A Channel of God’s Blessing
In 2011 NCEM missionary Noriko Suzuki retired to Vancouver … well, a theoretical retirement.
Among her other ministries there she has been reaching out with the Gospel to homeless people. This past July there was a Friday morning on East Hastings Street that she won’t soon forget.
Noriko on East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC.
A fellow she and her team had been ministering to for awhile approached her with what looked like a money order.
The amount was not small. It was for $2,000 … but it was the name that really left her speechless. “My name was written on the top of the cheque!” says Noriko.
Noriko had first met *Wayne about three years before. She discovered a connection with him one day when he told her that he had at one time attended Key-Way-Tin Bible Institute (a school operated by NCEM at Lac La Biche, Alberta). (*name changed)
Wayne had shared how he was still struggling to overcome the effects of childhood abuse at a residential school.
When Noriko learned that the Rising Above ministry would be holding a conference in Vancouver in May 2013, she knew Wayne would benefit greatly from attending. She generously paid his registration fee with her own money.
Rising Above has been holding conferences for victims of abuse and accompanying issues of self-esteem, grief, addictions and suicide since 1992. Wayne was deeply ministered to at the Conference, experiencing some healing and hope.
Now, wanting to express his gratitude, he handed a money order to Noriko and explained that it was part of what he had just received from the government as compensation for attending residential school.
“He said he didn’t know which Christian organization he could tithe to, so he gave it to me!” says Noriko. “Also, he said he would not be homeless anymore, and would not need to look for free meals.”
Noriko says she felt “very responsible” for how to handle this money, and spent the next few days in prayer seeking God’s direction. She then felt clear indication to forward half of it to Rising Above, a quarter to the church that had hosted the Conference, and a quarter to the homeless ministry she’s part of in Vancouver.
“My role was just to be a channel of God’s blessing, overflowing to help meet the needs for Christian work,” she explains.
In August Wayne left for Whitehorse, Yukon with a one-way plane ticket, adds Noriko. She prays for him daily, challenged by Colossians 4:2: “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”
Noriko grew up in Yokosuka, Japan, studied at Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, and was sent by Japan Evangelical Alliance Church in 1977 to minister with NCEM, initially among the Cree of James Bay.
She transferred to ministry among the Inuit of Arctic Quebec in 1980, where there was yet another new language, and new customs for her to learn. (She admits to a head-start eating raw meat, having grown up in Japan – but says that’s where the cultural similarities ended.) In 1981 she and ministry partner, Ruth Armstrong, moved to live in Puvurnituq. Noriko would later also serve at Kuujjuaraapik and Salluit (QC), and Cochrane (ON).
Now in Vancouver, Noriko also has ministries in Japanese-speaking and First Nations fellowships. She’s part of our team taking phone calls from Tribal Trails (TV) viewers, and tells of callers from Nunavut being pleasantly surprised by her ability to converse in their Inuktitut language.
Recently someone offered to help Noriko tell her life story, and a Christian Japanese company will publish it at their cost. A book wasn’t in her plans, says Noriko. “This must be God’s very own arrangements. May God’s name be glorified through this work!”
(from Issue #530). Note: some of the locations and involvements of our missionaries may have changed since the original publishing of this article.
Rising Above
First Peoples helping First Peoples
Initiated and governed by First Nations people, Rising Above is a Christian registered charitable organization, offering hope and healing from a biblical perspective.
Through teaching, counselling, music, support groups and resources, Rising Above seeks to:
- Educate concerning abuse issues
- Empower the abused to “rise above” the hold the past has had on their lives
- Equip caregivers with tools to help those suffering from abuse.
Check out www.risingabove.ca