Arviat (Apr 20/05) - An Arviat family walked more than 250 km this month to raise money for the construction of a new Anglican church in their community.

Dominic Pingushat and his daughters, Jeannie, 16, and Josephine, 18, left Arviat on April 1.

Pingushat, 48, says they decided to make the trek because Arviat badly needs a new church since the fire marshal's office condemned the St. Francis Anglican Church this past November.

He says the idea to make the walk came from God.

"When our church was closed, I began to notice many people could not read well enough to understand the Bible," says Pingushat.

"They go to church to hear the word of God told to them by the priests.

"There are too many people in our community missing the good news of the Bible because they don't have a church to attend.

"So, I decided to help fundraise for a new Anglican church so they can hear the word of the Lord again."

Pingushat says while he and his daughters walked, volunteers in Arviat, Whale Cove and Rankin accepted donations on their behalf.

He says because the walk was so difficult, he didn't let himself worry about how the fundraising was going while they were on the land.

"I'll find out how the fundraising went when we get back to Arviat.

"I hope it went well, but I was focused on us doing our part and that was to complete the walk."

Warm welcomes

Pingushat and his daughters arrived in Whale Cove on April 10.

They left Whale on April 13 and arrived in Rankin this past weekend.

Both communities provided a warm welcome for the three fundraisers.

Pingushat says he started to get in better shape as the journey wore on.

He says they only walked about eight-to-10 kilometres the first three days, but were covering about 34 km a day near the end of the trip.

The three pulled a sled with a tent and a load of supplies on the journey.

They spent two days in a cabin when bad weather hit, and Pingushat built an iglu on nights too cold for the tent.

Pingushat says the three had plenty of good conversations along the way.

"My daughters would run around the tent every night laughing and enjoying themselves.

"I was proud of them. They never seemed to get tired."