Launch Out Into The Deep... The Story of Parkside Ranch Dr. David Dawson as told by Fred Warnholtz Parkside Ranch 1505 Alfred Desrochers Orford, Quebec Canada J1X 6J4 Telephone : (819) 868-0431 Fax : (819) 868-6730 email : [email protected] www.parksideranch.com ©2006 Dr. David Dawson All rights reserved Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Some Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Legal Deposit — 4th Quarter 2006 ISBN : 2-89082-096-3 Legal Deposit : Bibliothèque nationale du Québec National Library of Canada Printed in Canada Contents Foreword by Richard Warnholtz .............................................5 Preface by Fred Warnholtz ......................................................7 1. Beginnings ............................................................................11 . A Table in The Wilderness ................................................. 15 . Open and Closed Doors ......................................................1 4. Partners and Perils .............................................................5 5. Drafts, Stones and Shingles ................................................ 6. Consolidation – Board, Property and People ................... 9 7. An Olympics Challenge and a Cold Winter Day .................45 8. Cause for Celebration ......................................................... 51 9. The Company of the Faithful ..............................................61 10. Bits, Bytes and Blessings ..................................................69 11. Pine Rock – Ripplings from Afar ......................................75 Parkside Ranch in the Eastern Townships of Quebec www.parksideranch.com 4 Foreword Reflections Our family moved onto the site of Parkside when I was ten. Unfinished but liveable accommodations were the beginnings of a new home for us. It was an adventure in faith that our parents had started a few years earlier in rural French Quebec, amongst a pocket of English communities with a few small churches scattered throughout the region. Parkside Ranch would be the first year-round evangelical Christian retreat center in the province. These were impressionable early days for me and also for my eight siblings for we witnessed the birth of a ministry - a ministry that was born not of talk but of the practical demonstration of faith and perseverance. My life has been indelibly influenced and profoundly enriched because of my parents’ service. Living in this crucible of fulltime ministry was not always cotton candy. Having to share our parents, our “things” and our living areas with frequent visitors and extended family had its moments. Trying to live up to the expectations of those outside looking in – this too could be burdensome. There were some who saw our role at Parkside as glamorous when in fact it was not always great but often hard and long with little to show. It cost. Yet, I believe those well-meaning comments helped to impress on my heart the “faith impact” this truly miraculous ministry had on others experiencing it for the first time. It was unique, wonderful, stretching - and it cost. I would 5 Launch Out Into the Deep gladly relive all those days and I have come to recognize and appreciate more and more what I was privileged to experience through the years. I was privy to acts of generosity, decisions based on integrity, and often, despite all odds, a walk of faithfulness. The sense of urgency to proclaim the Good News to a lost world was always at the forefront. The creed for ministry was: “If you see something that needs doing, do it.” This often meant unpopular tasks such as repairing fences in swarms of black flies, bringing in hay until midnight if necessary, flooding outdoor broomball and hockey rinks until two in the morning, or cleaning off ten inches of snow from the rink. I learned to look after animals on a farm, to finish a job to completion, and to tackle a variety of construction jobs. I learned that the blessing of a likeminded helpmate standing firm through good and bad was a gift from God. I learned that leadership was about service, not about who received the credit or praise. There were many other wonderful benefits of growing up in this milieu. Witnessing the growth of a ministry from the grassroots up and watching the impact on those committed to being available for the Master’s use – these were priceless lessons. My family knows the richness of their heritage and its challenge to the next generation. Thank you, Dad and Mom, for your example. Your lives have been an inspiration. It has truly been a wonderful adventure and privilege to participate in God’s unfolding of His vision through you. Love, Richard Warnholtz November 006 6 Preface On the Journey The Parkside Story is about a journey. For me it began in the 190’s when a young man named Hugh Ross put himself out to travel from Preston to the small town of Hespeler, Ontario every Sunday afternoon. As my Sunday School teacher, he was concerned about a country boy who needed a Saviour! It was he who knelt by my side to show me verses like John :16, Romans 10:9 and Corinthians 5:14,15 when I accepted the Lord. Not until many years later when he was in a retirement home did I have the opportunity to express my appreciation and thankfulness to him for his care for me as a teenager. Many servants of God with records of triumph on their journey to Glory were also a great encouragement to me: George Mueller for his work in British orphanages, Hudson Taylor as a missionary to China, and John G. Paton to the New Hebrides to name a few. Fellow travelers on the road of life in our time have been a great support to us - our own family, our Church family at Cherry River Gospel Chapel and many friends without whom we would have missed the comfort and joy of companionship in Christ. With gratefulness we thank all those who have had a part in this journey. In the Bible the psalmist writes, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (Psalm 107:). For this reason we have endeavoured to 7 Launch Out Into the Deep tell how good the Lord has been in taking us into partnership with Himself to share the good news of salvation. It has been an exciting and satisfying journey! We can only praise Him for loving us and walking beside us all the way. The Bible also says, “Be ready to give an answer of the reason and the hope that we have in Christ Jesus” (1 Peter :15). We would be remiss if we neglected to do this. Family members and others have long voiced the need to record the history of the Lord’s faithfulness in the establishment of Parkside Ranch. Hopefully the telling of the story will challenge and encourage other followers of Jesus Christ to depend on God as they travel on their own journey to Heaven. We want to acknowledge with thankfulness the partnership of our son-in-law Dr. David Dawson in reworking our notes to record the “Parkside Story”. We do trust that all those who read this may be challenged and blessed by it. It was always our desire to show young people and others that, contrary to the “God-is-Dead” thinking of the 1960’s, God is NOT DEAD but very much interested in them personally. Our prayer is that the Lord might be honoured in the telling of this story. Fred Warnholtz November 006 8 Welcome to Parkside Ranch 9 Launch Out Into the Deep 10 1. Beginnings The “Parkside Story” has been told and retold for more than a generation. Campers and staff, children and grandchildren, friends from churches and community – all have marvelled and been inspired in the telling. What has become an oral tradition recounted in part at a campfire or in a living room or before an auditorium is now put to pen so that a fuller version might inspire a wider audience. Fred Warnholtz has always been the consummate raconteur. Jean Warnholtz has always communicated from the heart. Together they speak to God’s power to use lives passionately yielded to Him to accomplish a purpose much larger than their own. Their story of the launch and expansion of Parkside Ranch as a year-round Christian retreat center is always humbly shared as the story of the provision of God and the partnership of others. Long before Parkside was conceived or Fred and Jean ever met, God was preparing each of them for their venture of faith. They both learned frugality and hard work during the 190’s and on into the war years. Frederick Walter was the eighth of 10 children born to Herman and Dora Warnholtz in small town Hespeler, Ontario where the family depended very much on the land for their livelihood. In big city Toronto, Mary Jean was thrust into adversity at age nine when her father abandoned the family leaving Jean as her mother Jessica’s right arm in the raising of two younger siblings. 11 Launch Out Into the Deep At age 1, Jean supplemented her mother’s meager housecleaning income with her summer factory earnings of $10 a week; throughout her high school days she needed to hold a job at Woolworth’s. Fred and his family worked the ground alongside father and grandfather growing produce for consumption and for sale. He remembers peddling bags of beets and carrots along the highway but of course, never earning a wage. Food was stretched a long way in this large family. One day Fred’s mom sent him to the butcher to secure bone with marrow to give taste and substance to that day’s soup – she could afford only a 10-cent supply. The lessons of resourcefulness, industry and sacrifice were arduous and seemingly premature for their young ages – but such were the times.