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"THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT GOVERNED BY GOD WILL BE RULED BY TYRANTS" - William Penn
In the late 1850s the Rev. Raynard, under the most difficult circumstances, built St. Saviour's Church in the frontier gold-rush town of
Barkerville, British Columbia. It stands to this day in testament to his heroic and outstanding abilities.
 A little over 100-years later I (J.H.) came across the (almost) ghost-town of Barkerville while prospecting in the surrounding
mountains. Chapel-in-the-Clouds is a private chapel built in similar true pioneer style to St. Saviour's and dedicated in memory of the Rev. Raynard.
It is a place for spiritual rumination - a haven of peace and sanctity in these deeply troubled times. Non-denominational, it is open to
all with or without religious beliefs. The early morning sun rising over the mountains strikes the chapel sending an effulgence of colour reflected from the surrounding flower
gardens. At other times it is enveloped in swirling mists and barely visible - hence its name.
The extensive flower and water gardens that form
part of the chapel comprise thousands of flowers of every colour, in bloom 365
days a year - a truly halcyon and portentous setting. A true delight to
visitors is the amazing network of gardens, the likes of which are not seen
anywhere else in Costa
Rica. Full-time gardeners
are constantly maintaining and extending the breathtaking panorama and vista.
Many truly wonderful orchids are present in the gardens and surrounding forest.
 The 3-storey tower attached to the chapel houses the organ, the Victory Academy of Horse Sense, and a lookout with sweeping views of the
surrounding mountains and gardens.
Chapel-in-the-Clouds can host services and marriage ceremonies in a setting unlike any other - both religious and civil. (You need only
your passport to get married in simple frontier style in the chapel.)
The poem on the rotulo by the pond under the chapel was used by S.O.E. agent Violette Szabo as her code behing enemy lines in WWII. It
became popular after featuring in the 1958 film 'Carve Her Name With Pride'. Violette Szabo was executed by the Nazis in February 1945 at the age of just 24, leaving a 3-year
old daughter. Its use is appropriate today when patriotic servicemen and women are laying down their lives unaware that they have been duped by mendacious government and leaders
with their own agenda.
The life that I have is all that I have
And the life that I have is yours
The love that I have of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours
A sleep I shall have, a rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years in the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours
Chapel-in-the-Clouds is a reflection of times past - when life was simpler, more meaningful, and less hurried.
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The building of, and inspiration behind, Chapel-in-the-Clouds
 It was under the most difficult circumstances that, in 1854, the Rev. Raynard built St. Saviour's Church
in the gold-rush town of Barkerville, British Columbia. He was determined to open for services on Christmas Day, and did so with no roof and deep snow on the floor. The stains of
the snow on the walls can be seen to this day. I have visited Barkerville many times and taken many groups there during my adventure tours of British Columbia. St. Saviour's is an
inspiration.
The building of Chapel-in-the-Clouds, which took me 12-months working almost every day without leaving the site, was also under
difficult circumstances. It was started in the rainy season (a particularly wet one!) and rained for about eighty days out of the first ninety. The steeply sloping site of about
40-degrees also made working arduous and greatly influenced the design, character, and visual appearance. Although the chapel is small and intimate by intent - it seats 24, with a
further 10 or more standing - it covers five storeys from the lower level with font and fountains up to the three-storey tower. Oxen and packhorses were used extensively for hauling materials and the wood was sawn on
site from trees that came down in an avalanche 18-months earlier. Cedar shingles were used exclusively for the roof. The chapel dominates the gardens and ponds fronting it, and the
bell tower acts as a beacon and sentinel over the distant hills.
 The creation of Chapel-in-the-Clouds has been through a series of events, amazing 'coincidences', and circumstances that perhaps can
best be described as 'out of this world'. I have no doubt that my hand was guided throughout, often in the strangest way. There is a reason why Chapel-in-the-Clouds is where it is,
why I was 'chosen' to build it, the frontier style of construction, the time of building, even down to the poem ensconsed in the gardens beneath the Chapel. I cannot say where this
predetermined course of events will lead or what the ultimate explication will be, but I don't doubt that it will be shortly forthcoming and may well be something of a revelation -
an enlightening and astonishing efficacy.
While the Rev. Raynard held his first service at St Saviour’s without a roof, in freezing temperatures, and with snow on the floor, Chapel-in-the-Clouds was inaugurated as the sun rose over the mist-covered mountains, the first rays of light striking the cross, amidst a backdrop of dramatic
proportions.
EPILOGUE - DAWNING OF A NEW ERA
Not only have there been exceptional and singular experiences during the construction of the chapel, but since its completion, visitors, almost without exception, have expressed an awareness of a strange
'energy' and calmness that comes over them, not experienced elsewhere. This calming effect, coupled with spiritual resonance, can help people to overcome issues of all kinds where other modern
'treatments' invariably fail.
 Many people today are afflicted with problems - drugs, alcohol, obesity, depression, anxiety - which cannot be cured or controlled by (dangerous and addictive) drugs or expensive therapies
- but the simple powers here can have a long-term positive influence.
For this reason, although Chapel-in-the-Clouds is on a private estate, the owners nevertheless realise that the unusual therapeutic powers here should be available to others.
At Highland Heritage, there is an overwhelming feeling of being beyond the affairs of this world, where the present is ample and dreams can become reality. Those lucky enough to have visited keep their precious experiences in their mind like a souvenir album – and in the city during one of those smoke-choked polluted days, they can close their eyes and drift back to where things are different, where it's pure, clean and quiet.
John Howard
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