Wednesday mid afternoon: The storm outside seems to be abating, hard slog walking to and from the shops. Have done some shoveling to allow egress and ingress both front and back but will wait a little before further snow removal.



So this seems as good a time as any to touch base on the SLM Inc/Ray Whalen slash Bill Prankard Evangelistic Association {BPEA} slash True North Aid {TNA} operations in Nain.

When the Whalen’s came to Nain some years back they decided they needed a place to stay/operate out of. It coincided with the then school principal leaving town so they put in an offer to buy that home and land.
To raise money for the purchase BPEA became involved with a big fundraising drive down south. Lots of stuff was said about Nain, some of it upset locals and they voiced their concerns in regional media. I did not become involved and the concerns raised escape me at the moment.

So the money was raised and the home purchased. It sits in a prime location with the front of the house overlooking the old dam and what is called Environmentally Protected Area {EPA} here in Nain. EPA is land that cannot be developed on, it is green space and for the enjoyment of everyone. The rear of the house fronts Middle Path Road. An oxymoron maybe but there you have it.







A couple of years pass and the next thing is that the Whelan’s have purchased, in another private transaction, the land to the right of them, or in the case from the rear to the left. This land is of triangular shape, being wider at the road end, and also has one side as well as the front butting up to EPA. The only building on this lot was a shed structure.
These properties were initially for the Whalen’s/SLM Inc work and are registered in that name with Ray and his wife as sole directors as far as I can tell.

Top right shows the house overlooking the old dam with the extra lot next door.
Second and third left show the road end of house as well as the lot next door.




Rays lot for personal home below.

A couple of more years pass, the town opens up more land in the new subdivision.

Ray applies for and is granted two further lots. These are in Rays name; one is in the residential section and is yet to be developed. The other is in the industrial section and has a 40 x 60 foot warehouse that was constructed this year.

According to this interview Ray did with CKOK Ray intends building a home for his personal use on the undeveloped lot and intends to use the warehouse as a business venture. This conflicts with what his original intentions were for this building, that being to store all the goods that would be brought in for all these give a way’s to the public.

In roughly the same time frame as the above two lots were acquired Ray/SLM Inc applies informally to council to build a 5,000 sq foot “Community Center” on the triangular land next to his home which is in a residential zone. {The one that is now his home but will be an unknown use entity when Ray builds his new personal home up in the new subdivision}.

This structure is too large to meet the local building regulations for that size lot, so Ray applies for re zoning of the land. This would entail Ray/SLM INC having to acquire 10 feet x the front width of the lot of the EPA land.

I am not privy to all the finer points, but it seems council asked Ray to submit detailed plans and a formal application for the “Community Center” so that council can go through the formalities of re zoning EPA land which I understand requires input from outside engineers/consultants and to hold public hearings and requires the applicant to pay all costs.

There seems to be a hold up in Ray responding to this request.

Rays warehouse below.

Applying for and going through the process of re zoning EPA land does not guarantee the applicant will be granted the land or the permission to build the “Community Center” in that location.

EPA lands are there for a reason, they need to be protected within reasonable bounds.
If my memory serves there has been a president set already in Nain.
A citizen applied for re zoning to increase the size of their lot into a EPA land in another section of town. This was turned down by council without getting to the hearing stages.

Ray/SLM Inc had another choice for his “Community Center”. That is the lot where he built the warehouse. Or he could have put in an application for a building that better suited the lot dimensions without wanting to despoil our EPA lands.

Once one gets approved it would be doubly hard to stop further applications for re zoning into EPA lands being sort, and triply hard in rejecting them.

In going through the writings and videos of the BPEA site there seems to be no reference to SLM Inc in Nain. Rather Ray and his wife are referenced at regular intervals. I have not given it a thorough search so maybe there is nothing to it.



Later:



Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggh. I new going through the BPEA site would be detrimental to my sanity.



If these people are not the epitome of sleaze then then I do not know who are. Get a gander at this video, no problem desecrating the memory of the deceased, their loved ones, the culture that these low life's have not one iota of deference for. It is a fundraiser video produced by True North Aid with no thought nor caring into where they are or who they offend.



Apart from the seriousness of the above, note the reference to the ARCTIC again in the accompanying videos. The little doughwacker is just up the hill within sight of the community fer shit sake.

Postscript or wrap or whatever!

I have had a cold for the past few days, first cold for many a year, must have been all the bragging to people with colds about me/us taking Echinacea.
It seems to be breaking, now for the worst part, all that coughing and blowing the nose.

Besides racking my brain and searching for info on religious zealots I have been busy in the kitchen. Made a small batch of bread Wednesday, shame I could not smell the result.
I also made up a batch of rhubarb chutney and a double batch of rhubarb relish yesterday. I over cooked the relish a bit but it must taste OK, it received the royal seal of approval last night, Fran had ¼ of a jar with the meat pie, Fran is very fussy about condiments. Or perhaps that was a statement on the meat pie.

I had harvested our one rhubarb plant, about 3 pies worth I figure and had just taken the bread out of the oven when Stephanie dropped in some more rhubarb harvested up north some place, hence the making of the condiments.
On dropping the rhubarb off Steph said, “nice smell in here”, then, “see you” and left the building. 90 seconds later Steph re entered the building waving a $5 note and said “can I have one of those loafs of bread?” Kids!

The Northern Ranger docked at 5 pm yesterday, 281/2 hours behind schedule, mainly due to bad weather last trip south. She had at least a handful of tourists on board as well as a good contingent from Natuashish who came over for some shopping, pity the store shelves have not been re stocked adequately.

Now to wrap the SLM, TNA, BPCT and the many more associates and affiliates whoever they may be.

I have tried my hardest to be rational and understanding about these people and groups.

I feel there is a need, small as it may be, for a food bank. Maybe the people at NG will take note. There is most likely a need for people to access second hand cloths and furniture and the like, it is bloody expensive to buy those things new here and Canada Post charges makes it almost impossible for many people to receive many items by mail, another note for NG.

In any community there are always people on the margins financially. Nain and the Labrador Coast are no different than any other place I have seen first hand.
Actually people in general are better off here than many big city neighborhoods and it sure is better off than many African, Asian and South American areas we see and hear about in the media daily.

I see not evidence of malnutrition; no one is perishing in the streets.

Many kids who wear inadequate winter clothing has more to do with fashion in many cases. Kids hanging out around the waters edge or in the woods or around the streets have more to do with JUST BEEING KIDS than anything else. Some kids [and adults] being arse holes and vandalizing has more to do with being modern day kids than not having a home to go home to.
Sure there are exceptions, same as anywhere else. I see many kids who do not receive much love and caring, you can see it in their eyes and how they carry themselves.

But there are programs and there are people who care and there are places for them to go, and you do not have to swear allegiance to idols or shamans or Jesus or god or Mohammad etc.

Nunatsiavut and the Nunatsiavut Government are in the early stages of development.

Nunatsiavut was formed as a self governing land for the Inuit of Labrador.

One of the mandates of NG is to protect and enhance the language and culture of the Inuit of Nunatsiavut.

Whether one agrees with it or not the Moravian Church and it’s Lutheran based beliefs have become part and parcel of the Inuit culture over many centuries of exposure to it.

NG receives criticism from time to time for what seems to be slowness in dealing with many day to day issues, me being one of the critics. Yet this criticism is more in line with getting people to act faster and in line with the mandates that NG have, at least it is from my perspective.

Now if you look through the writings and web sites of those afore mentioned Zealots you will find many things, some strange and some quite weird.
What you won’t find is any empathy or thoughts or enthusiasm about preserving Inuit culture and language.
It is all about bringing in outside influences to convert under the guise of helping out the poor and disenfranchised.

No mention of the centuries of Inuit culture, ways of life unique to harsh northern climates.

No nothing like that, just get in there and convert as many as possible starting with the children using any means possible. Any means possible with these people means material things and money thrown around like a drunken sailor with a hole in his pocket.

Shinning Light Ministries of Nain seems to be a creation of the Whalen’s. I understand they have a BOD but I do not know who or how many are on this board.
If one Google SLM you get a lot of info about an international ministry with affiliations all over the world.
I was wondering if SLM Nain was affiliated with the bigger SLM. I e mailed the Canadian chapter and asked it SLM Nain and the alleged pastor here was affiliated. No cigar, never heard of the individuals or the ministry in Nain was the reply.
This is not to imply any sinister intentions by anyone; it is just for information purposes.

There does seem to be a pattern developing the more searches ones does though. Many of the ‘ministries’ and individuals that have been to Nain to see what the Whalen’s are doing all eventually end up back at Bill Prankard and his ministries one way or the other.

Now I have to get ready to go down to NG for a meeting with the VP. Not had one of those for many a year.

A little time later:

No meeting with the VP of NG eventuated, does not have the relevant info as yet.
If the truth were know it really was just a test to see if anything had changed, not yet apparently.

A few pictures of around town: First on left was taken on Tuesday before the clearing commenced. This is a sure way to get ‘Christmas tree carpel tunnel syndrome’. Riding a ski doo with the girl friend on the back holding a tree with the left and operating the machine with the right hand adds quite a bit of stress to certain parts of the body by golly. They seemed to be enjoying it though and had stopped for a rest when I took this.

Next picture is of the Aliant micro wave tower up on Nain hill. From down here it looks all decked out for the season, just as long as the round thingy stays is clear of ice.

Finely one of the harbor making ice. After all that warm weather and one night of sub zero it has frozen over quite fast. That is the new ice in the background with the slush and older ice that did not melt in foreground.

I guess with the day fast approaching I will have to partake in one of my least favorite things. And going by this article I will have to rely on luck rather than good management and math skills in cracking the cracker.
Truth be told I have never looked on cracking the cracker as a competition, more like a chore that shows that we are in the festive mood, with everybody having their own cracker the biggest challenge is to get the darn things to crack.

As expected with this unseasonable weather the Paul’s are doing it tough in the Gypsy Life.

Hope this colder trend sorts things out for them and Harald can get ashore for wood and water. I would presume they would phone for assistance if needed.


There is so much more to say about this Ray Whalen SLM Inc and his benefactor Bill Prankard, with Christmas so close I will do a brief wrap for now.

It does not take much effort to research these folk, though there is not much to be found on Whalen’s SLM Inc.
It is clear that without Bill Ray would not have accumulated his material little empire here in Nain.

Bill is the man with the words and good PR skills. They came in handy as there must be a very high overhead with all the travel they all do plus the structures that are up and planed for the Nain outreach.

Alas the words and text are designed to create emotions in people who do not know any different. Just look at this video. To me it clearly says that without Bill and Ray the folks of Nain would not have a very nice Christmas.

That is just not true. Folks in Nain got by just fine pre Bill and Ray.

For decades people worked hard in forming what is now Nunatsiavut and the Nunatsiavut Government. It was supposed to instill self government and self determination.
It is now a reality, so where is the determination and the pride in protecting the Inuit Culture and language.

All Bill and Ray have to offer is more of the same paternalistic, colonialist, we know what is best for you attitude.

There are so many people doing a lot of things to assist the needy and older folks, sure more can be done but the people are doing it themselves, mistakes are made and the successes are many.

Nearly every “program’ SLM Inc ministry offers is already being offered by NG, or the community government or the provincial or federal government staffed by local people.

Local people are involved in volunteering in many areas. There are programs for children, youth, and elders offered all the time. Why just this week the needy and elders received a big box of groceries and a turkey and a small gift for each.
This was done locally with support from local and regional businesses and individuals.

Over the last two weeks elders had the opportunity to take in four Christmas meals at the community hall sponsored by groups like the staff at the health center, recreation department, community government and others.

Elders can go play merchandise bingo every Wednesday and partake in a meal and talk in their own language put on by the NG department of health.

Thursdays they can go to the resource center and have a healthy snack and play games and just sit around talking in their own language.
Does Bill and Ray offer that? They don’t even mention the unique culture of the Inuit or their language.

There are on going events and programs for kids and youth, special events for Christmas and traditional holidays all run by local people either in employment or on a volunteer basis.

Sure some people fall through the cracks, there are elders who need better care, people who have issues and are in need of specialist care. Things are no better off in Ottawa, Toronto, St. John’s, matter of fact they are worse.

So much for the brevity eh, these folks rattle my chain.

If some people feel the need for what Bill and Ray have to offer then start doing what the Moravian Church and other traditional religious groups do, start fund raising by having raffles, bake sales, donating your time and your own money to make it happen. Don’t sit back on your lazy arse depending on the dollars and material things rolling on from the actions of these questionable fund raising tactics.

Continuing on from previous:

Arguably the problems for the Inuit started several decades ago, but for our purposes recent history will have to suffice.
My chronology will not be accurate and I will miss or am not aware of some events, but what follows will give an idea of what has transpired leading up to today’s controversy:

Some year’s back Ray & Juanita Whalen arrive in town, word soon was spread that they are here to help out with the starving half dressed children and to administer the gospel according to Jesus and all that sort of stuff.
There were some that thought maybe they were here at the auspices of the established Pentecostal church who already had a pastor here living in a home with a small chapel at the rear.
I am not aware of what relationship the Whalen’s had/have with the Pentecostal Assembly. I suspect it may have been one of mutual respect at first but may have soured in the interim. The Whalen’s are more likely to be considered “Independent” by the Pentecostal Assembly, but who knows for sure.

Next thing we know is that Bill Prankard is in town doing some video and taking pictures around town along with the Whalen’s. In the same time frame the Whalen’s announce that every home in town will receive a Xmas hamper for Christmas.

Same time frame; Bill Prankard is doing his spiel on his television show down south saying all this negative shit about Nain and how he needs people to donate money so these brave souls, the Whalen’s, can continue their Jesus given vocation in saving the lost souls of the north.

This fund raising by Prankard was supposed to buy much needed food and clothing and to purchase a home in town so the Whalen’s could continue the work of Jesus plus provide shelter for roaming missionary types in the summer months.

The negative way Nain was portrayed by Prankard down south caused quite a stir amongst some Nain natives. Angry letters were sent to the media.

Nonetheless money must have rolled in because the Whalen’s purchased the home [arguably the largest per sq ft in Nain] with a big lot of land and a view to die for.

So come that Christmas, and without doing a means test, the Whalen’s have their little local elves out dropping off these hampers to every home in town.
How bloody bold, conceited, disdainful, domineering, egotistic, forward, haughty, imperious, overbearing, pushy and rude are these people????
When the knock came at our door I told the elves NO THANKS. The elves looked scared and kept looking out the window where outside there were more people doing stuff, so I said OK leave it and thank you. At the first opportunity we gave the stuff away to people more in need.

Time passes, summer times see these small groups of people arrive doing activities with kids, parallel programs that the Nain Inuit Community Government [NICG] runs. Adds for AA meetings at the Whalen’s go up, another parallel program run by NG. According to various outside web sites and facebooks there are days where kids go to the house and are fed. There are spiritual gatherings at the house.

One summer several containers are landed loaded with used furniture, mattresses and clothing. From my observations some people with good jobs and vehicles were carting off some of the the loot, no means test applied here either, but it looks good for the suckers down south.
Other shipments of clothing and food arrive by plane.

The Whalen’s travel extensively during this time, they also have several vehicles for transport around town.

Next we know the Whalen’s have purchased the land, containing a shed type structure, next to their house.

Fast track to 2008/09. I do not know the order but all of a sudden the Whalen’s have applied for, and received approval from NICG, for a residential lot of land as well as a commercial lot of land up in the newest sub division.

NICG receives an application from "Shinning Light Ministries" for re zoning a section of land behind lot 106 Middlepath Road from ENVIRONMETALY PROTECTED to MIXED DEVELOPMENT.
Lot 106 is the land next to the house Whalen’s purchased.

Now it seems that "SLM" are the owners of lot 106 and the house next door.

Ray Whalen is the owner of the two lots up in the new subdivision. Materials for a warehouse on the commercial lot and for a house on the residential lot are already on site. So it would seem that NICG have given approval for these two structures to go up.

Meantime back at lot 106 things have hit a snag for the "SLM". "SLM" wants to reclaim about 30 feet x the width of lot 106 of ENVIRONMENTALY PROTECTED LAND to build a ‘community outreach center’.
Hearings have to take place undertaken by the NICG and conducted by their town planner. Consultations are planned both in private and public forums. Then a public meeting has to be held to provide community input.

So Bill and Rays presumptuous plans of having their proposed $1.2 million ‘community outreach center’ built on lot 106 post haste are not going so well.

That’s right folks, 1.2 million bucks.

Then there is the house and storage shed up in the newest sub division, and the house they live in now and they are off traveling for a month.

Are there any questions about where all the money for all this is coming from??? More importantly, how much money goes toward the starving half clothed children and how much goes to administration and housing and travel and the like????

In the mix we have the arrival in town recently of a lady from "TrueNorthAid". "TNA"" gets into trouble with some locals with her facebook page. "TNA" lady pulls all the critiques from the page saying it is a ‘fan page’ and if you want to contact her with concerns go to "TNA" web page, yeah right!

We then learn that the "TNA" lady is the granddaughter of ol Bill Prankard and that "TNA" received government funding to get started.

Several locals have expressed their disappointment with what is going on with "TNA" in another facebook page; you can add your two cents worth here if you like.

To be continued.

I am taking a break for a week or so, recharge and refresh ready for the fall. Alas it may be here already, fall that is; lots of people mentioned that ‘feeling’ yesterday.

I leave you with some more text from this document called “Strategic Prayer Strategy”. I am told that this [4 printed page] prayer was read out in the Moravian Church some time this year. A group affiliated with the Shinning Light Ministry [SLM] asked for the use of the church. Some one did not exercise due diligence it would seem, or as is their want, are overly trusting.

I confess the sin of committing and the removal of innocent people from their own land.
The theft of property and the theft of the dignity and freedom people took place. In particular, the removal of the Inuit people from Hebron, the land of their ancestral heritage. I acknowledge on behalf of myself and my family that this involved the sin of usury, exploitation, control, manipulation and intimidation.
We repent, and reject and repent the sin of cannibalism.

I am no theological scholar, why I have trouble even attending weddings and the odd funeral, though when I do attend I enjoy the sound of certain hymns when sung in Inuktut, they have a certain peaceful relaxing sound to them when sung in that language.

But I digress; it seems to me that the confessions of the above and the condemning of past sins run parallel with what the SLM and its affiliates and partner ministries are doing in this modern day. That is: “the sin of usury, exploitation, control, manipulation and intimidation”. One just has to read any of the literature and web sights dedicated to fund-raising to come to this conclusion.
The exploitation and manipulation of the Inuit continues, Yogi Berra was correct, "This is like deja vu all over again."


It is possible, but highly unlikely, that these people are in the know as to what is really going on behind closed doors and hidden away in the bush, what with the mention of cannibalism and you should read the stuff under the heading IDOLATRY. Bloody hell!!!!!!!


Another bit a bad news before signing off: OK Society will be without am Executive Director far an unknown amount of time.

The [just] past ED left town yesterday, sorry to see her departure but thems the breaks.

It was thought than a new ED had been hired and would arrive in short order.

Alas Monday night the ‘to be ED’ called and pulled the plug.

I was not going to blog today, very busy you know. Alas I was very disturbed by some rumors [at the time] going around on facebook and some personal contact about a proposal to build from Ray Whalen and or the Shining Light Ministry and or True North Aid. Hard to know who is who in the big scheme of fundraising scams these people are involved with.

So I checked out building applications at the town council office. Low and behold Ray Whalen has had an application in to build a large building of around 7,000 sq ft costing some 1.2 million dollars for some time.
It is claimed to be a “community center” by the above mentioned shady bunch of religious zealots.

When I first heard this I thought it can’t be true. Nain has a community hall, a sportsplex, a ball field, a day care center, a community resource center. Nain has many organized activities for youth of all ages in summer and winter. There are activities for the older folk; Nain is like any modern remote community anywhere in Canada.
It certainly is not like these zealots portray it in there misguided PR blurbs and facebook propaganda.

Sure there are kids who don’t fit with these activities and some who just don’t care. But for anyone to imply that kids are starving, unclothed and Nain has the one of the highest suicide rates in Canada is just plain lying through their teeth.

Any way back to the building applications. It gets involved and time is short, suffice to say that Nain council wants Ray Whalen or SLM to pay for all that is involved with having hearings and engineer involvement that comes from their application to acquire 30 feet of land adjoining the lot intended for building zoned “Environmentally Protected ”land and change the zoning to “general use”.

I am also reprinting input from the comments section from what seems like an informed concerned citizen.
You all judge for yourself, my mind is made up.



Its good to see someone commenting on this group. They certainly are someone to be questioned for their motives, practices and beliefs. Many of the comments on some of the various sites are quite blasphemous and certainly insulting for Nainimuit. Circulating in Nain is a paper titled “ Strategic Prayer Strategy” which was read in the Moravian Church in Nain, by a group sponsored by SLM. This prayer’ has certain comments such as ‘I forgive my ancestors for the effect of their sins on my descendants. We confess that my ancestors we involved in the sin of idoltry. We repent the shedding of blood through assisted suicide of the elderly and sick of our ancestors. We repent that my ancestors and I have been involved in the sin of bloodshed. We repent the shedding of blood of the Moravian Missianoaries… more particularly John Ehrhardt..We ask for forgiveness for any illegitimate births that have taken place within our ancestral lineage. We pray that all curses on the land that exist due to our and our ancestors sine be broken and nullified..”

To think this is the same group who are planning on setting up a building in Nain and who are canvassing donations in the outside world is sickening. I hope many residents of Nain read this and become aware of the truths, and to those outside hear the real story. Nain does have problems, but it is also a normal, average, modern community, who does not NEED these people with their distorted views, bribery and beliefs.


.

The granddaughter almost made it home Monday; she got to Natuashish before having to turn back to Goose Bay. Her boy friend who was going home to Hopedale on another plane flew over that town as well as Nain before returning to GB.

GD's plane was originally scheduled to leave GB at 11, alas it left about an hour late.
In Nain there was a brief opening in the skies around 12 to 1 or so, and then it closed in and down flat, so if it had of left on time they would have made it.
Air Labrador turned back also and a flight by Air Inuit did not make it in either.

Bill Prankard and a contingent of like travelers have been in Nain for a week or so doing some promotion videos and spiels and the like for this so called Shinning Light Ministry. They too were at the airstrip hoping to get out; they too had go home just like the other mortals.

I am lead to believe that both heads of their own ministries claim to have an in with a higher authority. After today maybe they might want to re evaluate going by the weather and the vehicle stuck in the ditch [SLM vehicle].
Anyone who took a vehicle out in these conditions needs a reality check.


The top two photos not only shows the guy who is two forks short of a cutlery draw and his elves but the folks waiting to get out or greet incoming travelers.

The bottom two photos gives an idea of the conditions as we made our way home after the disappointment of our granddaughter not getting home.