The Storyteller

Eric has fond memories of his childhood on the reserve. He heard about Jesus, and felt a desire to accept His gift of salvation, but had no one to walk with on that path. Instead, by the age of 16, he was into partying, and judged his life to be worthless. On a cold, dark night, he decided to end his life. But then something very strange happened on his way to the tower.

Don tells about the 1964 tidal wave that hit his village of Old Harbor, and about the people that gave their lives to save his village. He also shares about another disaster, his problem with anger. Don's family was being torn apart. When his wife finally gave him an ultimatum, he knew that he had to change.

Don grew up in Old Harbor, Alaska on Kodiak Island. He knew what it was like to live off the ocean, to hunt seal and bear. He also knew the darkness that effected the lives of people in his village... including his own family.

Jeanne's teenage son was murdered. She lived with great anger and hurt... and spent years trying to keep the killer behind bars. Despite her efforts, he was paroled. How does one move forward? Jeanne shares her personal experience that made all the difference.

When Harlan walked out, Jeanne was going to reach for the bottle again to ease her pain. But instead, she reached out to Jesus. She realized that she wanted her marriage more than she wanted a drink. But now what? What would make Harlan come back to her.

Jeannie and her husband, Harlan, were being driven apart by alcohol, and she finally divorced him. When nobody else wanted him, he came back, promising to change, and he did. He turned to God. Jeannie did not believe him, and did everything she could to make him fall. Finally, she succeeded in driving him from the home into the arms of another woman.

Jeanne grew up in an alcoholic home. It wasn't a safe place and she suffered terribly because of it. Things like this leave scars. Later, as a young mother of three, she left an abusive marriage. She managed to complete her education and support her family... but she eventually had her own trouble with the bottle.

Florence's husband said to her, "Flo, you know what happened is that I got saved, I got saved." And you know, and of course he started preaching to me, "You know, you need the Lord too, you need to be, you need to know the Lord, you need to be forgiven." And I'm like,Yeah right. I'm thinking, you know, "I wonder how long this is going to last," and so I just kind of like laughed in his face.

Florence was raised up north in Manitoba in the small community of Red Sucker Lake. She bounced around between relatives until she was 17 when she met Conrad. He asked her to marry him. What happened next was interesting.

Gordon's problems with the spirits weren't over just yet. \"When I went home, the stuff was still in my home; the odors, the foul voices, literally torment..."

Gordon tells the story of a strange incident while in the hospital recovering from a heart attack: "I was laying in bed and I heard these voices call out to me, 'Gordon, Gordon, Gordon'. I thought somebody was by the window; I got up. I had a heart monitor on - I wasn't connected to any tubing or anything - but I went to the window. Nobody was there, and then I realized the voice was right before...

"Early on, in Milwaukee, I got into trouble as a young man with a lot of other friends. We weren't a gang as such, but we had a lot of trouble that we got into, to the point where it took me before the judge when I was 16 years old, 17 years old. And the judge gave me an ultimatum of either joining the military (this was back in 1962) or going into the reformatory for the trouble that I got into."

When he arrived home in St Theresa, Ernie was so troubled by the thought of dying that he couldn't rest. He decided to go to Garden Hill and talk with someone who he thought could help him with his problem. It was a man he heard talking about Jesus on the radio.

On a flight from Winnipeg to Garden Hill, Manitoba, Ernie was paralyzed by fear because he couldn't get this question out of his mind. "If you were to die at this very moment, where would you go?" He didn't know the answer and he shares how he sought to find it.

Because of a sickness when he was a little boy, Ernie was unable to do things that other kids could do. Early on he learned that education was important and he became a teacher. Alcohol was also important to him but it was ruining his life. One day, he was confronted with a frightening question he couldn't answer... and he couldn't let it go.

Abuse almost pushed Carroll over the edge. "I remember this one night, I said, This is enough of this, and so I loaded up the rifle when we went to the bush the next day, and I just hid behind a tree, and I see my dad coming, I cocked the old rifle, and had it on his head..."

Tammy prayed to receive Christ as her Savior when she was a teen, but without spiritual guidance, there was no lasting change. She got into trouble and was thinking of ending her life. But her story didn't end there.

Her childhood was shaped by growing up with an alcoholic father. Listen as Tammy shares openly about her journey from hatred to forgiveness... and how that could even be possible.

The loss of their son in a car accident was a heavy blow to Gilbert's family. Questions go unanswered and the pain is hard to bear. Is it possible to find hope and comfort in the midst of such tragedy and grief? Listen as Gilbert talks about these things from a tender heart - as only a parent can.

The love and concern of Christian friends for his family in a time of crisis made an impact on Gilbert. So did his wife's rekindled interest in the Bible. Through this, he became more and more interested in the Bible himself, and found it to be the source of the peace and life he craved.

Gilbert grew up in an alcoholic home, and despite his intention not to be like his parents that way, drinking took hold of him. A bout of appendicitis brought him into a relationship with a family whose friendship and influence spoke to him deeply. They had something that he needed.

Allen was bound in chains and led away by six officers. He was going to see a federal judge. The judge told him, "Allen, I have the authority to send you away forever." And it was true. Allen had a criminal record that was extensive. But the judge did something unthinkable.

The law finally caught up with Allen and was able to keep him locked up in solitary confinement. He tried to use the powers that he had to be set free... but nothing worked. Allen decided to kill himself. Three times he tried to hang himself, but failed. He decided to go on a hunger strike. 13 days into his slow suicide, he heard something that would change his life forever.

Allen is on the run from the law. He was so violent that even his own people wanted him locked up. But it seemed that whenever the police would catch up with him, he would be able to find a way to escape. There came a day though when he couldn't run anymore... and so decided to end his life.

Allen was born and raised on the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona. In this first of four parts, Allen shares some history regarding his people, how he got his last name, and how he turned to violence in his youth.