At some level, we all believe in miracles. When those unexplainable things in life just happen, they can be so very ordinary, but it makes us pause. We say, ‘it fell into my lap’ or ‘it was a miracle!’ As Christians, we believe prayer is powerful. At times, it can work by the spirit moving people to act. And when people step out, there’s power in that. One day, Nicole did a very ordinary thing: she prayed that she’d find the family of a woman she was supporting. The next day, her prayer was answered in an astonishing way.
Vera is a sweet, gentle soul with a kind smile. She lives at Collins Home in Chilliwack with three other ladies. Since Bethesda has operated the home in 2023, she’s come out of her shell a little and participates in activities in the home and the community. But to those who know her well, her support workers, she has seemed a little sad. As it turns out, she lost touch with her family about five years ago and she didn’t know how to help the workers at Collins Home find them.
This sadness and longing inspired one of her caregivers, Nicole, to see if she could locate her family. She searched through the paperwork with no success, and as Vera is Indigenous, she called one of the local reserves to see if anyone knew her. She didn’t know what else to do, but she felt so deeply how Vera’s loss was impacting her, that she called on God to help. That one prayer led to something beautiful.
Vera (left) re-uniting with her Auntie Norma at the elder’s Christmas dinner put on by her First Nation.
Nicole explains how the very next day, she and Vera were in the parking lot of a shopping centre when a stranger came up to Vera and exclaimed brightly, “Vera, I know you!” And that was all it took. Vera knew him and he told Nicole who he was. Nicole said, “Bob said he knew Vera’s sisters, Evelyn and Violet, and what reserve they were from. And right from there is when the connection started.”
She said, “I remember driving home and I just cried. I said to Vera, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’, and we went to Tim Hortons and had a hot chocolate. And I said, okay, let’s do this. I said to her, ‘You want me to call?’ and she said, ‘yes’. And I thought, ‘wow a little angel kind of dropped right in front of us’.”
‘Nicole contacted the reserve in Chilliwack and talked to Vera’s Auntie Norma. Norma was very excited, wanted to see Vera and invited her to the band’s Christmas dinner so she could be welcomed back into her Indigenous community. Nicole explains, “Vera’s an elder, so she got kind of spoiled! They got really nice seats at the dinner and beautiful door prizes, but the coolest thing was listening to her nieces and nephews greet her as “Auntie Vera!” She had found her family and they had found her. Nicole said, “Vera looked at me and said, ‘I’m happy.'”
They shared Christmas with Norma and two cousins. But it wasn’t until after Christmas when she first reunited with her sisters. Nicole arranged with Norma to bring her sisters to a surprise birthday party for Vera. “When she walked into Jimmy J’s, she saw a table there with her two sisters and her face dropped in total surprise. She hadn’t seen them in a lot of years, so there were happy tears!”
Vera (centre) blows out the candles of her cake at her surprise birthday party as Nicole and her sister, Evelyn, look on. Nicole says, “It just it was such a joyful night. Everything was really, really good. I mean, you couldn’t have gotten any better. She’s blowing out her cake. So I mean, it was just a beautiful night.”
Nicole is continuing to support Vera’s reunion with her family. Vera’s excited and the family is excited to have her back in their lives. Nicole’s got plans to invite her sisters to dinner at Vera’s home, and maybe an overnight vacation with them at Harrison Hot Springs. She will be attending regular monthly elder dinners and they organize bus trips that she is welcome to go on.
Her family community is so very welcoming. She is invited to bring her housemates with her for lunch, they are welcoming and inviting to Nicole or other support workers who accompany Vera. Nicole said, “They’re really open to everybody which is what I found very nice.”
Nicole reflected on the close and loving relationships Vera has with her family. It brings her joy that Vera has that unity again, because her family is so very welcoming and valuing of her. She is deeply moved by the change in Vera, the happiness she now sees in Vera. She looks forward to visiting her sisters, attending elder events on reserve and being part of her big, loving family.
“I think the best part of our job supporting people is just bringing people together, you know, community. I love community. I love building connections and making our circles just a little bit bigger. So her circle is not so small anymore. This is kind of the icing on the cake for me.”
Vera’s story is just one example of the deep care and commitment our staff bring to the people they support. Nicole didn’t know where her small act of faith would lead—but she knew Vera’s longing to reconnect with her family mattered. That quiet hope, paired with a bold step of compassion, opened the door to a joyful and healing reunion.
At Bethesda, we believe relationships are foundational to a life of belonging and meaning. That’s why stories like this resonate so deeply with us. We’ve heard similar moments of reconnection from staff who began working in our Okanagan homes back in 1995, when people first moved out of institutions—many having lost contact with their families for decades. Whether it’s helping someone find their sister after five years or twenty-five, we continue to hold onto this priority: relationships matter. And when we walk alongside someone in rebuilding those bonds, we live out one of our core values in its most beautiful form.
