Burden to Burundi, Zealous for Zambia

[Miggy]

John has a video up of Charis (?) holding Sophia.

Is it just me or does Sophia look malnourished? I had particularly fat babies so maybe my judgement is out but those hollow eyes really disturb me. Her legs look thin too - not starvation level, just not the chubby legs you expect on a baby. At five months I assume she is still just breast feeding. It makes me wonder about Esther's health. I really hope this is just the way their babies look and not a sign that continuous pregnancy is having a bad effect on Esther.

[themothership]

I just watched the video of Sophia and how thin she is really stuck out to me as well. I hope everything is ok with her because you know her parents will not do anything to help her.

[Guest]

John has changed his Facebook name to "John Esther Shrader." I guess Esther can't even have her own Facebook now,,,

Also, he seems to be taking a note from Xgay Greg on car decorations....

[salex]

John has changed his Facebook name to "John Esther Shrader." I guess Esther can't even have her own Facebook now,,,

Also, he seems to be taking a note from Xgay Greg on car decorations....

Because nothing says "I'm firmly rooted in reality" more than a car covered with signs and messages and bumper stickers and filled with all your worldly possessions since you are effectively homeless.

They both are due a pic on "People of Walmart"

[formergothardite]

I think people are taking pictures of that one sign because they want to post it on the internet and make fun of it.

He needs to take "precious" out of his vocabulary. Someone send him a link to an online thesaurus!

[scc12]

I just watched the video of Sophia and how thin she is really stuck out to me as well. I hope everything is ok with her because you know her parents will not do anything to help her.

I hope she is getting well-baby checkups,but my guess would be probably not.She looks like she needs to be weighed and measured to see if she's on par for her age.

[slickcat79]

Ugh, his post from yesterday says they are headed to Washington to "make preparations" to leave for Zambia. I'm not really sure how that's different from what they've been doing for the last year, but I find it concerning for Esther and the kids :|

[nokidsmom]

I wonder how long it will take to "make preparations" for Zambia. And agree it doesn't seem much different than what they have been doing.

[Palimpsest]

Sophia does look rather thin. She is cute though.

I just caught up on Shrader's Facebook. Especially low points over the last few days:

September 11. He posts a video where you can hear John and David laughing and making fun of people in Burundi. "Do you know the muffin, man, the muffin man, the muffin man, he balances his bike like no-one can, the Burundian muffin man!" Yes, people risking their lives is hysterically funny.

This is in addition to them making fun of Burundian people carrying things in the traditional manner by having themselves photographed pretending to balance water on their heads. Assholes.

September 12. He was a busy boy on FB.

He posts a video of a "false" Christian.

Dependency Missions?

This man is a leader in the "Union Baptist" church we found walking around Bujumbura. Sadly, they are not truly Baptist in doctrine, as we found out later, but this clip is instructive and thought provoking. There is a division of thought among missionaries about how to help those we go to minister to and train. The "silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee:" (Acts 3:6) model is largely out of vogue, yet the strongest ministries and church planting on the mission field I have observed has been those where no American money was given at all, just training and materials. Long after the missionary has left, the churches planted are growing, thriving, the planting and training continues...

One veteran missionary of almost twenty years in Africa has completely revamped his philosophy of ministry, with astounding results, and after just a few years is poised to see multiplication beginning to take off.

In short...fruit that remains.

This clip is of value because it shows that Nationals do not need us to handicap them by making them dependent on our means and money. We should train and demonstrate that God will supply! The God of William Carey and Adoniram Judson is able to providentially supply their needs as He does ours.

Disagree with me if you will, but I have seen and studied both models, and there is no doubt in my mind which is more Biblical, which produces self-governing, self-supporting, and most importantly, self-propagating Biblical New Testament Baptist churches.

My heart is settled. God bless

Thank you, John. I will disagree with your selfish self-serving butt. I doubt that you have studied either model and you make an ass of yourself with this rubbish.

People disagreed with him on Facebook and he got snippy with them. Including getting patronizing and snippy with one of his most vocal sheep!

John Esther Shrader Paula, may I caution you to be careful. Read Matt. 7:21-23

September 12 at 8:22am via mobile · Like..

John Esther Shrader Let me give you a little more info Paula. We (David and I) were accused of being like "the snake in the garden" and were called false teachers sitting right there as we tried to show from the Bible what the Bible teaches. There are many that are sincere, but are sincerely wrong. II Cor. 11:1-15 is also frightening when the realization of what is said is grasped. So having not been there, heard the entire conversation...I would caution you about making such definitive statements about his "ministry" and who gave it to him. Just a kind word of caution

Then he posts a link to an Expose of Evangelism. John is "studying" how to overcome obstacles to being an evangelist in Africa. John decides that people having problems with the link indicates that FB is persecuting him!

:cray-cray:

I think the link is fine, I clicked it and read the PDF: PurposedCoachingBlog.com/EE. The content of the coaching is unbelievably racist. I shudder.

And today David Rea has apparently told him off.

Prov. 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."

Sure appreciate my beloved friend and brother David-Cherri Rea, who is a true friend who is willing to confront me when I'm wrong. I especially love it when he takes my own words and says them back to me! Love ya brother Rea. Thank you for being my friend.

Are there cracks in the Rea and Shrader love fest, I wonder?

[ShadyOGrady]

Is it wrong that I'm waiting for something terrible to happen to Shrader in Africa?

[anjulibai]

As long is it happens to John and not Esther and the kids, nope.

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Is it wrong that I'm waiting for something terrible to happen to Shrader in Africa?

Oh I don't want something terrible to happen to him. But some embarrassing would be great

[Miggy]

Oh I don't want something terrible to happen to him. But some embarrassing would be great

Being caught with invalid visas or something illegal and turned around at the airport would suit me.

[formergothardite]

I can't say why of all the things he does this drives me the most insane. But his cutesy titles to everything just annoys me to no end.

Blessings from Burundi

Deputation Delights

Church Chuckles

Sweet Spot :|

And apparently he took down the pictures where he made fun of how people carried animals in Burundi but he had that labeled something stupid.

[slickcat79]

This clip is of value because it shows that Nationals do not need us to handicap them by making them dependent on our means and money. We should train and demonstrate that God will supply! The God of William Carey and Adoniram Judson is able to providentially supply their needs as He does ours.

Oh, OF COURSE...we're not sharing our resources with the locals because it's MORE GODLY not to :roll: It couldn't possibly be that god is trying to supply through his missionaries or anything. If these people are hosting John and his friends, and giving him the food off their table, I don't see why it would be amiss to offer them some small contribution to their household costs. If they had to make it all Jesus-y they could give an animal or something, so that the family could learn to "take dominion" over the beasts of the earth. Try to do something to be an actual member of the community and not just the white devil. AMEN™

I actually do see the benefit of a give-a-man-a-fish vs. teach-a-man-to-fish scenario, but not so much as it pertains to John's religion. It seems useful if you were teaching an actual trade or life skills that would benefit the student in the future, not how to whine at other people until they give you a plane and an accordion.

[formergothardite]

I saw he thanked people for serving his family. I wonder when the last time him and his family served anyone else. All they(especially him) seem to do is take take take.

[Artemis]

I just watched the video of Sophia and how thin she is really stuck out to me as well. I hope everything is ok with her because you know her parents will not do anything to help her.

Link please?

[Miggy]

Not sure how to link files but it's on his Facebook page. You will have to scroll down a bit now.

[scc12]

If the family doesn't have passports by Oct 1 of this yr,they may have to wait awhile,if a gov't shutdown occurs.

[scc12]

I hope they get Sophia to a Dr.She really looks like she needs some high-calorie nutritional supplements,and or she needs to go ahead and start solids.And maybe some vitamins.At the least,I hope she gets a well-baby checkup.She looks too thin.

[Palimpsest]

I was convicted today to take a look at John (now John Esther for those looking) Shrader's Facebook as Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. John threatened promised that the family would be in Zambia for Thanksgiving dinner.

It looks as though the LORD is having mercy on Zambia and John's plans have been delayed a bit. He seems to want us to forget that they were planning to leave in November.

John is largely reduced to posting platitudes and links to other missionaries in the field. The "likes" and the # of comments on his FB entries have declined considerably.

Points of interest from FB and the latest Shrader newsletter.

- They supposedly now have 90% of the funds needed.

- A couple more precious churches are funding this ill-advised "mission."

- Visas? No mention. (US Gov't shutdown wouldn't have delayed them - they're provided by the Burundi Consulate).

- No mention of vaccinations either.

- He has been advised that he really should get his pilot's license before he leaves the US.

- He is still working on that with his freebie flying lessons. Praise the Lord.

The Shrader missionary presentation is now available on Youtube for your viewing pleasure. It is 9 interminable minutes long, and includes voiceovers from Esther and some of the kids. youtube.com/watch?v=43qm8czR3aY

For those who don't have nine minutes of their lives to waste:

- Esther sounds a bit like Priscilla in her speech patterns. More so than Anna.

- Perhaps it's a Texan accent, but John really needs to enunciate better. Or he is talking with his mouth full. Or he has a slight speech impediment. I try not to snark on speech impediments because I have one myself.

- The kids are cute, poor things. They don't have any idea of the true meaning of what they are clearly rehearsed in saying on the video.

- John and Esther both need grammar lessons.

- The whole thing is predictably repulsive and culturally insensitive. They are looking at a field to harvest. John converted a "witchdoctor" possessed by two demons on their survey trip. While they were preaching in Zambia a bus accident caused the deaths of 50+ souls who had not been lead to Christ. Or at least converted according to Shrader standards.

From Facebook:

For those who have not seen our presentation yet!

Side Note: The Lord has redirected us from moving to Kafulafuta to Kafue instead. Everything else stays the same! Encouraging existing pastors and churches, discipling and training men, and planting churches with those men will still be the plan, just as it was in the First Century!

Kafue looks to be a fairly large city (a lot bigger than Kafulafuta) so John and family will have better access to medical care. They will also be able to buy most of the American foodstuffs they can't live without -- at a price. Kafue is also 73.11% Protestant, 11.08% other religions, and 15.80% not affiliated with any religion per Wikipedia.

Lots of souls for harvesting. :(

[ILoveJellybeans]

I am so thankful that this thread hasn't been bumped up because of a pregnancy announcement, like I was guessing when I saw it.

[Palimpsest]

Me too! I always brace myself before going to the FB page. So I suppose it is two bits of positive news:

1. Esther isn't risking her life by being pregnant again (as far as we know). Yet.

2. Zambia's lost souls are still not getting the benefit of John's version of Christianity. Yet.

[snickerz]

I was taken aback by his PLEASE PRAY post Nov 9 regarding the Philippines typhoon. Not to pray for help to arrive quickly, for food to be distributed, the suffering to be comforted, etc. but this:

Major Devastation in Philippians - Many deaths: PRAY that these devastated families would be reached by those preaching a true Gospel and offering them real hope in Christ.

[Palimpsest]

Oh, to be absolutely clear, John was really asking you to pray for the Josh Adams family, "missionaries at Philippines" and savers of souls. Forget hoi polloi who have no hope in Christ until Adams converts them.

John also links frequently to his latest boy crush, one Douglas Hammett on FB. The delightful Hammett allowed these comments on his FB page with no contradiction:

Jesse XXX Some of the area was also hit by a big earthquake last month. I was a few hundred km there when it happened.

Many were upset and angry that the heads of their beloved saints were cut off during the quake.

November 11 at 12:47am via mobile · Like · 1..

Donna XXX that was the finger or God that did that.

November 11 at 12:56am · Like · 1

How bloody charming.