Transcript

Lois McLean · Called to Serve

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Hello and welcome to Called to Serve.
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Each week on this podcast, we share stories from women who
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have been ordained by the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic
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Canada. My name is Hannah Hunt and along
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with Doctor Melody Maxwell, Joetta Fernando and other
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researchers, we have spoken with almost 100 pastors, chaplains,
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missionaries and community leaders as we learn what it's
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like to be a woman in ministry today, you'll be hearing from
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Lois McClain. Lois was ordained in 2007 and
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has served several local churches in Nova Scotia and New
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Brunswick. Lois stresses the importance of
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prayer ministry throughout her life and the necessity of
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community when there are dark times.
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She also describes the blessing that she felt ministering to
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people and families as they faced death.
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I've had lots of names. I've had Little Low, I've had
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Lowey, I've had Aunt Lowe made the Babe, and I've had director
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of Christian Education, minister of Christian Education and
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eventually Reverend Lois McLean. I was born in Woodstock, NB, and
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grew up in Victoria Corner. We went to a Primitive Baptist
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Church, which eventually merged with Free Will Baptist.
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What I remember most is that everybody seemed to feel as one.
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Even as children. They loved everything that you
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were a part of. So I remember going to prayer
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meetings and sometimes they would carry on in our home.
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People would come and we'd have sing songs and gather around for
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tea and cookies, and whenever the tea and cookies finally ran
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out, then we closed the singsong.
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When I came to faith, I remember being really uncomfortable in
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the service. I was only nine years old.
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I used to play with my mother's fur coat.
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We never had a lot, but my mom had a fur coat and I could rub
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my hand over it and make designs and she hated it.
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But I remember in 1965 I was crying and I was rubbing her
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coat and she had the Spirit of the Lord on her enough to know
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and say what's wrong dear? And I said, I just want to go
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forward and trust in Jesus. And she said, well, you need to
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do that. And so I got up and went
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forward. At the end of the service, I was
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baptized in a little stream in Waterville, and I loved it
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because people could just watch people driving by.
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They'd stop their cars, it was of interest to them, and they'd
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watch from the little bridge when we were down in the Creek.
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I just always really felt God wanted to do something with my
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life in terms of ministry. I wasn't sure what I even used
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to practice being a pastor. I took our little piano stool
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and I'd set it up and have a baby in Bible there and I would
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preach from the piano stool. And my friend next door, he was
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two years younger and he would sit under my sermons and, and I
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can remember as a young person, I would go to these permings.
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At the time, maybe I thought, what do I have to contribute?
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But people were so supportive of my faith and they just would
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commend everything that you would do if you sang.
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They loved it if you prayed. They all have got on their
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knees, most of them. I remember my dad was a crier.
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He really just seemed to touch heaven, and heaven seemed to
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touch him. He would give me his
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handkerchief and I would wipe his tears away.
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More than that, I remember the people he prayed for and the
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people who got saved, people up and down the road, and God
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seemed to bless and bring people to faith in him.
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That's what really stood out to me.
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And I think prayer has been such an important part of my life.
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I lost my father when I was 14, so he died in 1970.
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I had prayed with him before he died, saying God don't let him
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suffer. If it's really his time, would
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you take him home? When I was in high school
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preparing for graduation, around the community and other high
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schools nearby, there had been a death on graduation for six
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years. That had happened and people
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were saying it's Heartland's turn.
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A great fear gripped our class. And the president of our class
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was a good friend of mine. She was a lovely Christian.
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And she said our friends are really afraid.
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Why don't we pray for them? So we both prayed.
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And the interesting thing is we both prayed that if someone
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really was to die that night, that it would be one of us.
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And after the banquet, they had an accident and Mary Ann was
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killed. I didn't tell anyone Mary Ann's
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prayer and mine for two years because I lost my dad.
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And here I was 17, losing a really close friend, wondering
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why it wasn't me. She was extremely talented and
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gifted and and that I think changed my life.
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When I was going to go to Atlantic Baptist College, I was
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really wanting in my heart to go into ministry, but I had some
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concerns with my family that it did not pay well.
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And so I started in the academic at Christmas time when we wrote
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our exams, I failed 4 out of five courses, extremely unusual.
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I met with my chemistry professor.
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I remember crying in his office and saying I never really wanted
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to do this anyway. I've always wanted to be in
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ministry. And I told him my fears and we
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prayed together. And I switched at that time and
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went into biblical studies. There was support from some and
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support not there by others who are meaningful to me, but God
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just really brought peace and that's where I headed.
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I ended up in 1975 graduating with a diploma.
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Reverend Dr. Stuart Murray encouraged me to go to
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Briarcrest Bible College and get my Bachelor of Religious
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Education, but I worked at the Victoria Public Hospital till
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August in 1976 and then went to Briarcrest and graduated with a
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BREI. Just remember my church totally
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supporting me. They were just always really
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strong encouragers. They would often write or send
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their prayers because we didn't have the connections that we do
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today. So I got a lot of mail.
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They would raise money and everybody would contribute and
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they would bring me home. They also gave me work during
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the summer at their camp ministry.
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Eventually, I did have opportunity to serve with them
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in all of the Primitive Baptist churches because no church was
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large enough to support a position of leadership other
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than the pastors. They took me on as like a
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director of Christian education in 10 churches and I traveled
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throughout the province presenting Christian education
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workshops, Sunday school workshops.
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I didn't feel a lot of opposition.
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God just seemed to open those doors and and if there was
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opposition, then that's not where I was to be.
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I think it was more scary for me to see the support I had.
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There was more confidence in the people than I had in myself.
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I was in Heartland Baptist Church for 10 years, 1985 to 95,
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and they were totally supportive.
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When I was in Heartland, I remember for eight months God
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just took youth ministry out of my hands and the youth took it
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over. And what happened was God
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started answering their prayers. Bottom line, when we had youth
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group, they would show up before I got there and the door was
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locked and they would say hurry up, hurry up.
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We got to get in and they would go in and start writing prayer
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requests that their friends had given them.
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They'd start putting it on a chalkboard and we'd pray about
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it. And for eight months that
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happened. During that time, four of their
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parents became Christians and were baptized and their friends
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were coming. And we just saw God doing all
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kinds of things in the community and in the church.
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God just took over and did it and affirmed more and more like,
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this is me, This isn't about you.
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You just lean on me and keep doing what I've asked you to do.
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When I went to Lancaster Baptist Church in 1997, Reverend Harold
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Arbo gave me many opportunities to come alongside him and just
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be a pastor. He left in 1999 and the church
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asked if I would become the interim pastor.
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I said no three times because I was already in the Christian
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education ministerial role. And I just said I can't handle
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all the work. And after the third time, I said
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I will do it on a number of conditions.
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One, that my Christian education board will take on more of the
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Christian education role and that I will serve with the three
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boards, the Christian Ed, the deacons and the board of
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management and we will serve together.
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I will speak at least two Sundays a month.
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Then I encourage that we bring someone in possibly from
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convention. So we had a lot of convention
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help at the time. And whenever I said that I
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speak, I will only do the speaking.
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I want the worship team and and members of each of the three
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boards to do the other parts of the service.
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They'll do the call to worship, pastoral prayer, all of those
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things. We did that for six months.
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God showed up in a powerful way, is all I could say.
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We grew to capacity and more. The giving was incredible.
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And then they got their new pastor and I went back to my
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Christian education ministry. When I was the interim, of
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course, I started doing some hospital visits and I was
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visiting a young person who was 20 years old and she had had a
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stroke and I visited her when she had 1% chance to live.
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I would put my hand on her arm and pray and even though she
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couldn't talk, tears would come. She began to get better and
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better. They thought she would never
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walk again. I had the privilege of taking
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part in her wedding and seeing her walk down the aisle.
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She has two boys. So God is able more than able to
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accomplish what concerns us and and my friend Myrna was going
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through cancer treatments and we went to her home once a month as
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deacons and pastor and I said, I have no idea what I'm doing.
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I've never experienced anything like what you're going through.
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So I can't come and say I understand.
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So if you're having a bad day somehow, let me know, but let me
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know gently. And she came into my office with
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her hair only just a a stubble of growth.
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She said they have told me that they can't do any more for me
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and that I need to prepare and get my house in order.
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So would you help me and help me prepare my kids?
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She had two small children. I remember going home and laying
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on my bed and crying saying God, what are you doing?
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I, I have no idea what to do and I've never been through this
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before. And then it was just like he
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spoke from heaven and said neither has she.
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So I visited her for the last week in the hospital and went
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through visits of looking at pictures with the kids trying to
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help them and the memories that they had.
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And I remember her daughter saying I don't have any good
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memories. Well that really threw her.
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So I found a book by Jeanette Oak that was for children about
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death and dying. And it had a little booklet that
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came along with it and you could write some of your own stories.
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And that's what I bought for the kids.
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And we work through that together.
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And I can remember on the Thursday she said, we're not
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going to do any more planning. I've got the service ready.
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I want you to speak. I don't want you to be long.
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My, my husband will probably be late for my funeral.
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He's late for everything. And he was.
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So when I went in the next day, she was not doing that well.
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And a nurse came in and said, Myrna, we'd, we'd like to give
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you your bath now. And they had come in two other
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times. And finally she said, let's make
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an appointment. And so she set the time for when
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they could come back. I said, Myrna, I need to go and
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let you have time with Kent. And she said, you sit back down.
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I haven't asked you to pray yet. So I sat back down and said OK,
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I guess you're in control. Yes I am.
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So she said I'm going to lean my head back and rest my eyes and
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you and Kent could go ahead and talk and there's anything I
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don't like I'll tell you. Anyway, we just kind of laughed
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and finally when they saw the nurses coming down the hall, she
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said OK, you can pray now. So I went over by the bed and
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took her by the hand and prayed. And when I finished, she looked
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up at me and said I still don't want to die, you know?
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And I said, I know and we don't want you to die either.
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And I had talked about my dad dying.
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And so she hugged me and then she said, what do you want me to
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say to your father? And I was so thrown I didn't
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even have an answer. And she started laughing and
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said, oh, never mind, I'll think of something.
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And in 20 minutes she was gone. That was a life changing
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experience. Then I had another lady from
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Lancaster Baptist Church that was 66.
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She was the choir director. She called me from palliative
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care and said would you come to the hospital?
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They aren't giving me long and I want you to walk through it like
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you did with Myrna just a few months ago.
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I walked through it and again with another lady in my
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apartment building, she and her husband.
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I got to hold her hand and pray with her and can remember
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reading to her John 524 before she died because she was saying
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that she didn't think she was good enough.
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And I prayed with her and prayed those words because it talks
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about those who hear my words have eternal life and they have
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crossed over from death to life. I didn't know how she was
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responding and all of a sudden she was gripping my hand and she
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opened her eyes and she said thank you, Lois.
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And that was the last word I had from her.
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Why God has given me those experiences, I don't know, but
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it certainly has pointed out that God is the one who bears
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their burdens. I've walked through the last
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days of people's lives with them and realized that the greatest
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that I could give was bringing them before the Heavenly Father
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and letting Him do His work. I'm just the one who's had the
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privilege of being there to journey with them.
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I started having people come to my office and encouraged me
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towards becoming a pastor. I remember Doctor David Cook
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coming to meet with me when he was in convention office and
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encouraged me to go for my Master of Divinity in Christian
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Education ministry because it would be more acceptable to go
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in as Christian Education. I was really hesitant.
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I kept wondering why all these people were coming.
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I started making note. After a while, the 22nd person
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who came in my office was a woman who had been against every
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pastor that was there. She was outspoken and she sat
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down and began to cry and she unfolded how God has spoken into
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her life through me. And finally after half hour she
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left and I got on my knees and cried and cried and said Lord,
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why? Why would you want me to do
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this? Eventually I said yes.
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The church had a vote and voted unanimously that I pursue
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becoming ordained. I went back to my office and
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cried again and said Lord, I'm going for my master's degree and
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that'll give you more time to change your mind.
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I regret ever having said it because I just felt it was
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really not trusting, but it was my own fear and so I resigned
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from Lancaster Baptist Church and went off to Acadia.
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When I got the degree, I ended up at Mulgrave Park Baptist
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Church. Also, I did a stint at Harmony
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Baptist Church when they were without a pastor and then a
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little Primitive Baptist Church contacted me.
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Would I come and be their pastor until they could get someone.
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I went and met with them and I said, do you realize that Free
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Will Baptist Church are not supportive of women in pastoral
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position? Well, no, they hadn't realized
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that. So they contacted their
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headquarters and I was allowed to stay there as someone who was
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coming in like a Gideon, and I would be paid accordingly, like
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a visiting Gideon. I kind of chuckled and I did
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that. And while I was there in 2006, I
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got a call to First Baptist Church, Hammonds Plains, to
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become the interim. I didn't really go there
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thinking about ordination. Then the deacons began
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encouraging that to happen. I went understanding that I
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would be there for three months. I was waiting for the vote on
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whether or not to extend my interim, And one of the deacons
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came over and said, you're our new pastor.
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I was absolutely floored. There was opposition later on in
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one of our our business meetings because the guy was not there
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when the vote was made. It's been a few years since I
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settled it with him and I'm he was very kind to me and very
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good to me. But he openly had said that he
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didn't feel that I was the man for the job.
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But I had always said I would never fight that battle.
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If they wanted me, I would be there.
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If they didn't, I wouldn't. And so I didn't feel put down as
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a woman. I kind of smiled and thought,
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well, that's too bad because you're really holding yourself
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back. I had one pastor say to me one
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time, maybe if you painted a mustache on her, it would be all
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right. You know, we say things, we spit
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it out. It's like toothpaste.
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You can't get it back in the tube.
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So I just looked at it as that not really hurt.
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That's the way people look at things.
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And I just want to open the doors where I see God working.
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And when I went before the examining council, it was total
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support. There might have been
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abstentious, but not really that many.
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And so it was 100%. So then the church began
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planning the ordination service with me.
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As part of that service, I was able to dedicate my grand niece.
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There were 5 baptisms, it was all that a pastor would want in
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their ministry but all happening on one time and I had family
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taking part throughout and I had my brother sing and my friend
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Malcolm Beckett told me afterwards that God did
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something there that night. I went through some challenges
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at Hammonds Plains. Part of it was was my own
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failure and part of it was I encountered spiritual attack.
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And just really needed God's wisdom and advice from those who
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had been in ministry longer to help me with it.
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I called Harry Gardner, he gave me a contact of people who came
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and and prayed through the church and through the
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Parsonage. Unfortunately, it took a great
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toll on me. I got quite sick.
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I needed counseling and convention directed me as to who
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might be good. She was a psychologist and after
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we shared some and she really hit it on target, she said, I
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remember reading somewhere Christ in you the hope of glory.
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And she said, well, you need to hold on to that because that's
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what I see in you. Christ is in you and he's the
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hope of glory. I went through those counseling
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sessions and and it really helped.
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Ministry at Hammonds Plains came to an end and eventually I went
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back for the closure service. I believe that when we all come
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together under the blood of Christ, healing takes place.
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So I got to speak to them and then I served communion.
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So I was able to leave with a sense of, you know, God's going
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to do a work in those people as He continues to do a work in my
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life. And I was able to leave with
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that sense of healing. I was staying with friends in
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Dartmouth after I had some of those encounters of spiritual
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darkness and couldn't stay alone.
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And then came to Fredericton and lived with my sister and soon
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got work at Fredericton Inn as head of housekeeping.
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And I was there for 2 1/2 years. I just sort of was in limbo.
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Continued to apply for various jobs, not in ministry.
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By 2015, I was not doing well, but my brother said I think you
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should come and live with us for a while.
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During that time, I had been seeing a medical Doctor Who
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tried me on a medication and I didn't take it, Didn't take it
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for a long time. I can remember the doctor saying
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to me, take the friggin pills. So I finally started taking
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them. I used to read all the reactions
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and I would have the reactions before I ever took the
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medications. So, but anyway, I started on
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one. I really needed somebody to talk
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to, especially about the spiritual darkness part.
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I had known Charlie Harvey from a few years back and I had great
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respect for he and his wife who were missionaries in Angola.
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I told him my story and they agreed to meet with me.
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And so I started seeing them. They had a lot of experience, of
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course, with spiritual darkness and just great perspective.
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He was very frustrated that I would point out all these things
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that had happened in terms of spiritual darkness.
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And he said, I want you to stop that and I want you to start
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telling me where you see God at work.
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And so that was a big turn around for me to start seeing
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God present instead of the fears that I was experiencing.
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They used to come and pick me up and take me to church because I
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didn't have a car anymore then they were going to be away.
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So he said you need to go to a church that you can get to and,
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and he said, can you get to Nashua Access Baptist Church?
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It was about 10-15 minute walk and I said yes, I can.
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So I started attending. So that was a major part of my
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healing. It's been very important to me
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to have those mentors. My mentors have been prayers,
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and that's what I look for. I can't emphasize enough the
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value of having people who will walk with you in prayer.
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They will help you to not be negative.
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They will help you to love when people are hurtful and people
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kind of hold you up and bring you before the Lord as you
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continue to serve. Pastor Chris Bennett at Nashua
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Exist Baptist Church has been very helpful.
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We've journeyed together in ministry.
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He began to invite me to take a greater part in prayer ministry
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and then in speaking and we began sharing some of that and
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and doing a series together. So it's down to almost speaking
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once a month now at Nashua Exist.
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I still have opportunity at work.
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God's opened some doors at Sobeys a couple of times
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recently. He's given me real boldness to
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go and talk to people and they give me Tuesday evenings off
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because that's at one time had been the night of prayer that we
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had opened the church for. Not many people are doing that
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right now, but it's not forgotten.
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And I still hold that space and I'm back and forth with my
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middle sister who's living. My eldest sister passed away.
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I looked after her from 2016 to 2018, and then she had to go in
25:20
a home. I have two brothers here in the
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city and 12 nephews and nieces. I'm very close to them and they
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have produced 24 grand nephews and nieces for me.
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I don't think they did it for me, but anyway, that's my claim
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to fame. Most of my family is Wesleyan.
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I pray for them every day, but I do spend a lot of time with my
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sister, so it's good that you catch me home today.
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Risk resting in God's love for you.
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It's a big risk because you don't really know what's going
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to happen in your life. But it's worth the risk because
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God's love for you will never fail.
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He will take you where He wants you and if you feel Him calling
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you into ministry, He's worth the risk and He will take you
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through. Thank you, Lois, for sharing
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your story with us. Call to Serve can be found on
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Facebook and Instagram, and you can keep up to date with our
26:22
latest research and events at Call to serve.ca.
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We'll be back next week with another woman's story of serving
26:29
and ministry.