River Of Life Celebrates First Anniversary

Jule Koch Brison | May 15, 2013

"If I had two wooden legs they'd be knocking together up here," was how Bonnie Ray described her nervousness in giving her testimony at the River of Life Christian Fellowship's first anniversary.

Since Bonnie had been introduced by the church's pastor, Rev. Raymond Klatt, as "driving off on an ATV", those who don't know her and didn't have her in full view did not at first realize that she was only partly joking. Bonnie does have one "wooden leg", a prosthesis that has been adorned with a beautiful feather painted by local artist Gabriela Klaessen.

Bonnie was the main speaker at the new church's first anniversary celebration on May 12. She described how God helped her through the accident that caused the amputation of her leg, and the long healing process that followed. More recently, for five years she and her husband Paul provided their home as the meeting place for a group of local Christians, who eventually were able to build the new church.

Since its opening last May, the church has already grown. Attendance has doubled from when the group used to meet in the Rays' home, and thanks to generous donations to the building fund, a substantial portion of the church's building loan has been repaid in one year.

The accomplishment of so much in what is a relatively sparsely populated rural area gave the congregation much to celebrate at the anniversary service, which was also a Mother's Day celebration. There was special music by Garry and Denise Frizzell of Tamworth with their son Nathan, and the church's worship team, Ken and Freya Gibson, Ron Lemke, and Lois and Jack Weber. Another highlight was the blowing of a traditional shofar by Don Steen. The shofar is a trumpet made from a ram's horn, which was used in Biblical times. The service was followed by a bountiful fellowship lunch with an anniversary cake made by Elaine Gunsinger.

River of Life is located at 7064 Road 506, Plevna. For information, phone Rev. Klatt at 613-479-0059.