Being new to Laurentian I have to say that this church has a few surprises up its sleeves. Not too long after arriving here I was surprised to learn that Laurentian was the first church in the Central Canada District to send out a missionary. Bertha Major the daughter of the founding minister Rev. W. J. Major and the sister of Bea Mooney and Beryl Nicolson was the first missionary of our district. She served five terms in Sierra Leone , Africa . Recently I sat down with Bea and Beryl and chatted with them about their sister Bertha. The following is a small excerpt from our conversation.

Pastor Chris – What kind of impact did Bertha have on the mission field?

Bea and Beryl – She served in the mission field for 27 years including deposition work. In that time she did different things, she practiced nursing, she was a midwife, school administrator and even started a school to train the local people in nursing skills.

Pastor Chris – With Bertha on the mission field and yet connected to Laurentian how did her service in Sierra Leone affect the people of Laurentian?

Beryl – She had a great impact on the ladies of the church. Bertha became very important to our Wesleyan Women. She helped all of us to dig deeper in our spiritual walk.

Pastor Chris – How did Bertha’s call personally affect you?

Beryl – It encourage my own walk with Christ because Bertha had the courage to do what she did. You could see her humanity but you could also see her walk with the Lord which encouraged you to do the same.

Bea – At first I wondered why I didn’t get a call (from the Lord in the same way as Bertha). I was pleased that Bertha was serving and helping people who were in need. Bertha affected how I lived and how I spent my money.

Beryl – The main thing is she loved the Lord. It looked like she gave up everything to serve the Lord but really she received so much more.

Friends, our church may be a small church but it can be a great church. My hope is that the passion for missions will burn bright in our hearts. One of my dreams is that one day Laurentian will send teams of people onto the mission field. Let us together dream big dreams for the Lord.

God bless,

Pastor Chris