My pastoral life in Prince George
My wife Glenna and I arrived in Prince George in November of 1978 to begin the longest segment of our sixty-six years of pastoral ministry. Our arrival was followed by the coming of our son, Marlo and his wife Trisha in May of 1979 to take up an associate role that would lead to his senior leadership role that continues to this present time.
My years of Christian ministry in Prince George has been a most delightful experience. My association with the pastors of the Prince George Ministerial Association that began in those early days, continues to this day. Let me highlight things that occurred in my life and ministry in Prince George that caused me to speak of my ministry here, “as a delightful experience.”
1. The gratification of seeing such large numbers of people coming into a personal faith relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Their initial faith led large numbers of them to proclaim their faith by baptism in water.
2. The development of a missions focus in our growing congregation; initially it led us to involve children and youth in fundraising. As a result of our first year’s project, we raised $10,000, funds which we passed on to World Vision, and they constructed water catchments in a drought-stricken area of Kenya, Africa.
Thirty years later, these water catchments are still functional – and today, more of these water catchments are still being built. Creativity has resulted in a variety of different mission projects in the nation of Sri Lanka, and most recently we have assisted with educational development in Uganda, Africa.
3. In 1982, Westside Academy opened as a private day school providing educational instruction for children from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Westside Academy has just completed thirty-six years of operation.
4. On the other end of the age spectrum, in 2002, we opened Emmaus House as a senior supportive residence. This residence is a non-profit society that provides a family sized home for upwards to 12 residents at a reasonable price.
During 16 years of operation, approximately 60 people have lived in this senior residence.
And for all of these achievements, we offer our praise to God for His watchful care and enablement of the lives of many people who have served together with us in this Christian ministry.