Transcript

Kathy Neily · Called to Serve

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Hello and welcome today. You will be hearing from Kathy
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melee Kathy was ordained in 1986 and went on to serve in Bedford
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Baptist Church. And First Baptist, Charlottetown
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Kathy shares, her story of being called, and ordained Ministry.
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The challenges of balancing her call with parenting and how she
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experienced God's healing firsthand?
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My dad is a Baptist pastor we grew up out west.
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I was born in Saskatchewan and lived there till I was three.
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We moved to Penticton, British Columbia till I was 9, then went
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to Calgary Alberta and then Windsor Ontario.
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And then at that point, I did high school and went to Western
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University growing up in church. I felt like it was family and
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certainly was the center of our Lives as a Pastor's family.
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I never felt embarrassed about my dad being a pastor.
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I was proud of it in grade. 8, I had the privilege of leading my
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best friend to the Lord and she is still a Believer to this day.
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I came to Christ at age 12. I just really understood that
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God doesn't have grandchildren and my parents were Believers,
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but I needed to do that for myself.
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But I really didn't fully understand until I was 16 when I
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realized. I needed to give everything to
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the Lord that started. The whole idea of ministry.
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When I, I realized that God could use me.
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I did struggle with it because I was a female and at that time,
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that and I want to obey scripture.
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I'm I believe in everybody human, right?
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And all of that, but I wasn't really a women's libber per se.
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I just believed the scriptures and that all are created equal,
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but an elk. The looked at the ones that were
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talking about women not to be Can I did some reading on that
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there was a book written by. I can't remember the name of it
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now, but it was put out for the women missionary societies
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reading list, one year. And it was about a woman in a
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denomination where she wasn't even allowed to speak.
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And so it just talked about her journey and her finding of
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ministry. And that I found that very
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helpful and it, examined. All the passages of scripture.
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I went to Urbana, and I heard Helen Rusev are there.
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She was. Easing.
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She was a missionary in the Congo rebellion and she talked
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about being in the rebellion and being raped and being thrown on
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a floor with all the other people in her Village and God
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coming to her. Jesus saying he would be her her
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husband, and sleeping peacefully in the midst of all this.
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And then, seeing how this terrible tragedy that happened
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to her, he came his way of helping her break into the, to
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the Lives of the people in them responding to the gospel.
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Those were things that really spoke to me.
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And I finally just said, Lord, I'm just going to be obedient
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you because I feel that you are calling me.
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And so I need to hear that and respond to that, I don't fully
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understand all the scriptures. But I just felt that I had to be
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obedient because I had a very verbal relationship with God.
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Like we spoke all the time. I guess when I moved to Windsor
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and grade, I was very lonely for about three or four months for
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human contact. So, I had quite a ongoing
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conversation with god. All the time at school and
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things like that. I was at Acadia, 82 to 84.
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So, in 84 in September, I came to Bedford Baptist Church.
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I graduated that past April, or May, and when home to Ontario to
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get married, my husband's name is Dawn Neely and my husband.
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Started medical school at the same time, so it was, it was
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interesting how God worked out because my husband only applied
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to Dalhousie University and I only applied to bed for Baptist
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Church. Like I really believe in call so
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I didn't go for job interviews at Acadia.
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I just waited until somebody felt that I was the right person
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and then we engaged and that was Bedford.
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And so it was shortly after that that I started the process.
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It was either 85 or 86 that I was ordained.
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Think I was the only female ordained the year that I was
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ordained and to of the male pastures voted against me.
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I've been on examining councils since then myself sitting as a
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member of an association, I think it's softened up a bit, it
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felt a bit like a bear pit. When I was in there because we
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were on stage and they were all sitting up in the seats above
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me. So, it was a bit intimidating
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and I mean, you, Buddy, the statement of faith and statement
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of Union, and all these things. And you look over your own work,
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before you go in. But you don't know what
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anybody's going to ask you. My husband said one thing that
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was very helpful to me. Just said, when they asked a
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question just say that's a very good question.
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It gives you a moment to think and it was hugely helpful to me
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and I remember just feeling that God gave me words to say when I
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was There. And I felt I felt the process
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was very good. It was a bit difficult when I
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entered the room because the fellow that had been in just
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before me, did not make ordination.
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So, when I walked in, I could feel as a female, the heaviness
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in the atmosphere and I didn't know why that was dr.
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McCrae was leading the process. He was great.
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And I just felt warmly accepted by those on stage.
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And by, like I said, most of the people that were examining me at
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that point, and I totally understood why those who vote
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against me because they were going with their convictions.
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And that's really important that we do that.
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And like I said, I take the scriptures as the truth.
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So I understand some people's conflict.
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So, I was four years at Bedford Baptist Church.
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I didn't preach much at all on Sunday mornings, I was in charge
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of the children's story and Of Sunday school.
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I was a Christian educator so that was fine.
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So I had to make sure it was the best children's story that there
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ever could be. Since that was my, my one
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opportunity with the congregation and during that
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time, my husband was doing his medical studies.
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When he finished that we were entering into a residency for
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Family Medicine which was two years of traveling all around
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the maritime. So at that point I resigned my
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position and by then I was pregnant.
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With her first child following that I had a period of 10 years
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where I was not in paid Ministry.
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Now, at that point, I we were at new - Baptist Church.
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They did ask me to consider coming on staff, but I didn't
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feel like that point because my children are quite young and I
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had three children in four years and my husband was very busy
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with his medical practice. It is different when you're a
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mom then Then it can be if you're single, or your the mail
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in the partner and you're the one in full-time Ministry.
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We have three children of our own and to Kenyan girls who came
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to us. When we were at new - they were
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in going into High School, their family was attending our church
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and the parents were going back to Kenya.
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So they came to live with us, they were 16 and 15, he lived
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with us and our children, our preschoolers at that point.
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And then we made a move to Prince, Edward Island in 96.
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And we've been there ever since, now, in that I also was
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pregnant, although I miscarried. So that was one of the big
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reasons why we left Nova Scotia because we realized that, my
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husband had to have a practice where he could support us,
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because I thought I was going to be staying home with another
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baby. That was a difficult period, but
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it was what moved us to Pei. Because that point I was working
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in my husband. his office, because we were trying to make
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ends meet Okay, when we came to Pei, we looked around for a
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church and we went to several, we felt called back to First
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Baptist, but it wasn't because it was, it was fantastic though.
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There wasn't a lot going on in between Sundays when we arrived.
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And we were there a year when they set out a new ministry
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position in the church and it was integrating new families at
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that point. People came to me and asked if I
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I would consider putting my name in and that that for me was a
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sign that God wanted me to do that.
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So then they asked me as a church if I would consider
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taking over the Christian education portfolio and that was
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my training. So I said sure I when I first
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came on it was 20 hours a week which I felt was doable with my
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young family. So I did 20 hours a week for a
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year and then I took 30 hours on although I probably did 40 to
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60. So I was able to be home with my
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children. In the daytime around suppertime
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and bedtime, and then I would go out and do more Ministry in the
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evenings, for those 10 years, your family's very important.
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We need your time. And I think that's for both male
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and females, but especially with my husband having a busy
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practice, 11 parent, you see has more of a load with raising the
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children. I struggled, I was having some
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health problems and I struggled for about six months deciding
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whether I should or shouldn't stay there.
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There was a lot of conflict going on in the church so it was
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affecting me physically. So I took six months to consider
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and decided that I wouldn't go back then I took a position for
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six and a half years at Atlantis Baptist, nursing home as
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chaplain. I really loved it for the time
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that I was there. The residents were just
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incredibly sweet. It was only a 10-hour position
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with 100 million think, 115 resident.
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I loved it. But we were looking for
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something with more income for me.
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And so I ended up what I'm doing now, because we also go on a lot
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of short-term mission trips, my husband and I, we've done to, to
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Bolivia, we've done three to Haiti and we've done, I think
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we've done eight who we needed to earn some money to be able to
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do these trips. So I've been Been actually doing
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Airbnb out of our house. We have an apartment on our
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house. We also went through a period
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after our pastor. Well, our pastor organist and
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myself, we all got cancer. At the same time, we all had non
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Life Style, rare, non-hereditary cancer.
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This was 2004. So our pastor only lived 14
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months past that time he was just a fantastic Pastor.
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He was he was in Eight caregiver, and he was great with
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the staff. So he spent a lot of time going
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around with all of us supporting us in our Ministries and doing a
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lot of visitation and things like that.
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So he passed away kind of in the midst of all this deeply loved
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as a pastor, I had had cancer as well.
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I'd had a major surgery because I had a tumor growing through
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the wall of my stomach. I really saw the hand of God
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through that though because the kind of cancer I had was Called
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gist, gastrointestinal stromal tumor and 90% of them grow back
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in 92, 18 months. So I felt that God wanted us to
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have a healing service Pastor, Richard didn't come to it
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because he was struggling with lung cancer and felt that he
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couldn't be exposed to the crowds that Gloria came organist
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and she and I were both prayed for Jonathan steeper came from
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Moncton, he was pastoring there and he led The service I asked
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him to come and Lead it. And so he came and led and we
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prayed for all those that were Afflicted.
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One lady was healed from carpal tunnel syndrome.
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She had been to many other services of healing.
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And she was sitting in a few having an argument with God
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because God said to go forward and said, I'm not going forward
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and I've been prayed for many times and anyway, she went for
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it and my dad prayed for her and she wrote a letter later, this
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is how we know that she was healed.
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She said he prayed a very perfunctory prayer.
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Are. But God still used him to heal
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her. And my dad was shocked because
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he had never been involved in a healing service before.
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And I said, dad, why do you think God used you for that
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service? He said I don't know.
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And I said I think I know I said you were broken hearted because
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I was sick with cancer and he was giving you the sign that
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things were going to be okay, that he was working.
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And so I was prayed for and I don't know some period of time
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later. A few weeks later, I was in the
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middle of church praising. We were just in the middle of
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praise and worship and I was standing and just worshiping
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God. And I felt this sense of
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well-being. Go through my toes right up to
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the top of my head, I don't know how else to describe it.
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I said that was really weird I just suddenly feel well anyway
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the tumors have never grown back.
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I didn't know for three years that that was the case because I
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was in a study I had to go to Halifax and First, it was every
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two weeks and it was once a month, and then it was once
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every three months and then every six months and then once a
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year for three years, and at the end of three years, they told me
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that I was not receiving, like, we were given medication, but we
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didn't know if it was Placebo or the meds and that point, he
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said, I can. Now tell you what, side of the
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study you were on and he said, you were on the placebo.
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So I knew God had done a healing work.
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I just hope that People will follow what God speak to them
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about and allow themselves to go on the Journey of ministry.
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If they're feeling that he is leading them because it's a
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wonderful Rich experience. God will provide a way for you
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to be in Ministry and to enjoy the other things of life, like
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being a mother grandmother, a wife, a friend, there's a
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richness there with, in places that I might surprise you, if
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you're obedient to the call of God.
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You just need to be obedient and he'll that the path before you
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and work things out. Thank you, Kathy, for sharing
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your story with the project. You can find more information
15:06
about called to serve at called the served out ca or by emailing
15:09
us at called, to serve at Acadia U.C a, if you've been enjoying
15:13
this podcast, please rate US and leave a review.
15:16
This helps others find the show until next week.
15:18
Thank you for listening. Thank you, Kathy, for sharing
15:03
your story with the project. You can find more information
15:06
about called to serve at called the served out ca or by emailing
15:09
us at called, to serve at Acadia U.C a, if you've been enjoying
15:13
this podcast, please rate US and leave a review.
15:16
This helps others find the show until next week.
15:18
Thank you for listening.