Eve was so mad by this time, because I was quitting the Soul Clinic, that we literally split up! She took the two younger children, Hosea & Faith, & went home. She said, "I'll go home till you make up your mind what you're going to do!" So she went home to Louisville, Kentucky, to her folks. We split up, & I took the two older children, Deborah & Aaron, & went out to live with my mother. That was really heartbreaking, that was a sad trip!
The car broke down because i hadn't put proper bearings in it after I overhauled it. I did a good job, but I didn't know you had to put new bearings in too. The bearings battered up the driveshaft & we broke down & had to park out behind this garage for a week while they put in a new driveshaft that cost $90 that we had to borrow from Eve's brother. Finally my mother sent me the money to get the rest of the way to California. We were living with her & Dad, me & the two kids, while I was looking for a job.
She got me this job with Dr. Michaelson of the First Hebrew Christian Synagogue. He was a converted German Jewish judge & rabbi preaching the Gospel. He had about 500 radio stations all over the world preaching the Gospel to the Jews! Of course that was right down my alley, that's what I wanted to do! But it turned out to be an office job, which I soon got fed up with!
He gave me a fully-furnished house for my family, & I sent for Eve, & she finally reluctantly came. She'd work in the office part time too, because there was a lot of office work, all the letter opening & filing etc. But sitting eight hours at a desk opening mail & reading mail & filing & all this, that really didn't appeal to me.
I told Dr. Michaelson I could do better than this just going out door-to-door trying to win souls & witnessing to the Jews, & trust the Lord. He said, "Well, you just be patient & we'll have something for you." But, of course, he was short on office help, & good help is always hard to find. He used a lot of volunteers who weren't much good & made a lot of mistakes.
We put our kids back in the Christian school where they'd been before, where I had taught & driven the bus. Of course they were always looking for help too, & right away they wanted me to drive the bus again. So I thought, "Well, that's not too bad."
I told Dr. Michaelson i could drive the bus in the morning & BE AT WORK BY NINE in the office, but I'd have to get off two hours early in the afternoon to drive the bus between three & five, & they only operated the office till five when they'd close it up. I said I'd be willing to take less salary & everything, because I really wanted to get out & be more active.
Well, it wasn't long until the school wanted me to teach again, same class, same kids, everything. I was fed up with the office job, & I finally told Dr. Michaelson, "I can still work here part time, but they want me back at school." He said, "Well, you can't serve two masters. You'll have to vacate the house so I can have somebody else take your job." But he was real nice about it. He said,
"I'll give you a month to find another place." So we found another little house & bought it. It had an unfinished house beside it that I finished, & we furnished it & started living there. Dr. Michaelson was real good to us, he helped us with furniture, gave us a refrigerator & all kinds of things. He was real sweet & did all he could for us, I'm sure, largely because he was a good friend of my mother. So I went back to school teaching that year, but that's when I started getting sick with heart trouble & everything.
I think I really got out of the will of the Lord going back to the same job that He'd once delivered me from. The Lord spoke to me several times, definitely in prophecies & Scriptures & verses in the Bible & so on, that we had to go.--Get out, just go! That's when I finally got that verse. I said, "What am I going to do, Lord, I've got these two houses now, fully furnished, with renters & everything?" He said,
"SELL ALL THAT THOU HAST & GIVE TO THE POOR, & COME FOLLOW ME, & thou shalt have riches in Heaven." (Mt. 19:21.) So I finally took it literally. I was getting so sick & having so many heart attacks that I was afraid not to! I got so many direct prophecies, even from people in the pulpit, & more verses of Scripture etc.
WE HAD TROUBLE AFTER TROUBLE! Although we were better off financially with a good job, making good money, & had a nice house out in a nice area & all, I finally just got fed up & told the Lord, "Okay, I'll go!"
HE SAID, "SELL ALL THAT THOU HAST", SO THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I DID! My father got furious! He said, "David, don't you dare quit another job unless you've found another one! Don't you shut one door till you've opened another one!" But I just went ahead by faith & I didn't even heed the voice of my loved one, my father. I said, "The Lord told me to go regardless, even if I don't know what I'm going to do. We'll just hit the road & go out & preach the Gospel & witness!"
SO I SOLD EVERYTHING, & I HAD JUST ENOUGH TO PAY ALL MY BILLS WITH $30 LEFT OVER, & the old taxi cab & the trailer, & we started out across the country! Mother said, "I've got a meeting in Pennsylvania in October, next Fall. If you ever make it as far as Pennsylvania, I'll use you in my meeting & you can come there."
WELL, THE LONG & THE SHORT OF IT WAS THAT WE WORKED OUR WAY CLEAR ACROSS THE UNITED STATED just witnessing & singing & showing my slides in school buildings & on the side of the post office & all kinds of trailer camps, sort of like our kids do today. We worked our way all the way across to Pennsylvania, & finally were in the meeting with Mother. That's when I was still trying to teach the churches to witness. I was also showing Fred's film about how he started the Soul Clinic & witnessing, & that was a foot in the door to talk to them about witnessing.
WE HAD THE MEETING WITH MOTHER, & THAT'S WHEN I HAD THAT VISION OR DREAM OF MY DEATH & meeting Dr. Koger. (See "Another Holy Ghost Story!") At the end of our meeting with Mother when we were praying about what to do, the Lord told me to go to Miami & establish this missionary school there. Mother wanted to go to Miami anyhow for Christmas--in the middle of Winter it was cold in the North--so we went down to Miami for Christmas & visited all the old friends.
I KEPT TRYING TO ENCOURAGE MOTHER TO GO IN WITH ME ON THE SCHOOL business. I knew she'd be a big attraction & she had a lot of friends & influence & they could help support us, but she wouldn't have anything to do with Fred Jordan! She said, "If it has nothing to do with the Soul Clinic, okay. But if it's got anything to do with the Soul Clinic, I'll have nothing to do with it!"--Just like today in the Family! So finally she & Dad just picked up & took off & left us there, because I was determined to stay no matter what & do what the Lord told me to do--I was scared not to! So we stayed & they left.
I FELT LIKE MOTHER HAD REALLY DESERTED US. We had a going-away reception or farewell for her, & it would have been a marvellous opportunity for her to introduce us to all her old friends that she'd invited--there were a couple hundred people there & get them to back us in our new project of this missionary School there, Florida Soul Clinic. It was just heartbreaking!--
SHE BRAGGED UP OTHER PEOPLE & NEVER EVEN INTRODUCED US, even almost acted like we weren't even there! I don't know if she even had the kids sing that night. Eve was just in tears! She never said a word about us. I think she finally did let the kids sing, that was about all.
SHE NEVER SAID A WORD ABOUT OUR PROJECT, never made an announcement that we were going to start a Soul Clinic school, or "Please help Dave now in his project here", or anything like that, & just left us flat! We were practically both in tears & felt deserted & forsaken, & they left. I was just furious at my mother, & I almost had nothing to do with her for years after that.
WELL, THE LORD DIDN'T DESERT US! He had been good to us! We had left Los Angeles with an old car, trailer, family of six & only $30 in my pocket, & we arrived all the way to Miami, Florida with $300, same car, same trailer, same family!--PTL!
I THOUGHT SURELY THE LORD WAS GOING TO OPEN UP SOMETHING RIGHT AWAY & give us a nice big building & we could advertise & get our school started. Sometimes it's a good thing you don't know the future, or you'd probably quit! We were parked in this nice trailer park paying trailer rent, I think $25 a month.--We still had $300.--But!--
THE MONEY BEGAN TO GO DOWN, DOWN UNTIL WE WERE ALMOST OUT of money & we weren't even going to be able to pay our trailer rent! So finally Eve said, "I guess you've just got to get a job, that's all! The Lord just hasn't opened up anything for us to have a school." We were trying to start at the top instead of the bottom, trying to find a building first, like the churches, & then we were going to get our school going, & blah blah. It just didn't work that way.
FINALLY I HAD TO GET A JOB, & I WENT TO WORK FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY on the 12th floor of the courthouse as a special investigator. It turned out it was mostly investigating cases in the files, digging out bookies & whatnot. I worked there for about three months until I got that call from the Lord one day as I looked out the window across that beautiful sunny view of Miami that I loved.
THE LORD SAID, "THE WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN DARKNESS!" To the Lord it was darkness & wicked people! He said, "You're just sitting up here pounding on a typewriter & going through files, which amounts to persecuting these poor little bookies, nothing but worldly governmental business!" I said, "But Lord, I've got to support a family!"--& the Lord turned around & used the verse on Himself,
"HE THAT CARETH NOT FOR HIS OWN IS WORSE THAN AN INFIDEL!" (ITi.5:8.) "If I don't care for you, I'd be worse than an infidel. If you go out and do My work fulltime, if I don't pay you as good or better than a worldly employer, then I will be worse than an infidel!" I said,
"OKAY LORD, I'LL QUIT!--But the rules here say I've got to give them two weeks notice." I got straight up from my desk right then, walked over and gave Sarah the head clerk my notice, and she was flabbergasted! She said, "Oh no no no, you can't! You just got the job all nice & learned & we don't have anybody else--I'll go talk to John Marsh about it!"
SO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY SUMMONED ME TO HIS OFFICE & he said, "Sit down Dave, I want to have a little talk.--What's this business about you wanting to quit? I was just thinking about raising your salary, giving you $55!" I said, "You know I told you when I came in here that I was a preacher, but I just didn't have a job right now & wondered if you could use me. Well, I just heard about an opening in my own kind of work!"
I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL HIM THAT I WAS JUST GOING TO WALK OUT ABSOLUTELY BY FAITH into nowhere with a wife & four kids, or he would have thought I was really crazy! He said, "Well then, I understand. I certainly understand, you've got your calling, & that's where you should be! You've done a good job, & anytime you ever want to come back, the door is open--we'd love to have you!" I said,
143. "WELL, I'M NOT LEAVING RIGHT AWAY, I'LL WAIT TILL YOU CAN GET SOMEBODY ELSE. But if you find somebody else even before the two weeks is up, I wish you'd let me know, because I'd like to even quit before that if I can. The quicker I take this other job the better." I walked into the office the next morning & they already had somebody! The Lord was in a hurry!--Ha! PTL!
I THINK GOING HOME THAT NIGHT WAS THE HARDEST THING I HAD TO DO, to go home & tell Eve I quit my job! She said, "Honey, how are we going to pay the rent?" "Well, they gave me two weeks parting salary, & I got this money & we can pay the rent, I can even pay it for a couple of months now maybe, & by that time the Lord will have done something." She was really upset!
BY THIS TIME I HAD BEGUN TEACHING SOUL-WINNING CLASSES AT NIGHT. I had eight soul-winning classes going a week:--One on Sunday afternoon & one every night of the week in different places, all the way from West Palm Beach clear down to Key Largo past Homestead!
SO I WAS KEEPING BUSY FOR THE LORD, EVEN THOUGH I HAD A JOB in the daytime. I was really working, but I was really wearing out fast too, burning the candle at both ends! I kept busy teaching soul-winning & going to churches having Bible classes, & of course we got a little bit of offerings from those, too, that helped. So I decided, "I'm just going to quit & serve the Lord fulltime!"
I KEPT THESE CLASSES GOING, & MOST OF THEM DID REAL WELL. They started booming & we got a fairly good income from those classes. Of course then, as the message got hotter when I was free of the job, why the churches got hotter too, & I began losing churches & classes. (Maria: What did you do to get them upset?) Well you know, the message got a little too strong: Witnessing!
I STARTED PUSHING THEM OUT REALLY WITNESSING; I'd say, "Now next time we meet together here we're not going to have class. We're going to go out door-to-door witnessing!" I had a good big class that had been coming regularly. All of a sudden we'd get there the next Friday night, & maybe only one or two people were there!
THEY WERE ALL SCARED STIFF TO GO OUT WITNESSING! At first I was just getting them ready with the preparatory soul-winning course of the Soul Clinic. But then when it came to actually going out witnessing, nobody showed up, & that killed my classes, because they didn't want to witness. But we made a few real good friends & contacts who were steady reliable supporters.
I HAD ONE CLASS AT NIGHT AT THE LOCAL SKID ROW MISSION. That's where we got Willy our secretary. Not Fred's Willy, but our Willy, who was one of our best standbys & really did a tremendous job operating the office for us. We advertised in the paper that we were going to have this class, & she read the ad on the church page & came to the Skid Row Mission that had nothing but bums there!--& she was a high-class secretary!
THE HEAD OF THE MISSION SAID WE COULD USE HIS OFFICE for a soul-winning class. So we did, & she was the only one that showed up, our only student, dear Willy! So we just taught her faithfully once a week in that class. She was a legal stenographer, a very smart brilliant girl, like you, Honey!--Our only student, week after week, for several weeks! And she got the message & right away wanted to forsake all, quit her job & come work for the Lord!
I SAID, WE'VE ONLY GOT THIS LITTLE TINY HOUSE & THIS LITTLE TINY TRAILER." "Oh", she said, "I'd love to live in a trailer!" She was our best & most faithful worker, taught classes, everything! She was with us three whole years, from 1954 to 1957.
WHEN I QUIT MY JOB I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO GET SOMETHING WHERE WE COULD HOUSE MORE THAN ONE STUDENT, maybe two or three. The thing that crystallised it was that Fred wired me that he had five Soul Clinic missionaries coming through on their way to South America. They had to stop in Miami to get their papers in order & their tickets, & could I help them? Could I at least house them for two or three nights until they got everything straightened out? That was when we were just desperate!--So,
WE'D FOUND THIS LOVELY LITTLE COTTAGE that we wanted to move to, & we were desperate for money to pay for it. It was only $50 a month, but we had to pay two months in advance. I said, "Well, if the Lord wants us to have that house He'll supply the money somehow & He'll save it for us till we get there." So I said, "Why don't we go by the post office on the way to see it?"--And in the mail was a check for $100 from Fred to help us take care of the missionaries! PTL!
SO WE WENT STRAIGHT OVER, & SURE ENOUGH THE HOUSE WAS STILL AVAILABLE & we paid the money on the spot! It was a gorgeous place & located out near the airport where the missionaries were coming in! We moved the trailer onto this little hidden place way back out in the jungles by the canal, a perfect place to hide a trailer in Miami where you couldn't even park a trailer on your property! We were totally hidden. I think in the big house in the front they were assembling materials for Castro in Cuba. We always suspected them of that because of the stuff we saw stacked & delivered there. They said they were connected with some Cuban airline!--Ha!
WE MOVED THE TRAILER & WILLY & US TO THE HOUSE, & all of my family still stayed in the trailer. We slept Willy on the couch, & scattered the missionaries all over the place. It only had one bedroom & this big livingroom, so they slept on the floor--that was standard Soul Clinic procedure--like our Hippies years later!
ANYHOW, THE MISSIONARIES ARRIVED & WE HELPED THEM GET THEIR TICKETS AT HALF PRICE through a Brasilian airline agent that I'd won to the Lord there in the ticket office in Miami. I used to love to go out & visit the airport & pass out tracts & witness, & the kids would sing. That's when Shep, one of our teachers at the Soul Clinic, came through. They were top missionaries!
FRED WAS ON A BIG DRIVE TO OPEN UP SOUTH AMERICA, so he sent his top personnel, some of the top teachers & leaders, including Shep & Dale & several others, five all together. I think it was two women & three men. So we kept them there in the little house nearly a week while we got these tickets & papers & all, & then saw them off.
THAT'S THE TIME WHEN I GOT CAUGHT ON THE PLANE! They'd shut the door while I was on the plane telling the missionaries goodbye. I felt the plane move & I said, "Hey, what's going on?!" Right away Shep knew what was happening, that they didn't know I was still on the plane, & he quick yelled for the hostess! She said, "Oh my God, you're not travelling on the plane?"
I SAID, "NO, I'M NOT GOING TO BRASIL!" She said, "Stop the pilot quick!" They ran up to the cabin & had the pilot stop the plane! But they said, "They've already moved the steps back to the hangar!" And I said, "Never mind, just open the door! It's not far, I'll get out!" You know, even on that kind of plane you're about 20 feet above the ground!
SO I JUST GOT DOWN ON MY HANDS & KNEES & DROPPED DOWN to where I was hanging from the bottom of the door by my hands, & then dropped down to the pavement! The guards came running over wondering what in the world was going on! I said, "It was an accident! They almost took me to Brasil!"--And finally everybody laughed.--It was funny!--But anyhow, I got them off! This was a part of the vision God had shown me for Miami, that we were to have a school there not only to train missionaries, but help missionaries coming through, getting to the field & back.
THEN WE STARTED OUR LITTLE TINY SCHOOL with dear little Willy Student in our little tiny cottage. We didn't start with big things. The Lord gave us a verse something like "despise not the days of small things." (Zech.4:10.) So we really started at the bottom then!
IT WASN'T LONG TILL WE HAD MORE GOOD CLASSES GOING & supporters & help. I think even Fred sent us a little help, not much, because he was struggling too, & he had a lot of missionaries to support & everything. But finally, by June of that year, from Christmas to June, we had some money.
WE FOUND A BIG HOUSE THAT THIS CHRISTIAN FRIEND OF OURS RENTED TO US for only $100 a month, a huge big place with several buildings. There we had as high as 45 students in one class at one time! We operated there for about a year I think, till the next Summer when I got interested in television.
WE SENT 25 MISSIONARIES BY FAITH TO SEVEN DIFFERENT CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES, & we trained as high as 45 at a time! I think we finally figured out we trained about two to three hundred all together, that went through our 3-month courses.
WHEN THE NEXT SUMMER CAME, I FOUND I COULD GET FRED'S TV SHOW ON THE AIR FREE! I felt that that was really worth the work & the ministry, to get the Gospel on television where we could reach millions instead of just a few! Fred told us to close up the school. I think one reason was, it was competing with Los Angeles, & we were doing better than they were! He said, "Get out on the road & I'll support you fulltime to get the TV show on the air!"
AT THIS TIME WE WERE GETTING RUMORS ABOUT FRED HAVING SOME PROBLEMS, & that's when I asked the Lord if we should continue working with Fred or not? The Lord said, "As David with Saul", just as clear as anything! So we closed up the school. We'd only gotten as far as Jacksonville when the clippings began to pour in about Willy having his baby unmarried & blah blah! This was Fred Jordan's baby by his secretary, & all this big scandal--a big shock for church people!--Ha! 168. ONE THING HE HADN'T DONE WAS TO REALLY BREAK HIS PEOPLE WITH THE CHURCHES ENOUGH. A lot of them were being supported by churches & church people, & of course they were just scandalised! Even if they loved him & understood & all that, why they still had to quit him. Lee Shelley split off & took the whole missionary work & all the missionaries with him, as well as Fred's mailing list 169. FINALLY FRED GOT DOWN TO WHERE HE HAD ALMOST NOTHING BUT HIS TV SHOW, no school, no people, no missionaries--which may have been of the Lord, to get him to concentrate on television. I stayed with him for all those years putting his show on over 300 television stations all over the United States, & 1100 radio stations, & preached the Gospel to millions that way!
WE STAYED ON THE ROAD WITH OUR TRAILER FOR A YEAR. We went up around the Northeast & then to Kentucky, & then down to TSC again where we still had a few missionaries. They were having big fights over tongues & Pentecost, & he wanted me to take it over, but this old farmer wouldn't let go!
I FINALLY GOT FED UP, & WE MOVED BACK TO FLORIDA with our trailer. That's when we got a big house in this fancy section, put our trailer on it, & finally got run out! We were on the beach for awhile, Miami Beach. We came back from Key Largo to go to Miami Beach & a little house there where we tried to evangelise the Jews, but of course they're almost impossible!
WE HAD THIS BIG OLD MANSION IN MIAMI & WE TAUGHT SCHOOL THERE, at our Soul Clinic school. We got the Camper, & I was still in TV work. That's when I had the fight with evolution there in Miami & they condemned the building & we had to move out. So I took the family in our Camper & hit the road again. I was still working for TV, but the kids were working on the side, witnessing, singing & litnessing. By this time they were getting to be teenagers.
THEN WE HAD THE EXHIBITS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR FOR TWO YEARS. The first year was with Fred's encouragement, & the second year was more or less on our own with the Soul Clinic exhibit. We collected a lot of names for mailing lists, & that's where Jeth & Deb came to work with us. Jeth & Deb managed the exhibit for awhile, & then they went to work for Fred through that. When we were finally leaving there, Ho & Faith were running the thing practically by themselves!
THEN MOTHER SAID SHE WANTED TO SEE US, so we all went to Texas to have a visit with Grandmother. That's when we began having those marvellous revelations from Grandmother, amongst them the Warning Prophecy!
SHE WENT WITH US THEN ON THAT 7,000 MILES-OF-MIRACLES TOUR clear up into Canada & to the World's Fair in Montreal where the kids sang & witnessed. Then we went back down to Miami with that young couple from New York, former drug addicts.
WE ALL WENT WITH MOM ON A BOAT TO THE BAHAMAS, & we witnessed over there in churches. We had a terrific message for the churches, & by this time we had a pretty good team! It was something different & new, & they'd give us a good offering. Then we went back by boat to Miami & got the Camper & took off again.
MOTHER HAD BEEN TRAVELLING WITH US, MIND YOU, IN THE CAMPER all this time, this whole trip!--Can you imagine, for an old lady nearly 80! That was our little family of six, & we had Josh part of the time. We had his brother part of the time, & we had Lydia part of the time, & different ones part of the time stayed with us off & on under the awning!
WE COULD SLEEP AS HIGH AS 12 SOMETIMES, poor Grandmother! But she put up with it & survived it--she was a real trooper! She was pretty tired by the time we got back to Miami, & she took a plane to Dallas. She said she'd meet us in Dallas at the Holiday Inn, & so we drove there with our little team.
WE DROVE TO DALLAS & THERE WE HAD ANOTHER TERRIFIC PRAYER SESSION in the Dallas Holiday Inn, with prophecies! That's when we got the prophecy that said we should get our brother "Simeon"--that was Hosea who was away in Texas doing some work. He was working a lot with the Full Gospel Businessmen, the Christian Businessmen then. "Get Brother Simeon* who had stayed behind", he was the brother who had stayed behind in the Bible, &
"TRAVEL WEST TO THE LAND OF THE SETTING SUN & there it shall be told thee what thou shalt do." So Grandmother took a plane to California, & we had a double wedding before we left the Ranch! Caleb & Lydia, & Aaron & Sarah, got married right there at the Ranch, & I was the preacher! (*See Gen.42 about Simeon.)
THEN WE ALL LEFT IN THE CAMPER & DROVE ALL THE WAY TO GRANDMOTHER'S LITTLE COTTAGE in Huntington Beach, witnessing on the way. There was barely room behind it on the alley to park. We tried to get in the churches there, & oh, they were cold & hard!
WE HAD THE WORST TIME TRYING TO GET IN THE CHURCHES IN THE LOS ANGELES area of anyplace in the whole United Stated! They'd seen everything, heard everything & they weren't interested in anybody that had anything to do with the Soul Clinic or with witnessing, or a bunch of little kids singing, or whatever! So we couldn't get in the churches for support.
THE KIDS WERE BUSY WITNESSING ON THE BEACH to the hippies & the surfers, & that was fruitful. But there wasn't any way it could support us, at least we didn't think so. We never dreamed what was going to happen, of course. But Mother kept begging us to just go down & witness to those hippies.
"YOU'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE HIPPIES! Go down to that Mission, maybe you can work with them, maybe they'll help you." She was hoping they'd hire us as their staff or something. She said,
"THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO WORK WITH HIPPIES! They're just church people & have church meetings, & the hippies don't like it! And they don't like the way the hippies dress, & they just don't like hippies!"
WE DID HAVE TREMENDOUS SUCCESS WITH THE HIPPIES in the meetings we had at the Light Club, which had been a Christian Full Gospel Businessmen Mission, but Dave Wilkerson had helped to start it. They gave it over to us because they weren't accomplishing anything. On the nights they had their church meetings, like a mission, there was nobody there but church people! The hippies stayed away.
ON THE NIGHTS WHEN WE HAD OUR MEETINGS THE HIPPIES JUST PACKED IN because we had nothing but kids, kid singers & kids' testimonies!--And we didn't preach church! We just preached Jesus & the Endtime & the Warning Message. It was just geared for the hippie generation & the message they wanted to hear & needed! They wanted to hear Bible Prophecy. After all, here's the atom age & they're scared, & they want to know what's going to happen, & we could tell 'em! TG!
SO WE PACKED 'EM IN, UNTIL FINALLY THE CHRISTIAN BUSINESSMEN JUST GAVE US THE MISSION completely & turned it over to us free with rent paid!--Left us the furniture & everything to use, the only thing they took was the grand piano, & we were glad to get that thing out of there!
WE HAD A TREMENDOUS TIME! We packed that place 50 to 75 kids every single day & every night! We fed 'em & we slept 'em, & I saw something was really happening & was going to really explode! I just knew it! I saw the Lord was really doing something!
THAT'S WHEN I BEGAN TO COME DOWN & TEACH in my dark glasses, beret, baggy pants, old torn jacket & tennis shoes, looking more like an old beatnik instead of a hippie! I was teaching the classes, & things were just booming!
WE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SUPPORT OURSELVES, BUT THE HIPPIES TAUGHT US! They were used to scrounging & procuring & provisioning, & they established the sandwich routes & food shops where we had regular pickups. We ate Kentucky Fried Chicken & sandwiches & everything you could possibly imagine! It fed everybody down at the mission & everybody at the house too.
PRETTY SOON WE HAD TO HAVE ANOTHER HOUSE BECAUSE THE STAFF WAS GETTING TOO BIG! Deborah wanted to come work with us, & she dragged Jeth reluctantly along, dragging his feet. But at least as long as there was a job & salary in it he didn't mind. I told him he could be more or less his own boss, just handle the office & finances & the mail.
WE WERE BRANCHING OUT THEN & OUR FIRST BRANCH WAS TUCSON. We went to Brother Ware's church in Tucson & took it over, Faithy, Miguel & a bunch of our kids. We were just a tremendous hit there too! Our message was a terrific hit & our method, music, testimonies, witnessing & everything.
THE LORD KNEW IT WAS TIME & it was what the kids needed! We had the message, the method & the music! Things were just booming! We were going great guns when you* came in January & worked in our office out in Grandmother's garage typing letters until April. (*That's Maria, now our Queen!)--1979.
THEN THINGS BEGAN TO GET TOO HOT FOR US! We got all that publicity, front-page headlines everyday in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa & Santa Ana, & the System began to fight, & we began to have arrests! They arrested the Costa Mesa 14 & the Golden West Six & put them in jail for witnessing on campuses!--USA!
WE PICKETED CHURCHES, JAILS & SCHOOLS! We had sit-ins, march-ins, protests & everything the kids loved, everything that was radical! It was just going great! Terrific!--And I loved it! I was master-minding the whole thing from behind the scenes w/Jesus!
NOBODY EVER SAW ME HARDLY, OR EVEN KNEW WHO I WAS or I existed! Except finally when I got the vision of having the church walk-ins I would lead the parade, because I knew the churches pretty well! I'd wear an old Japanese kimono & this funny big medallion around my neck, & slippers. I looked like an old hippie for sure!
WE'D WALK INTO THESE CHURCHES 50, 60, 70, 80 STRONG! It scared them half to death! Some of them called the cops, & finally things got too hot for us! We had our big explosion, our big boom, our big initial start, push, & then the persecution came & we had to get out of town!--"Flee the City!"--Mat.10:23.
THEY WERE PLANNING AS USUAL TO GET THE BIG BOY when they found out he was me! They were going to charge me with this, that & the other, contributing to the delinquency of minors & all kinds of stuff. This is kind of a quick rundown resume just to review the whole story real fast, because I'm really zipping through it. There's a thousand stories in almost every bit of it, but I'm just trying to bring you kids up to date to show how we did it & what happened.
THAT'S WHEN WE HIT THE ROAD, & YOU (MARIA) WENT WITH US! That's when I asked you if you wanted to be Jeth's secretary or mine, would you like to stay there & help him or go with me? I don't know why you chose to come with me!--Why, can you tell me.
WE HADN'T EVEN HAD ANY ROMANCE! I wasn't even doing anything then, or kissing you hardly or anything! I remember I came in one day when you were at the desk typing & you complained that you had a stiff neck, & so I rubbed your neck.--That was all.
THAT'S WHEN YOU BROKE DOWN & WEPT & confessed you were in love with Jeth & what could you do, a man with a wife & five children! So I told you then, "Well, how would you like a promotion?" (Maria: "The best cure for an old love is a new love!") Yes, the best cure for an old love, is a new love! So I dropped some pretty heavy hints I guess, huh? Ha, ha!
CAN YOU REMEMBER WHY YOU MADE THE DECISION TO COME WITH US instead of staying there with a nice secure job?--You decided to hit the road with the Old Rascal! (Maria: Well, I knew who was the boss!) Ha, ha, pretty smart girl, pretty smart Leo, she came with the top officer! So you joined us in the Camper then.
THE FIRST NIGHT OUT ON THE ROAD THE FOLKS ALL WENT TO SOME MEETING in the home & the kids were singing & Mom was always sort of the MC or manager. She loved those meetings, so she went in. But you were always kind of tired for some reason. You almost didn't make it at the Club, you went to sleep sitting there! (Maria: I thought I was going to backslide, because I was so tired!)
YOU ALMOST GOT KICKED OUT FOR NOT GOING TO THE MEETINGS! I'll never forget when Esther came & said, "There's a little girl here who says she's sick & has a headache & she doesn't want to go to the Club tonight." I said, "You just tell her that 'as they went they were healed'!--That that's required!--She's got to go to the Club or else!"
I WAS TOUGH ABOUT IT, & I guess you must have thought I was a monster to make you go to the Club sick with a headache & tired! But you went, God bless you, Honey. I've got to give you credit, you've got guts! You're a real soldier!
SO YOU WENT WITH US, & that first night out, while they were all in this house at this meeting, you went to bed. I stayed out in the Camper usually reading or doing work or writing letters, & I just went back there & you were sleeping on the top bunk. I always kissed everybody goodnight, & we got to kissing goodnight, & ahem, we really got to kissing! And from then on it was love at first sight! (Maria: Oh, it was love at first sight before, when I first saw you!) Yes, maybe so.
I'LL NEVER FORGET WHEN WE FIRST MET IN GRANDMA'S DINING ROOM: You came in for supper & you gave me that cute little kiss. You were so sweet & affectionate & girlish. You won my heart with that first kiss, Honey, so soft & sweet. I thought, "Wow, she looks like a little prudish church girl, but she sure don't taste like it!"
SO WE HIT THE ROAD & WE ALL MOVED TO TUCSON. We were going great in Tucson, booming there, packed the church out! We had trailers & campers & trucks & buses & everything parked all over the place. The first convoy was led by us. The next one by Jeth out of Huntington Beach, & the final one by Shad. We finally had nearly everybody out of Huntington Beach because of the persecution there.
THEN THE PERSECUTION BEGAN TO RISE IN TUCSON! The Catholics had a petition signed by 9,000 names to close us up & get us out of town, because we were winning so many of their kids, especially at the University of Tucson.
THAT'S WHEN WE FINALLY ORGANIZED ALL OF OUR CARAVANS & vehicles into a big convoy & left town. I remember then when we got to El Paso we split into three groups. One went to Florida, one went North, & one went to the Midwest. It's a long story, but that's how we got started.
WE WENT FROM THERE ON UP TO LAURENTIDE, CANADA, where this Doctor had offered us his campground. We met there, & there were about 150 of us! We were having all those meetings. It's a long story. By that time you & I were living together steadily. Mom left of her own free will, because she always preferred her own ministry to me, & I guess so to this day.
AT LAURENTIDE WE HAD CLASSES & Josh got to be a bigshot, to where he was almost jealous of his classes. That's where Rachel & Sam got married & where I really sort of fell for Rachel, or she fell for us. So I was afraid of her & got her married off to Sam safely. (Maria: So he could keep her until the appointed time.) She served her time & her purpose, thank the Lord, & maybe she'll come back someday. It sounded like she will, like Nebuchadnezzar.
FROM LAURENTIDE WE ASSEMBLED AN EVEN BIGGER CONVOY FOR DEMONSTRATIONS, in Virginia outside of Washington. We had all those demonstrations in Washington & in New York at the U.N., where earlier Aaron had thrown Warning Tracts down on the floor of the U.N. from the balcony. Then on to Pittsburgh, Chicago & then south, Memphis & New Orleans.
NEAR NEW ORLEANS THEY ARRESTED A WHOLE BUNCH OF US! They put 25 in jail & sent 25 home. Those rednecks really hated hippies even though they were Christians! We were peacefully law-abiding, sitting there having classes in the park when 50 sheriffs & deputies surrounded us with guns, checked everybody's I.D. & took 25 to jail for not having proper I.D.'s or being under age! They told us to get out, to leave & not stop until we crossed the border, & we did!
WE WENT TO HOUSTON & CAMPED OUT IN THE PARKS around there. We witnessed & kept picking up more & more souls & more & more members & disciples. That's when we slept in that mud & rain & water till I got desperate that the kids have a better place to stay!--So,
I FLEW OUT TO LOS ANGELES & BEGGED TSC FROM FRED. He said, "Well, providing I can use it & promote it," & he gave certain conditions. So I went back with the happy news that we could have TSC, & we trekked up to Dallas, then Ft. Worth & then TSC. We arrived at TSC with about 125 in February of 1970 & occupied the place. That's where we really boomed & grew! CBS did a couple specials on us & we grew to nearly 300! Even the cowboys, the local farmers & ranchers, respected us at last!
IT WAS IN THAT YEAR, SEPTEMBER 1970, THAT YOU & I TOOK OUR TRIP TO EUROPE to start pioneering over there to see prospects of moving overseas.--Which we did! In fact we were thinking about going to Israel, & we did go to Israel. We thought we were going to all go to Israel & start a kibbutz! Ha!
LITTLE DID WE REALISE WHAT WE WERE GOING TO FIND IN ISRAEL! The Lord changed our hearts there & showed us what a horrible people the Israelis were, how anti-Christ, anti-God they were! They were not His children nor His people at all, & He was fed up with them & going to destroy them! We had our famous "Breakdown" & change of doctrine! (See Breakdown)
NEXT WE WENT TO CYPRUS, & IT WAS ON THAT TRIP THAT WE STARTED REALLY WRITING THE MO LETTERS more & more, until finally we were writing all day everyday! We went to Cyprus 3 months & back to London, & by this time I was bugging the kids to come to Europe, tremendous opportunities, hungry young people.
IN MAY 1971 WE HAD TO GO HOME TO TRY TO STRAIGHTEN OUT JETH & DEB, the usual troublemakers, who were about to split up & cause all kinds of trouble. We were afraid they were going to split the Family. So we went back to Dallas in May of '71 & straightened them out.--For awhile!--Ha!
WE STARTED SENDING OUR FIRST TEAMS TO ENGLAND, Faithy & Ho, Dutch Ben & Miriam, Apollos & Lois, Jonas & Jochebed, Miguel & Becky & some other folks that went with that first team. They began to open up works then in London while we were still in the States.
COLONIES BEGAN TO BOOM IN THE STATES, & before we left for Europe again we had 50 Colonies in the States, were back again pioneering in Los Angeles & the Northwest, & had a dozen Colonies overseas! We went from London to Amsterdam, & Amsterdam to Paris & Rome.
BY THE TIME MARIA & I RETURNED TO EUROPE, THERE WERE QUITE A FEW COLONIES ALREADY ESTABLISHED in Europe. I remember we arrived exactly the same day, same month a year later in London! The Immigrations officer looked at my passport & said, "Do you have any special reason why you always land here on the same day?--April 13th!" So we left U.S. in September 1970, came back in May 1971, & then we returned to London April 13th of 1972. We had arrived back from Israel to London on April 13th of the previous year, the same date.
SO THEN WE WERE BACK IN LONDON & THINGS WERE REALLY BOOMING! That's when the MO Letters finally hit the streets, praise God! Then London got too hot for us & we had to go to Tenerife, & you know the rest of the story. PTL! Amen?--The Family of Love!
OKAY, I THINK IT'S TIME TO STOP. It's going on 3 A.M. & we've been doing this for four hours!--And I was hungry long long long ago. God bless you, Sweetheart, you really suffer so long! (Maria: Suffer? It's beautiful!)
I THINK MAYBE THAT'S THE SHORTEST I EVER TOLD IT, so maybe we can manage to publish that. I think other times we've made it too long. Anyhow it will sort of give the kids an idea of how we did it. Right now they're doing it, & they can do it again!
AS SOMEBODY SAID, "THE WORLD HAS TO BE EVANGELISED IN EVERY GENERATION!" We've done ours, now they've got to do it again! Eve & I did our generation, & our kids did their generation, now you kids are going to have to do your generation, PTL! Amen! TYJ!
LORD, BLESS THE KIDS & ALL THE FAMILY AROUND THE WORLD! Now they're everywhere! They've been in over 100 countries, preached the Gospel to many nationalities, & we're over 100 nationalities right now in the Family!--With over 900 Letters in 80 languages!
YOU'VE FULFILLED EVERY PROPHECY YOU PREDICTED would happen, at least thus far, & You've scattered us around the world to preach the Gospel to many nations! The Family has remained at about 7,000 just like You prophesied in the early beginnings, that there would be 7,000 of us at least, & that's about where we seem to stay. It's about all we can handle, I guess, Lord, & about all that can handle us!
YOU'RE STILL OPENING UP NEW MINISTRIES, still blessing, still winning souls, still sending out missionaries, & still helping us preach the Gospel in all the world, & still supporting us, Lord. Thank You Lord! Bless the kids everywhere, continue to make them a blessing. Bless us today & keep us, & give us strength & wisdom to accomplish whatever You want done. Thank You for it all, in Jesus' Name, Amen!
SUCH A MIRACLE! SUCH A WONDERFUL THING! Millions of miles of miracles all over the World! Hallelujah! TYJ!--& millions of souls saved for Eternity! We just couldn't be any happier till we get to Heaven! PTL! TYJ forever!--He did it all!--With your help!--Keep on rollin' till Jesus comes!--Amen? Hallelujah! Keep'm rollin'!
IF YOU WANNA HEAR THE STORY IN GREATER DETAIL by one of our boys who was one of those Hippies in our early days from the Light Club on, with the exciting personal account of those thrilling Road Days of the giant convoy & the pioneering of Europe, read Sam Warner's "We Are the Children of God!"--serialised now in chapters running in the Family News!--Our big 164-Pg new Mag!
IT'S SO INSPIRING & ENCOURAGING TO SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE!--And "greater works than these shall ye do!" (Jn.14:12.) Hallelujah! Amen! Help your missionaries throughout the World!--And don't miss a copy of the Family News!--Send in your Report & gift or tithe with your correct address on time every month! God bless and keep you! We love you! Keep going for God!--Are you?
My name is James Arendt. I was raised in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, served in the USAF from 1970 to 1974, and became a full-time missionary for Christ living 40 years in Japan, 3.5 years in Russia, and a few months in other countries such as Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China where I also served the King of Kings, Jesus, as an Ambassador for His Kingdom. My full bio.
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