From A Pioneer Evangelist Now In Heaven LOI 1934-7
From BrethrenPedia
This is the final article in the very first issue of Letters of Interest.
From a pioneer evangelist now in Heaven (R.F. Varder): Dec. 27th, 1932:
"I have no idea as to when or by whom I can get this letter to the nearest post office. Meadow Lake is 42 miles distant. Since I arrived here, on the 12th inst., I have had two opportunities of sending mail, and as yet, only one of getting any.
So you see we are pretty well isolated. Everything here is in a primitive state... log houses with mud roofs which do not keep out the rains. The settlers, apparently, have yet to learn the way in which to fix a roof with mud and thatch grass. Most of the houses have no flooring — just Mother Earth.
About 16 years ago this was a primeval forest, chiefly of spruce that towered from 100 to probably 150 feet high, with a good sprinkling of very tall white poplar. A bad fire came along, killed everything, and now the once stately spruce lie in a hopeless tangle from three to six feet deep. The cleared patches amount to 4, 5 or 6 acres, and, as there is very little hay to be obtained, it is estimated that two-thirds of the cattle and horses which were brought into this settlement have died of starvation.
I have kept on continuously in the Gospel since my arrival, with congregations of from 7 to 12. But the people are getting interested and I have offers of several homes. At one of these, on the 18th, about 20 grown-ups and 30 children came, and at another, on Christmas day, we had about 18 grown-ups, and I was much encouraged by the many offers given me to hold meetings in different homes.
I took the people into my confidence, told them that I was the Lord’s servant regarding what I should preach, but that I was willing to be their servant regarding time and place. The roads are very bad here. Horses make about 3 miles per hour. Many have no team and some are temporarily absent. Then this is the “dark of the moon.” Episcopalians, Presbyterians and United have come in and have forsaken the field, so I have it all to myself.
This would be a splendid place for a young man who could walk and walk and walk some more, and it would be a great blessing if the Lord would stir up the hearts of some young strong fellows to come in here with the Gospel, visiting among the homes, and content to live the life which the settlers here, owing to conditions, have to do."
