When you read through Broken Circle, you’ll see a picture of a young Indigenous boy, with the bloodline of the Potawatomi and Chippewa people. Originally from Caldwell First Nation, James Peters’ life story is dedicated to all residential school and sixties scoop survivors. Yet, you’ll soon find out that it’s also dedicated to the work of God in this man’s life. As a young boy growing up in the foster care system he was lied to, abused, and isolated through racism. All this injustice developed a hate within him that carried on into his teens and adulthood. Running from the Creator God who made him.
Every time he ran away, he realized that he was looking for his relatives who he had been separated from. This separation he experienced created a search for his own identity. The question constantly faced him, “Who am I?” He transitioned from foster care to group homes and then to the street, where he discovered that he could numb the pain of his unknown identity and existence through the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
He was introduced to Jesus at a homeless outreach program – he threw the cup of coffee in the face of the lady who did this introduction. This led to an all-out drug and alcohol binge in an attempt to stop the voice of God that was constantly pursuing him. Yet, disillusionment and hate keep him running and hiding.
After experiencing years on the street and time in jail, and coming to the end of himself, James finally accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He also started to learn more about the Word of God. All of this slow transformation opened the door for him to meet his future wife. Her unconditional love not only surprised him, but it also surprised those who questioned why this woman would want a man like this. Christine saw something in him that no one else did – or wanted to. There were other people who God brought into his life, but Christine reflected the true long-term love that he had missed out on his whole life.
Although Christine offered him unconditional love and they ended up having children together, James was constantly trying to sabotage the marriage. This conscious and sub conscious mind and heart couldn’t stand this love that had avoided him his entire life. This sabotaging that he did with his newfound family led him back to the streets where James completely disappeared for four months, without a word to Christine. Yet, she continued to seek him out.
All that happened to James made him realize that his circle had been broken, thus the title of his book, Broken Circle. Part of the process of repairing that broken circle was to find out more about his roots and meet as many family members as possible. He realized that for many years he had hated his mother. so, forgiving her was essential in his path of reconciliation with her. He also witnessed other siblings coming to his mother and forgiving her as well.
James says that writing his life story has been very painful and his lifestyle caused pain to his body as well. One time he ended up in the hospital for several reasons and went code blue two times. His wife, Christine, was by his side the whole time, believing God was in control. As James saw his physical health go downhill, his spirit got stronger. He came to realize that although life is filled with all kinds of hurts and disappointments, God is the one who can bring our broken circle back together. James’ Broken Circle finally became restored.
Parry Stelter is a Cree and Métis member of Alexander First Nation which is part of Treaty Six Territory. He’s a Chaplain at the Salvation Army and a doctoral candidate in contextu-al leadership at Providence University.
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