CBC - Origins

Arthur Baskin  (by: pioneerwoman ©07/2005)

My father was a minister, as everyone knows. I had no intentions of following in his footsteps but after my 21st birthday, I was involved in a few ‘adventures’ which didn’t please my father or mother. I loved my dear parents and I truly didn’t want to bring shame upon them, so when an opportunity arose in our congregation to travel in the mission field I answered the call and went.

I traveled with a group of other young men to South America. At first I was appalled at the conditions there, but soon I became accustomed to that life and found ways to serve the people in the ways they needed the most. Many years passed and I found great rewards in helping the people there. Sometimes it was dangerous, but usually it was only the conditions which were challenging and I did my best to meet those challenges. Then one day, I was working in a village, helping with distribution of food and medical supplies, when guerrillas came in and grabbed several of the workers. I was among them.

I don’t know where they took us, because we were blindfolded. I don’t know how long we were there, because the days and nights ran together. Then one day, there was this eerie silence and I could feel someone else in the room. I was still blindfolded, but I heard this low voice tell me not to panic. "I’m lookin’ for a bloke named Baskin. Are you him?" I nodded, then wondered why I felt like I could trust this stranger. He took off my blindfold, but I still couldn’t see. My eyes took a while to adjust to the light. He helped me up and out and by the time I could really see him, we were on a helicopter.

He introduced himself as Terence Thorne and he started telling me how he was my brother and how he would take me to a safe place where all my other brothers were and how I could live there forever. For a bit I thought I was hallucinating, but after a few days here, I realized that it was real. The first time I looked in the mirror and saw myself I couldn’t believe it. I looked like I did before I left for the mission field. For the most part, it’s like none of that ever happened in my life. Only the good things before I left and the wonderful things since I came here.