Daphne and Doug of Strathmore, Alberta

We were told about Daphne and Doug of Strathmore being isolated believers by a circle of friends gathered at the home of Kathy and Dan Vickers in Drumheller, Alberta. At one end of the parlor sat Ron, Margaret, and Lylia engaged in friendly and upbeat conversation. At our end, Frank and I were engaged with the stories provided by Kathy, Dan, and Paul. We summed up our visit with a series of prayers and received words of encouragement from all of them.

  The following morning we arrived at the home of Daphne and Doug. They stood at their front door and welcomed us into their home with open arms. Daphne excused herself from the front room and returned a short while later with a large tray of food and four steaming cups of coffee. We glided through their history as isolated believers like a tour of paddlers flowing down a river. Doug explained that he had met Daphne in Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories. He listened with interest as she described herself as a Baha’i Pioneer. She was working for the Canadian Federal Government. He was also working for the government and after two years of watching her mix with the Inuit teaching English after her work hours and introducing the Faith to the youth, he asked her to marry him and she accepted. Not long after, Doug declared while in the car on one of their drives to another Arctic location.  

Daphne lifted herself from the couch and returned with her prayer book.

“I declared April 11, 1966”, she said. “I’ve had this prayer book ever since. And as far as being isolated believers, Doug and I got as isolated as you can imagine living in the Arctic. After years of mingling with the natives and doing our best to introduce the Faith, we left the district and travelled through other areas of Canada, landing eventually in Strathmore.”

“Strathmore used to very active and had several Assemblies. But, as you might know, Baha’is don’t tend to live in one place for their entire lives, and so, Assemblies come and go,” Daphne said.

We shared a prayer with them to commemorate the recent passing of one of their daughters.

Later, our gracious hosts prepared and shared a meal with us. We laughed, sang and prayed until we left them in their comfortable home.

Blessed Is The Spot