Could it actually be possible to conduct missionary work abroad without disrespecting the traditions of the culture? Especially if that culture is already plagued by a deep sense of despair evoked from years of ethnocentric empiricism from a dominant white culture?

It is if Pastor Lee Berry '68 has anything to say about it. Berry has made a dauntless attempt at doing just that with his Lutheran affiliated ministry, On Eagle's Wings. As pastor and director of this ministry, Berry demonstrates the necessary dedication it takes to connect with a tribe that Americans may often inappropriately refer to as "Eskimo."

While living in northern Canada for some 20 years, Berry searched to find a way for various Christian denominations to form an ecumenical partnership. About three years ago, On Eagle's Wings formed one such coalition between Lutherans, Anglicans, and Catholics -- an unusual feat, since, according to Berry, societies have tendencies to isolate themselves by dividing into sects so that everyone can be labeled.

Berry's success in thwarting this natural tendency is due, in part, to his religiously unusual belief that God's word is God's word, despite a particular denomination's propensity to remain separate and isolated, rather than cooperative.

On Eagle's Wings is located in the Northwest territory of Nunavut, an area twice the size of Alaska, where communities are often 1,000 miles apart, making airplane transportation a very expensive necessity. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Berry is a professional bush pilot as well as a pastor, which makes this rigorous commute a bit more feasible.

When asked why he chose the people of the Northwest territory of Canada as the focus of this ministry, Berry sincerely replies, "I've always had a great love for the wilderness and other cultures."

And it does require of genuine love for people as people, and not simply a fascination with rescuing people from their own culture. It is about "enabling native people to lead and shape their own communities," according to Berry, for it is not simply a self-serving charity "project."

Berry explains that many global missions begin, though unintentionally, with a disrespectful attitude toward the traditional customs and beliefs of aboriginal people. Dominant white culture, he says, cannot seem to rid itself of its insatiable appetite for assimilation. Natives who had inhabited Canada's Northwest territory for more than 10,000 years have had their traditional ways threatened by the coming of non-natives searching for and exploiting the vast wealth of mineral and natural resources in the Arctic.

On Eagle's Wings, Berry says, focuses on enabling and training the Northern people as teachers and ministers of God within their own cultures, encouraging them to be what God leads them to be, rather than reflecting the beliefs, values, and ways of non-native people from the south.

Berry says this pressure to assimilate into a different, often insensitive culture is responsible for the self-destructive behavior that transpires among the Northwest territories and Nunavut. "Our culture has dominated the native people and forced them to live by our traditions, yet we don't seem to welcome them readily," he says, adding that this ignorant hypocrisy has evoked in them a deep-rooted despair, for many feel that they no longer fit in with either culture.

Typical "teenage angst" is magnified among northern teenagers to the point in which their suicide rate is 10 times higher than the national average, centering around 12 to 15 years of age. Plus, Berry says, the Nunavut people experience an incredibly severe sense of brokenness because of the clash of cultures, thus leading to many broken families and a high rate of alcoholism among teens and adults.

On Eagle's Wings often provides counseling for those who struggle.

Both Berry and his wife Sarah Schaffner-Berry '71, a first-grade teacher to the Nunavut people, feel that their time at Muhlenberg prepared them well for their current endeavors. "Our Muhlenberg education has well-instilled in us a sense of family values that we both incorporate into our behavior and techniques as teachers," says Berry.

Recently, On Eagle's Wings doubled in size, adding a second office in Landsdale, Pa., to its original office located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The desire to expand to the United States stemmed from the fact that many Americans want to volunteer in the training of adults and the teaching of children. Berry says the combination of United States and Canada together means more financial support for the program and the potential for further expansion.

Looking to the future, Berry says that next year he hopes to extend his ministry to an area called Cambridge Bay in Nunavut with the addition of a second airplane and a second pastor to join with him in his ministry.

Clearly, at this point Pastor Lee Berry and On Eagle's Wings seem to be flying higher than ever before!