George was the first child born to Gerhard & Susanna (Wiebe) Janzen on June 24, 1931. He was born in the small town of Hearst in northern Ontario, but resided in a small community in Reesor, Ontario where his dad owned 75 acres of property where he cut pulpwood.
George began school at age 7 because of the severity of the winter and distance to the school. It was a 4km walk and temperatures dipped below minus30. He caught up by skipping grade 3. During the first year at school the winter almost claimed his life. He was walking home alone and became unbearably sleepy and fell asleep in the snow. His mother went looking form him and found him in the snow but not before it was nearly dark. One of the miracles in his life.
In 1941 the family moved to B.C. via train and landed in the Fraser Valley, living in Yarrow for a short period of time, and in May of 1942 moved to Mission on a 10-acre berry farm that had been evacuated by a Japanese family. George graduated from Mission Sr. High School in 1949 and later that year was baptized at Cedar Valley Mennonite Church.
This was followed by 4 years in Bethel Bible Institute in Abbotsford where The Lord spoke to him to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature"(Mark 16:15). He was convicted with tears and emotion when these words were spoken. His words:"Christ had His hand on my shoulder, and He was drawing my attention to the world. I burst into tears as the emotion of the moment overpowered me."
Next was 4 years of Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg, one year Bethel College, Newton, Kansas, 3 years Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, and some time later received his Master of Divinity.
George married Martha Giesbrecht from; Waldheim, Sk. June 16, 1959. Martha had already served a 5-year term in Japan, and following their marriage they went out together to continue the challenging but rewarding ministry. On return, in 1980, he became lead pastor at CVMC and continued in that position until 1990 when the 50th celebration of CVMC took place. He considered these ten years to be very precious and rewarding.
They then returned to Japan for a short term and came back to the Fraser Valley where they resided until the present. He continued to pastor - in Calgary, and Surrey(Japanese Church) for the next several years. Bevan Lodge in Abbotsford was the most recent residence.
George & Martha adopted 3 children while in Japan: June at age 5, Sandra, at age 2, and Stephen at 2 months. They were ecstatic in the way The Lord provided their children, and have considered them a tremendous blessing throughout their lives.
Children: June (&John) Siemens, Sandi (&Lorna), Janzen, Steve (&Diane) Janzen
Grandchildren - 18, great grandchildren - 10
Siblings: Mary (Al) Gowen, Abe (Nettie) Janzen, Susan (John) Borne, Anne (Henry) Bartel, David Janzen, Helen (Will) Loeffler
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