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A "NORTHERN
LIGHTS" MAGAZINE ARTICLE
(from Issue #506)
NCEM SAYS GOODBYE
TO A FAMILY MEMBER:
Bonnie
Knight with the Lord
 It
was with great sadness, lightened a bit knowing that her suffering had
ended, that the NCEM family received news of Bonnie Knight's passing
in Barrie (ON) on October 30th. After being in remission for 11 years,
Bonnie's cancer had returned in 2007. She was 58 years of age at the
time of her passing.
Bonnie is known to Northern
Lights readers as one of our missionaries, and wife of past
General Director, Philip Knight. To Tribal Trails television viewers
she is known as one of our program's hosts.
Bonnie's life was
characterized by selfless service to her family and to the work of
extending God's Family. After her marriage to Philip in 1969, they
worked together at Ontario Pioneer Camps. They joined NCEM in 1983 and
served for a number of years representing our Mission in churches and
colleges in Ontario and eastern regions.
Along with their three
children, they also served in the northern Cree community of
Waskaganish (QC) for a year, where they established strong long-term
friendships. In 1993 they moved to serve at NCEM Headquarters in
Prince Albert, Philip initially as Assistant General Director, then as
General Director from 1996 to 2004.
Bonnie took on an active
role at HQ as Candidate Secretary and Office Manager. She served her
fellow missionaries at HQ and across the fields with a caring servant's
heart, and reached out to her own Native people through Tribal Trails.
At a young age Bonnie was
adopted by the Johnstons, with whom she enjoyed mutual family love.
More recently she renewed contact with her biological family, and
shared her excitement about visits with them at Christian Island
Reserve (ON), with opportunities to share the Gospel. When the Knights
moved back to Ontario in 2004 because of Philip's failing health, they
chose Victoria Harbour because of its close proximity to Bonnie's
birth relatives.
The last few years were
very difficult for Bonnie as she cared for Philip while his
degenerative disease (Lewy Body) took its toll on his physical and
mental health. Prior to his move to a care home, she helped with his
needs while suffering from cancer, facing her sickness and side
effects of treatments without his support.
Bonnie's faith in the Lord was
steadfast. She displayed Christ's character to the end, continuing to
think of others even while her health declined -- still sending cards
with notes and gifts to friends and coworkers, a practice she'd begun
while serving at Headquarters.
"I remember my mom
telling me that a lady had come up to her and said, 'I know you have
adopted children. Which ones are your own?' And my mom said, 'They're
all my own.'
"It showed me that I
was as much her child as her children by natural birth ... that I
never did sense the difference. I think that's a really good picture
of when we come into God's family. We're adopted and we become
His."
-- Bonnie Knight (on
Tribal Trails TV)
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