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INfocus
with Grace Willis
Key-Way-Tin Bible Institute Student
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I'm from Cree Metis descent, but even before I was born there was
another family praying for me. My biological mom was an alcoholic and was
only 15 or 16 when I was born. She tried to take care of me, but couldn't.
I know that God was protecting me when I was not safe.
It was the Willis family that was praying for me. Even though they had
five children, they wanted to adopt a little girl. Somehow the social
worker decided that I should be part of a big family. The other
authorities involved didn't mind that I would be leaving my reserve.
(And to think that one month later a new law was enacted that Native kids
were not to be adopted by white homes!) I now call Beach Point, PEI my
home.
My adopted parents are Christians. I call them "mom" and "dad"
because they have loved me and taken care of me, and prayed for me, too.
The middle name they gave me is "Esther" because, like Esther in the
Bible, they thought that maybe someday I could go back to help my Native
people.
My dad was a pastor in western Canada, and that's how I heard about
Key-Way-Tin. I am far away from home here at Bible school, but my dad had
told me that KBI would be just like "one big family," so it's not
been bad at all!
I accepted the Lord into my heart when I was eight years old. As a
little kid I tried to do the right thing, but it seemed like I never could
quite do it. That's when I realized that I needed Christ in my life.
Though I didn't understand everything about God as a child, I knew
that He was there for me. As a teen I spent most of my spare time working
at jobs, and never had the support of a church youth group. So I didn't
grow in my knowledge of the Lord like I should have.
During my first year here at KBI, a highlight has been finding answers
to some of my questions -- about why my Christian walk wasn't what it
should have been.
For instance, in studying the Book of John, I've learned that we can
be like a Pharisee - skeptical about who Jesus is; ... like the woman at
the well - playing with the world; ... like the blind man or like the lame
man - not seeing who God really is, and not knowing how to walk with Him.
Since learning some of these lessons from God's Word I haven't been
the same. I also grew spiritually through my Christian service assignments
this past year, in prison ministry and also through visiting senior
citizens. (I found that if you hug one senior, you have to hug them all!)
I don't have definite plans for the future, but I think of the future
more in terms of my Christian walk -- what it'll be like drawing closer
to God each day.
That keeps me excited, as I know I'll be learning more about Him. I
want God to be the main thing, whatever I do.
Click here to meet other
Key-Way-Tin students
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