Folks at First – Wayne Wyatt

I Was a Balcony Christian!

by Wayne Wyatt

Definition

So what is a “Balcony Christian”?  It is a term that Marlene and I have used to refer to ourselves. Every Sunday we would come to church, sit up in the balcony, and that is about all we would do. Sit there, shake hands with a few people, sing a few hymns, give a little money, say the Lord’s Prayer and listen to the sermon. The odd time we might help out with ushering, and with Time for Friends and a few other activities, but most of the time it was comfortable to just sit in the balcony and not get too involved. But God had other plans; plans that were far beyond our imagination.

Action Makes Faith Come Alive

It all started when the Karen refugees came to Regina. The Canadian government through Immigration Canada decided to sponsor a large number of Karen refugees to come to Canada. Most of these refugees were Baptist Christians and so Open Door, Regina’s multicultural organization, asked if First Baptist would be interested in being host to about 100 Karen people who would soon arrive. First Baptist said yes, and many people in First Baptist came forward to help the Karen adjust to life in Canada.

I will always remember when Walter and Audrey Frolic asked us to be hosts for a Karen family. Marlene said she would and I said, “Just a minute here. These people don’t know how to speak English, they come from a different culture and this is going to be a lot of work”.

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