New Features & Old Favorites at Barrows Gospel Jamboree

Submitted by: Violet Plett

Barrows 6th Annual Gospel Jamboree held on June 7-9, 2019 has come and gone.

We started out Friday evening with a beautiful evening and a small crowd. However, on Saturday morning, it was very cold and windy and looked like rain, so we moved the event into the Community Hall. The weather stayed cold, so we stayed in the hall the rest of the weekend. Thanks to the town of Barrows for the use of their facilities, inside and outside.

One of our bands – Kim and Kevin Elias were unable to attend due to serious health issues with one of their sons. Cyril and Freda Genaille were only able to be there on Sunday, but they were a blessing to us, and we gave them extra singing time then.

Our other main singers included Bert and Liz Genaille who are quite regular on Tribal Trails TV program. Kene and Milly Jackson who are from close to Calgary,AB. Kene is also the director of NEFC (Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada). Ivan and Bernice Chartrand, and Carl Crane came from Prince Albert,SK. They have been with us every year, I think, and are favorites with the audience.

We added a couple of new features to our Jamboree this year. We invited friends, Dave and Cathy McGill from Ile des Chenes, who are Living Books distributors to come and set up a mini-Christian bookstore. They started off in a booth on Friday night, but also moved inside on Saturday due to the cold weather. They were a joy to have around, and found that their sales exceeded their expectations for the weekend. We will probably invite them to come back again next year.

Another new thing was that we were privileged to have most of our Jamboree broadcast over CJTL radio. CJTL is a 24/7 Christian radio station operated by NEFC. They have several stations across Canada, and can also be accessed on the internet. We feel blessed to be a part of this ministry. Dan Hatfield came from Duluth, Minnesota to do the set up and broadcasting. There were a lot of technical difficulties so we didn’t get on the air Friday evening, but did broadcast Saturday and most of Sunday. Thanks Dan for coming. We talked to friends in Bella Coola, BC during the event, and they were able to hear us, and share the Jamboree from there. (Actually, this broadcasting was their idea, and God worked it out quite quickly so it became a reality.) We trust that people who listened were as blessed as those of us who were present in Barrows.