Doing Christian work that summer had simply whetted Bill’s appetite for ministry. He knew that preparation was necessary. What should he do next? As he prayed his way through the question, God brought before him the challenge of attending Berean Bible Institute. It was a nice thought. But, with only his Grade VIII, Bill wasn’t quite sure he could handle the demands. 

        Christians can look at their own abilities and despair or look at God’s resources and rejoice. As Bill continued in prayer, God graciously took the uncertain young man’s eyes off himself and turned them to Jesus. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). It was in this assurance that Bill made the decision. Left to his own strength, he knew he was bound to fail. But God Himself said that His strength was made perfect in human weakness. Bill was like the psalmist who said, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God” (Psalm 71:16). In that confidence, in October of 1954, he registered as a full-time student at Berean Bible Institute. 

        Some of the students recognized Bill from his brief visit in spring. Among them was Shirley May McLeod, now a second year student. Already preparing for missionary work in the North, Shirley felt delight in God’s work of raising up Native Christians to minister to their own people. 

        Shirley was of European descent. Her dad, Archie McLeod, was Scottish. The McLeods arrived from Scotland in the 1830’s, settling in Glen Gary County, Ontario. Her mother, Fay Hall, came from a Dutch family headed by Abraham Stauffer, the 1804 immigrant after whom Stouffville, Ontario was named. 

        Fay and Archie McLeod were farmers. They also increased the population of Canada by nine. The first seven were born in the first eleven years of the marriage. Their names were Marie, Ben, Enid, Don, Marjorie, Iona and Hugh. Then, for some-un­known reason, eight years passed before Shirley was born in 1934. One more child, Jean, arrived the following year. 

        Shirley hardly got settled into Grade I in the little rural school before her dad had a terrible farm accident in which he lost one arm. Around the same time period, her older brothers went off to play their part In World War II. Fay and Archie McLeod, with their remaining children, moved to Calgary, to live there for a couple of years before moving again, this time to the small town of Irricana. 

        In this town, Shirley began to attend Sunday School. She remembers how, in her preteens, she prayed to a God she did not yet know, promising Him that if He brought her brothers home safely from the war, she would be a good girl and not sin. Though she meant well, the fact that Shirley tried to bargain with God like this showed her ignorance of what God says about prayer in His Word. The Bible says that the basis of prayer is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Shirley’s discovery of that truth still lay some years ahead. 

All of her brothers did return safely from the war, for which Shirley was grateful. She worked hard at school and carried on attending the local church. Though her mother only attended now and again (and her father didn’t) Shirley was pretty much a part of that church now. So much so that she was baptized into membership at age fourteen—without really understanding what biblical baptism is all about. 

Shirley was a shy, reserved kind of girl, and a good student.

She had always planned to be a teacher. When she finished

Grade X at age sixteen, she had to make a decision. To enter

Grade XI meant leaving home. It was decided that she would board with her brother Don and his family in Calgary. Taking the plunge, Shirley moved. 

        In Calgary, a childhood friend phoned Shirley. Eileen Williams had grown up on the next farm when the two were pre­schoolers. Eileen invited Shirley to attend Youth For Christ rallies held each Saturday evening. There, Shirley’s heart began to open to the Gospel. Eileen also Introduced Shirley to the Baptist church she attended. There, Shirley met young people her own age whose life glowed with joy in the Lord. Soon, she was attending Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF), a weekly meeting of Christian students In her high school. 

        At church, Pastor Bill Laing taught the Junior Bible Class each Sunday morning. 

        “He talked about God in such a close and personal way. I’d never heard anybody speak like that,” Shirley said. “I found myself struggling with the truth, knowing there was something I needed but not sure if I wanted to surrender.” 

        Shirley went to the class a number of times that year, but then during the summer she decided she was going to change her life style. Always very shy, she consciously resolved that she was going to conquer her shyness and start going to school dances and basketball games. 

        God’s timing is exact. One night soon after, Shirley went with a friend to a citywide Gospel rally conducted by T.W. Wilson, associate evangelist with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. There, for the first time in her life, Shirley understood fully the Gospel of God’s grace. When the invitation was given for those who needed Christ to come forward Shirley humbly made her way to the front of the stadium. 

        The last book of the Bible has Jesus saying, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). That’s how Shirley described what happened when she, by faith, confessed herself to be the sinner for whom Jesus died. 

        “They sang a hymn then which talked about newness of life,” she recounted. “It became one of my favorites, “One of the verses of the hymn went like this:

Heav’n above is softer blue,

Earth around is sweeter green!

Something lives in every hue

Christless eyes have never seen:

Birds with glader songs o’erflow,

Flowr’s with deeper beauties shine,

Since I know, as now I know,

l am His, and He is mine.¹ 

1. Taken from the hymn, I am His and He is Mine. Lyrics by George W. Rob­inson, 1838-1877; music by James Mountain, 1844-1933.