St. Andrew's priest, Archdeacon Nancy, is spending the month of July as a visiting priest in the Diocese of Moosonee, more specifically in the small community of Mistissini, QC, on the shores of Lake Mistissini, a Cree community further north than Timmins. On her two-day drive north through Quebec, with co-pilot Farley in the passenger seat, she stayed overnight at a former monastery near Lac St. Jean, the Maison Zachariah.

Arriving to a warm welcome at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Nancy was in time to attend a regular Vestry meeting. A couple of days later, she was the special guest at a welcome luncheon. Meanwhile, she is staying at the spotless rectory in town.

As the closest priest available, Archdeacon Nancy will be leaving Mistissini on Wednesday for the community of Waswanipi, a two-and-a-half hour drive away, to preside at a funeral that will be a two-day event, a local custom. Later in the month, she will return for baptisms in that community. The current consideration is where she will spend the night in Waswanipi, in her car, or on an air mattress in the empty rectory. We await the result of that deliberation.

Lake Mistissini is beautiful and calm, and she has already been kayaking in the quiet evening hours. We know that Archdeacon Nancy felt called by God to leave the comfortable pews of St. Andrew's to make this journey north and to spend a month with the Christian community of St. John the Evangelist. We look forward to hearing more of her adventures, both practical and spiritual.

For photos of Nancy's journey and the community of Mistissini, check the gallery menu item on this website.