This is the fourth post in our series, "As the Lord Leads," telling the story of how Chris Schuman and Village Missions helped rural churches without a pastor in Canada. If you're new to this series, we invite you to start with the first installment, "A Single Woman Undaunted by Rural Ministry".
Sometimes Chris Schuman helped to establish a Sunday School and church – as she did in Progress, B.C. At other times she was invited by small-town churches who were interested in requesting a missionary pastor. Middle Lake, Saskatchewan, was one of these.
Chris visited Middle Lake Gospel Church in March 1978 and explained the work of Village Missions. One of the people at that meeting was Walter Parschauer. “Chris was very helpful and encouraging to our small church without a pastor,” he said.
The future of the church was important to Walter because it had been started by his father and uncle.
The Gospel Chapel
In the 1930s, Willie and John Parschauer and their sister traveled from place to place playing the music for dances. One day they found themselves at an evangelistic tent meeting about 100 miles from home. They were church attenders, but this was the first time they realized they needed more than a registered infant baptism and confirmation: they needed a personal relationship with Christ that was transformative.
After returning to Middle Lake, they discovered their zeal and passion weren’t welcomed by the church they attended, so they began holding services in a school. As a result of their transformed lives and witness, their parents and sisters also trusted in Jesus for salvation.
In time, their father donated the land and logs for a church, which was known as the Gospel Chapel. John Parschauer later taught at New Brunswick Bible Institute, but Willie stayed in Middle Lake and raised his family in the Gospel Chapel.
His son, Walter, farmed and worked at his father’s garage. He also poured himself into his home church. He served on the church board and in other ways. When the church outgrew its building outside town, Walter was instrumental in the process of buying an unused church building and moving it to the current location.
By the 1970s, the Gospel Chapel no longer had a resident pastor. They had joined the ranks of rural churches without a pastor, and they wondered if Village Missions would be able to help. They invited Chris to meet with them.
A Plea for Help
In March 1978, Reverend Duff received a letter from Middle Lake.
Dear Rev. Duff:
Last week following our invitation, Miss Schuman visited our church and explained to us the ministry of Village Missions. Since then we have had church meetings and have had a unanimous decision to apply to Village Missions for a full-time couple to pastor our church.
…For the past five years Rev. Randy Heinrichs of the Humboldt Bible Church of the EMB conference, has taken Sunday morning services. Although he has given so generously of his time, and we have grown spiritually under his ministry, it does not meet the need of a community of about 500 people in Middle Lake, plus the many more in the surrounding district. We are tremendously burdened for these people and feel that if a work is to grow, we must have a resident pastor who is able to spend much time with the people.
…There is great potential here in Middle Lake, and we pray that Village Missions will accept our plea for help and that God will select a couple of His own choosing.
Sincerely in Christ,
Danny Rung
Chris made a couple more visits to Middle Lake to help them prepare for a VM couple. She was also present on Sunday, August 20th, when the church welcomed their first Village Missionaries -- Roy and Lennie Adrian.
Never Out of Her Mind and Prayers
Roy and Lennie already knew Chris. They first met her when they were attending a little church in the Lardeau Valley of the West Kootenays. It had joined VM in 1972, a couple years before the Adrians arrived. “Chris Schuman used to come and visit the missionaries, like a District Representative,” Roy said.
Chris cared deeply about the VM fields she found and the missionaries who served there. She regularly corresponded with them and went out of her way to visit them. We can assume she prayed for them faithfully. When issues arose, she was often the liaison between the churches and Rev. Duff.
At some point, District Representative Bob Rayburn from the US began coming to Canada occasionally to visit the fields and the missionaries. But Chris remained vital to the work of VM Canada. She wrote, “I cannot begin to express how much I have appreciated working often alongside Rev. Rayburn with his years of experience and Godly wisdom.”
Executive Director of VM Canada, Murray Graham, recalls interacting with Chris at annual staff conferences when he and his wife were missionaries. “Chris was an encourager. She encouraged the missionaries in the Lord and in rural ministry.”
A Milestone for Middle Lake Gospel Church
In October 2023, Middle Lake Gospel Church had a farewell meal for Walter and Anne Parschauer. It was 72 years to the day since Walter became a member of the church. He and Anne loved the church and served in it in many ways. They both helped in Awana. Anne taught Sunday School and led a women’s missions circle. And Walter served on the church board continuously for 69 years! “We wanted to help with the spiritual lives of people in our community,” he said. “We didn’t feel called to go out as foreign missionaries, but God used what we could do in our own community.”
The current pastor, Village Missionary Ryan Schnee, used two quotes to describe Walter’s contribution to Middle Lake Gospel Church.
- 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (NIV).
- Lamenting low church participation during the summer months, A. W. Tozer asked, “But in the name of a thousand struggling churches and disheartened pastors, may I not plead for a little more loyalty to the local church…? May God raise up a people who will consult their pleasures less and the great need more."[1]
Walter proved himself reliable, and he was loyal to his local church.
I can’t help thinking Chris Schuman would have loved to be in Middle Lake that day!
[1] A.W. Tozer, God Tells the Man Who Cares (Harrisburg: Christian Publications, Inc., 1970), 130.
There's one more installment in this series! Check back next month to read "Writing the Unfolding Story of VM Canada".
