Destination: Easterville, MB

As I march towards my final destination of reaching my 100% support level, I thought we could take a look at a few other destinations I've stopped at along the way during my three years working with LAMP.

So, welcome to Easterville, Manitoba, our first destination.  Now, you're probably asking yourself "where is Easterville?" and that's not a bad question at all.  Well, to get there, go to Winnipeg, then travel north about 400 km and every so slightly west.  When you reach it, you'll find a mid-sized Cree community located on the shore of Cedar Lake.





The population of Easterville is around 1100 people.  LAMP will typically average around 175 children attending our Vacation Bible School there.  That's right, about 15% of the entire community attends VBS.  The team that LAMP sends to Easterville comes from Nebraska and has to drive about 1700 km to get there and have been going for two years.

LAMP's Easterville VBS Team

Typically, our VBS is held at the school, but with the school undergoing repairs this past summer, it was held at the Anglican church.  The Anglican church in Easterville is also served by a pastor, Rev. Chartrand (pictured above in the red shirt), who has been integral in helping us arrange the VBS.  However, as we travel from community to community, you'll quickly notice this isn't always the case.

If you zoom in on the Google satellite image above, you'll notice that there appears to be a runway on the north-east edge of the community, but I can personally assure you that there isn't one there any more, as it was shut down a couple of years ago.

The lonely remnants of a windsock

All that's left is the frame of a windsock and a bumpy strip overgrown with grass and an "X" made out of rocks to indicated that the strip is indeed closed for landing.

What remains of the Easterville runway

This means that we can no longer fly to Easterville, but luckily there are however roads going there.  Turning off the main highway that runs from Winnipeg to The Pas, it's just a short 20 km stretch along a gravel road.

Please consider praying for the community and children of Easterville and our VBS team as we approach the summer.


And, stay tuned for our next destination.