By Christopher Snook.  On May 30th -31st a new and exciting initiative was undertaken at the Onion Lake First Nation Healing and Wellness centre. For a day and half members of Onion Lake’s “caring professions” gathered for a series of addresses on workplace ethics. Elders, nurses, youth workers, addictions counsellors and Christian clergy shared their perspectives on topics as diverse as Acceptance, Love, Forgiveness, Unity and Equality.

The workshop was part of a strategy to improve relationships amongst caregivers in the community. In the past this has meant bringing speakers to Onion Lake from far away or taking Health and Wellness employees on retreat to nearby cities. This year Health and Wellness decided to rely upon the wealth of resources in its own community.

Led largely by community elders and clergy, the worskshop consisted of a series of addresses on workplace virtues. As the workshop progressed, speaker after speaker insisted that the virtues we desire in the workplace depend upon the cultivation of those virtues in every part of life. More than that, the peace, love and acceptance we seek in our lives depends upon a relationship of faith with our Creator.

At the end of the event one elder noted that this was the most wonderful and positive step towards healing and wellness that she had ever seen in the community. The clergy who attended agreed that their invitation to speak to employees of the Band was a sign of a new and positive relationship between the community’s churches and the community’s public institutions. For one missionary, this event was the fruit of almost a decade of prayer, love and sacrifice.