Hello OM Staff.

Fraser Cashion

May, 2012

I would like to start by telling you about my childhood. I was born into a family of believers. I am the second of three brothers. My family attended our local church, we prayed and read Bible stories together. I was about 5 years old when I realized that Jesus could be part of my life. This is when I accepted Him into my heart as my savior. My faith grew slowly yet firmly through my young years. Being outdoors in nature, playing with my brothers was a huge part of my life. I grew very close to my brothers who I now consider my best friends. My faith and understanding of God grew in stages. I recall feeling very alive in my faith at times, while other times I would feel distant. When I was 13 years old I knew I had to take my faith seriously. My church had a conference for youth, which aimed at taking ground lost to sin by approaching topics surrounding addictive behaviors. I felt like this did not apply to me because I was a good kid, but I decided to attend anyway. During the weekend, I realized how real the spiritual world is and my faith as a believer of Jesus Christ is a powerful thing and should be taken seriously. Following that weekend I became more aware of how my faith can be integrated into my life. During the next years of my life I found myself reading the Bible a lot. I would read daily 4 or more chapters; I grew a love for the words of God. I looked forward to reading my bible all the time, which is something I still carry with me. After high school, I went to a community college near my home. I became more involved with the church by teaching Sunday school to grades 6 and 7s. When I finished 2 years at the college I transferred to UBC- Okanagan to continue my education in environmental studies. This was my first time living away from home. I had looked forward to attending UBCOkanagan, yet after I began to settle in, I found it was much more difficult than I expected. Being alone without the support of my family was most difficult. I found classes at the University to be very challenging. It was also hard for me to make friends because I missed my brothers so much. I became quite lonely, almost to the point of depression. I felt totally alone and uncared for. This was the most difficult year of my life. I thought God had opened the door for me to live in Kelowna and I was confident God had brought me to this place, yet I questioned Him why it was so difficult and harsh for me. The only thing that refreshed me and brought me peace was reading the Bible. I prayed and read in most of my spare time. God taught me a lot and I matured in my faith during those months. Now I'm past that time I can see it was important for me to experience that darkness so that I could reach out to other people. He also softened my heart to understand and sympathize with other people. Returning for my second year of studies at UBC Okanagan was a large burden for me. However, God allowed very different circumstances to unfold in the past year, and I greatly enjoyed my time studying. I made lots of friends and got involved in the campus church. My friends introduced me to rock-climbing and this was an activity which brought much joy to my heart. I wanted to share it with people, so I started a Monday night rock-climbing group at my campus church. God has brought me through a very dark valley and I do not doubt that more difficult times are ahead. But the joy I have in Him and the life He has given me gives me strength each day. I praise Him for being a loving father to me and adopting me into His family.