 |
CLOSEup
Meet our missionaries
...
Conrad & Florence Flett
|
The first few years of Conrad's life took place in the northern
Manitoba Cree community of Garden Hill, along with his three brothers
and sister. His father was a hunter and trapper, out in the bush weeks
at a time. When Conrad was about eight, his father turned ill,
necessitating a move for the family to Winnipeg.
Up North Conrad had always gone to church with his mom. "But they
didn't really teach us about salvation there," he says. At age 18 a
motorbike accident helped Conrad realize that he wasn't really in
control of his life. He began searching for purpose.
Soon after he married Florence, who had also grown up in northern
Manitoba, at Red Sucker Lake and Garden Hill. Their first couple years
of marriage were hard, not making much headway in improving their lives.
It was Conrad who first made a decision for Christ, while visiting a
church one Sunday, and he began witnessing to Florence. Later they moved
back to Garden Hill and, when Conrad got baptized, Florence realized
that he was serious about the Lord. She had grown up being taught good
morals, thinking she already was a Christian. But through Bible studies
she had begun to realize that she, too, needed to surrender her heart
and will to the Lord. That same night she made a commitment.
A number of believers at the NEF church in Garden Hill had attended
Key-Way-Tin Bible Institute and they encouraged Conrad to consider
going. It took Florence a bit longer to get used to the idea, but in
1995 they moved to Alberta to begin studies.
After graduation from KBI in 1998, the Fletts returned to Garden
Hill. The church elders had been encouraging Conrad to consider serving
with NCEM's Tribal Trails ministry, but he decided that there would
have to be a direct invitation, and he had put it out of his mind. That
fall, before taking up a job offer in Garden Hill, they headed out west
for a couple weeks of volunteer work at KBI.
En route to Alberta, without extra money for motels, they took up a
previous offer from NCEM staff to stay overnight in Prince Albert. That
stopover turned out to be a pivotal point in their lives.
In a short time Conrad was convinced that Tribal Trails was where the
Lord really wanted them. "And the voices of three of my church elders
echoed in my ears," he remembers. "After that it was just like glue!"
he adds. "We stayed. We knew we still had to raise our support, but
there was work to be done here."
Along with reaching out to the unchurched, the Fletts are especially
fulfilled knowing that through television they're helping encourage
Native believers all over. With their four children they are also
involved with local Native church ministry in Prince Albert.
Click here to meet more
of our missionaries
Back to Northern Lights magazine
index
|
