good and bad seemed to be easily found in the extremes. In my experience, when one can come to terms with the extremes they can be a light to the world around them and easily point to the value which often lies misunderstood to outside eyes. From conversations we had it was clear there were people who deeply had felt this and deeply valued their community as a result and made their place, their people, and their land deeply worthy of value.
My last observation, and the most important one for me personally, was that Thunder Bay was a different world, with the same God. I’ve briefly pointed to the pains, the lifestyle differences, and left some parts out to keep an air of confusion – as confusion is a key part of my interpretation. A truth echoed by an Indigenous man we met who rehabilitates bears and carries the weight of an old culture meeting a new, a truth shared by a ministry program leader who has created a safe space for Indigenous teenagers to come from the North and in their struggles to adapt to culture shock and distance from community, a truth shared by a woman who told a story of abuse and healing, a truth shared by a parents desperate to see their kids see a better a future is this; we need God, a God we can trust to be stronger than what we face, a God who is understanding of our personal story and a God who will love us wherever we are at.
I had the opportunity to see a corner of Canada, one that did not represent well the Canada I’ve come to know and in that I got to see a church who, with a sense of desperation, worshipped God, called out their prayer requests to the pastor during the service and deeply appreciated the simplicity and the promise of hope given from the Bible.
This trip was deeply impactful and came with many fun opportunities; northern hikes, spending time with a bear cub, sledding adventures and all the other thrills which come with exploring a new place. It was a chance to spend some time with new people, in a new place, and hear new stories. And, I got to embrace an adventure rooted in many values central to Act Five.
