John Shrader: Killing Snakes & Grifting Appliances for Jesus

[salex]

I am nervous for Esther and the kids while John is away. John is certainly not the best husband or father, but he is the man of the house and that fact might keep burglars or others away. And he has made it no secret that he will be gone and for how long, leaving his wife and children behind.

Also, there is a very good chance that John has made enemies the short time he has been there. He has probably offended most everyone he has come across, and I sincerely hope there is no one looking for petty revenge.

Or a new fridge or copier....

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Or a new fridge or copier....

Well they might have a better use for a copier than John ;)

[gustava]

I am nervous for Esther and the kids while John is away. John is certainly not the best husband or father, but he is the man of the house and that fact might keep burglars or others away. And he has made it no secret that he will be gone and for how long, leaving his wife and children behind.

Also, there is a very good chance that John has made enemies the short time he has been there. He has probably offended most everyone he has come across, and I sincerely hope there is no one looking for petty revenge.

My brief sojourn in Botswana suggests to me that those who live around Esther and the children will keep an eye on her and support her.

[Buzzard]

Well they might have a better use for a copier than John ;)

Maybe she'll run. I bet the Embassy would help her escape back to the States, unless he took her passport with him...

[Gobsmacked]

I seriously don't think that Esther and the children are in any danger. Zambian folk are in the main kind caring and very family orientated. The community in which they live will look after Esther.

Just a pity John will be returning.

If he got turned back at the airport by immigration for not having the correct papers etc on his initial arrival in Zambia in 2014 that would be the best possible outcome. Esther and the children could leave, fly back to America and hopefully go to live with or near her parents.

Johns fathers church could not allow Esther and the children be stranded in Africa without John.

Fingers crossed. :?

[Palimpsest]

I seriously don't think that Esther and the children are in any danger. Zambian folk are in the main kind caring and very family orientated. The community in which they live will look after Esther.

Just a pity John will be returning.

If he got turned back at the airport by immigration for not having the correct papers etc on his initial arrival in Zambia in 2014 that would be the best possible outcome. Esther and the children could leave, fly back to America and hopefully go to live with or near her parents.

Johns fathers church could not allow Esther and the children be stranded in Africa without John.

Fingers crossed. :?

I agree. While unattended luxury items might disappear Esther and kids will not be at risk. Zambia is pretty safe and mothers and children will not be attacked.

I still think she will need some support because I doubt she has learned the local routines. I hope John hasn't alienated the expat community.

[formergothardite]

Today is the day! Any news from John since he arrived back here?

[Justme]

I know he's a minister and has a church. But that's about it. Is he a real minister who actually attended college and Divinty school? Or, self taught like the rest of the fundies. Is his church one he started (ala pissing preacher) or was he hired? How does he constantly con so much money out of his flock to bail out John Boy? Does he follow Gothard? Are ther other children then John and his ill sister?

[salex]

Their website is pretty lame-- unfinished and vague.

tricountybaptistchurch.com/index.php/about-tri-county-baptist-church-katy-tx

But, there is mention of a giving method called Faith Promise Giving...

I googled it and found that it is NOT popular with everyone

baptistdeception.com/faith-promise-missions-deception/#.VODUfPnF-nE

Per his public facebook page (Rick-Jodi Schrader) he "studied" at Tennessee Temple

tntemple.edu/ It does not say he graduated, etc.

They had some kind of anniversary celebration at his church last year (35 years??) and i think it is his church in that he opened it and operates it. This is alien to me, as I was raised methodist and ministers don't own their churches and are often moved around.

[Palimpsest]

Not much, really. So I'm going to recommend a merge to the main Shrader thread.

Married to Jodi. Several children according to old pictures of the family posted by John. Not much of a web presence.

Looking at the church website he is stridently IFB. He "planted" the church in 1979. If he had any unaccredited degrees he would probably list them. I saw somewhere (forget) a while ago that he was a "counselor, construction engineer and shepherd." I assumed it was Botkin-speak for preacher, handyman, and pastor. KJV only, naturally. Big on "debt free" so presumably tries to keep John out of debt.

God knows how he manages to get so much money from his flock. He's managed to raise $$ for Sarah as well as John.

The family was rumored to have been ATI/IBLP (might explain the Keller connection) but I don't think we have any proof. Believes in living separated from the world.

[Gobsmacked]

Will the sacrificial lamb have lost its life to feed the prodigal.

Jolly well hope not. :?

[Palimpsest]

Their website is pretty lame-- unfinished and vague.

tricountybaptistchurch.com/index.php/about-tri-county-baptist-church-katy-tx

But, there is mention of a giving method called Faith Promise Giving...

I googled it and found that it is NOT popular with everyone

baptistdeception.com/faith-promise-missions-deception/#.VODUfPnF-nE

That article is interesting. I wonder how many IFB agree with him and find John's method of fundraising controversial. BTW, I love the guy's initial argument that Faith Promise Giving is intrinsically a Bad Thing because it was invented by an evil Presbyterian!

[Palimpsest]

I do hope they update soon and post a video for us. :popcorn2:

[formergothardite]

The IFB churches I attended called it Mission Promises, but it sounds like it was the same thing as Faith Promise Giving. I didn't realize it was controversial. There was a lot of pressure to give more each year and give till it hurt.

I really, really want to know what went on in that church meeting today.

[salex]

The IFB churches I attended called it Mission Promises, but it sounds like it was the same thing as Faith Promise Giving. I didn't realize it was controversial. There was a lot of pressure to give more each year and give till it hurt.

I really, really want to know what went on in that church meeting today.

Big welcoming of John by Daddy Church Bucks, with stories of the wonderous trials and tribulations and uncomfortable living conditionsJohn and his wife and children have endured for the Cause. Pictures of the multitudes (or couple) of people in Zambia John has saved from incorrect Christianity--possibly including video of John baptising (rebaptising) and shouting in his faux Zambian Accent.

Dad explaining how important this mission is, and how John has been attacked by Satan at every turn, especially by those trying to end his ministry. nPossible mention of specific costly need.

Guilting people to support John. Pictures of blonde children in cheap flip flops, working to convert their unsaved African neighbors....

Pass the plate. Lots of laying on of hands by the men on JOhn, offering blessings of every type.

Followed by their pot luck dinner that they have every week. John and Daddy work the room and tell about how wonderful it is when a soul is saved from hell and how badly they need xyz and how God will bless them if they give. Love offering at the potluck.

John goes shopping while here and picks up stuff he can't get over there to drag back with him. Might (MIGHT) also make a stop at Esther's home church with her family and do the same dog and pony show for them, just to snag a few more bucks. I would if I were they. (That would include lots of Esther and the Kids slides, and iffy living conditions)

I'm sure I'm not 100% accurate, because I've never been to an Indpependent Fundamentalist Baptist chruch in my life, with the possible exception of maybe once in college ...

[PrairieGirl]

Big welcoming of John by Daddy Church Bucks, with stories of the wonderous trials and tribulations and uncomfortable living conditionsJohn and his wife and children have endured for the Cause. Pictures of the multitudes (or couple) of people in Zambia John has saved from incorrect Christianity--possibly including video of John baptising (rebaptising) and shouting in his faux Zambian Accent.

Dad explaining how important this mission is, and how John has been attacked by Satan at every turn, especially by those trying to end his ministry. nPossible mention of specific costly need.

Guilting people to support John. Pictures of blonde children in cheap flip flops, working to convert their unsaved African neighbors....

Pass the plate. Lots of laying on of hands by the men on JOhn, offering blessings of every type.

Followed by their pot luck dinner that they have every week. John and Daddy work the room and tell about how wonderful it is when a soul is saved from hell and how badly they need xyz and how God will bless them if they give. Love offering at the potluck.

John goes shopping while here and picks up stuff he can't get over there to drag back with him. Might (MIGHT) also make a stop at Esther's home church with her family and do the same dog and pony show for them, just to snag a few more bucks. I would if I were they. (That would include lots of Esther and the Kids slides, and iffy living conditions)

I'm sure I'm not 100% accurate, because I've never been to an Indpependent Fundamentalist Baptist chruch in my life, with the possible exception of maybe once in college ...

Bravo! I honestly thought you had seen a video or had insider information before I caught the snark.

[salex]

Actually, his facebook is strangely quiet about his trip to the US. He has been posting pictures of his older children when they were toddlers and someone ask him point blank if he was in TX alone or if he had his family with him and he didn't answer. Today's facebook post by John the Grifter is an anti vax article....

So, transparency isn't exactly a "thing" with him.

[formergothardite]

IMO if he is avoiding talking about it, it shows that he was forced back and it wasn't just for a special service. I think John was less than thrilled about coming home to his daddy and I bet his daddy is less than thrilled with John.

[PrairieGirl]

IMO if he is avoiding talking about it, it shows that he was forced back and it wasn't just for a special service. I think John was less than thrilled about coming home to his daddy and I bet his daddy is less than thrilled with John.

Is there any evidence he actually came back? Maybe he figured out ahead of time this trip wasn't to celebrate his infinite awesomeness and he refused to even make the trip.

[salex]

His dad announced he'd be there on the 15th on his facebook page, but his page, too, is quiet about any actual visit or event on the 15th.

[Howl]

Perhaps the missionary adulation sermon event did not go as planned.

As my best friend says, "More will be revealed."

[GeoBQn]

Actually, his facebook is strangely quiet about his trip to the US. He has been posting pictures of his older children when they were toddlers and someone ask him point blank if he was in TX alone or if he had his family with him and he didn't answer. Today's facebook post by John the Grifter is an anti vax article....

So, transparency isn't exactly a "thing" with him.

Does that answer the question of whether John got his kids vaccinated before going to Zambia?

[formergothardite]

His dad announced he was coming but that is it. All the comments were by people who wanted to come but wouldn't make it.

I wouldn't put it past John to refuse to come if he found out his father was going to try to tell him what to do. John is used to getting his way and I think he knows that his father won't cut him off completely.

[PrairieGirl]

His dad announced he was coming but that is it. All the comments were by people who wanted to come but wouldn't make it.

I wouldn't put it past John to refuse to come if he found out his father was going to try to tell him what to do. John is used to getting his way and I think he knows that his father won't cut him off completely.

Are we sure that his father won't cut him off? From what it sounds like, Daddy Shrader is drowning in the koolaid but maybe John has actually gotten so extreme that even his own dad is willing to sever ties with him.

Yes, I realize that I am reaching here. I am hoping that even those people that have supported John all along (including his own parents) are actually to a point where they are asking John what the fuck he is doing.

[formergothardite]

Because of the children I don't think Daddy Shrader would cut him off.

John is never going to come home of his own free will. But if he is completely cut off from all support(except for a plane ticket home) his children are the ones that will suffer the most. John will be fine because he always puts himself first. I don't know what the solution is because just abandoning him and the children there is a horrible idea but giving him money to stay in Zambia is also a horrible idea.