AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF KEITH MALCOLM HUNT #8
I have told you that the heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, were very important for me, the most important, from the time I attended a Church of England school at age 7. It was wonderful to have the first 1/2 hour of each school day in the Bible, through my age 7 to 11. It was also wonderful to attend regular Sunday school from age 7 at a nearby “Congregational” [that was its official name] church. Those were the years of learning about the Gospels and Christ Jesus as Savior. By age 12 I had a personal relationship with both the Father and Jesus. In the local church I went in for some “Scripture Tests” and always did very well, up into the 90s for marks.
I’ve told you about the lady in the Congregational church giving me, at about age 14, a red letter New Testament. It was the first time I’d seen one, probably new idea back then, to put the words of Jesus is red. It was wonderful, and I would read a portion of the Gospels each night before turning of the light and going to sleep. I read the Gospels dozens of times during those years up to coming to Canada ay age 18.
So now I have arrived in Saskatoon, the last week of May 1961, it was a Friday.
I had found out from the local church I grew up in, that the equivalent church in Canada was “The United Church of Canada.” One of the priests greeted me at Montreal, when the ship I was on docked.
Where I was living in Saskatoon, there was a United Church of Canada just a few blocks away. And as it had been my custom since age 7, I was off to “church” that every first Sunday after arriving in Saskatoon.
I did this a few Sundays, and then my Landlord and his wife invited me to their church. I found out they called it a “Baptist” church; specifically “Ebenezer Baptist Church.” I accepted the invitation. I noticed immediately it was quite different in that the “minister” was in a suit and did not wear a white “dog collar” around his neck as the priests of the Churches I attended back home. I enjoyed the hymns they sang, which many were new to me. The people were friendly. And right away I was invited to “the young people’s group” which was great. The first week I was with them this young guy, but older than me, maybe late 20s, said to me with all the young people around, “Your from England, okay, what is the difference between a Buffalo and a Bison?” I thought for a few seconds and said, “They are both the same animal.” He replied, “Ah no, a Buffalo is what we have roaming the prairies, and a Bison is what you English wash your hands in.”
I laughed and everyone laughed. He was picking on the English accent.
I noticed right up front, certain “religious” phrases used by just about everyone in this Baptist church—— “Are you born again?” - “Are you saved?” - “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior?”
These phrases were used all the time, like…. well you constantly heard them by someone in the church.
I was somewhat taken a-back by such phrases constantly being used. I had to ask myself why are they always using these phrases? Are they not sure if the others as “saved” or not sure if people in the church have Jesus as their Savior. I thought well I have walked with the Father and Jesus from age 7, and just never put it into words or phrases like I was now hearing. In time I discovered the Baptist churches and other churches were classified as “fundamental” which word was also new to me. But as I discovered it was all what I had been from age 7, a believer in God’s word the Bible as divinely inspired.
I eventually put my thoughts about all these phrases to one side, and thought well they are more expressive in their Christian religion, than the Church of England and the Congregational church, and the United Church of Canada.
I enjoyed the young people’s group and their activities. I soon made close friends to one of the lads who was about my age, and we started to do some things together. His name was Collin. It was during that first summer and Collin said to me, “Keith what about us going on a camping trip together; up to Edmonton and over to the Canadian Rockies at Jasper, down through the Rockies to Banff, and back to Saskatoon.”
“Wow…Collin, that would be great, love to do that” I replied.
Managed to get some time off from the Hudson Bay, and off we went.
I remember when I first saw the Canadian Rockies as we drove towards them in Collin’s car, west of Edmonton…. They just appeared, majestic and grand. I only remember a few things about that trip. Collin was a fine buddy, really enjoyed him; he had a number of questions about “Christian religion”—— I think he knew without a big explanation from me, that I had been a Christian just about all my life. The questions he asked me were not new to me; as a 12, 13, 14, year old back home in Sunday school, I had a teacher for years who would get us thinking about life in the context of Christianity. So when Collin would as me about—— is dancing sin?; is card playing sin?, is going to a movie theater sin? I could answer him, like saying about movie theatres, “The building is not sin; going to see a good movie within the Christian boundaries is fine.”
Yep Collin was real nice and I thoroughly enjoyed him and he enjoyed me.
When we got to Banff, we went on some boat ride, no it must have been Lake Louise; this lady who was from the USA, standing next to me said, “Oh wow….this is just unreal, look at those wonderful mountains!”
I said to her, “Don’t you have such in the USA?”
“Well some but not as big as these” she exclaimed, and was just memorized by them.
Well our camping trip was just about over; Collin and I would head back to Saskatoon.
There was another guy in the Baptist church around his late 20s. He found out I was here to be a Cowboy. I never told anyone I was going to be the next Roy Rogers. One day he said to me, “Keith, do you want to see a real cowboy town?” I said I would love to see one.
“Okay, I will take you to see one; it’s called Maple Creek, down near the USA border.”
Sooooo…..off we went in his car. It was a considerable distance, but eventually the farm land opened up to cattle ranching and no more barb-wire fences. My heart was loving it all, wide open spaces—— Don’t fence me in, land.
Getting to Maple Creek was unbelievable, I thought there was no more real cowboy towns in existence, only in cowboy movies. I mean it was like stepping back to 1861 and not 1961. The main street was dirt, and wide; the stores were all up three or four feet, with hitching rails for the horses. All the stores were Western front and so was in side. It was breath-taking, I could have said, “Is anyone wanting a cowhand to hire?” I would have been happy to have settle there, for a few years. But reality had to take first place, nobody was hiring anyone.
Back to Saskatoon it was—— O yes by the way, Maple Creek today is all modern, even with parking metres on the paved main street—— no cowboy town at all.
During that winter in the Baptist church, they had their “minister” leaving and they had to look for another man. I learnt they would bring in two or three to “preach” to them, and then by a vote decide who they would offer the position of “pastor” for them.
They chose “their man” and he settled in to be their pastor.
He was a very nice man, when I got together a few times at his home by invitation. I met his wife and children. There was something I could sense about him, that drew him to me. I could sense he was open to discussion on the Bible. We talked about Jesus returning some day, and why He was returning, what He would do when He returned. It was kinda strange, at least in that Baptist church, they talked about Jesus coming again, but that was it, no more. This new minister and I agreed Jesus would set up the Kingdom of God over all the earth, the Kingdom of God was not just in your heart, a spiritual something, but there was more to it than just your heart.
Within about a month he brought a sermon on the Kingdom of God, to come on earth at Jesus’ return, a literal Kingdom and Jesus would rule all nations. Well some in the congregation did not think he should have brought such a sermon.
I was happy he was a studier of the Bible, I knew he knew things that most of that Baptist congregation did not know.
So things went on pretty smoothly that first year in the Baptist church.
It was now early summer, and “mean-while back at the ranch” as they say, I had people pushing me to be in this “Rodeo” on the Indian Reservation—— just a fun day Rodeo.
Yes they got me to attend and quite the story to tell you on that, next time.
………………..
To be continued
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