Gifts of Water and Mountains

By Barbara Schamber SP

Gifts of Water and Mountains tells the challenging history of the first one-hundred-fifty years of the Sisters of Providence in the American West 1856-2006. Utilizing extensive archival histories, many written and maintained by the Sisters themselves in chronicles, Sister Barbara Schamber recounts the founding of the Sisters of Providence in Montreal to minister to the poor, and soon after, their call to expand this mission to the Northwest Territories of Washington, Oregon and Montana. Led by the vision and tenacity of Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the sisters established the first hospitals, schools, and orphanages across the untamed territories of the West. These mission-oriented women religious were responsible for establishing many indelible and lasting institutions that still provide far-reaching benefit in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. No history of the Pacific Northwest is complete without understanding the extensive role of the Sisters of Providence. The author describes the struggle of the sisters, at first, to respond to the needs of the French-Canadian trappers at Fort Vancouver in Washington Territory, and thereafter, the expansion and growth of their mission inland to meet the needs of frontier communities, and through the following decades, their many adaptations to rapid secular and religious changes of the 20th century. "This book written in faith and filled with people, places, projects, events, and surprises comes to life through (Sister Barbara's) careful and adept use of the resources she researched, assembled and developed. When I read her manuscript, which is spiced with quotes from letters, biographies, personal interviews, and archive treasures, some stories I've heard many times became for the first time episodes in the lives of real people sharing what matters to them. At times a smile, a lump in my throat, or a prayer accompanied my reading. I got clearer images of where, when and how missions and ministries began and ended, and gained a deeper sense of the Spirit guiding Sisters of Providence and their collaborators into creative and risky projects that serve the needs of poor and marginalized people. I identified with struggles, and found a new appreciation for the humility, simplicity and charity manifested in small beginnings and appropriate endings." - From the Foreword, by Sister Margaret Botch, SP. Proceeds from sales will benefit Sisters of Providence Mother Joseph.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0D7X8VVCH
• ISBN13: 9798321727751
• Release Date: June 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 358 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"