Gospel Fellowhip Home

I was relieved to see some familiar faces and someone who knew where to go and what to do in this strange town. I remembered back a day or two ago when I was asked by the interviewer at Crown Zellerbach if I minded rain and if I enjoyed the outdoors. I suddenly had an understanding why he asked those questions. I was in the middle of wilderness and it was pouring down rain. I appreciated the warm dry home to which I was brought and it is pictured above. The top floor was the church, the middle floor was the living quarters for the pastor and his family, and the bottom floor was a series of Sunday School rooms and a large recreation area with a ping pong table and some tables for games. It was here in the basement where I parked my few belongings and settled in. Then it was a trip to the general store for some steel toed shoes, a requirement for working in the mill. It was all pretty basic and I was ready for my first day at work. I was informed that the attendance at the church was so meager that there was little chance that I would ever have to share my quarters with any social activities.
I had a great view from my room and soon noticed that our 'house' was the second highest in town, at the end of a wooden road whose construction was odd. The road bed was built of thick planks and beams, one side anchored to the mountain, the other to posts set upright onto the rocks. There was a great rumbling and vibration as cars would drive on them, but then there were few cars in town so this was a rare occurrence. The town was only accessible from the water and the sky. The nearest real roads were many miles away in Bella Coola. The streets were all interconnected with wooden stairways. I soon discovered that my walk to and from work was via the stairway to heaven and it consisted of almost 200 steps. At least it was a straight line to work and thus a shortcut. All the terrain in Ocean Falls was steep and every path or road to everywhere else was either uphill or down. The only level part of town was a one block stretch of Main Street, and the massive docks in the harbour. The mill site was also level, of necessity, but I am sure that there were many earth moving machines and plenty of dynamite to achieve that task. I would soon be in good shape as I did not have a car and there were places to go and things to do.
But, the huge question for me was the job. What did it entail? Was I capable of doing it? I looked out at the huge beast, the pulp and paper mill across the harbour, as it rumbled, heaved, and hissed with steam. The next day I would be in its bowels, performing some task that those around me were sure I was capable of. I was not so sure.