Intertribal Life Newspaper -

I grew up at Big Trout Lake, an isolated village in northwestern Ontario. When I was a child no one there spoke English, and I spoke only the Oji-Cree language until I was 12 years old, even though my father was originally from England. My dad had been sent there as a minister, so I grew up in the church. Every time the church doors were open, I was there!

I'm the oldest in our family, and I have a younger brother and a younger sister. There was no school in our community at the time, so my dad taught us by correspondence at home. Now that I think about it, I don't know exactly how he taught us and what text books we used, because we didn't use English.

Besides leading the church in Big Trout Lake, my father travelled with Native guides to about eight other villages that he was in charge of, so he was away sometimes. I have very good memories of life at home. We did a lot of things together as a family, like picnics and playing games. I remember each spring, when the ice would start melting away from the lake, we would go down to the shore where it was thawed and have a picnic there.

I remember there were always a lot of people in the village in the summer time. Then in the fall and winter a lot of people went out on their trap lines. Just before Christmas they would bring in all their furs.

My mother was a nurse, and also very good at beadwork and sewing, and I learned a lot about that from her. My dad was always my hero. He was strict but at the same time very loving, and I knew he cared for us and wanted the best for us. We always had a lot of village people coming into our home, and my parents cared deeply for them. Whenever there was sickness in the community, my parents would take charge. They had a supply of medicine, as there was no nursing station in Big Trout at the time. Doctors and trained nurses only came in once a year, I think.

My parents were very faithful to the Bible, and they were people of faith who trusted God for a lot of things. I grew up hearing a lot about God and the Bible, not only at church, but also at home. I enjoyed being at the services. Most of the people in the village came to all the services, and I remember the church being filled all the time.

I was about 12 years old when some of my friends were starting to leave the village for schooling and to learn English. I tried to convince my mom and dad to send me out to school, too. At first my mother didn't want to let me go – she thought I was too young to leave home. But finally they decided they would let me go, though they would not see me again till the next summer when the school year was complete.

My dad went with me and helped me to find a place to live in Sioux Lookout. It was a long ways away, and it was a culture shock! Everything was so different – the food, and my first time riding in a car. Dad took me to an ice cream shop and I had a milkshake for the first time. My stomach wasn't used to it, and it all came up when I went out the door.

It was when I moved to Sioux Lookout that I noticed for the first time that Indian people were looked down on. And because I was part Indian, I felt it. Actually, the kids in school were good to me and never made fun of me. But in the community I heard others talking about Indian people-how all they did was drink and all the things that went with it. So I didn't want to identify much with Indian people because I didn't want to be put down.

Dad found a place for me stay in the home of a Christian lady. While I was living there, her missionary sister from the States came for a visit and held children's Bible classes right in the house. The neighbourhood kids came each week and we listened to Bible stories and sang new songs. She explained to us about sin, about heaven and hell, about needing Jesus to forgive us, and about having Jesus in our hearts. It kind of puzzled me because she was saying things in a way I had never heard before.

Because my parents were regular church goers and my dad was a minister, I thought, "Well, I was raised in a Christian home and we read the Bible every day. And we don't do real bad things. I must be okay." But deep inside I felt that there was still something missing. I realized that I really didn't have Jesus in my heart.

So after one of the sessions I stayed behind and prayed and asked the Lord to forgive me and come into my life. I immediately had the assurance that Jesus was in my heart! I wrote to my mom and dad (there were no phones in Big Trout Lake back then) and told them what I had done. They wrote back to say that they were very happy about that.

I had learned to speak English by then, and at school I began telling all my friends that I had invited Jesus into my life. I felt so free. I was really anxious that they would know about Jesus, too, but some of them didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. Each year the Gideons ministry came around to our school, and I volunteered to help distribute Bibles. It's what I wanted to do.

I continued going to school in Sioux Lookout, and went home to Big Trout Lake each summer for two months. Then, the year I turned 15, my parents joined Northern Canada Evangelical Mission and planned for our family to move to Saskatchewan. For 30 years my parents had been part of a church denomination, and there were some things that my father didn't agree with being taught. Mr. Collie from NCEM used to fly in to Big Trout Lake to visit every once in a while-I think that's how my dad learned about NCEM. It was a real step of faith for my parents to join a faith mission, but the Lord always provided for them. We moved from Ontario to Saskatchewan, to NCEM's Headquarters at Meadow Lake. All of us and our belongings fit into a car and a small trailer – plus the driver, as we didn't own a car.

I struggled in Meadow Lake at first, and even thought about running away from home. I had left all my friends in Ontario behind. I knew that I wasn't really putting God first in my life about then, so that didn't help. But I did get used to it in Meadow Lake, and the Lord gave me some good Christian friends. I liked the church we got involved with, which seemed much different than our church in Big Trout Lake, though I had gone to a similar little Gospel church in Sioux Lookout.

After one year my parents were assigned to missionary work in a place called Loon Lake, Saskatchewan. By this time I was 16 and some of my new friends were planning to attend a Christian high school in Three Hills, Alberta. With my parents having just moved again, it's what I wanted to do, too.

I really enjoyed my time in Three Hills, and it was there that I rededicated my life to Christ. One day there was a missionary speaking in chapel who challenged us to give everything to God, to let Him work in my life the way He wants to, and not try to run my life the way I want to. And if God wanted me to serve Him full-time somewhere, I said that I was willing.

After high school I wanted to learn more about God's Word, and I enrolled in Bible school at Caronport, Saskatchewan. In my first year I had just enough money saved up for the first semester. I thought I would have to leave and find work, but somehow somebody helped me along financially. It was God's way of providing. Every summer I had a job back in Meadow Lake at the hospital, and would save money to go back to Bible school in the fall. When I graduated I knew that I wanted to serve the Lord in some way, but I didn't know where.

I was back working in Meadow Lake, and that's where I met my husband-to-be! George was a missionary candidate with the Christian & Missionary Alliance, and was at NCEM's language school learning Cree in preparation for missionary work in the North. We dated for a while, then went our different ways. I got involved in children's ministries in northern BC and Manitoba. Somewhere along the way we got back together! Our wedding was in Meadow Lake.

So we settled into missionary life, with George also spending some intervening years as a school teacher. Soon, literature ministry became our focus. We moved to Winnipeg, where George helped launch Indian Life Ministries, editing Intertribal Life newspaper and co-authoring a book. I took on a handcraft business, based in our home. It was part of God's way of supplying our finances and, with my Native language, I had many good conversations with customers.

Early in our marriage I had a miscarriage and was told that I would never be able to have a family, but the Lord gave us three healthy sons. A few years ago George got sick and had to take an early retirement, then passed away in 2019. God has been with me through the grieving process, and He is my strength. My family and friends have been very supportive. We all go through different stages in our lives. As a youngster, born into a mixed family, I sometimes struggled to fit in. Through my adult life, with marriage and family and ministry, I have relied on God's Word and its many promises for every situation. He has been faithful.

Adapted from our two Tribal Trails video interviews with Bessie. You can watch her testimony at https://bit.ly/3F2cAt2 and https://bit.ly/3Jjimcc.

Read more of Bessie's stories and those of more stories of courageous, strong Indigenous women in our book Keepers of the Faith. You can order your copy by using our form on p. 18.