Neil
Neil Peters loves to quote one of his favorite Scriptures: “My soul waits silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my defense. I shall not be moved” (Psalm 62:1, 2). He was born on a beautiful sunshiny day, May 17, 1921, in Ukraine — a second son for Johann & Margaretha Peters. The natural beauty of that day, however, was in stark contrast to the desperate situation in which his family found itself. Russia was still reeling from the Great Revolution. Since 1918 Mennonite villages had been terrorized, robbed and pillaged by roaming gangs. Formerly wealthy landowners had seen their life’s work destroyed, and were left utterly destitute and helpless. One of Neil’s grandfathers had owned a mulberry orchard; the other, a flour mill and a store. “... but Makhno’s bandits came and destroyed it all,” said Neil. “A number of men in our family were put to death — one uncle was stabbed to death in a hay loft; others were shot in the open field ....”
But God remembers His own and hears the cry of His people. A year before Neil was born, in 1920, help came from fellow Christians in North America — emergency Soup Kitchens, were set up by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). This, by the grace of God, became their life-line. “My Mom stood with me, an infant in her arms, in the Soup Lines,” says Neil. “If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t be here today!”
In 1926 Neil’s parents decided to join the Mennonite migration to Canada. MCC had made arrangements with the Canadian government, and with Canadian Pacific Railway, for them to come to Canada on a ‘pay later’ basis. “All my life, MCC has meant very much to me!” says Neil. “They vouched for us with the CPR; they put up advance payment for me! (Twenty years later, in 1945, we were able to pay off that debt.)”
After traveling by train and ship the Peters family finally arrived at a little village in southern Saskatchewan. Here they were given accommodation with a bachelor who paid Neil’s Dad $50 a month to work for him, and agreed to purchase groceries for the family, as long as Mrs. Peters did the cooking. Two years later they were able to purchase a place of their own. “It was a 440-square-foot, two-room house, including the porch,” remembers Neil. “... we lived there until 1938. There were 11 children in our family by then! I wonder how my parents made it!” Somehow, by the grace of God, they did. As a youth, Neil was his mother’s right hand: “I was Mom’s kitchen boy – she always depended on me.”
Neil’s Dad was faithful in reading the page from his daily devotional calendar to the family — and he liked to sing the hymns of his faith. His voice would echo for miles around, while he tended to the horses out in the fields and hilly pastures.
Neil attended a one-room school with his siblings; but, due to the language barrier and unfair racial discrimination, he only got as far as grade 6. When he was 15 he took a job with a government winter work program – general farm work at $5 per month, and a bonus of $2 if he stayed for the full 6 months. The first year, he worked for an uncle; the second year, for a Mr. Henry F. Klassen. Little did he realize that the Klassen’s 12 year old daughter, Tina, was his future wife. “Our families were close friends, but Tina and I didn’t have much in common,” laughed Neil. “Somehow, we couldn’t see eye to eye at all.”
A spiritual highlight for the Mennonite young people was to attend Church Conferences at Pemburn twice a year. “If Dad said the horses needed a rest, we thought nothing of walking the seven miles to attend a Conference.” At one of these meetings Neil received the assurance of his salvation. “John 1:12 is my verse! It was made very clear — BUT AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM [Jesus Christ], TO THEM HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD, EVEN TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIS NAME.” With salvation assured, and a deep longing for God, Neil enrolled at Bible School in Hepburn, Saskatchewan, and completed three years there. In 1941 he affirmed his faith by water baptism, and became a member of the Hepburn Mennonite Brethren Church.
Then, in God’s will, Neil Peters and Tina Klassen could finally see things “eye to eye” — they were married on October 14, 1945. After a year in Swift Current, they moved to Clearbrook, BC, where a framed, 16 X 24 tar-paper shack became their home. Neil worked at various seasonal jobs to make a living. Then, in 1953, they moved to Vancouver, where he got a good job at a Plywood Mill. Later they purchased a lovely home in Burnaby. They became charter members of Willingdon MB Church in 1961, where Neil helped with Boys’ Brigade and Tina taught Sunday School. The Lord blessed them with two adopted sons, and many foster children – sick infants awaiting placement. As each baby was with them for only a short time, this took an emotional toll; but Tina did it lovingly.
In 1975 they moved to Penticton, where Neil worked as Custodian for the Regional Hospital until his retirement in 1986. They became charter members of GRACE MB Church, and served the Lord in many ways, wherever they could.
For years they had faithfully supported a dear friend and fellow church member, missionary to Mexico, Martha Braun. When Tina passed away in 1988, Neil’s mother-in-law began to pray for another partner for him. “You’re too young to be alone,” she said lovingly. Soon that prayer was answered. Neil and Martha were married August 19th, 1989. Now they serve the Lord together at MCC’s Ten Thousand Villages; and in the Church. “ ‘MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS! ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND; ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND’,” says Neil. “That’s one of my favorite hymns.”
March 2002
© 2002 SKM