Clifford Bear represents everything Anishinabe wants to accomplish in its ministry. Shy, quiet and an artist, Bear used to wander the Winnipeg streets with his gang members — a rival gang, it turns out, of Lenny McKay's former posse. The two men now frequent Anishinabe at the same time; previous rivalries long extinguished.
To speak of it now, Bear seems embarrassed; his kind eyes and inviting smile make it difficult to believe he was once driven by poverty and addictions to a life of crime. He was in jail every Christmas since the age of 12. But after coming to Anishinabe on the advice of his sister, Bear became a Christian and cleaned up his act.
“I was outside in my backyard one day and I looked up to the stars. I was fed up with the drinking and the drugs. I wanted to give up,” he admitted, sitting at a fold-up table , sketching his latest canvas. “So I looked up and I said, 'I want to know there's a God.' I want help. I need help. I was an alcoholic, and that day I quit cold turkey. I quit everything, and began to draw. That was three years ago. (Bear's art work can be seen throughout this special edition of the Record, starting from the cover.)
“I didn't think of myself as a man before, I was just another gangster,” continued the 35-year-old. “My real mom wasn't there when I was growing up, but now Margaret [Mullin] is there for me. Whenever I need help, she's the person I can go to. She's the one I can trust. I'm trying to trust more. I'm growing every day.”
It is hoped that Anishinabe's new housing complex will provide needed respite for people like Bear, who are trying to break free of life on Winnipeg's streets.
“When it gets dark here, it becomes a different place,” said McKay, who was shot once and stabbed seven times during his years as a gangster. “Every weekend you wake up and there's been a shooting or a stabbing.”
For now, Bear receives the peace he needs inside Anishinabe's walls. At worship on Sunday, seated on fold-up chairs, the congregation sings “Blessed Assurance” in Cree. A guitar is played, along with a piano. Some people close their eyes. Others sing loudly and off key. The scent of simmering soup and warming bannock wafts from the kitchen, waiting to be served. – AM
