Most Important Place in My Life

What does one write about the most important place in their life? That is what I have been struggling with since I first heard about the possibility that Birch Bay might close. I, like so many, followed after older siblings into the BBR experience. To say that it was a few years ago is a bit of an understatement as I am pretty sure I rode the first "Big Ben" to grace the stables, so I have the  gift of hindsight to add into my story.

I come from a family that was a strong "religious" family who went to church every Sunday, or Saturday if our sport schedules interfered. I was baptized, went through Holy Communion, Confirmation and did all the things expected...on Sunday for one hour. The rest of the time was a bit of a different story, and we will simply sum it up by saying that my drink of choice in Grade 7 was a screwdriver. I went to BBR every summer for a couple weeks, and while it took a few years to really grasp my life, I know that while I wasn't living how I should, it sunk in enough to let me stay clear of a lot of things my friends and my older siblings were getting into.

My TSN turning point was at the start of Grade 10 when a couple of staff members started up a fall follow up group that was essentially a rehearsal for a drama outreach to, of all places, Drumheller! We would meet regularly and while it drove my father crazy to have to drop me off at a Pentecostal church, it became the one night a week I looked forward to the most. Not because we were revolutionizing the stage, but simply because we all had a blast doing something that I didn't have to lie about or find some cover up story. It was rather refreshing! From this group, a number of us started going to the church one of the leaders was working at and we became known simply as the Birch Bay group.

So many of the group have continued to grow and be part of churches and mission groups, and very few of us were from Christian homes. We came to know Christ through attending a summer camp that, while it might have been a "church" camp, there were horses and canoeing and a few other things no other camp around offered so it was easy for our parents to let us go. Their reasons had nothing to do with wanting us to get saved, it was just a camp they trusted to look after their kids. But those kids got to find out about a God who loved them, and found lifelong friends who became like family, especially during those years that could have led to so many life mistakes that could have changed the course of life for them.

I write this from the home I have with the most amazing husband whom I met because I was part of that 'Birch Bay Group' that became part of the church his family attended. I managed to avoid some major mistakes I guarantee I would have done had it not been for what I learned at BBR. And now we have been blessed after so many years to have a son who I have been excited to be able to send to Birch Bay when he is old enough since I first found out I was pregnant. For him, I know it won't be the same experience as he will come from a Christian home, but I pray for him that he will meet some great friends and learn what it means to be a witness to those who are like his mom was, clueless about God until setting foot through the main gate.

Birch Bay Ranch is an example of how to reach, and teach, the next generation of leaders and instill in them the morals that are slowly being replaced by so-called tolerance. It is a church setting that does not create the same type of fear that walking through the main entrance of a church building holds for many. It is a place of sanctuary for the lost and I am one of many who owe everything I am to the people who took the time to share the love of God with me.

Hindsight tells me without Birch Bay, I would have fallen deep into the darkness and perhaps never have found the way out. I owe everything to BBR and while I would love to watch my son on rodeo day in a few years, it is more for those kids who may not have any other way to hear the Word before they are confronted with so many moral decisions that I pray the doors stay open so they at least know there is another way than what all their friends are choosing.

What better mission field is there than the youth who are our future?

Tanya (Wallis) Foley