Shoreacres : Andy Douglas

Testimony Corner - Andy Douglas

My earliest recollections were of a happy family of three living in a tenement building in Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland, right on the banks of the River Clyde. I grew up watching many huge liners travel down the river from the John Brown shipyard to the sea. I am the only son of Andrew and Betty Douglas. I remember happy days with my parents in Scotland, who both enjoyed life -- especially singing and playing the organ in Albert Hall. It was fondly called the tin hut – because it had one of those corrugated steel roofs where the rain, which often fell in Scotland, could be heard all through many of the meetings we attended there.

In a small town, the gospel hall was the center of our existence. It held many happy memories for me as a small boy. It was just around the corner from our home in Renfrew and my parents were a very positive influence on the Christians, both young and old. Saturday night meetings would find my Dad and my Mom singing duets and playing the organ and sharing of rations of food with their special guests, the soldiers who, during the war, found a haven of comfort and a slice of home at Albert Hall.

My experience with learning about war and the young soldiers, who often gave their lives for their country, expanded my world and appreciation of what a substitute family could do for them. My Dad often went into my school, which was then converted into an army barracks, to offer any who wanted the chance to come into our home and have a home cooked dinner and write letters to their wives or girlfriends. Many also were saved as a direct result of these Saturday Night Fellowship Meeting and Teas.

My world was also expanded in this small town, to include the whole world! How, you say? Missionaries, their visits, their stories and their struggles were very much a part of my early life experience. As a little kid, I was always wondering what made people leave comfortable homes and family to go to strange, faraway countries because of the needs of other unknown people. I personally knew a few ladies who were so daring as to go to foreign lands by themselves. I admired them and their love and zeal for unknown people! I too was loved and taught from an early age about the importance of my salvation and I knew that those around me had something I didn’t have – a security I didn’t have.

Security was important to me, because my early youth was characterized by war, bombs and enemy planes. Some of my very earliest recollections were being awakened out of a deep sleep and carried down to the steel reinforced entrance to our tenement building – to sit there for hours and wait for the ‘all-clear” sirens. That in itself only reinforced in my mind that if I would be killed during a bombing, or my parents would be, I would be separated from my parents and the Lord forever. My Sunday School teacher, Miss Nessie Roy, who was also a strong influence on my life and reinforced many of the truths I learned at my parent’s feet.

Miss Roy was a very interesting Bible story teller as well as life experience stories. One such personal story she told us one Sunday would forever impact me and my future. I was twelve years old when Miss Roy decided to tell this class of boys a different story – her own story. She related how she had come to that point in her life that she had to make a decision. I don’t particularly remember the details of that story, but I do know the impact was profound. I realized again that she had something I didn’t have and I wanted it more than anything else – a comfort and security in knowing that I was ready to die. I also worried about being left behind if the Lord came. I was afraid I was not ready and that night in bed I realized for the first time that even a child’s faith and trust in Jesus could save me and keep me safe not only my whole life, but for eternity. I asked the Lord to come into my heart, just like my teacher did, and He came in, just like she said He would. In child-like faith, I was born again.

In the meantime, I had grandparents and other family who lived in a far away land – Canada. However much my Dad wanted to go to Canada as well, he would not go because of the war and was promised a passage right after the war was over. This did not happen until 1946. We sailed from Southampton on the S.S. John Erickson and that was a mighty big and adventurous experience for me. Many stories could be told about that trip, especially the one about guessing the arrival time of the ship in NYC harbour. My guess was the closest and financial reward was given to me. We arrived two weeks later in New York City, took a TAXI and then a TRAIN to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. What an exciting time for a young boy. This was especially memorable because the very next trip that ship made to New York ended in disaster. The ship caught fire and burned in the harbour in New York. This in itself lets me know that God had a plan for me and for my life in Canada.

My grandfather, Andrew Douglas, was a well-known ‘preacher man’ and we lived with him and my grandmother for ten years. One of the many reasons we did this was because he traveled extensively and was away for months at a time. My Mom helped with the household chores and my Dad began his career with Bridge and Tank Company as a design engineer. It was 10 years later that we moved to our own first new home in Stoney Creek. (And my grandparents moved right next door – just to be close!)

The extended Douglas Clan was now prominent in Kensington Gospel Hall. In fact, it could be said, that the Douglas’s and the Agnew’s were two main families one had to contend with in Kensington during those years!! But it was a wonderful happy fellowship in those early years and it had a strong spiritual effect on my Christian life. It was there I learned to stand out in Gore Park in the ‘open air meeting’ and give my testimony and preach the Word -- after getting the ‘nod’ from someone important. I spent many years teaching Sunday School there. Many names you would know, I could quote, but won’t, who were my students in Sunday School.

As a young 16 year old, I learned to drive my uncles’ and my Dad’s cars as a direct result of Tom Agnew’s patient driving excursions. In fact he taught my Dad to drive early on Sunday mornings. My first permanent job was servicing and selling business machines with a small company.

It was about this time that a young girl came as a regular visitor to Kensington as a 14 year old. Her sister got married and moved to Hamilton, and trips to Hamilton were many for her, and her recently widowed mother. This girl was interesting to me…. for about 3 years!! I was a shy young man but Carol gently worked on me….and much later we started long-distance dating (Niagara Falls to Hamilton) ….. and the rest is her story to tell!

We now have two wonderful children you all know well, Lynne and Alan. It was because of them and our close proximity to the new chapel under construction on Shoreacres Road. that we made the big (for us) decision to join the Burlington Chapel in Trefoil Lodge. A year or so prior to this, we were visited by Jim and Annabelle Weaver one Sunday afternoon, and told about the wonderful opportunity to work in the assembly then in Trefoil Lodge. We finally, happily, made a good decision to fellowship in Burlington and started just at the time the original chapel was transitioning to Shoreacres Bible Chapel.

It didn’t take long for us to be fully engaged in chapel work. I started out as a Sunday School Superintendent! Imagine, starting at the top job! Les Pagendam just was leaving and there was a real need. We have had many opportunities down through the years to serve the Lord at Shoreacres – including many years in youth work leadership and teaching. Those years were the best because we had upwards of 50 young people at our meetings and social get-togethers. Andy Yeaman and I were challenged continually to keep these young people interested and were challenged by them, always! Many lives and homes were opened up to us with those young people, and thankfully to the Lord, today most all of them can be found living for the Lord in many places. Wonderful, fulfilling, life-changing experiences for us as a family. Our own children were encouraged in their Christian life because of the fellowship and friendships developed during this phase of their lives. In later years, I worked in Awana with what was then called “Shipmates” and serving as a deacon and elder in Shoreacres as well as other outside Christian endeavours, such as Family Bible Hour board member.

Today, we as a family are separated by geography, but not by love and care for each other. We still know and are thankful to the Lord that our children and grandchildren, Lynne, Greg, Ryan, Michael and Breanna, as well as Alan, Barbara, Kristen, Stephen, Evan and David are blessed in the Lord and going on for him in their lives. We do miss them, a lot, but know that all things work together for good to those that love Him. The Lord has led us through valleys and mountain tops during our lives, and sometimes through deep valleys, but He has always been and continues to be a source of strength and hope for the future. The verse that has always been my comfort is Psalm 23, verse 1 – The Lord IS my Shepherd…….I shall not want. He is there all the time. He never leaves me.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1


	Testimony Corner - Andy Douglas My earliest recollections were of a happy family of three living in a tenement building in Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland, right on the banks of the River Clyde. I grew up watching many huge liners travel down the river from the John Brown shipyard to the sea. I am the only son of Andrew and Betty Douglas. I remember happy days with my parents in Scotland, who both enjoyed life -- especially singing and playing the organ in Albert Hall. It was fondly called the tin hut – because it had one of those corrugated steel roofs where the rain, which often fell in Scotland, could be heard all through many of the meetings we attended there. In a small town, the gospel hall was the center of our existence. It held many happy memories for me as a small boy. It was just around the corner from our home in Renfrew and my parents were a very positive influence on the Christians, both young and old. Saturday night meetings would find my Dad and my Mom singing duets and playing the organ and sharing of rations of food with their special guests, the soldiers who, during the war, found a haven of comfort and a slice of home at Albert Hall. My experience with learning about war and the young soldiers, who often gave their lives for their country, expanded my world and appreciation of what a substitute family could do for them. My Dad often went into my school, which was then converted into an army barracks, to offer any who wanted the chance to come into our home and have a home cooked dinner and write letters to their wives or girlfriends. Many also were saved as a direct result of these Saturday Night Fellowship Meeting and Teas. My world was also expanded in this small town, to include the whole world! How, you say? Missionaries, their visits, their stories and their struggles were very much a part of my early life experience. As a little kid, I was always wondering what made people leave comfortable homes and family to go to strange, faraway countries because of the needs of other unknown people. I personally knew a few ladies who were so daring as to go to foreign lands by themselves. I admired them and their love and zeal for unknown people! I too was loved and taught from an early age about the importance of my salvation and I knew that those around me had something I didn’t have – a security I didn’t have. Security was important to me, because my early youth was characterized by war, bombs and enemy planes. Some of my very earliest recollections were being awakened out of a deep sleep and carried down to the steel reinforced entrance to our tenement building – to sit there for hours and wait for the ‘all-clear” sirens. That in itself only reinforced in my mind that if I would be killed during a bombing, or my parents would be, I would be separated from my parents and the Lord forever. My Sunday School teacher, Miss Nessie Roy, who was also a strong influence on my life and reinforced many of the truths I learned at my parent’s feet. Miss Roy was a very interesting Bible story teller as well as life experience stories. One such personal story she told us one Sunday would forever impact me and my future. I was twelve years old when Miss Roy decided to tell this class of boys a different story – her own story. She related how she had come to that point in her life that she had to make a decision. I don’t particularly remember the details of that story, but I do know the impact was profound. I realized again that she had something I didn’t have and I wanted it more than anything else – a comfort and security in knowing that I was ready to die. I also worried about being left behind if the Lord came. I was afraid I was not ready and that night in bed I realized for the first time that even a child’s faith and trust in Jesus could save me and keep me safe not only my whole life, but for eternity. I asked the Lord to come into my heart, just like my teacher did, and He came in, just like she said He would. In child-like faith, I was born again. In the meantime, I had grandparents and other family who lived in a far away land – Canada. However much my Dad wanted to go to Canada as well, he would not go because of the war and was promised a passage right after the war was over. This did not happen until 1946. We sailed from Southampton on the S.S. John Erickson and that was a mighty big and adventurous experience for me. Many stories could be told about that trip, especially the one about guessing the arrival time of the ship in NYC harbour. My guess was the closest and financial reward was given to me. We arrived two weeks later in New York City, took a TAXI and then a TRAIN to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. What an exciting time for a young boy. This was especially memorable because the very next trip that ship made to New York ended in disaster. The ship caught fire and burned in the harbour in New York. This in itself lets me know that God had a plan for me and for my life in Canada. My grandfather, Andrew Douglas, was a well-known ‘preacher man’ and we lived with him and my grandmother for ten years. One of the many reasons we did this was because he traveled extensively and was away for months at a time. My Mom helped with the household chores and my Dad began his career with Bridge and Tank Company as a design engineer. It was 10 years later that we moved to our own first new home in Stoney Creek. (And my grandparents moved right next door – just to be close!) The extended Douglas Clan was now prominent in Kensington Gospel Hall. In fact, it could be said, that the Douglas’s and the Agnew’s were two main families one had to contend with in Kensington during those years!! But it was a wonderful happy fellowship in those early years and it had a strong spiritual effect on my Christian life. It was there I learned to stand out in Gore Park in the ‘open air meeting’ and give my testimony and preach the Word -- after getting the ‘nod’ from someone important. I spent many years teaching Sunday School there. Many names you would know, I could quote, but won’t, who were my students in Sunday School. As a young 16 year old, I learned to drive my uncles’ and my Dad’s cars as a direct result of Tom Agnew’s patient driving excursions. In fact he taught my Dad to drive early on Sunday mornings. My first permanent job was servicing and selling business machines with a small company. It was about this time that a young girl came as a regular visitor to Kensington as a 14 year old. Her sister got married and moved to Hamilton, and trips to Hamilton were many for her, and her recently widowed mother. This girl was interesting to me…. for about 3 years!! I was a shy young man but Carol gently worked on me….and much later we started long-distance dating (Niagara Falls to Hamilton) ….. and the rest is her story to tell! We now have two wonderful children you all know well, Lynne and Alan. It was because of them and our close proximity to the new chapel under construction on Shoreacres Road. that we made the big (for us) decision to join the Burlington Chapel in Trefoil Lodge. A year or so prior to this, we were visited by Jim and Annabelle Weaver one Sunday afternoon, and told about the wonderful opportunity to work in the assembly then in Trefoil Lodge. We finally, happily, made a good decision to fellowship in Burlington and started just at the time the original chapel was transitioning to Shoreacres Bible Chapel. It didn’t take long for us to be fully engaged in chapel work. I started out as a Sunday School Superintendent! Imagine, starting at the top job! Les Pagendam just was leaving and there was a real need. We have had many opportunities down through the years to serve the Lord at Shoreacres – including many years in youth work leadership and teaching. Those years were the best because we had upwards of 50 young people at our meetings and social get-togethers. Andy Yeaman and I were challenged continually to keep these young people interested and were challenged by them, always! Many lives and homes were opened up to us with those young people, and thankfully to the Lord, today most all of them can be found living for the Lord in many places. Wonderful, fulfilling, life-changing experiences for us as a family. Our own children were encouraged in their Christian life because of the fellowship and friendships developed during this phase of their lives. In later years, I worked in Awana with what was then called “Shipmates” and serving as a deacon and elder in Shoreacres as well as other outside Christian endeavours, such as Family Bible Hour board member. Today, we as a family are separated by geography, but not by love and care for each other. We still know and are thankful to the Lord that our children and grandchildren, Lynne, Greg, Ryan, Michael and Breanna, as well as Alan, Barbara, Kristen, Stephen, Evan and David are blessed in the Lord and going on for him in their lives. We do miss them, a lot, but know that all things work together for good to those that love Him. The Lord has led us through valleys and mountain tops during our lives, and sometimes through deep valleys, but He has always been and continues to be a source of strength and hope for the future. The verse that has always been my comfort is Psalm 23, verse 1 – The Lord IS my Shepherd…….I shall not want. He is there all the time. He never leaves me. *The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1*