Rankin Inlet (May 03/04) - Church leaders from across the Kivalliq were in Rankin Inlet this past month to participate in the annual Glad Tidings Leaders Conference.

Rev. Dan Collado says every year Glad Tidings Arctic Mission Society sponsors a leaders conference at the conclusion of Bible school, which runs from January to March.

The conference brings leaders and pastors from different Glad Tidings churches around the region together for special meetings and teachings.

This year's keynote speaker was Rolland Baker from Mozambique, Africa.

Baker and his wife, Heidi, began Iris Ministries Inc., an interdenominational mission, in Ohio in 1980.

The American couple arrived in Mozambique in 1995 and now, through the work of their mission, care for more than 1,000 kids at the Zimpeto and Machava orphanages.

"Rolland (Baker) has been instrumental in the religious growth that's currently taking place in Africa," says Collado.

"As amazing as it may sound, he oversees about 5,000 churches.

"A number of successful church plants have taken place during the past couple of years over there."

The three-day conference featured workshops during the day and open community services in the evening.

The majority of the delegates were from Baker Lake, Arviat, Whale Cove, Chesterfield Inlet and Coral Harbour.

Collado says the focus of the annual gathering is to encourage or "lift up" the leaders in the various communities.

He says most of the material delivered during the daily teaching sessions revolved around the various aspects associated with church leadership. "Basically, the goal of the workshops is to help strengthen and encourage church leaders to become more effective in their leadership when they return to their communities.