Lytton River Festival Ministry Trip 2025 Recap with Thankfulness

Lytton River Festival Ministry Trip 2025 Recap with Thankfulness

As usual, the Lytton River Festival ministry trip started at the crack of dawn on Saturday August 30, 2025. Our team consisted of 55 members from all 5 FLC congregations. Nineteen of the members made the trip for the first time. Seven families joined the trip with their youngsters. What a way to experience mission and serve others together as a family! They all had so much fun serving together, one of the daughters asked her dad, “can we go (on a Lytton ministry trip) again?”.

Our Children Carnival was held in a vacant lot in the village centre that used to house the grocery store and Scotia Bank. With the gradual rebuilding of the village, there are a few newly completed buildings including a newly constructed ‘shade structure’ with washroom facilities on the Main Street. The newly constructed Public Works building was officially opened the day before on August 29.

There was obvious improvement in the number of festival activities with the addition of a dunk tank, pony ride and a festival stage. One feature of the festival that was introduced in 2023, and has quickly gained popularity and significance, is Lytton First Nation Elder Byron Spinks sharing stories, legends, and lessons learned by the Nlaka’pamux people over the thousands of years they have lived near the rivers’ shores. Many of our members were driven to Spinks’ location, by the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, to hear his stories and get a deeper understanding of the indigenous culture.

Our goal for the ministry trip is to serve the Lytton community by being a part of the festival that serves an important function in drawing the community together to welcome everyone back after the 2021 wildfire. “The River Festival is a true community celebration: a testament to the resilience, pride, and sheer ingenuity of the people who call this place home,” said River Festival president Jessoa Lightfoot. We are blessed to be a part of this rebuilding and recovery journey.

Please join us in continuing our prayers for Lytton.

If you are interested in getting involved in our core ministry group, please contact us.

Contact Persons:
Jamie (nolaifamily@gmail.com | 778-552-3123) or Samantha (mmmcsam@gmail.com | 778-999-1204).