When I was freed from Canaan Land in 1999, just as I turned 18, I buried it all down deep inside. I tried to act as if the last two plus years hadn’t happened, telling myself that time and distance could erase the memories. I buried the pain beneath layers of silence, distraction, and the routines of everyday life, convincing myself that forgetting was the same as moving on. For years, I carried that weight quietly, outwardly functioning while inwardly haunted. What I [...]

The day before everything changed, Shian Klassen - a man of supposed faith - threatened to strip me of everything I loved. I was fifteen. A child. And he told me that if I didn’t comply, I’d be excommunicated - not just from Christian Centre Church, but from my school, my community, and even my own family. Imagine being told that one refusal could erase your entire world. During that meeting, Jim Lee watched me closely. He seemed to notice that I was [...]

When I turned 18 in May of 1999, Pastor Johnson finally granted me parole - I mean, graduation - from the program and return home. My parent excitedly attended my grad ceremony there the next month and brought me back home to the rest of my family where I belonged. After 2 1/2 years of my youth lost surviving in...whatever this was, it was finally over. Graduation day was the last time I was physically confined to Canaan Land. My sentence was served. [...]

Back in the 80's and 90's when I was just a kid, each May 27th I used to look forward to my birthday with unbridled excitement! It was always a private family affair with my parent and sibling and one close friend. It was a normal yearly occurrence where I looked forward in excitement to a happy day! That is, until I turned 16. From then on, the cult soiled any chance of me finding a reason to celebrate the annual recurrence of [...]

...continued from Part 1; Suddenly, Nathan arrives at Canaan Land > The first weekend after Nathan Schultz's arrival at Canaan Land, we all travelled in the transport van to Saskatoon for church services. I didn't get that same luxury when I began my Canaan Land sentence, as I wasn't allowed to visit or call my family for the first 2 months I was there (including my birthday). But the rules seemed to bend for Nathan and he got to chat with his church-elder [...]

"Hey, do you guys know Nathan Schultz?" It was autumn, 1998. Sunday morning church service had just finished at Saskatoon Christian Centre and the two of us Canaan Land program participants were ready to take the hours-long trip back to Big River. My roommate and I were sitting in the back of the transport van waiting for Jim. A few minutes later, he emerged from the church and climbed into the driver's seat then turned to us. "Hey, do you guys know Nathan [...]

This guy shouldn't have been responsible for a pet rock, let alone children and youth in a church and school. The 100-acre woods of Canaan Land in Big River was a complete disappointment if you expected an actual river. Despite the name, Big River in Saskatchewan was devoid of any rivers. There was no way I would have ever expected a couple of us teenage Canaan Land participants to find ourselves in a desperate situation on an island in the middle of a [...]

The land that Canaan Land Big River sat on was just about 125 acres. As far as the eye could see, trees filled the property. The only clearing was where our housing occupied. Aspen, white Spruce, white Birch, Jack Pine, and Balsam Fir trees covered every inch of the forest we lived on. With such a variety to pick from, it was the job of participants and teenage youth of the Canaan Land program to harvest these sources of wood to fuel our furnace [...]

With only a thin quilt and sheet on each of our single beds, the bitter cold of mid-winter nights was a constant companion. Our calorie-limited diet consisted solely of tea after our 6:30 p.m. meal, making the long nights even more challenging to sleep through. Lumberjacking every workday kept us lean and fat-free because some of us were 16 and still growing while burning more calories than we were consuming. Added to that, every time it snowed at least a foot we had [...]