High School was a real trip, spiritually. My dad's cousin was a missionary to indigenous people groups in Canada. She and her husband lived in northern Minnesota, but they traveled northwards each summer to put on a summer Bible camp for children. This camp was 500 miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. In order to get there you had to drive on a dirt road through hundreds of miles of lonesome woods to Thompson. In Thompson you boarded a train that linked Churchill to the rest of the world. No roads for any other vehicle then. After a while the train stopped (for you) at a place in the middle of nowhere (no platform) and you jumped down with all your gear. A short walk through the woods, lugging everything, landed you at a dock where a boat was moored. This large open boat would take you for an hour on a vast inland waterway--to a place on the shore (somewhere) where there stood a few simple buildings. That was camp. When I was 16 I volunteered to help out at this camp, "Midway Bible Camp." I did what I could: lifeguard, cook, athletic director, counselor. What an experience it was! The children were primarily Cree or Eskimo.
I chose to be baptized at camp that year, and I was blessed in a way I never thought possible. The Lord Jesus was becoming more intimate with me and I couldn't get enough of HIM! Fire fell in a spiritual way for me. The power of God became so real to me that I could never deny it. This was what the world needed.
The camp studied the book of Galations that summer and that became my favorite book of the Bible. It spoke to me deeply.
My trip home was memorable. I had to leave before my friends, so I retraced my travels back to Thompson on the boat and train. At Thompson I boarded a bus late at night for the overnight to Winnipeg. Imagine a 16 year-old girl on her own for the first time! There were about two villages on the road back, and the bus stopped at both, in the middle of the night. Alcohol was in the air, at least the odor! I was sitting up close to the driver, but I could hardly sleep all night. As day broke and my anxiety levels rose, God sent an angel in the form of an elderly woman to help me. This kindly lady got on the bus about an hour north of Winnipeg. I felt comforted when she sat down next to me. She looked safe! "Where are you going?" she must have asked me...I don't remember the details...but she said she was going to the airport too and she would go with me there---. I thought that if we told the taxi driver to go to the airport we'd simply end up there, so I wasn't too concerned about safety with this person. She took me under her wing, as soon as we got off the bus at the depot. We got a taxi, got to the airport, and she insisted on paying. I went in the airport and exchanged a few words with her----and that was it! I didn't see her again! I got my plane for home and I just knew God had sent me an angel to get through a rather precarious situation in my young life.
The next summer I was determined to get back to Canada, but something else blocked my way.
I had two horses for pets. One was an old friendly mare, mostly Arab. She had been well trained and was excellent for inexperienced riders. Her disposition was just about perfect. Her offspring, on the other hand, was spirited and bad mannered. He was like a big affectionate dog to me, and I loved him. He was pretty, dark bay with white socks and a white blaze. He followed me like a puppy, but only strong young men were able to ride him easily.
Did I mention that I'm strong-willed? Well, I decided to ride Sheik one fine summer day. I'd been pitched off horses before, and I'd ridden most of my life. No problem, right? Well, Sheik was highly offended that our relationship had changed. Off I went and I landed wrong. My back was broken and I was to have a hospital stay instead of a trip to Canada!
Thankfully my accident wasn't worse. I was ambulatory and my back would heal, but 30 years later I still feel it!
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