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By Jack Krayenhoff
WHEN you have to stand in line to join a memorial
service in a church that seats hundreds, and men are setting up chairs in
the narthex because all the pews are filled – then you know the
person being remembered had an exceptional reputation.
That is what happened November 26 at Victoria’s
First Church of the Nazarene, at the memorial service for Vietta
(‘Vi’) Oshiro.
Why was she so well-known and well-loved?
To begin with, there was her professional competence.
She was a nurse, and unfailingly rose to leadership as head nurse or
director of nursing wherever she worked – as at New
Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital, and at Sunset Lodge and
Matson Sequolia Lodge in Victoria.
With that sort of expertise, she did a much-appreciated
job helping sick people at Victoria’s Mustard Seed Church, which is
directed by her husband Tom.
The Mustard Seed is a church where large numbers of
street people and addicts – but also many Victorians who have simply
fallen on hard times – can get practical help in the form of food and
clothing. Vi also gave them medical help, as well as good advice and
counselling.
Rev. Chris Riddell, who also works at the Mustard Seed
and who led the memorial service, put it in a nutshell: “The
commonest three-word sentence around the place was, ‘Go ask
Vi.’” Her essence was service, and everybody relied on her.
She did all this in close harmony with her husband. Tom
is a Baptist minister, and is himself a much beloved figure in Victoria
– well known and respected for his advocacy and work on behalf of the
poor.
In the words of Riddell, “He demonstrates his
commitment to the poor in the trenches of society.”
Important as Vi’s work at the Mustard Seed was,
and also her role as a working partner to her husband both there and in
previous ministries, it was not as if she neglected the home front.
On the contrary, her offspring eulogized her as a great
mother and grandmother, who provided a safe and loving environment marked
by a lot of laughter.
Every speaker spoke of her as a fun person.
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Daughter Sandy Rosen is a Langley-based dancer,
musician and author who shares the message of God’s love through
creative expression.
She sees herself, and the other children and
grandchildren, as “Vi’s living legacy” – for,
though Vi herself had no obvious artistic talents, she brought them to
fruition in her children.
Daughter Barb Borthistle and her husband Garth serve
the Lord in their community. Also based in Langley, they run the Wired Monk
coffee house and restaurant. Their son Caleb made a very good speech on
behalf of the 10 grandchildren.
Son Mike is lead pastor at The Forge Baptist Church in
the Western Communities. He knew his mother to be a true woman of prayer
– and recalled how, as a youngster, he helped her to become that way
by his own behaviour.
The memorial service as a whole turned out as Riddell,
in his opening remarks, had suggested it should.
There was an awareness of the loss of an outstanding
woman of God, a true ‘Proverbs 31 woman’ beloved by her
family as well as everybody at The Mustard Seed – and
therefore, a cause of sadness.
It was also an outpouring of love and sympathy to
Vi’s immediate family.
On the other hand, it was a celebration of a triumphant
Christian life. It was a marvelous testimony to the presence of Christ, in
a woman who had surrendered her life to him.
January 2009
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