Light on the Horizon” Was Published and Distributed
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In 1996 – in celebration of NCEM’s 50th Anniversary – the 252-page book “Light on the Horizon” was published and distributed. It is now out of print – however, the entire text of the book (including photo captions) is presented here in digital format. Light on the Horizon NORTHERN CANADA EVANGELICAL MISSION’s FIFTY YEARS of MINISTRY to CANADA’s FIRST PEOPLES The history of world missions is simply the story of men and women who have taken Jesus Christ seriously – people who have recognized that they have been blessed in order that others, through them, might also be blessed. It is also the story of those who have faced overwhelming odds – among them a small band of missionaries who, in 1946, set out to see the Church established among unreached Native peoples. The obstacles to be encountered in pursuing their task may not have been fully understood, but the goal itself certainly was. The next fifty years would bring difficulties, set- backs and victories. This is the story of the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission. It is the story of those who have served by faith, with their eyes on the Light on the Horizon. Copyright © 1996 Northern Canada Evangelical Mission PO Box 3030, Prince Albert, SK S6V 6A4 www.ncem.ca 1 CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE The Beginnings: By Prayer Page 5 CHAPTER TWO Change: Something You Can Count On Page 19 CHAPTER THREE Frontier Fields: Yes, in Canada Page 59 CHAPTER FOUR Labourers Together: A Missionary Team Page 98 CHAPTER FIVE Missionary Life: Is it Really Like This? Page 132 CHAPTER SIX Short-term Missions: A Summer Encounter Page 162 CHAPTER SEVEN Light on the Horizon: Christ Builds His Church Page 189 CHAPTER EIGHT The People of NCEM: Through the Years Page 235 2 INTRODUCTION A couple of years ago I was handed what seemed my most difficult assignment ever – to “write” a book that would describe Northern Canada Evangelical Mission’s 50 years of ministry. I soon found out, however, that the job wouldn’t really be that hard. It would be impossible. The task would, I’m sure, have challenged even the most skilled of writers – a class I don’t even pretend to belong to. (Good writers don’t end sentences with prepositions.) But I don’t remember being given a chance to decline the “offer” ... and you now hold in your hands the results. Where does one start on a project like this? The several hundred people who have served with NCEM over the years could each easily fill a book with their own experiences. Writing a “complete” history of the Mission seems unachievable. God “alone” knows all that has taken place; He alone knows what has been of significance. My hope is that this book will be seen simply as an attempt, however feeble, to give God glory for what He has done through ordinary people. I’m sure that those mentioned would have the same desire. l l l l l l l l In one of his books, pastor and author Erwin Lutzer tells the story of a man who was losing his memory. The doctor told him that in order to restore his memory he would have to impair his eyesight. The man replied that he would rather see where he was going than remember where he had been! The story, of course, is fictitious, but the lesson is valid. There is danger in getting too taken up with the past. Yet there is some benefit in looking back. There are, in fact, numerous accounts in Scripture where God’s people are exhorted to remember what He had enabled them to do, by way of encouragement for the future. If this book produces even a little of that same encouragement, then by God’s grace, the effort has been worthwhile. l l l l l l l l The book is dedicated to all of NCEM’s workers, but especially to those who have served on stations where geography and slow response to the Gospel has made fellowship with other Christian believers difficult to find. Adding to this hardship some of these missionaries, especially in the earlier years, lived in primitive conditions and faced extreme physical challenges. They’ve never thought of themselves as heroes, though, and would quickly point out that many professionals – educators, health and government workers, pilots and others – have also left family and friends to live and work in these same places. 3 There “is” something that sets these servants of the Lord apart, though. These missionaries have done it not to earn a living, but for the sake of Christ. They have been God’s agents for change in needy communities where change seemed to come hard and slow. Their task often appeared impossible. But they knew that the God they trusted would never ask them to do something for which He would not strengthen them. They have been opposed and criticized by the people they have sought to love. They have been misunderstood, sometimes even by their Christian brethren. They have visited countless homes and families, and cared and prayed for countless individuals. They have opened their homes to friends and strangers, and have left their families to travel many miles for the sake of the Gospel. They have given freely of their money and possessions. For these reasons we honor them. l l l l l l l l I would like to express appreciation for the many who knowingly and unknowingly assisted in the production of this book, but especially for the late Maggie Potter for her collection of information on the Mission’s first years; and my thanks to: Derrick and Jean Hiscox for their taped interviews with many of the NCEM pioneers; to the many missionaries who have written of their experiences over the years; and to my loving wife, Denise, whose missionary heart is big enough for me and our children, as well as for the many people whose lives she has touched through her ministry. – Rollie Hodgman 4 CHAPTER ONE THE BEGINNINGS: BY PRAYER When did this ministry begin? The Northern Canada Evangelical Mission had its official beginning two years and-one-day after World War II’s D-Day. On June 7, 1946 a handful of a new breed of “missionaries to the North” along with some supportive friends met in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, to organize their work. The 1946 meeting was monumental in establishing the Mission, as now the work could be legally registered as a charitable society. But it was certainly not the beginning. One must look back to 1939 when Stan Collie, who was to become the Mission’s first director, took his first trip into northwestern Saskatchewan. But to more closely trace the Mission’s real beginnings, one must go back even further to a time when Stan Collie had not yet even considered missionary service, for he had not yet begun a spiritual walk with his Saviour. To those acquainted with NCEM’s first years, the names of several missionary workers come to mind. There were Stan and Evelyn Collie and the other early members: Art and Martha Tarry, Gleason and Kathryn Ledyard, John and Hulda Penner, Ray and Catherine Bradford, Anne (Koop) Heal, Eleanor (Kennedy) Aslin and Sarah Olmstead. There were also William Nish and Hubert Smith, early Board members who, along with Christian friends in the Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan area, graciously supported the early efforts of these workers. The Canadian Sunday School Mission’s name comes to mind, as well, for it helped undergird the work of some of these missionaries during their first years on the field. Yet at this period in history, when so little was being done to reach Canada’s northern Native people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, other factors were at work. They seem more evident in retrospect. What were they? What developments were taking shape to bring the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this neglected and needy part of the world? A RUSTLE OF CONCERN One development was the previous involvement of a certain servant of the Lord. His name does not appear among the Mission’s early members. His personal participation lasted only for a short while, but it was timely. His name was George Isaac Reine. Of Swedish descent, he was born in 1907 in the Weyburn, Saskatchewan area. He went on to study at Winnipeg Bible Institute, graduating in 1936. His long-range plans were for missionary service in Africa but he first set out to work in a northern mining town in order to save money for future expenses. It was in 1937 that he caught his first glimpses of Canada’s North. What he experienced there impacted not only his own life, but 5 would subsequently influence hundreds, even thousands, of others. Isaac travelled first to Waterways, the “end of the steel” and present-day location of Fort McMurray, Alberta, about 300 miles northeast of Edmonton. He worked his way down the great Athabasca River to Fort Chipewyan, then up Lake Athabasca to Goldfields (present site of Uranium City, Saskatchewan), a gold mining town which had been abandoned for several years but which had revived with the discovery of other minerals. Working days as stevedore, he unloaded boats and barges and also took up other employment that came available. He built himself a pole shack for the coming winter. Being a committed Christian and trained preacher, it seemed only natural for Isaac to begin an evangelistic outreach in his spare time. He started a little Sunday school and, in spite of opposition and ridicule, he held services in the typically sinful frontier town.