By Monica Smouter

“I WOULDN’T be here if it wasn’t for faith. My faith is everything to me,” smiles Marie Klassen, 77 years young this month. Soft white hair tops her glowing face. “Well, just looking back, you can see it – how God has been there all along.”

Marie was born in Winnipeg in 1931 to Russian parents, who had arrived in Canada five years earlier.  They raised her and her siblings – two brothers and one sister – in their Christian home. Marie became a believer at age 13, when she attended a revival meeting.

“All my friends were becoming Christians,” she explains.

At age 21 she married Ben Klassen, whom she describes as a godly man. Marie and Ben founded B.F. Klassen Construction in 1955, and the business thrived. However, in 1972, a plumbing and heating sub-contractor for all three of their buildings currently under construction went bankrupt.

The Klassens had two choices: to declare bankruptcy themselves, or attempt to keep their business going somehow.

“I asked my husband why God would take the business away from us. We always said it was his business. Ben said that God only knows. “ Ben met with the bank manager – who agreed they could have five years to recoup their losses.  

One day Ben came home and told Marie he thought they were going to lose their house, too. They decided to put the house on the market before they had to give it away.

“We were amazed when a buyer offered us the full selling price – in cash!” Miraculously, the buyer invited the Klassens to live in the house for another year, paying only for utilities. That gave them the time they needed to build another house – and in two short years the business had recouped its losses.

“Looking back, I see that [God] wanted us to really understand that the business was his – and for us to not hold onto it too tightly. We had to give up control.”

In addition to the construction business, the Klassens ran a 12-step program with a Christian focus, called Overcomers Outreach. For 30 years, they ministered to alcoholics and people with various addictions, as well as women and children in the inner city of Winnipeg – offering free breakfasts, vacation Bible schools, potluck dinners and picnic lunches.

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They also opened their home to missionaries and their children. Helen Forewell was the daughter of missionaries in South America, and was taken in by the Klassens at age 17.

She praises them for opening their home to care for people. “I wasn’t the only one; they helped a lot of people! They always had an open door.”

In 2003, Ben passed away. Marie recalls the time following his death. “People asked me how I got through it. It was only with God’s help. That’s the only way I could have made it. When you are a senior, you have more time to spend with God.”

Three years, later Marie moved to Burnaby. As she arrived, she found herself feeling unwell.  Her new doctor looked at her medical test results from Winnipeg, and immediately sent her to see a specialist ­– who scheduled Marie for surgery to have a tumour removed. Her prognosis didn’t sound encouraging; and a friend asked Marie if she was laying awake at night with worry, as she awaited surgery.

“But I didn’t lose any sleep over it, which was a real blessing. I just had to trust that if it was my time, it was my time – and [God] was going to take care of it. Of course, I prayed a lot, and a lot of people were praying for me, too! I’m sure that helped.”

The tumour turned out to be cancerous; but mercifully, it was completely contained – and Marie did not need to undergo any radiation or chemotherapy. She recovered rapidly and quickly got involved at her new church – Willingdon Church, in Burnaby.

“My personal ministry is mentoring younger women.” She loves talking with them and making suggestions to help them along their way.

Marie also helps out with a Women’s Mission Circle, where she sews and quilts with the ladies, makes baby layettes and nighties, and fills little bags with sewing kits, school or medical supplies that are sent all over the world.

Marie also enjoys life at The Mulberry, an independent living retirement residence where, she says, “it feels like family.” She attends their Salvation Army hymn sings, and a nondenominational service led by chaplain Dan McWilliams.

Marie’s door is still open.  She continues to learn about God and faith through a study she attends, and through books.

She is quick with a smile – and a piece of advice that goes with it:

“You look a lot nicer when you smile than when you frown – and you get a lot less wrinkles, too! Of course, I’ve earned all of my wrinkles!”

January 2008