Sterling Mennonite Fellowship will be travelling to Cross Lake next week, to share Christ's love almost 800 kilometers away.

Friday evening, following the completion of their annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) program, Sterling Mennonite Fellowship will be packing up all their decorations and supplies. Rather than packaging everything for storage, however, the church will be sending their entire VBS program, complete with 44 youth and adult volunteers, up to Cross Lake, a First Nations reserve located north of Lake Winnipeg.

The community is home to approximately 5000 people, living in impoverished conditions. "The first time I went up there, it reminded me of a third-world country!" remarked Moses Flaco, Pastor of Sterling Mennonite Fellowship.

The trip began in 2010, after Sterling Mennonite connected with another Mennonite church from Cross Lake who were seeking support. After a year of discusson, Sterling took their first trip up to Cross Lake with a team of fifteen people to minister to a VBS of five children, which grew to a total of 150 by the end of the week.

"It comes down to wondering what we can do as a church to live out reconciliation," shared Flaco. "It happens in our neighborhood, and sometimes we get these opportunities to go ten hours north of Winnipeg to be with a totally different community, in a place that is foreign to us with a different culture, customs, and language, even."

The programs Sterling Mennonite will be running include their VBS for students in first to sixth grade, as well as sports camps for volleyball and ultimate frisbee, which are to be led by university-level athletes. They will also be implementing a leadership program for kids who have already graduated from their VBS program "and just keep coming back," explained Ralph Bartel, Coordinator of the Cross Lake VBS program at Sterling Mennonite Fellowship.

"It's really, for me, about living into that reconciliation, and building relationships with people who are different, yet beautiful in their own way, and trying to figure out what's a faithful way to share the love of Jesus." Flaco shared.

"We're developing not only leadership with [the children from Cross Lake], we're also developing the kids that we're bringing... We're hoping that in time they will learn the feeling of volunteering and helping out in the church or working in camps to develop their skills in those respective areas." Bartel said. "It's not just us working with the kids and sharing, and it's not us preaching to them, it's hearing their faith and sharing our faith, and how they can mix together."

"We love prayer support, in helping us develop relationships... that's what our goal is."