Miles and Rosemary Blair are a husband and wife team with a burden for the lost, especially for the people of Haiti.
Miles' Testimony
I grew up in McAdam, New Brunswick, in a house full of musicians, there was always a party going on. I became a musician too.
At age 15 I got a job on the railway, shoveling snow. I spent my whole pay on booze. Before too long people would see me coming and say, “here comes the Alkie”. I'd laugh and wave at them thinking it was a big joke.
By age 16 I could play and sing pretty good. I was in a band with some older guys. Our first big gig was down in Jackman, Maine. We played for a salary, plus all the beer we could drink, and all the hookers we could use. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, this was it, I had arrived!
After that trip, my small hometown seemed even smaller, so I moved to Toronto. I thought I'd go there and be rich and famous in no time. It didn't happen. I had the talent, and even had many opportunities. Every time, I blow it. I'd get drunk and not show up for auditions. After awhile, I was famous all right, but it was for being a drunk who wouldn't show up for the gig. It got so that I couldn't get a job playing anywhere in the Toronto area.
I went back home. My drinking just got worse and worse, I was getting in fights and car accidents continuously. I was in an out of jail, detox centers, and the hospital. Every time the ambulance went I was in it. If a police car went I was in it. If a tow truck went it was pulling my car.
Very soon I was living in a little room with nothing but a cot. It got so that I wouldn't leave, I'd just stay in bed and drink. My bowels would let go, and I'd be sick, so I was laying there covered in my own waste and vomit. I was losing weight from just drinking and not eating.
I finally bottomed out in October 1980. I was really sick, this time, I was all yellow and down to about 100 lbs. I was so tired of doing all this. I just wanted to die. I got down on my knees and said the first sincere prayer of my life. I didn't ask God to help me. I just asked him to take me. I didn't know it but in the same building a few doors down, the doctor was talking to my parents and telling them that I was too sick to make it this time, and that they should go home and plan my funeral. I remember being in bed and my father came in and he was crying. Over me. I felt so bad, to think that this old gray haired man was crying over me. I felt like I was the worst piece of garbage.
After my prayer I got into bed, that night I slept through the night for the first time I could remember. When I got out of detox, this time, I joined AA and stayed for many years, but I was doing the same things. Miles was the same, the only thing, I wasn't drinking. I continued going to AA, but all the time I still had this empty feeling.
I got back on pills again, and soon was in bad shape again. In 1997, I went to see a pastor friend. He asked me to come play at his church the next Sunday. He said, “We could sure use you”. He then said, “God just told me he could use you in a mighty way.” I was desperate, I went to the church that Sunday night to play. When I walked in to the church, I felt something I'd felt years before in the detox center when I had prayed.
When the service was getting over, I noticed people coming forward to the altar for prayer. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but I knew I had to talk to Jesus. I went to the altar. I said, “God I know I need to pray, but I don't even know what to ask you for. I've tried doing things my way for so long and I've totally messed up my life, so I'm not going to ask you for anything, I'd really just like to die, but whatever you want to do, you do it. I don't know how long I was there, but when it was over, I felt better than I'd felt in years, better than I'd ever felt in my whole life.
This was the beginning of a new life. I have since, married, become an ordained minister and a missionary, raising money for and working in Haiti. September 2005, we took funds raised and went to Haiti, where we built a church/ school. We also set up the running of the school, and a bible school. We joined forces with Glory Bound Ministries & Lifeline Haiti and now have 5 schools running in 6 villages - feeding and educating +700 children. See "NEWS FROM HAITI" for our latest newsletter and future plans.
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Rosemary's Testimony
I grew up in a Christian home, as long as I can remember we went to church on Sunday. I got saved at 10 and baptized at 11.
As my teenage years approached, like a lot of other kids, I began questioning a lot of what I'd been taught. I was not very popular, and I wanted to fit in. There were things I thought I needed to do to “fit in”, and they went against things I'd been taught in church, so I decided there was no God. I began smoking at 12, drinking at 14, lost my virginity at 16, got married at 18, divorced at 19. Then I met a man at a bar and fell in lust with him.
MARRIAGE
Six years into that relationship, we married. We should have parted, but instead we married. We bought a house and had a baby right away. I also began a career in the insurance business. To everybody out there our life seemed wonderful.
I thought when we married, my husband would settle down, be a dad, stay home. He didn't. He began going out and staying out late more and more hanging around the bars and taverns. I remember thinking I had everything I ever wanted, a job I loved, a husband, a house and a baby, but I was depressed.
SUICIDE
I used to get up every morning and cry in the shower. I had everything I ever wanted, but my life had no meaning, no joy, no peace. One night I was home alone, in the kitchen doing dishes. I picked up a fillet knife to dry it off. I saw how sharp it was. I thought, “You could cut yourself and not even feel it.” Something said, “Cut your wrists then it will all be over, go ahead, no one cares, your husband certainly doesn't.” Then I remembered a conversation I had, had with my older sister years before. She said,” Satan won't mess with you if you've got nothing to do for God.”
The next voice I heard was more loving, it said,” You don't want to die, you just don't want to go on living this way. Satan wants you dead, God must have something awesome for you to do.” I put away the knife and began trying to find God. I started going to church, and a short time later re-dedicated my life to Christ.
My husband did not want any part of church. Getting back to church and more importantly my relationship with God, through Christ, put me on the right track, but I still had along way to go. I battled with depression for many years, at times still thinking of suicide. One day I came really close again to committing suicide, God gently reminded me that my life was not mine to take, because I had already given it to Him.
MARRIAGE OVER
Fifteen years into it, my marriage ended. During that time, God was my constant companion. He became so tangible to me. I lost everything I thought I ever needed, but I knew God was with me. I found out then all I need is Christ, nothing else matters but Christ.
This period of my life was very dark and chaotic, for about 8 or 9 months I was in shock. My son who was 16 at the time chose to live with his father, who gave him no boundaries, and let him do whatever he wanted. I stepped away from God at times, when trying to figure out who I was as a single person, but He never left me, He was always just a prayer away. It didn't have to be a big fancy prayer, just “God help me”.
I have since met a Christian man and re-married. My husband, Miles and I visited Haiti is Oct. 2001 and have since spent our time raising funds for and working in Haiti. In September 2005, after 2 ½ years on the road, we went to Haiti and built a church/ school, and set up a bible school. We joined forces with Glory Bound Ministries & Lifeline Haiti and now have 5 schools running in 6 villages - feeding and educating +700 children. See "NEWS FROM HAITI" for our latest newsletter and future plans.
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