To the Ends and Back

Pastor David Shed Share their Journey

Pastor David Shed, Tlicho Baptist Church - Glenda and I were very busy with our own business down in Temple, TX. InHouse Systems was our baby, along with two little girls and a few children who were mostly grown up. We installed and monitored security systems, as well as installed telephone and sound systems. By 1992, we felt very successful. Our lives seemed complete and each year we profited even more than the last.

I had graduated from a missionary training school in 1978 back in Alberta, Canada. I always felt compelled towards missions and always knew that someday I would be called to a mission field. One Sunday at Lakeview Baptist Church, Belton, TX the Sunday school teacher split the class into groups and asked us to write down four essential things we could not live without. My wife and I were in different groups and were very surprised to see each other’s list. We had both written the same things; air, water, food and shelter. Now that in itself isn’t that significant, but the emotions that stirred caused us to reveal to each other that afternoon, a deep sense that God was calling us out of our comfort zone and into a new life where we would need to trust Him for our very existence.

In a few nights I had a dream that I went to a brown, old house so far north that nothing stood between it and the North Pole other than a few scrubby trees. In the dream I went through the whole house and felt a comfortable feeling as though it was my home. In the same period of time I was asked to consider going to Saudi Arabia to install a security system on the border of Saudi and Kuwait. I started attending meetings about the system and protocol as well as preparing my company for a long term departure. At these meetings I was warned of certain aspects of the Saudi life that finally made the proposition unacceptable to Glenda and me.

Now my company was running with a competent staff and I was not needed at the office. After a few days I decided to go back to seminary in Canada to earn my Bachelors degree. We said good bye to Texas in August 1992 and headed toward Three Hills, Alberta. We thought we would remain there until Christmas, earning the degree, and then return to Texas. God had a hook in us that we didn’t know about. First, we discovered I already had the degree I went for and so we decided that I would earn a master’s degree. I chose the program for missions.

At Christmas my grown children came to visit and my son tried to talk me into returning to Texas. Finally I decided to go back to work and forget this new adventure. After getting deep into Montana I made a “wrong” turn and ended up back at the Canadian border. We had stopped and prayed and cried about our decision to return to Texas. I knew that God was calling us to remain at school and that He also had a work for us to do in Canada. When we found ourselves at the boarder the decision was made. I told the border guard to please let us in and I would not leave again.

By Christmas 1993, my son had been living with us in Alberta and had been ministering some with Venture Teams Int’l. He had returned to Texas and called me on December 16th. He told me that God was working in his life and that he felt there was something he needed to do. I told him I would pray for him and we hung up the phone. Within minutes the phone rang. Venture Team was calling to see if Kody wanted to travel to Kenya with the team. I told the caller Kody’s number and knelt to pray. “Lord, You said if we stayed in Canada, You would have a ministry for us”. I sensed the Lord leading me to get out of the house and go for a ride. I drove around for about an hour, praying and listening. I heard nothing from the Spirit until I reached our drive way. Upon exiting the vehicle I heard my named called by a friend. Jim and Mildred Taylor had come at the leading of the Holy Spirit to ask Glenda and me a very important question.

As we walked into the house I told them of a book I was reading about the Native people. They knew the author personally. Glenda and I had been ministering on the Blackfoot Reserve about 100 kilometers from the school. We had been well accepted in the tribe and knew we wanted to continue ministering to the Native people. Jim and Mildred finally got to the reason for their visit. They told us of a Navajo group, called Native Gospel Outreach, who had built a house in the in the tribe and knew we wanted to continue ministering to the Native people. Jim and Mildred finally got to the reason for their visit. They told us of a Navajo group, called Native Gospel Outreach, who had built a house in the Sub-Arctic Region of Canada. The Navajo missionary, Art Norris, and some guys with him were to pass through Three Hills the next day. They asked if I would be willing to go to the Northwest Territories and see the house they built. When they showed me the picture of the house, my heart leaped. I started laughing uncontrollably. It was the house in my dream. I caught a ride the next day and went to see our new home in Ft. Rae, NWT.

Glenda, the girls and I moved to Ft. Rae in May 1994. We lived in that house for over 15 years. In that time we gave the company to my son, we lived our lives with strangers of another culture, language and worldview, seen many of these become as close as blood kind. We built a church and have baptized fifty nine souls. Now our church has sent missions to Thailand, Wales, Alaska, Uganda, Philippines and all over North America. Our hearts swell to see what God can do when someone is available and dedicated to serve him. Praise the Lord, Jesus.