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This Little Light of Mine |
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2005-10- by Susan McIver -
The lives of Graham Gore, retired minister, and his wife, Myrtle, exemplify the meaning of the Sunday school classic, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, Let it shine…..".
In the past, the Gores have raised a family, tended a congregation, worked in an outreach ministry and served in the mission field.
Today, they are working with residents of the Similkameen Valley while continuing with their concern for people in the developing world.
Born in Kelowna, Graham graduated from Penticton High School in 1957 and worked in automotive dealerships for the next 18-years.
In 1967, he met Myrtle, a native of Hamilton, Ontario who had moved to Victoria as a young girl with her family, and married her a year later.
"We have a blended family of eight children, hers, mine and ours," Graham said.
They have also been foster parents to a number of children and currently have 17 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
"We're planning a big family party for Myrtle's 75th birthday in 2007," Graham said.
In 1974, while attending the Foursquare Gospel Church in Comox, Graham felt a call to the ministry and he soon enrolled in what is now called the Pacific Life Bible College in Surrey.
Upon graduation, he took up the challenge of being the minister of what became known as a skid row church in Kamloops.
"It was a particularly rewarding time preaching to bikers and ministering to people who were truly down and out," he said.
For five years, the Gores worked with the evangelist, Len Lindstrom of the Kelowna-based World Harvest Outreach Ministries, and then served for two years as missionaries in Nicaragua until 1994.
Upon returning from the mission field, Graham rejoined the Lindstrom team.
After retiring from the ministry in 1996, the Gores operated a postal business in Kelowna that did bulk mailing for businesses and the city.
Eventually, they sold the business and took to the road in a converted bus, travelling throughout Canada and the United States and parts of Mexico.
Their plan to live in the bus in Hedley came to an abrupt end when it was totalled in an accident in Saskatchewan in the fall of 2002.
"Since we'd been thinking about living in Hedley, we bought a 1904 heritage house instead," Graham said.
Soon Graham was reading scripture and taking some Sunday services at the Grace Church in Hedley which ministers to people from varied denominations.
Since the Gores became associated with the church, the original tiny congregation has grown several times over.
To encourage community participation and raise funds, Graham initiated musical concerts held on Saturday evenings in the spring and fall.
Myrtle and others organized the Bargain Centre at the church where donated items are sold at modest prices and the proceeds used for worthy projects.
This summer Graham conducted services at the Keremeos Ecumenical Church while the church was waiting for a new minister.
Since spring, Graham has served as the co-ordinator of the steering committee for the Organic Farming Institute of B.C. in Keremeos.
An economic development initiative, the OFT builds on the extensive knowledge and experience of organic farming in the area to offer practical on-farm opportunities and on-line courses.
Graham is particularly interested in this project because of the institute's potential to help farmers in developing countries through distance education. |
