It was over a decade ago, when a three week day camp program for children was established in the community of Mishkeegogamang Ojibway First Nation, located north of Sioux Lookout, Ontario. This established a relationship between the community and Karen Ward, who organized and directed the camp for several years.  As the children of the camp became older, they began to show a desire to take on leadership roles and ultimately began assisting in the camp program.

Burning Stone Ministries (BSM) evolved out of a desire on the part of the day camp founders to continue  a relationship with the youth from the community, especially those who  had shown an interest in further developing their leadership skills.  Recognizing the lack of educational opportunities allowing the youth to complete their education, and the absence of available resources necessary to meet the needs of indigenous youth that will develop them as future leaders of their indigenous communities, goals were developed  which would offer the youth,   (a). assistance in achieving educational goals; (b) opportunities for youth to recognize their struggles and find healing; and (c) provide deeper leadership building opportunities.

Recognizing these needs and opportunities, Burning Stone Ministries was formally organized under a Constitution and a board of directors, and recently obtained status as a Canadian Registered Charity.  The board members bring to the organization a wealth of experience in the management of charities (both in Canada and overseas), nursing, communications, pastoral, business and professional accounting/auditing and teaching.

Canadian  indigenous youth have overwhelming obstacles facing them, preventing them  from obtaining any formal education. With no high schools in most remote indigenous communities, young people must leave the security of their home and family, travel to a strange place, where they not only endure isolation, but also bullying and systemic racism.  So, it is not surprising to hear of a 50% drop out rate of indigenous students, pregnancies among young female students and many being personally harmed.  It is difficult for these   young people to  obtain  at least a secondary education in Canada.

Karen Ward, who has obtained a Masters of Theological Studies recently, has been engaged by Burning Stone Ministries to assume the role of Director of Programs. With Karen, the work of Burning Stone Ministries began over two years ago, but only in May did the organization realize its identity as a registered charity. 

The purpose of the organization:

1. To advance education by providing aboriginal youth safe boarding during their enrollment in high school.
2. To address and prevent specific problems faced by aboriginal youth with mentoring programs and workshops on issues such as self-Identity, self-esteem and developing healthy life choices and habits.
3. To do all such things as are incidental or ancillary to the attainment of the above purpose.

The vision of Burning Stone Ministries is to partner with indigenous communities in order to connect with young people, not only to provide love and support, but to also seek out opportunities to come alongside and walk with them through their pain and struggles, and to offer resources for them to find new ways of making decisions and for them to commence living from a safe place.   A major goal of the BSM vision is to see  the youth  using their learned skills  and exercising their voices as their God-given identity becomes evident and their confidence grows.