Personal stories of faith in Christ that changed lives....
HESTER WARNE’S TESTIMONY
Who am I? No, I’m not stretched out on a couch with a
psychiatrist sitting beside me rapidly jotting down my garbled words. I am
a simple member of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church who has been asked to
provide a brief autobiographical sketch. Who want to know or better still,
who cares, seems to be beside the point, but whoever is prepared to take
the time to read this missive—a few facts:
I was born in Toronto too many years ago to want to calculate the total,
of British parents: my father a six-foot government administrator, my
mother a petite five-foot lady, his devoted companion.
Early schooling commenced at a small private school in Rosedale where,
with the three R’s, I took ballet (on-point, if you please) and French.
Since I have an impossible sense of balance and am not bilingual, the
effort was obviously not worth the fees. While I did meet a number of
other small creatures who, as adults, unlike myself made the social
columns, the experience made little impact.
Moving to the country during the Depression years did affect me however.
In the local school my older sister and I soon learned what the term “them
and us” meant. As townies we were expected to be soft and inexperienced.
Standing up to the bullying, making our way academically and the arrival
of a new principal, who turned out to be the best teacher I have ever had,
changed the scene completely.
I grew to love the country, living in a rambling old Victorian house of
fourteen rooms with open fireplaces not withstanding. Although my father
took frequent cuts in salary, I was aware that we were more secure than
others, but was sensitive to the poverty many were experiencing, having to
go ON RELIEF to survive.
Personal tragedies of a classmate being killed on the highway because
there were no sidewalk and one drowned in the local swimming hole because
of a lack of supervised sport only served to emphasize the economic crisis
we were living through.
High school opened up an entirely new vista for me. Standing only five
feet, I have never been an athlete. Playing left-field on an Elementary
School baseball team and on the ‘B’ basketball team in high school, were
the exceptions.
I could sing however and took the lead in the school operettas on a couple
of occasions. Vocal training at the Royal Conservatory and some radio and
Massey Hall exposure gave additional encouragement that a vocal career
might be a possibility. But, submitting to advice from my very practical
mother, I took a four year honour course in History and English at the
University of Toronto, spent a few years in the business world, married
and then taught English at Henry Street High School, Whitby until
retirement at sixty-five when a student said “What did you have to go for?
You looked pretty good!”
Living the Christian life for me has not been the result of a Pauline
Damascus Road experience but the result of being born into a Christian
family for whom being governed by Christian principles was as expected and
accepted as eating one’s breakfast. Attending church and Youth Groups,
teaching Sunday School and V.B.S. and conducting children’s groups were
expected occupations. My marrying a Presbyterian minister, however, came
as a bit of a shock to Anglican parents but was readily accepted once the
man, apart from the title was known.
Don’s scholarships took us to Scotland for two years where he secured a
Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh. I fell in love with the country and
the Scots whose warmth and sincerity I will always cherish. There I also
learned thrift—feeding us on 4 pounds 10 shillings a week, the meager pay
I received for working at Jenners on Princes Street. This is known amongst
clergy wives as winning ones P.H.T. (Putting Hubby Through). Fortunately,
Don became an assistant minister there which eased the financial pressure
a little. On our return to Canada, he took a charge in Stoney Creek prior
to being seconded by Church Office to the Board of Christian Education.
Arrival in Whitby followed, offering several character moulding
experiences. As leader of a mid-weekly group of 45 children, ages 6-8,
called Children of the Church, and abbey assisted by three at-home
mothers, I began a team teaching course geared to this age group. We were
all delighted with the way things were going when I developed a disc
problem with complications which put me in bed, flat on my back, for
several months. My helpers were superb. “Continue to lead”, they said “and
we’ll carry on.” So sessions were drafted from my bedside and all went
well. It is a minor tragedy that since social change has robbed society of
the majority of its female volunteers, such organizations for youthful
Christian nurture no longer exist.
In more recent years, I have been given the lofty unwarranted title of
Study Leader for the Ladies’ Afternoon Group. Wit their indulgence, I have
led them through a wide variety of topics with spiritual emphasis under
such titles as: The History of the Church; A Study of the Book of Ruth;
Music As Worship; Some Women of Interest and Importance and Fellow Seekers
in the Faith etc. A more devoted and supportive group of women would be
hard to find and I thank God that I have been able to continue to serve
Him in this way. May I always continue to be able to do so.
Hester Warne
Does Christianity really work?
I would like to share with you how I found real peace, a purpose in life,
and the assurance that when this mortal life is finished, heaven will be
my destiny. THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
I was born in Ireland many years ago. I was the "baby" in a family of four
(2 sisters, 1 brother). My Mum and Dad were both Christians. They taught
us from childhood that there was a God who loved us very much and who
demonstrated that love in sending the Lord Jesus into our world, not only
as an example as to how we should live, but to die on a cross in order
that we could have the gift of eternal life. At the age of 12, I committed
my life to God. During my teen-age years, I went through a period of
uncertainty, wondering if I was really a Christian.
During the war years, I was working in Bangor, Northern Ireland. I
attended a special series of meetings and once again faced the dilemna as
to whether or not I was really a Christian. On a Friday evening, March
19th, 1943, I re-committed my life to the Lord and received the assurance
that I had previously lacked.
Some time after this, I met a young lady in a small village in Co. Down.
She and her family had left Belfast to avoid German bombing raids. After
the war, they moved back to Belfast and I returned to Dublin. We kept in
touch by letter and also met about once a month when I travelled to
Belfast.
On one of my visits, Meta and I had a meal in the dining room of the hotel
where I was staying and then left and forgot my rain-coat. I guess I was
very much in love with this beautiful lady; it wasn't until later on that
evening that I realised what had happened. I made enquiries, but it became
obvious that someone had taken it as the hotel staff had no trace of it.
Before getting into bed, I got down on my knees to pray and a lot of
questions came flooding into my mind, such as: Does this Christianity
stuff really work ? Does God answer prayer ? Is this just a lot of
religious meaningless ritual, etc ? Why not put this to a real test ?
So I prayed that whoever had taken the rain-coat would return it.
For the next couple of days I made enquiries, but the coat was still
missing.. I then returned to Dublin with my "faith in God" at a real
testing point.
A couple of days later, I received a call from Meta telling me that she
had telephoned the hotel on the morning after I had returned to Dublin.
The hotel staff told her that the previous evening, they had found the
rain-coat on the railing at the hotel entrance. Needless to say, I gave
thanks to God for answered prayer. This episode was a real turning point
in my Christian life and experience.
Meta and I were married in 1952. We lived in Dublin for 1 year and then
emigrated to Canada. We have 5 children and 9 grand-children. We returned
to Ireland in 1968 so that our parents would have an opportunity to see
their grandchildren. In Belfast at that time, the Civil Rights movement
had just started and by the early part of 1970, things were getting so bad
that we decided to return to Canada in order that our children would be
able to grow up in a much safer environment. We returned to Canada on
Friday, November 13th, 1970. We had just enough money to pay all the air
fares. I remember saying to Meta at that time, that I would have to work
until I was 90, before thinking about retirement, but the Lord was very
good to us in that we got jobs very soon after our arrival in Toronto, and
after 4 years, we were able to save enough money to buy a house.
We have passed through times of difficulty, trial and testing, but through
it all we experienced God's presence, love and faithfulness
I retired fom my job as V.P. Finance in December 1987. I then worked
part-time with Greater Europe Mission in Oshawa, before we moved to
Vancouver Island where we bought a house in Nanaimo. We were involved in
music ministry in First Baptist Church.
In the church bulletin one Sunday morning, there was an announcement about
an annual breakfast in one of the hotels. This related to Lighthouse
Harbour Ministries which is a mission to seamen. As I was looking and
praying about what I termed "a front-line" ministry, this event sounded
very interestimg. We attended this breakfast and were really impressed by
the various folks who related their experiences on board the freighters
which came into Nanaimo and also various ports in the area.
About 1 month later, in the Alliance Church at a Senior's meeting, the
speaker was relating her experiences on various ships. This was my 2nd
exposure to "ship ministry". In June of the same year, Meta and I took a
coach tour around parts of Europe and then on to Dublin to visit my sister
and brother. While in Dublin, the church which my sister attended had a
Mission Conference at which various speakers from different countries,
gave reports on their work. One of the speakers was a man by the name of
Walter Burrell from Cork in the South of Ireland and he related his
experiences on board freighters which came into the various ports in Cork
and vicinity . This was my 3rd exposure to "ship ministry".
Some months after we returned to Nanaimo, again at the Alliance Church,
the speaker (who was the husband of the lady who was the speaker about 6
months previously) was also talking about "ship ministry". This was my 4th
exposure to Lighthouse Harbour Ministries.
I said to myself, "I think that the Lord is giving me direction about my
quest for "front-line ministry".
Shortly after this I became involved in this work which I found very
challenging and rewarding. We met and entertained seamen from many parts
of the world and had the wonderful opportunity of sharing the gospel with
them and listening to their stories. In a future email maybe I will have
the opportunity to relate some of our experiences.
We came back to Ontario in 1996 because we missed our family and also
because we were "getting on in years"
In the last few years we have been involved in what I term "email
evangelism". But that is another story.
As we look back over the years, we marvel at God's love and amazing
patience with unworthy servants. What a privilege it is to know the Lord
and to make Him known.
God bless!
GOD HAS A PROFOUND
INFLUENCE ON MY LIFE!!
A Testimonial by "Carole"
My mother taught me, as a child, that we are all created in God’s image and likeness. This has sustained me from my childhood to present time. I could write many short stories about numerous trials, but also triumphs in my life. My parents gave me a life filled with vast memories of the most perfect and loving parents one could ever desire to have. Their marriage of 65 years was an example in itself of stability, faith, love and encouragement. They taught me good family values. I always admired and looked up to my father, a very distinguished, notable author and writer, Sr. Judge and former Minister/ Chaplain. I was very proud of my parents and still am even though they both passed away four months apart last year. (2002)
As a child, from time to time, I attended church with a close friend. My father was a strong believer but because of certain changes, which took place within that church, he stayed at home, but did attend another church with my mother. Eventually, so did the rest of the family in order to help bring harmony into our lives. We drifted away for a long time, but the Good Lord was always active in my life and making plans for me. I worked for a Real Estate company for a while, then a career change came along, but it meant moving from Oakville to Toronto and setting up my first apartment. I worked for a publishing company and stayed with them for 25 years. There, I moved up the ladder of success, from junior secretary, Assistant Editor to Chief Production Editor. When I moved to Whitby, I came across this St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, where I attended for my first year with my daughters. What I missed by not going to church in previous years, was replenished through the wonderful worship experience. I accepted Jesus in my life and was baptized and joined the church. Thanks be to God! I have eternal life and a wonderful Christian family I call my church. With all these positives, I was able to get through an abundance of negatives—so many trials and tribulations which I have encountered. The negatives started when I rushed into a marriage to a man born of another culture and different faith. I was fooled at first; they say that love is blind. It was a marriage of physical and mental abuse, control and he became a paranoid schizophrenic. This union lasted 23 years, but why did I stay in the marriage? I asked myself this question repetitively. I lived in fear the he would take our daughters, when they were young back to his homeland. I was in a trap and couldn’t get out! I stayed in the marriage to protect my girls I loved so much and always will. So many incidents took place, too numerous to write about, but it was during this time that I really felt God’s presence and He walked me out of this tormented marriage. I can tell you for sure that ht Lord was beside me when my former spouse came into the spare room one night, thinking I was asleep, about 5 a.m., clenched his fists, lowered them toward my head and said, “I wish you were dead.”, but little did he know that I had my eye open a little bit. I could see his shadow and God prepared me for this and I sure felt His Divine presence. I was urged to scream and took him by surprise and scared him off and of course alerted the children. This was my time for getting out of this trap, this loveless farce of a marriage. The only great love I got from this union was the birth of my two beautiful daughters. I would have ended this arrangement much sooner if the girls had not been conceived. Great is the Lord for helping me through this and showing me the truth, the light and the way. I’ve been through many other trials, but Jesus was, and is, there for me. He hears our every prayer and always answers them- maybe not right away or the way we desire- but He knows what’s in our thoughts, our minds and does answer each and every prayer. I believe I have been put through so many hardships to make me become a much stronger person, to test my faith in the Lord and know that He is with me always in any given situation. As a result of all of this, I noticed I have a greater sense of intuition and clarity, for which I have been grateful. I feel more in tune with life and my environment. There are balancing frequencies for spiritual qualities such as gratitude, joy and compassion. I have definitely noticed an increased feeling in all three. May you find that very special closeness just as I have with The Almighty God and through Jesus Christ, Our Beloved Lord and Saviour.
"Tricia"
I
wanted to share something with you that would be relevant. For those of you who already know me: maybe this will give you some
insight into my life, maybe not. For those who don’t already know me:
maybe you can take away something more to add to my name when you see it
in the bulletin or on a poster as contact information. I want you to think of more than “that youth leader girl” when
you hear the name "Tricia".
My
family started attending St. Andrew’s Whitby when I was about 5 years old in
1987. In essence, I grew up at
St. Andrew’s. I mortified my
mother by picking my nose in my first Christmas pageant, sang in both the
Junior and Senior choirs, attended both Junior and Senior Youth groups
(back when they were called that). I’ve taken part in musicals and
danced with the liturgical dance team. Let me clarify. I am
still “growing up” here.
I
joined the church as a member when I was 13 and a year later I became a
member of another organization that is a big part of my life. In February of 1997 I attended my first T-K PYPS weekend in
Nobleton
,
Ontario
. T-K PYPS, for those who are struggling with the acronym right now
stands for Toronto-Kingston (as in Synod) Presbyterian Young People’s
Society. Winter Weekend in
2003 marked the 6 year mark of my attending PYPS. I’m in my 5th term of those 6 years, serving on the executive for
the society. I’ve been their
Missions Director, Secretary and have served as the Praise & Worship
Director for the past two years and now am starting my next term on the
executive as the Discipleship Convenor.
PYPS provides the Presbyterian Church with a youth ministry that is
unduplicated and irreplaceable. For
some of our members, PYPS is the only “church” where they feel they
belong. For many youth it is
their first experience of the Presbyterian Church. It is a strange and wonderful place.
It is, for me personally, one of the most diverse and eclectic
groups of young people I have ever known. It seems, at PYPS, that every stereotypical group is represented
and broken down at the same time. There
is no such thing as Punks, Preppies, Skaters, Ravers, Geeks, Losers or
Nerds at PYPS. Those groupings
simply don’t matter. Some of
my best and most interesting friends, lifelong friends are PYPSers. And it is there, that perhaps, I first heard my “calling” to
study for ministry. Although,
I assure you that I didn’t understand it at first. And
over the past 5 or 6 six years I have watched our church grow & change
too. During this time, I
“grew up”. I graduated
High School, spent a semester at Tyndale
College
in
Toronto
, took some time off and went on
another one of my life’s journeys. In
my struggle to find work (since I wasn’t in school) God led me, through
a good friend of mine from PYPS, to a place called Montreat in
North Carolina
. I applied, half-heartedly never thinking they would hire me, had a
phone interview with much more enthusiasm and was shocked (honestly) when
they actually offered me a job for the summer. So
next came the process of trying to gain a work visa in order to go to
North Carolina
for the summer. My first attempt was denied, however on the second trip to the
border I was fortunate enough to find an INS employee who wasn’t too
concerned with the details of my 6-dollar work visa. I was well on my way. Let
me try to explain
North Carolina
to you. If you’ve ever woken up in the morning and looked out the window
and had your breath taken away you know how it is. It’s like that every
minute of every day. Living in the mountains in
North Carolina
you are exposed to the majesty
of God’s creation every single day. There is no way you can deny the awesome power and presence that he
has over this earth. It is
incredible. I
lived in a house called
Sylvan
Heights
with 23 other young women, whom
I now affectionately refer to as my “Sylvan Sisters”. Living in Montreat and working in Montreat was like moving into a
community of believers that all just happen to be as noisy and outgoing as
I am. I was homesick for about
two weeks, and then honestly, I was home. Montreat became my second home.
The other summer staff my family. And the conference ministry that we took part in became my church. When
I wasn’t working doing my job as Conference Support or working in the
offices, I had the opportunity to listen to the many speakers we had at
our conferences.I
learned from people like J. Herbert Nelson urging the youth to be part of
the church now, and Walter Bruggeman challenging Presbyterians to build up
the churches, and fellowshipping with Gina Yeager the youth ministry
consultant for the Presbyterian Church. I have never seen ministry like the ministry that Montreat does.
Taking part in it was an awesome feeling. It is unlike any other experience I have ever had. At Montreat,
like so many other places (PYPS, CY2K, Triennium, daily life) I had the
opportunity to listen to God speak to me through other people. In
my one semester at
Tyndale
College
I took a course on calling. “Where are you being called to?” is not the question, my
professor used to say.“What
are you called to do?” isn’t it either. When God calls us, he calls us to BE something, BE someone, BE
somewhere. He’d say, the
question is “Who is GOD calling YOU to BE?” I didn’t fully understand then.
Calling changes, calling is sometimes quiet; sometimes it’s just
a hint. But now I understand. God
has often spoken to me. I grew
up in a family that attended church. I
have always been a Christian. I have always believed in God. When I was young, I had faith like any child does.
“God loves me! Yay!” When
you’re really little it doesn’t go beyond that sometimes. I grew up at St. Andrew’s, went to Sunday School, Youth group,
Vacation Bible School and I’ve always believed in God. I
think I’ve always realized that Jesus Christ made an incredible
sacrifice for me. I’ve known
for a long time that I am a fallible person. I make mistakes, I am not
perfect, and I am so blessed to have a Saviour who loved me so much, that
he was willing to die for me. Even death on a cross. Now,
I’ll admit that until I was about 17, despite having what I believe to
be an intensely close relationship with Jesus I was unaware of what
“death on a cross” really meant. I
read a book called “The Case for Christ”. I’m sure many of you have
read it also. Lee Strobel was a journalist who set out to find out the
truth about Jesus Christ, and ended up finding the Truth. There is a section in that book which was written to dispute rumors
that Jesus never really died while on the cross. The book goes on to describe exactly what happened to Jesus, in
detail. In painful, gory, detail. I
understood before how he had died. Died
for me even, never before had I understood how he had suffered first.
Jesus Christ not only died for me, but he suffered for me. He
took my every sin, my every mistake, he wrote his name on them, he took
the blame. He died for me. I’d
like to leave you with a bit of a conversation that I had with a man named
Reverend Kevin Liscombe. “Rev
Kev” as we affectionately called him was a Youth Advisor for PYPS for
approximately 3 months before he had a heart attack and left behind his
family, and PYPS. He was a
teacher to me, he was my mentor… he was my friend. At
a Leadership Development Day, an event that PYPS hosts for its leaders,
Rev Kev gave me a challenge. It was the last time I spoke with him. He died two weeks later. He
said: “Patricia, you must remember, when it comes to Youth Ministry,
it’s not about numbers. It’s
not about how big your group is, or how big your paycheck is. It’s not about how many meetings you have, how many events, and
how many people notice it. Youth
ministry is about the one member that hasn’t come out for 3 weeks, and
starts coming again. It’s
about the laughter that you hear, or 4 or 5 youth that are having a great
time in fellowship. It’s
about the hymn sing that you have when only 10 people show up. It’s about hearing God in those kids; it’s about being Jesus
for them. Sometimes you have
to remember that you are the only Bible that someone might ever read.
And lastly, mostly, it’s about Passion. You could go to school for years and years, take every class
that’s offered, but if you don’t have the passion that’s required
for ministry, you’ll always feel lacking. Passion is the one thing they can’t teach.
Always have passion. Always
be true to yourself.” It’s about passion. Rev Kev taught me that. The truth is passion, or love for what you
do, is the one thing that can’t be taught. In ministry, the ministry we are ALL called to, regardless of
vocation, the one thing that we need is passion. Passion for the word of
God, passion for Jesus Christ.
I
hope I never forget that. Peace,
"Tricia".