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Josiah and Esther Jane Bastian (Photo courtesy of Bishop Emeritus Donald N. Bastian.)
by Bishop Emeritus Donald N. Bastian
Around 1905, a young couple emigrated from Lancashire, England, to the rolling prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada. They were in their early 20s and thought becoming homesteaders in the New World would give them a brighter future than staying in their coal-mining village in England.
Soon after they settled three miles south of the nearest town, however, the young wife became so homesick that, as she reported later, “she thought she would die.” In an effort to help her, the young husband got the horse and buggy out and took her to church on Sunday. The following week, the minister came out to their homestead and met them in the garden, but they did not sense a real interest in them.
The next Sunday, they visited another church with the same results. Then, on the third Sunday, they
attended a new white-clapboard-sided church in town. The sign read: Free Methodist. When the minister came to see them, a bond began to form.
In time, the young English woman was converted. She became a true believer in Jesus Christ. She joined the church. Members of the congregation came to their modest home for “cottage prayer meetings.” The couple found fellowship that nurtured faith and spoke to her homesickness.
I am the son of that couple. Years later, I was nurtured by the same congregation. Converted at age 16, I joined the church. The denomination gave me educational opportunities, ordained me and put before me more challenges to serve the Lord than I could ever take full advantage of. Our children and grandchildren have benefitted too.
How could my mother have guessed that presenting herself for membership after she came to faith in Jesus Christ would affect children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren? Membership in a church can have good, long-lasting consequences.
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