Forty-three years ago, Alec Sunrise gave his life to Jesus Christ. Turning from his tribe’s traditional beliefs cost him relationships in his family and community, but Alec never looked back.
In those early days, Alec found encouragement listening to Billy Graham. “He was one that I really looked up to when I was growing up,” Alec remembers. Ever since, he has faithfully lived to share the Gospel with his people, the Dene of the Katlodeeche First Nation in the Northwest Territories.
Katlodeeche sits across the river from the community of Hay River, the last of three stops on the Northern Canada Christmas Tour with Will Graham, Nov. 30–Dec. 4. The tour began Wednesday in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, with two remaining stops in Fort Smith and Hay River in the Northwest Territories.
Will Graham will proclaim the Good News of Christ at a time when many are looking for a message of hope, especially in the cold, dark days of a northern winter.
As one of the few Dene evangelists in the territories, Alec is eagerly praying for this outreach. “There are a lot of people—they’re in a hopeless situation,” he said. “What we need is healing.”
Pastor Sam, pastor of one of the churches in Hay River and on the Katlodeeche Reserve, echoes the thought. “There is a spiritual darkness here,” he said. The burdens of isolation, drug and alcohol addiction, and traumas of the past weigh heavy on many.
“But we have a great opportunity now to speak hope into hearts and lives who have been shattered time and time again,” Pastor Sam said.
“We have the opportunity to speak words of life into places where there have been words of death.”
The three-city tour features musical performances by George Canyon and Brooke Nicholls, followed by a Gospel message from Will Graham.
Will you stand with Alec and Pastor Sam in prayer for the hope of Christmas to be heard and known in countless lives across Northern Canada?
