Painful Contrast

My home town of Red Lake, Ontario, was the scene of a gold rush in the 1920's. When I was growing up, it was my understanding that that area contained the second richest gold deposits -- second only to South Africa. And the price of gold was about $35-$40/ounce.

In recent years more gold has been discovered and the area again was the scene of a gold rush. Only now the deposits are even more numerous and richer. And the price of gold today is about $1600/ounce (CAD). The 2011 video linked below shows an image of several gold bricks valued at over a million dollars each!

CBC Video 2008 / CBC Video 2011

Contrast that with a scene of unspeakable tragedy. Only a mere 55 miles north of Red Lake is a community called Pikangikum. According to an article by Maclean's Magazine, it has the terrible distinction of being the suicide capital of the world! It is where I spent the first decade plus a few years of my life, with parents who were missionaries in that community. Some years I was the only white kid in the entire school. It was a beautiful community with amazing people who were industrious, creative, and lived off the land. It is a land of enormous sky, open blue lakes or snow many feet deep, amazing sunsets, world class hunting and fishing, and millions of mosquitoes.

However, these days there is such a spirit of hopelessness. Just today we received news of yet two more suicides. One was a young man and the other pregnant young woman, only 22 years old. These are days of extreme sadness and desperation.

Please pray for change. Please pray for peace. Please pray for light to penetrate the darkness.