Mark Drapak outside his former school. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

By Mia Holowaychuk, CKOM News

Horrible Experience

‘Felt like a life sentence:’ Former student at Christian school recalls trauma at bible centre near Big River

Mar 4, 2023 | 9:00 AM

Mark Drapak said he remembers the day he was sent off to Canaan Land, a bible training centre by Big River.

He called it one of the most traumatizing experiences of his life.

Drapak said he attended Saskatoon’s Christian Centre Academy, now known as Legacy Christian Academy, from 1991 to 1999. In recent months, a number of allegations of abuse have emerged from several former students at the school. The school’s former athletic director is facing criminal charges, including sexual exploitation of a minor while in the position of trust or authority.

In 1997, when he was 15, Drapak said he went through the first half of a regular school day, but after lunch he said he was escorted to Pastor Keith Johnson’s office where he said he was given an ultimatum on going to the training centre.

“I remember realizing this was such a bizarre, weird thing for a kid to go to,” Drapak said, adding he asked to speak to his parents about the decision.

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(Mark Drapak/submitted)

Drapak said that request was denied, and he was told his parents already approved of him going. He said it was difficult for him to understand why he was sent there in the first place.

“At that point I just felt pressured to say ‘OK,’” Drapak said. “From that moment on I was whisked away.”

He said it was meant to be a one-year program, but he ended up staying for two and a half years. Throughout that time, he said he was never given an explanation as to why he was there or when he would graduate.

“It felt like a life sentence,” he said.

His stay at Canaan Land came with some “incredibly strict rules,” he said, and his daily routine included “constant supervision and control” by staff.

“It was really intended for adults who had life-controlling problems (and) addictions issues,” he said.

A typical day in his life at the training centre, Drapak explained, mainly involved scriptural affirmations, prayers, and sermons.

The afternoons consisted of studying the school’s ACE books Drapak said, and he now feels it was not nearly enough schooling for someone his age. He said the adult men at the camp would go out to work during the days, cutting trees for the wood-burning furnace and doing other chores.

A lot of the monotony, Drapak said, felt intentional.

“That was the structure they wanted to bring to discipline a man’s life,” he said.

Drapak said the isolation had the biggest impact on his mental wellness.

“The worst part for me was being taken away from my family. It was the pain that me and my family went through of being separated, and then being isolated,” he said.

He reiterated that he was never given an answer about why he was sent there.

The former student said he was allowed to call his parents once every weekend, but it was a 30-minute, monitored phone call.

“I couldn’t be honest with my parents about how I felt out there … I could tell they were very deeply conflicted and that they did not want to do it,” he said.

“It was a very, very strange, very cult-like system where we just couldn’t speak up.”

Drapak said he would only see his family when the members of the program drove into the city on Sundays to attend Christian Centre Church.

He said he and members of the program were marched up to the third pew of the church and “put on display” for the congregation.

“The example was: ‘If you don’t conform, or if you’re rebellious, or if you just get on our bad side, there’s something worse than spanking we could do to you,’” he said.

Drapak said he feels his family was coerced into letting him go, and that the church made them feel “reliant” on it.

“If they threatened excommunication, or being kicked out of the school or the church, it would be very devastating to everybody involved,” he said.

“The whole feeling was that I was being made an example of, because I would be the type of person to not run away or put my family in jeopardy,” he said.

Drapak said he shared a bedroom with Nathan Schultz, who’s been named in a pending class-action lawsuit against the school and former staff members. Drapak said he had no idea about any allegations of abuse involving Schultz until they came to light in the media.

Now, more than 25 years later, Drapak said he’s telling his story because other allegations of abuse from the school have come to light in recent months.

“We feel a lot more empowered and a lot more healed now to come out,” he said.

(Mark Drapak/submitted)

Drapak did not say whether or not he will try to join the lawsuit former students have filed against the school and former staff members.

He said he struggles with his faith after attending the school.

Drapak said he was allowed to leave the camp in June of 1999, when he said he was finally “given permission” to leave by the church’s pastor, Keith Johnson.

“He waited until I was 18 because he knew I didn’t have any control or any choice until then,” Drapak said.

Canaan Land closed in November of 1999.

Drapak said he never officially graduated, and when he left Canaan Land when he turned 18, he only had eight credits completed. He said he went on to get his GED, and moved on as quickly as he could.

650 CKOM has reached out to Legacy Christian Academy for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The allegations against the school and its staff have not yet been tested before the courts.