DECISIONS IN KAMLOOPS
A decision was made to give the church building new life - paint
As in previous churches, it was encouraging to see people receiving new life and getting right with God. Sunday, October 6th, 1985 was my first Sunday as senior pastor of the Kamloops Alliance Church. Except for a half dozen people, everyone was new to us. We didn't know who had attended that church for twenty years, twenty months or twenty weeks. That first Sunday there was a visitor's card, that came my way, with the name of a young married lady. She indicated that this was her first Sunday and that she would like to speak with a pastor.
A few days later I met with her in my office. She indicated that she was searching for something that would meet the inner hunger of her heart. She had purchased books, which were new age. Was that what she needed? She wasn't sure. About the same time, a friend, who was a Roman Catholic, loaned her a book written by Dr. A. W. Tozer, an author of many books and a long time Alliance pastor. Since this young lady found Tozer's book to be helpful and also that he had been an Alliance pastor and realized that she was passing Kamloops Alliance Church every day on her way to and from work, she decided to come to a Sunday morning service.
That day, there in my office, Linda prayed to receive Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour. She continued to attend and we saw her grow in her Christian life. We've attended the occasional service at the church, in recent years and nearly always see her, serving some times at the welcome centre. Linda was there my first Sunday; she was the first seeker in my office and she was the first person to receive Christ after I began my ministry there.
I'll try not to make this posting too long, but a couple of other stories popped into my mind. This next one was about a home visit. One night I took a young man with me when we called on a home where the folks were relatively new to the church. Only the husband was home. We spent a little time, as usual, getting to know something about this man. Once we started talking about spiritual matters, we discovered that he was not a believer. Well, he was believer before our visit ended. He prayed that night to invite Christ into his life.
As we were getting ready to leave, his wife arrived home. As I recall, when she learned that her husband had not offered us anything to drink, she set about to fix something for us. Once she was seated, she was curious as to what we had been talking about. Her husband turned to her and said, "I invited Christ into my life tonight." We were not prepared for her response. "So did I," she said. She then proceeded to share with us that three weeks earlier at the Sunday morning service, when I had said at the close of the service that if anyone wanted to receive Christ as their Saviour, to pray along with me as I led in a prayer for salvation. This wife had prayed that prayer that Sunday morning, but obviously did not have the courage to tell her husband. They were both rejoicing when we left. My visitor companion and I also went away, praising God for a wonderful evening visit.
This last story is about a Sunday evening in August 1986 when a lady, named Faith, attended the service with her sister for the very first time. The sister, who was from some other city, had been a Christian for some years and had come to Kamloops, for the weekend, to help Faith find a church. Faith had been a school teacher, but because of her alcoholic addiction, had not been teaching for some time. I believe it was through her Christian sister that Faith became a Christian. Faith lived in Kamloops, but knew nothing about any of the Kamloops churches.
The two ladies had gone to another Kamloops church that morning and came to the Kamloops Alliance Church Sunday evening. Well, I tried to explain to these ladies, when meeting them at the door after the service, that this was not our usual format. That particular Sunday evening was a farewell service for our youth interns, Kent and Gayle Klassen. They had been with us for six months and were now moving on. There was a lot of laughter, a slide show of some of the youth activities, plus some of the youth also participating in the service. It was a youth night and the youth were in charge. It was sort of a family service. Faith responded by saying "I loved it. I'll be back."
To the best of my knowledge, Faith never did anymore church shopping. She became one with us, She became a member and continued to grow in the Lord. It was probably a year or so after she started attending the church that she came forward one Sunday morning for prayer. It was my privilege to pray with her. She shared with me that one day, before she became a Christian, and was under the influence of alcohol that she had banged up her car. She filed a false accident claim with ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) and received a cheque for the same. Now that she was a Christian, she was convicted about this deliberate lie and felt that she needed to make things right with ICBC. I encouraged her to follow through, praying that they would be understanding. God certainly went before her, even though she indicated that she was prepared to go to jail to pay for her false claim, if that is what it took. I prayed and she went on her own, with fear and trembling.
God is so good. As God would have it, who should she meet with, but the manager of ICBC. She shared her story as to her alcoholic past and the false claim that she had made and how she had become a Christian. I knew the manager, but I had not told her. I also knew that he was a born again Christian. I've wondered why was is it that the manager was listening to her claim? I don't think that would be his normal role. There were other staff that did that. Well, God performs His work in marvelous ways. The manager understood perfectly and knew what a born again Christian life should be like. This accident happened so long ago, the information re her claim was not in the computer system. She could not remember the amount, so he suggested a reasonable amount for payment. She was satisfied and paid the amount. What a victory for Faith in her faith in the living God.
As a footnote, Faith moved to the lower mainland some years later. We were living in Abbotsford then and I had been told that she was in hospice in the Mission hospital. It was my privilege to visit with her in her dying days, there in the Mission hospital and reminisce with her in all the ways in which God had worked in her life.
Seeing boys and girls, men and women young and old, making decisions that gives them new life, Christ living in them, has been the greatest joy of my life. I wouldn't have exchanged my calling, my career, for any other line of work. The joy and satisfaction that it has given me, I could never have experienced in any other way.
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