Bill’s conversion to Jesus Christ didn’t bring a great outward change in his life. Not at first, anyway. Bill didn’t tell anybody about the encounter he had with God on the road and in his brother-in-law’s home. Instead, he began to read and study his Bible. His times of prayer also became more personal and sincere. Before, he had often prayed the Lord’s prayer by memory. There were times when, during such prayer, his mind even strayed from the meaning of the words which came out of his mouth. Now, he knew he was talking to God—and he knew God was listening. 

        The old radio still had its place of honor at home. Bill listened to Gospel broadcasts from distant points. The number of Christian ministry programs which entered the home via radio was incredible. At night, the voice of announcers and preachers from all across the continent found their way into the home on Whitefish Lake Reserve. And Bill was there listening, his heart hungry for the Word of God. Many were not biblically sound programs. He sensed that there was some difference. 

        What the reserve saw in these early days of Bill’s new life was a man who obviously liked to read his Bible. Also, at the logging camp he read his Gideon New Testament while the other fellows played cards. At first, Bill could just as easily put down the Bible to make up a foursome for cards If that was necessary. Gradually, however, other things lost their appeal and the sense of satisfaction from feeding on God’s Word increased.

        Bill’s parents got a bit concerned when their son quit attending the weekly movie show, preferring to stay home and read yet more of God’s Book. His parents couldn’t understand that. Everybody went to the movies. Why should Bill be different? Still, there was no denying that Bill’s new life didn’t bring them reason to worry and fret, like some of the parents whose sons gave themselves over to drinking and carousing. 

        As Bill drank in Bible teaching from Mr. Manning and other radio Bible teachers, he began to develop a spirit of discernment for the truth. Some of the Bible teachers on the radio taught from the Bible without giving the whole message of Scripture. The young convert began to dimly understand a principle which the Bible insists upon and which can act as a test of truth. In John 14:6, Jesus claims, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Such a claim is either fanaticism, foolishness, or fact. By personal experience of God’s life-changing grace Bill was learning that he was dealing with fact! He was also learning that when radio preachers presented any law, system of belief, or requirement for salvation other than personal faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary, these preachers were off center. 

        Surprisingly, Bill also began to learn that sometimes God’s servants fall into disobedience and shame. One United States radio preacher, whom Bill listened to with pleasure and confidence, allowed himself to be seduced by Satan into acts of disobedience. A good Bible teacher, he went against the teachings of God’s Word by involving himself sexually with a married woman. The woman became pregnant by the fallen preacher. The woman’s husband took revenge by coming after the preacher and killing him. 

        The husband’s violent reaction was something Bill could understand. It was much more difficult for him to understand why a man with such a ministry should fail so miserably. Yet, he knew that part belonged to the man’s human side. Young in the faith though he was, Bill was beginning to understand that God always provides an escape from temptation for those willing to obey Him and put Him before their own desires. 

        During that first year of his new life as a Christian, Bill got a Bible from his mother. Up to that point, he had the red-covered Gospel of John, now well-read and a bit frayed around the cor­ners. Then his sister Adeline gave him a Gideon’s New Testament she had received during her time as a patient in the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital in Edmonton. This was the book which was usually tucked in Bill’s shirt pocket when it wasn’t in his hand. It was the New Testament he read during breaks at the logging camp and in the evenings after work. Bill had become captivated by the Joy of reading God’s Word and the satisfaction it brought to his soul. He was a bit like Job in the Old Testament who, speaking of God and His Word, said, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of  His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). 

        There is no record of Bill refusing a meal so he could read the Word. But there were many times when he stayed at the logging camp for the weekend instead of going home. Living in the small log cabin there, he spent what to him were delightful hours filling his mind and heart with the Word of God.

The Bible from his mother was an unexpected gift. One day a traveling book salesman came to the reserve selling Christian books and Bibles. “Do you want a big Bible?” Bill’s mother asked, knowing that Bill only possessed the New Testament. When Bill nodded, Irene paid the salesman and, without fuss or fanfare, gave her son the Bible. She had never learned to read herself. She had to depend on  the church, of which she was a devout member, to teach her about God. She was unable to pick up the Bible and read for herself the gracious words of God which are always true and which in some important points showed that not all the teachings of her church were correct. Mothers usually like to give their children precious gifts. No mother could have chosen a more precious gift than the one which Irene gave to Bill that day.

Bill with sisters Lorraine, Clara and Edith.