Our hearts have been breaking with the news of 215 Indigenous children discovered in a mass grave at a Kamloops residential school. May the Spirit of God move us to grieve the wrongs that have taken place and walk down the long road of repentance, reconciliation, and justice. For us as a church, one step on that road has been invited: to give a gift of love and solidarity to our neighbours from the Shamattawa nation.

Many donations have come in for our “Tribute for the 215” project and we were able to send the following to the community at Shamattawa:

  • 200 pairs of children’s shoes
  • 200 items for newborns and mothers of newborns
  • 60 loaves of chocolate chip banana bread

Let’s realize that this giving project is only one expression at this moment in history, and in the long journey of joining the Spirit’s work of reconciliation. Another conversation recently took place among Ontario MB’s responding to the news of finding the remains of residential school children. It’s called Listen & Lament, and can be accessed here until July 5: https://vimeo.com/565106518/6926eebf5a