“From the Heart”

Few people can say they’ve experienced a miracle, but for Terriann Rice, witnessing miracles has become nearly commonplace during her six years of mission trips to a Cree Indian reservation in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

A modern day “fish and loaves” re-creation, Rice recalls one experience during which she and her mission team prepared 100 sandwiches for the kids expected to eat lunch the following day. To the surprise of all, not 100, but 125 kids showed up — and each of them were fed a sandwich, down to the last person.

“Low and behold, God multiplied the food,” Rice said.

Proliferating food is only the beginning of her life-changing experiences as a mission team member and leader. Through Hosanna! Church in Lakeville, each year Rice and a team of 15 to 17 people spend a week in Pelican Narrows, a poverty stricken community of around 2,500 people, with an unemployment rate of 30 percent. Add to that a high rate of crime, teen pregnancy and alcoholism, and the result is a community greatly in need of help, including the help of prayer.

It was the power of prayer, Rice believes, that resulted in another miracle for two people she met at a home on the reservation where she and her team visited.

When entering the house, it was clear that the entire household was intoxicated. Two of those people, Mary and Daniel, approached Rice asking for her help — they were tired of abusing alcohol and desperately wanted to move on with their lives. The team prayed for their healing and that the two would come to know the power and love of Jesus, then left to move on to the next house.

Fast forward one year, back at the reservation, a young man approached Rice while at the church.

“He pointed to me and said, ‘You were the one that prayed over my friends last year, Mary and Daniel in the blue house,’” Rice said. “‘After you prayed over my friends, they never touched one drop of alcohol the whole year. I want what they have.’”

It is these miraculous experiences and many others that hold steadfast Rice’s faith in her mission to aid others.

Rice, owner of a photography studio in Northfield, began joining mission trips because of her daughter, Alyssa Tornio.

“I wanted to find a trip that she could go on, where we could have bonding time, experience different parts of the world, and I could expose her to cultures that don’t have everything she has.”

A job well done

Alyssa, like her mother, has experienced the results of giving from the heart and looks forward to the annual trip. She even uses Facebook to stay in touch throughout the year with some friends from the reservation.

For the first time, this year Rice will lead two teams: one to Pelican Narrows and another to the community of Sandy Bay, also in Saskatchewan. Teams are comprised mostly of families from Hosanna! Church, and together team members spend six months in preparation gathering supplies, creating care packages, and readying their teachings.

Care packages including toys, handmade blankets, toiletries, non-perishable food items and more, are distributed to community members during the mission trip. Team members also teach gatherings of 100 to 200 children the Biblical lessons of God through Vacation Bible School and teen programs, and a prayer walk provides prayer to adults in the community/

It is an endeavor that Rice is thankful to be a part of and one that has impacted her life tremendously.

“My heart is just so warm for them,” she said. “It helps my faith just watching how their lives are changed. To be able to be used like that in powerful ways is humbling and amazing.”

You can help

The cost of each mission trip is $10,000 per team. To donate money or items, contact Rice through her Website at www.save-a-child.webs.com, or bring items to Hosanna! Church in Lakeville.