John Shrader 13: Is the End Near? (In Kafue?)

[Coconut Flan]

Still no prayers for the folks back home who have been supporting him, but are now suffering through a disaster?  This piece of tone deafness might get through to even the most devoted follower in Texas.

[formergothardite]

John likes to brag about how he is an open book, but I'm 100% sure that what he wants is for people to contact him so he can try to get control of the narrative. 

[clearingthingsup]

8 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

God, looking through the photos of those kids, their smiles are soooo forced. You can see it in their eyes. Timothy and Nehemiah both stick out to me - they look scared. Charis, too. Only the two littlest boys and the oldest kids, Alatheia and Enoch, seem to have genuine smiles. I guess they are more practiced. Those poor kids. 

Alatheia & Enoch have swallowed their daddy's lines hook, line, bait & sinker. Of all of the kids, those two reminded me the most of John when I met them in person. I hate to say it, but they even acquired some of his meanness & both are extremely bossy.  Timothy is pretty quiet & hardly says anything. He's a very sweet boy & I don't think he gets nearly enough one-on-one with Mom or Dad. Nehemiah is FIESTY. He knows his own mind. He was continually being reprimanded whenever I was around the kids for not being obedient (read: unquestioning) enough. I think sometimes he acted out intentionally just to get attention from his parents, even if it was negative. 

I actually really can see him as one of the kids that "escapes". I often saw him with a sad look, too.

Charis, I'm not sure, she was still pretty little last I saw them. 

3 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

John likes to brag about how he is an open book, but I'm 100% sure that what he wants is for people to contact him so he can try to get control of the narrative. 

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. 

[anjulibai]

9 hours ago, clearingthingsup said:

Alatheia & Enoch have swallowed their daddy's lines hook, line, bait & sinker. Of all of the kids, those two reminded me the most of John when I met them in person. I hate to say it, but they even acquired some of his meanness & both are extremely bossy.  

I am sure John has told them they are extra special because they are firstborns (and firstborns of two first borns, to boot). That could go to a kid's head. They both look like John, too, which probably makes them more important to john. 

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Timothy is pretty quiet & hardly says anything. He's a very sweet boy & I don't think he gets nearly enough one-on-one with Mom or Dad. Nehemiah is FIESTY. He knows his own mind. He was continually being reprimanded whenever I was around the kids for not being obedient (read: unquestioning) enough. I think sometimes he acted out intentionally just to get attention from his parents, even if it was negative. 

That's unfortunate, but not surprising behavior for both given the environment. Something about those two boys really strikes me. They look like Kellers through and through, especially Timothy. He's totally Anna's mini-me. That probably rankles on John, knowing him. 

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I actually really can see him as one of the kids that "escapes". I often saw him with a sad look, too.

I hope at least one of them does. Maybe one of their uncles back home would help them out? I know one has issues, but the other two are pretty normal, right? 

[Palimpsest]

12 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Maybe one of their uncles back home would help them out? I know one has issues, but the other two are pretty normal, right? 

Seth and Joel seem to be doing well and living normal lives.  They are both OK after Harvey, although John doesn't care.  Jace is still struggling badly.  He updated FB recently with more of the same.  It is really sad.

And John demonstrates how well he responds to questions on Facebook:

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<redacted> Well, I would like to ask a question, but I'm afraid you'll feel attacked if I do.

John Esther Shrader You're welcomed to. I see we're not friends and I can't see any of your info so I'm not sure who you are or if we have any mutual friends? May I ask how you know us and if you know us personally at all?

 

Paranoid, much? 

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<redacted> I used to work for World Servants, it's a Dutch organisation (see: www.worldservants.nl) and I was wondering if you could give some info on local costs for building material. I saw your compound and wondered what it had cost.

<snip> oh, and I never use profile pictures or info. If I really want to know who someone is I contact them via messagager.

John Esther Shrader Um, we don't have a compound here <redacted>. How could that be construed as an attack?

 

Good question, John.  The way you write on Facebook makes total strangers think you perceive all questions as attacks.  And the land, the church, the house you are living in, and the Timothy House (or chicken coop) does look like a compound.

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John Esther Shrader I'm not really sure what you're asking. It's been quite a while since we did any building. The last building we helped build was with donated trees and a thatched roof for a village Biblical Baptist Church plant on donated land.

Dodged the question handily and sneaked in a quick boast for good measure.  It gives an inaccurate picture of a very urbanized nation too.

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The prices for permanent construction vary widely depending on type of building (concrete block, metal, wood trusses, etc.), exchange rate, world markets, cement prices, fuel prices, etc. (Almost everything is imported as Zambia is landlocked).

Actually Zambia both manufactures and exports quite a lot of building materials, including cement and concrete block.  Prices might vary, of course. 

"Zambia’s manufactured export products include engineering products, textiles, building materials, processed foods, animal products, and leather products."http://www.sadc.int/member-states/zambia/

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I'm sure since you have connections with an ecumenical organization, they might have better resources for obtaining the relevant information that you're needing.

Ecumenical is a four letter word to John.  And I think he just told her to fuck off.  Nice.

[formergothardite]

So basically John isn't going to say how much it cost to build all the stuff he has built. 

[Granwych]

On ‎9‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 11:06 AM, Palimpsest said:

I'm an open book. If anyone has ANY questions about our ministry or conduct here in Africa, please feel free to contact me. I'll be happy to openly and honestly answer any questions or concerns that anyone may have over any issue at all. Just message me or email me at 2tim22@gmail.com and I can call you on the phone.

Thanks friends.

Such rubbish.  I tried to message him on Facebook some time ago and all I got was "this person is not available now."    oy.

[Griftwood]

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(Almost everything is imported as Zambia is landlocked).

I forget which logical fallacy that is, but lol. "All cat food contains tuna because cats have whiskers!" 

Also, you're coming across as super paranoid, John. 

edit: it's a non sequitur, of course.

[Palimpsest]

More from John today.  He's all happy and optimistic again.  I honestly think he is making stuff up because he is desperate.  And he provides no photos, which is unusual for John.

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Wow dearly beloved.

Just wow.

What God has done to encourage us...

Just right at or just a couple under 100 in Church meeting today! This is a FIRST for us!!!

Photos or it didn't happen.

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This week has been especially difficult for our family. More tears over hard hearts, and other things I'll leave unmentioned.

No, do tell!  Perhaps someone else has told you to shove it where the sun don't shine.

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The first thing that happened this week to encourage our hearts was your prayers and God's help in our new family picture for our prayer cards and letterhead for our reports that we send to our churches. Thank you again to those who prayed.

And he still doesn't give a shit about people in TX.

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The second thing was that a group of CHILDREN came to our Thursday night Bible Study. There are no children's programs, nothing "exciting" (from a normal childish perspective), just an hour and a half of pure Bible teaching. It touched Esther and my hearts to see them wanting to be there!

Lacks verisimilitude.  Unless they served food.  Photos, please.

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Then, there were some good contacts during outreach in the Compound!

Then, that same group of young girls (maybe 10 of them, ages 12 down to around 6), came back for our Saturday evening prayer meeting!

Esther and I literally had tears to see these precious young ones, who struggle at their age with English, knowing little or none, and yet they can see our heart of love for them as we show them the love of Christ.

Or food.  

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Then...The icing on top.

Michael Mulenga's DAD came to church today with MANY others, from children to young teen ladies to grandmothers and Aunts! They said they're coming back next week! Another family came in their entirety for the second week in a row! We had 30 PACKED in our little minibus! 30!

Sounds dangerous.  

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Again, we had right at or just one or two under 100 in the church meeting today! Now, around half were children, but they also sat very attentively through the more than 1.5 hours of preaching after they were finished with their hour of Sunday School teaching with Esther. The Lord gave wonderful liberty and really helped me tremendously in the teaching and preaching, the response was very good, I'm overwhelmed.

I bet you are.

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One visitor is even working on making a connection for us with their high-powered lawyer friend to see if we can get a Mission registered to be able to have no legal obstacles to the Church here owning their property, the same with our second church plant in Mulamba village to protect their donated land, and others in the future, and maybe even to get the plane registered! (On that note, there is an Independent Fundamental Baptist ministry called AirCare that is praying about helping us in further training and looking at a way to get the aviation portion of our ministry...well..."off the ground," pun intended!)

Thanks for caring and praying dearly beloved.

More wishful and grandiose thinking, IMO.  So one "visitor" knows a lawyer who can move mountains.  It reminds me of the contacts John had with the President of Burundi.

And prayer alone isn't going to put the wings back on that pile of rusty plane parts.

[Jasmar]

3 hours ago, Granwych said:

Such rubbish.  I tried to message him on Facebook some time ago and all I got was "this person is not available now."    oy.

That means he blocked you. 

[formergothardite]

A totally transparent person would say feel free to ask questions on this post and I'll answer them. That way everyone could see the questions and answers. John didn't even answer the one question he was asked, he is far from transparent. 

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

John didn't even answer the one question he was asked, he is far from transparent. 

It had to do with money so no way was he going to answer it.  Honestly or not.  John will never disclose financial info.

The cash that must have gone into John's missionary aspirations in Africa, to say nothing of maintaining him in the way he always wanted to be accustomed, really boggles the imagination.

Defunct Teams, defunct Supporting Church, defunct Converts, defunct planes, defunct chicken enterprises, defunct (fake) Bible Colleges ... and the list goes on.

Why would anyone send this guy money? 

There are so many more productive IFB "missionaries" out there. 

It's like his supporters are chucking money down the drain but they still don't seem to get it. 

[slickcat79]

Surely a plane has to be capable of flight before it can be registered?? Did he forget that he already told us the plane is a useless bucket of bolts and he wants a new one?

[formergothardite]

He was questioned more and worked hard to deflect away from how much money has been spent on his "mission".

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We're honestly not focused on building structures if that clarifies. For example, the church walls will eventually be built by the local church members. This gives them ownership and participation in their church. The small house was built for men who come for training. It's also used for the children's Sunday School class every Sunday, and meetings during the week.

We're helping a small scale farming project, designed to help several orphans. We've been assisting them with their school fees, as they literally have no one else, but to "teach them how to fish" instead of just "giving them a fish," we've started the small scale farming project.

Again, our focus is primarily church planting, not building church buildings. 

The missionaries that I've seen with the greatest long-term effectiveness, even after they were gone, built men, not buildings. 

Why is it that we have never heard of this small farming project or paying for school fees? 

More question:

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John Esther Shrader I wasn't really talking about requesting funds, but what expenses you have. 

Good luck on getting that out of him.

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You are welcome to contact my sending pastor, who happens to also be my father. Rick-Jodi Shrader . He's been a pastor for 40+ years, 38 years at one church that he was sent to plant. If you would like to message me, I can give you his personal contact info. I applaud and heartily support you researching carefully any missionary or ministry to make sure they are Biblical. God will lead you and give you wisdom where He will direct you to do what He leads you to do. If you want to ask me directly privately, then I will answer questions regarding needs. Thanks again for the contact and messages and your patience.

I bet he wouldn't. He really doesn't want anyone to know how much money he spends or has spent. 

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Well, you did say you were an open book, haha. :) I'm just surprised you don't keep your expenses open. *shrug* It's your prerogative of course, but perhaps if you did post those sorts of things, it would discourage attacks.

I bet this made him mad. 

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The attacks are not regarding our expenditures, but personal in nature and slanderous.

Whatever John. I bet people do question the amount of money you spend and if they don't, they sure as hell would if you actually made your finances public. John, we all know you keep your finances in the dark because you are up to no good. 

[Howl]

4 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

(On that note, there is an Independent Fundamental Baptist ministry called AirCare that is praying about helping us in further training and looking at a way to get the aviation portion of our ministry...well..."off the ground," pun intended!

After looking at the Mission Air Care web page, they might be kindred spirits for John (see below), although they do not mention being active in Africa, only in North America, but maybe they are active if Africa; it's hard to tell.  They did focus on Alaska, but apparently the need for air service to missionaries in that state declined precipitously and they moved to the Lower 48.  
 

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What We Do: In remote areas of the world, it is expensive and difficult to live and minister in villages without road service to the outside world. Therefore, MAC is organized as a Baptist Cooperative based in North Carolina. The ministry is not limited to just a flying service, but includes temporary missionary housing, storage, purchasing, expediting, aircraft maintenance, flights incidental to the ministry, and logistical support to affiliated, like minded ministries. By God's grace, MAC has been able to assist several missionaries in survey trips to villages, as well as train missionary interns for service in the Lord's Army. MAC also uses innovative means to get the Gospel into the hands of dog mushers by handing out John & Romans at scores of dog sled races.

 

So hoping this does not work out.  John in an airplane would be a horrible disaster, and from a practical standpoint would suck up staggering amounts of $$ for aviation fuel.  The guy who runs Air Care seems to be careful about certification, flight physicals and maintenance, as any decent pilot is.  Hopefully, he'll sniff out John as a wanna be and not let him anyway near the cockpit of a plane. 

 Plus, how would John find out which "remote" villages have a viable airstrip?  Drive there first????  

[Palimpsest]

32 minutes ago, Howl said:

After looking at the Mission Air Care web page, they might be kindred spirits for John (see below), although they do not mention being active in Africa, only in North America, but maybe they are active if Africa; it's hard to tell.

It is actually really REALLY old news with Mission Air Care.  

IMO, John just dusted off a tiny bit of old hope because he needed the spin and a bit of optimism today.  He's on the ropes.

Someone from MCA offered "prayers" and "help" about 10 months ago.  They are not active in Africa.  Mission Air Care's "prospectus" and ambitions are about as pie in the sky as John's Bible Institute.  I think someone from might grift for funds to do a "survey" trip to visit John.  

And the pile of plane parts will stay kaput.  I doubt John will be flying in the near future.  Although stranger things have happened.

32 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Why is it that we have never heard of this small farming project or paying for school fees? 

The small scale farming project was the dead chicken enterprise.  The school fees are obviously fictional.

32 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

He was questioned more and worked hard to deflect away from how much money has been spent on his "mission".

Perhaps people really are smelling rats!

ETA. Or a couple of people are poking him very hard.  That was funny!

 

[Granwych]

The best thing John might do with said plane is to build a kiddie ride with it and offer tracts as bribes.  It would be a win/win for the children--free rides and free TP!

[Exposed Collarbone]

Why does John always brag about how long his sermons are? I can't imagine why anyone would want to sit for hours listening to John preach. I hate meetings. I get antsy so quickly. Just tell me what I need to know and let me do my thing. The idea of having to sit through an entire day's worth of speaking to not get anything out of it is mind boggling. 

I understand that the the idea of salvation is worth it. I am a teacher and love spending hours learning, so I get the idea of enjoying a topic. My point is that if you are trying to reach out to people to share information it needs to be in a format that is accessible. He really needs to learn the concept of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

I'm sorry but @Palimpsestyour commentary on John's Facebook messages are too amusing, it is making me choke with laughter and my baby is not amused at having her nursing session interrupted by any noise

[Howl]

17 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

their high-powered lawyer friend to see if we can get a Mission registered to be able to have no legal obstacles to the Church here owning their property, the same with our second church plant in Mulamba village to protect their donated land,

I've read this several times and if it is what I think it is, it's very concerning.  I read it as John trying to achieve a recognized mission status in order to take title to donated land.  

 

7 hours ago, Exposed Collarbone said:

Why does John always brag about how long his sermons are? I can't imagine why anyone would want to sit for hours listening to John preach.

I know.  Even when a church service is one hour, most ministers/pastors keep it down to 20 minutes or so.  This reminds me of this wonderful Lyle Lovett song: 

Church

I went to church last Sunday
So I could sing and pray
But something quite unusual
Happened on that day

Now church it started right on time
Just like it does without a doubt
And everything was all just fine
Except when it came time to let us out

Full lyrics here or just watch Lyle preach it: 

Lyle Lovett has deep roots in the Houston area; hoping all his family are safe and well from the effects of Hurricane Harvey.

 

[formergothardite]

John is requesting prayer for a fellow Zambian missionary whose son has malaria. 

Poor little guy, I hope he is okay. 

[gustava]

17 hours ago, formergothardite said:

paying for school fees

Somewhere deep into his maunderings, he did say something about this, but IIRC, an astute FJer quickly figured out he and Esther were not actually paying real money.  Can't remember details.

3 hours ago, formergothardite said:

John is requesting prayer for a fellow Zambian missionary whose son has malaria. 

Poor little guy, I hope he is okay. 

I do, too, but wonder about malaria pills.  Is he too young to take them?

[clearingthingsup]

Arcade shared Handias post about John from about a month ago. Some leg humper (Karen G, I think) commented on saying arcade should really reconsider what he posts and shares on the internet because using the internet to shame, bite, and retaliate against people is wrong. 

Where on Earth have you been lady? The last four to five months that's exactly what John's been using his Facebook for?! Only apparently it's okay if it's against Nationals and you're doing it to "ask for prayer". There's a comment below calling her out on The b.s....

These people wouldn't see a train if it ran over their face, I swear. 

Also apparently even though John has been praying for arcade to repent & return he also blocked him on Facebook. Cause that's what real, loving friends do. 

[Howl]

Not seeing this on Arcade's public face book.  Is there a link?

18 minutes ago, clearingthingsup said:

Arcade shared Handias post about John from about a month ago. Some leg humper (Karen G, I think) commented on saying arcade should really reconsider what he posts and shares on the internet because using the internet to shame, bite, and retaliate against people is wrong. 

 

[Ms. Squishels]

15 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

ETA. Or a couple of people are poking him very hard.  That was funny

I'm thinking someone from FJ perhaps.