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John Shrader 17: Boring Poems and I know it was you, Fredo


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I'm surprised there hasn't been another pregnancy announcement. Caleb is over 17 months now, and Esther averages 18.6 months between babies. Her longest time between babies was 21.2 months. If that happened now, she'd be due in October, which is in just 4 months. I know she's 38 now, but I don't think her fertility has shown any sign of waning over the years. 

Not that I want another child born into that family, but I do find it interestng. 

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19 hours ago, Ali said:

I can see it.

Me too. The irony is that I can also see it in the quote in the post that's requesting the photo!

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John says they are all individuals. Almost impossible to tell that when they are all dressed identically down to the hair style!! 

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4 hours ago, Petronella said:

Me too. The irony is that I can also see it in the quote in the post that's requesting the photo!

Very weird!

 

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Well they obviously had their annual photo shoot and all got new matching African gear for it. As usual, There are a few more family photos up. 

And John is doing some work.

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Printing time again!

Well, you do have a printing ministry.  Or so you say, Johnny.  

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I'm neck deep in ink and stacks of paper for the printing of 30,000 gospel tracts for the next couple months for our church here in Kafue and Mongu in Western province.

Note the lack of mention of the church plant in Mulamba..  Grace Baptist church plant is an ex-church.  It can no longer be nailed to its perch by Johnny as an example of his genius.  It is singing to the choir invisible. It has gone the way of the chicken enterprise and the wingless plane. It is no more.  It will never be mentioned again.

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Please pray for these Gospel tracts as they are going to be passed out! Sow the Seed (Luke 8:11)!

I'd infinitely rather pray for the people to whom you are giving the free toilet paper, John.

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On 6/7/2019 at 10:13 PM, NonSOTDRT Teacher said:

I remember on the last thread, there was a poster who claimed that John had abused her when they attended Papa Shrader's church. Were her claims ever verified? 

That member last visited May 31.  I'm not sure whether she ever got officially verified.

@TenYearOldJezzie, if you still want to get verified it's best to PM @Curious directly.

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Hi, I'm a long time lurker on the forum, and now I hope some of you could help me out.

Some background, my husband has family ties to Zambia, and since we are in a financial better place then they are, its not unusual for us to help them out. He visits them about once or twice a year. During his last visit he ran into a man who was looking for some financial aid on a new Christian project aimed at helping the locals. Kinda joking I asked if that man had any ties to John Shrader, and he knew him/knew of him. At the moment I am not sure how close those ties are (husband hasnt returned home yet) but since my husband is at least contemplating helping (the locals are close to his heart, so helping them forward is something he is interested in) I would like to give him an overview of who John is, what he did and did not do etc just in case the man my husband met and John do turn out to be more then acquaintances in the same faith in the same country.

Is there a way to find an overview, or could someone point me in the direction of one, or maybe even be so kind as to give me a rundown?

Thanks so much!

Needle

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Hello @Needle, and welcome to Free Jinger.

I don't think we have an overview of John Shrader but I am now going to write one for you.  As objectively as I can, and giving his religious background and history.  Give me a few minutes. :)

However, before I do that, as you probably already know, we don't like Shrader at all here. For good reason.  It is possible that the man your husband met just knows "of" Shrader and isn't a member of his church.  Shrader is apparently notorious.  But if this man is part of Shrader's church then your husband should steer very clear and recommend to family and friends that they steer clear too.  

Much praise for your husband and his wish to help people.  But my bottom line is that he  should research very carefully to find a good NGO in Zambia to work with.  And that will take time and thought.

 

 

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John Shrader

John Shrader is the "Pastor" of Truth Baptist Church in Kafue, Zambia.  He has been in Zambia for five years.  In that time he has started one church, attempted to start another in a village in Mulamba, and is now trying to start one in the Western Province.  He is apparently charming and charismatic at first meeting, but people seem to see through him fast.

Shrader is not affiliated with any legitimate missionary organisation.  The legality of his residency and his church(es) are suspect.  By Zambian law, all new churches have to be under a "Mother Church."  Shrader claims that he was "grandfathered in" by his very loose connection with a Pastor Ackim Mulaisho.  Pastor Mulaisho is a "Zambian Independent Baptist" who oversees the Liberty Baptist Mission, Kalalushi, in the Copperbelt.  John says that this is "the legal authority which allows us to enter and serve as Missionaries here in Zambia."  As far as we can tell, Pastor Mulaisho has met John once or twice but does not hold any authority over him.  He seems to be a mere rubber stamp.

John Shrader now claims to be a "Biblical Historic Unaffiliated Baptist Missionary." It is a pretty meaningless term but seems to be based on Trail of Blood beliefs.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trail_of_Blood

However his upbringing was Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) and his father still claims to be IFB.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Baptist

His "Sending Church" is pastored by his father, Rick Shrader of Tri-County Baptist Church Katy, Texas.  All his funding is channeled through that church and he is dependent on donations.  There is no missionary board or authority other than his father over him.  His father seems to believe everything John tells him.

His original "Sending Church" was Valley Baptist Church in WA.  I'd need to look up the name of the pastor.  That church attempted to discipline him back in December of 2014.  When he refused to cooperate the church cut him off and sent a letter to the other churches providing him support warning against him.  

John Shrader was homeschooled and may have taken a few college classes.  He claims to have a Master's degree in "Biblical Studies" from Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary.  This institution no longer exists and was never accredited as an educational institution in the United States, so his "degree" is just a meaningless piece of paper.

He tried to start a "Bible Institute" in Kafue.  This was never a legal entity and caused Visa issues for some of his students.  He  is tithing his church members and appears to keep control of all the money.  Again, there is no-one keeping an eye on that either.

Shrader has had a series of jobs but never seems to have succeeded at any of them.  Nearly every bright idea he has come up with has failed.  He seems to work his church members to the bone and kicks out anyone who disagrees with him.

We call him the World's Worst Missionary for a reason.

I wonder ... we could probably find a few people with experience of Shrader who might be willing to talk to your husband.  Handia comes to mind.  He's a good Christian with a very sensible head on his shoulders.

ETA:  Most Importantly.

To our knowledge, John Shrader has never done anything of practical help to the people of Kafue.  His business is "conversion only" and he prints tracts.  He does give away Bibles too. 

He did have a well drilled, but that was for his own and the church's use.  Possibly he gives away or even sells the water.

He may have driven a few church members to hospital.  He famously tried to refuse a stranger (a dying man) a ride though.

He has definitely preached at many funerals.  Great conversion opportunities. 

He has provided the "youth" with a few soccer balls.  But they can only play with them after church or after helping him staple tracts.

He is a charlatan preying on the people of Zambia not helping them.  In my opinion, of course.

Edited by Palimpsest
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@palimpsest Thank you so much for the information! I just mailed it to my husband, and we'll be discussing this more in depth when he returns home next week.

We are not looking to put money into a NGO, we just pay-as-needed for our family members and sometimes the people in their community or stuff that is usefull for a bigger group of people in that community, like access to drinking water by building a pump.

Apperently this man heard of this and approached my husband and told him about his plans and asked for donations. Since there is always a ton that you dont provide for everything that you do provide, it is tempting to support others in their plans, but I dont want to support scam artists, or people who take advantage of the situation.

So again, thanks so much for the information!

 

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@Needle, you are very welcome.  I hope he finds it helpful.

I think it is always best to fund people you know personally and for needs that are obviously present.  Best wishes to you and your husband.

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Oh, dear Rufus. Another video from John.  He's on his way to the Western Province.

For the love of Rufus, Shrader, keep your eyes on the road!  You might have a head on collision or run over a pedestrian.  Think about their safety, as well as your own.  You are the sole support for your wife and eleventy children ... oh wait.   My mistake.

John wants God to raise up men to translate the Bible into the vernacular.  He's been reading here again, and wants to make it clear that there are Bibles in the vernacular available.  But they are missing verses! Bad American Standard and NIV.  Hey, John, here's a thought.  Why not translate those 16 verses and print them out.  Then you can just add the page to the Bibles already available in the vernacular languages.  Oh, right.  You don't know the languages.  Faithful men need to be raised up to translate and add those dubious verses to the Authorised John Shrader Version of the Bible (AJSV). 

"Surely, nothing dubious ought to be admitted into 'the sure word' of 'The Book of Life,'" (Rev. Samuel T. Bloomfield, 1832.)  Except by John Shrader.   Dubious is his middle name.

He manages to stop the car before knocking over a policeman.  Police stops are quite common in Zambia.  The officer waves him through.  I wish he'd cited Shrader for driving while making videos.

There's a "tremendous" open door in the Western Province.  How Trumpian.  Bro. Boyd is spending most of his time in Mongu.  He's faithful and doing well.  I hope he has enough to eat.  Are you paying him, John? Oh, and this plant is called "Freedom Biblical Baptist Church."  

But we need more Men.  Losi Men.  The chief wants a church too.

H.E.L.P.S.  He originally had L as Language Learning.  Now he's changed it to Labor.  Because people might have been asking how his language learning was going.  

No, of course he can find men to train.  He needs help though.  Men from anywhere in the world!  Except Zambia.  He admits that he is preying on youth because some (or most) of his converts are still in school.  

He needs a team.  Begs a question doesn't it, John?  And he went there!  He won't recount his history with teams.  Oh, go on, John.   We know.  John was not a team player so forget Team Zambia.

Oh wow.  Could this be a Bro. Theophil reference?

"We even had someone come for a few months and pray about maybe coming and working with us ...."  and he leaves it there.  What happened, John?  #WhereisBroTheophil?  

He's just waiting on the Lord.  Pray for god to send laborers because the Harvest is Ready to Perish.  So am I.  From boredom.

He's going to ramble on for another 2 minutes.  I hope that was all the news because I can't stand the sound of his voice any more.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

John wants God to raise up men to translate the Bible into the vernacular.  He's been reading here again, and wants to make it clear that there are Bibles in the vernacular available.  But they are missing verses! Bad American Standard and NIV.  Hey, John, here's a thought.  Why not translate those 16 verses and print them out.  Then you can just add the page to the Bibles already available in the vernacular languages.  Oh, right.  You don't know the languages.  Faithful men need to be raised up to translate and add those dubious verses to the Authorised John Shrader Version of the Bible (AJSV). 

I love how “missing verses” bother him but missing books do not. (Sorry, bad joke)

If the missing verses bother him so much why is he trying to go from KJV into the local language as opposed to from the Vulgate? (Besides the fact that this translation already exists, of course). The only translation done directly off of a Greek text that contained those verses is the Vulgate.

Heck, the issue of missing verses comes out of Erasmus’ publication of a Greek New Testament where he didn’t have certain verses in any of the Greek NT manuscripts in his possession so he translated them from Latin into Greek and inserted them into the Greek text. 

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I think it's funny that the KJV, supposedly the Protestant's only true source for the Word of God, is based off of texts compiled and edited by a Catholic. 

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39 minutes ago, subsaharanafrica said:

If the missing verses bother him so much why is he trying to go from KJV into the local language as opposed to from the Vulgate?

:penguin-no: What is wrong with you?  The Vulgate is wrong too!  How can I trust that translation?

John believes that ONLY the KJV 1611 Authorized Version is the inspired and preserved Word of God.  It includes the missing verses and the Apocrypha.  And it was Authorized!!!  By King James!

It is magical thinking, but the KJVO crowd are very strange.  The KJVO 1611 crowd are even stranger.

Although I can't see why he thinks his potential "faithful" male translators are necessarily going to be inspired by God, even if they are authorized by Pastor John Shrader.  Or why his translation will be "pure."  How on earth is he going to check their work.  They could be attacked by Satan at any time and include all sorts of heresies in his Losi version.

 

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1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

:penguin-no: What is wrong with you?  The Vulgate is wrong too!  How can I trust that translation?

John believes that ONLY the KJV 1611 Authorized Version is the inspired and preserved Word of God.  It includes the missing verses and the Apocrypha.  And it was Authorized!!!  By King James!

It is magical thinking, but the KJVO crowd are very strange.  The KJVO 1611 crowd are even stranger.

 

Lol! Don’t you know that Jesus spoke old English? KJV is basically dictated exactly as was spoken. 

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7 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

he vernacular.  He's been reading here again, and wants to make it clear that there are Bibles in the vernacular available.  But they are missing verses! Bad American Standard and NIV.  Hey, John, here's a thought.  Why not translate those 16 verses and print them out.  Then you can just add the page to the Bibles already available in the vernacular languages.  Oh, right.  You don't know the languages.  Faithful men need to be raised up to translate and add those dubious verses to the Authorised John Shrader Version of the Bible (AJSV). 

 

 

Missing bible verses are like if the sky were missing planes. 

hmm which one does John notice. 

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On 6/12/2019 at 10:20 AM, Palimpsest said:

That member last visited May 31.  I'm not sure whether she ever got officially verified.

@TenYearOldJezzie, if you still want to get verified it's best to PM @Curious directly.

I'll try again.

I am still here reading along and enjoying the snarky commentary. 

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2 minutes ago, TenYearOldJezzie said:

I'll try again.

Good.  She may be working her way through a back log of PMs while cuddling her new kittens.  @Curious, just a quick nudge,   :tw_cat::tw_cat: 

 

 

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Since I was not raised KJVO, I was curious about the 17 omitted verses. Wikipedia has an article about it that I trust far more than John-Boy.

I found it interesting that not everyone part of the movement has the same list of verses. I imagine there is no shortage of bickering over which verses should be on the list.

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Some of these lists of "missing verses" specifically mention "sixteen verses" – although the lists are not all the same.[6]

I am not sure which 17  verses are on John's list. I read through the verses listed in the article and most of the omitted verses can be found elsewhere in the Bible. The only one that seems theologically significant is 1 John 5:7-8:

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For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the holy Ghost, and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, ...

The article has a list of books discussing this verse. It would be an obvious choice for a case for the doctrine of the trinity, so I imagine this verse's omission infuriates the KJVO crowd. The Historical Baptist Bible expert should be aware that there is strong evidence that this verse was likely added later.

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Early Church Fathers did not mention this verse, even when eagerly scraping together verses to support the Doctrine of the Trinity.[56] This verse first appears, not in a New Testament manuscript, but in a fifth century Confession of Faith, and after that it was assimilated into mss of the Latin Vulgate, but it was (because of the lack of Greek documentary support) omitted from the first two "Textus Receptus" printed editions of the New Testament (namely those edited by Erasmus, 1516 and 1519),[57] as well as some other very early Textus Receptus editions, such as Aldus 1518, Gerbelius 1521, Cephalius 1524 and 1526, and Colinaeus 1534.[58] Stephanus (Robert Estienne) , in his influential Editio Regia of 1550 (which was the model edition of the Textus Receptus in England),[59] was the first to provide an apparatus showing variant readings and showed this verse was lacking in seven Greek manuscripts.[60] Martin Lutherrejected this verse as a forgery and excluded it from his German translation of the Bible while he lived – it was inserted into the text by other hands after his death.[61] The first appearance of the Comma in a Greek New Testament manuscript is no earlier than the 15th century.[62]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Testament_verses_not_included_in_modern_English_translations

But what do I know? I am a woman, my parents once gave me a message bible for Christmas, and I have a Pentecostal background. 

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I once read a tract at a KJV-only church. Apparently, another reason this crowd doesn't like the NIV and other versions is because the word that is translated as hell in the KJV is translated as "the grave" in the NIV. Because you can't have people thinking they're going to die and not be tortured for eternity, I guess. This is why JRod and others literally believe the NIV is from Satan. He wants you to think there's a possibility there's no hell. 

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6 hours ago, Evangeline said:

I once read a tract at a KJV-only church. Apparently, another reason this crowd doesn't like the NIV and other versions is because the word that is translated as hell in the KJV is translated as "the grave" in the NIV. Because you can't have people thinking they're going to die and not be tortured for eternity, I guess. This is why JRod and others literally believe the NIV is from Satan. He wants you to think there's a possibility there's no hell. 

Whew. That brings back some memories from a sermon I heard. I didn’t go to an IFB or KJB only church but it was a very conservative bunch and I just know I heard something about this either growing up or as a young adult in a sermon somewhere!

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John has been mixing with royalty.  Or at least a "chief" in the Western Province.  Tell us his name, John.  Or are you keeping it secret because you are afraid a fellow missionary will cut you out.

Remember, this is the Western Province.  Formerly Barotseland.  Some people there want independence.  Some don't.  https://globalvoices.org/2011/01/17/zambia-restless-western-province-erupts-over-independence-agreement/

Mongu is actually the administrative capital of the Western Province.   John's "chief" is probably a Litunga, the ethnic group who rule over the Lozi (sometimes spelled Losi) people.  Boyd is a Lozi.

It is all very feudal, more so than the rest of Zambia.  Right up John's alley.

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What an experience! A Western Province Wow!! Official Royal Visit on State Business of the Chief and an Opportunity to Preach and a Future Open Door!!!

John found the "chief" was due for a visit and scampered over there to meet him.

But let's start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start.  When you read you begin with A-B-C,  When you're John you begin with "It's all about me!"

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I left Kafue early Thursday morning at 6 am (some of you saw my live video) and began the arduous 10 hour journey to Mongu, Western Province.

Perhaps it is time to move there if the journey is so arduous.

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I carried a load of some of the last of our first shipment of John and Romans (27 cases both on top and inside, thank you Bro. SamBarb Martin), and 12,000 freshly printed Gospel tracts, and made it in time to preach the Thursday night service at Freedom Biblical Baptist church plant there in Mongu! We had a good size group for there, and they listened well to the Word of God (these pics appear at the end).

About 17, including women and children.

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Bro. Boyd and I then made the 2.5 hour trip the next day to Kaanja village where the Chief is, set up camp, and were also invited to accompany the Chief on an official State visit the next day!

Or invited themselves.

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I really didn't know what to expect, but we were ready at the appointed time and the journey was around two hours deep into the Bush.

He's finally in the "Bush."

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What an experience, to see the protocol for a Chief by an entire village! I have learned mostly what they are for me as an individual, but this was such an amazing thing to see and be a part of!

Hmm, yes.  The protocol for you as "Big White Man Saviour" is going to be a bit different.

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I'll summarize, but after the official greeting and entrance, the Chief sits in his specially constructed shelter made expressly for that purpose.

The official greeting is the women and children singing and the men sitting like bumps on a log.  Then the women and children shuffle forward bent double "respectfully."  As I said, right up John's alley.

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The man in the red hat is the overseer of the Kuta (Court) and he hears the cases first in the adjoining shelter, then takes the men to the Chief. The bowing and clapping is all part of the protocol! You also must back away facing the Chief!

You are not supposed to turn your back on QEII either.  

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After long hours of the Chief hearing the cases and listening to their needs and situations, he invited us to preach to the gathered people!

Captive audience of around 100.

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I'm not exaggerating when I say that these men, especially the older ones, were the most receptive of ANY village we have visited so far. Time will tell, but numerous individuals, including the Ndunas (local leaders) invited us back to continue preaching about the righteousness of God, asked when we were coming, and we set a rough time for our return.

Time will indeed tell.  This is making me quite uneasy.  It's a good thing John likes his creature comforts and is unlikely to move from Kafue. 

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I thank God for Bro. Boyd Sikakena, who is a Lozi by tribe. These are his people, who God has burdened his heart for, and he is laying down his life to reach them with the pure Gospel of Christ.

I hope Bro. Boyd sees through John soon.

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This situation is EXACTLY what I Corinthians 16:9 describes. "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."

God has opened a great and effectual door to us here in Western Province, but there are many adversaries, mostly spiritual, but some physical as well.

 

Like being 10 hours away in Kafue.

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I'm asking for people to start fasting and praying for Western Province in Zambia. Will you be one?

No.

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We have already seen the enemy fighting so hard, but God has given us a Chief that fears Him, truly knows Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and desires that Biblical Baptist churches be planted in his districts.

Actually the term "chief" is not used, at least in Wikipedia.  

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Provincial administration is setup purely for administrative purposes. The province is headed by a minister appointed by the President and there are ministries of central government for each province. The administrative head of the province is the Permanent Secretary, appointed by the President. There are Deputy Permanent Secretary, heads of government departments and civil servants at the provincial level. Western Province is divided into sixteen districts, namely, Kalabo District, Kaoma District, Lukulu District, Mongu District, Mulobezi District, Senanga District, Sesheke District, Shangombo District, Nalolo District, Limulunga District, Nkeyema District, Sikongo District, Sioma District, Mitete District, Mwandi District and Luampa District. All the district headquarters are the same as the district names. There are sixteen councils in the province, each of which is headed by an elected representative, called councilor. Each councilor holds office for three years.[21] The administrative staff of the council is selected based on Local Government Service Commission from within or outside the district. The office of the provincial government is located in each of the district headquarters and has provincial local government officers and auditors. Each council is responsible for raising and collecting local taxes and the budgets of the council are audited and submitted every year after the annual budget. The elected members of the council do not draw salaries, but are paid allowances from the council. Western is a predominantly rural province and hence there are no city or municipal councils. The government stipulates 63 different functions for the councils with the majority of them being infrastructure management and local administration. Councils are mandated to maintain each of their community centres, zoos, local parks, drainage system, playgrounds, cemeteries, caravan sites, libraries, museums and art galleries. They also work along with specific government departments for helping in agriculture, conservation of natural resources, postal service, establishing and maintaining hospitals, schools and colleges. The councils prepare schemes that encourage community participation.[22]  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Province,_Zambia#Administration

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We preach here in Kaanja village tomorrow then head back to Kafue.

Pray brethren and sisters, fervently pray.

Bro. John for Esther and the family
Western Province
Zambia

 

I'm tempted to fast and pray for more Satanic attacks.  Will any one join me?

ETA.  It will have to be a reverse fast or I'll have to start tomorrow.  I'm going out to dinner tonight and intend to partake of a glass of fermented grape juice.

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1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

I'm tempted to fast and pray for more Satanic attacks.  Will any one join me?

I will eat and send negative thoughts towards John! 

I was a crappy Christian. I never managed to fast and pray past lunch. I would always sneak food. 

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A Tribute To A Living Hero (poem at end)

Oh, right.  It was Father's Day yesterday.  John has to thank his enabler, his clearinghouse for funds, his "Pastor" and his Daddy.

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I want to thank and honor my faithful father Pastor Shrader this Father's Day for being a wonderful dad, a tremendous model of a servant leader, and for modeling true and incredible faith and teaching me what trust in God looks like in real life in a tangible way.

OK, then.

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When dad stopped "taking" an offering at our sending church, Tri-County Baptist Church over 25 years ago, he began to prove God to us in an incredible way. It built my faith to see God provide without man's intervention in any way! That had a direct bearing on my conscious decision to not request or solicit funds for support or special needs as a missionary to Africa. God has also horrendously honored that.

:laughing-rolling: 

No, excuse me a minute :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: 

So John is claiming that Rick has not taken payment from Tri-Country Baptist for 25 years.  Why, possibly.  Rick has probably always had a second job.  On the other hand, we have seen Rick grifting away happily for everything from air mattresses to multiple things for Johnny the golden son.  Or we did see that until he made his Facebook private.

As for Johnny, he made a conscious decision to keep his grifting off his public Facebook when we were positively gobsmacked (sorry @Gobsmacked) by his shameless begging.  And his almost unparalleled success in asking for everything from ice makers, laundry equipment, and printers to second cars and money for wingless planes. 

He just "prays" about it these days.  Drops endless hints.  And never thanks his donors.  These things are dropped into his hands directly from the Almighty.

And, unlike Dad, John has failed in or quit every single paying job he has ever had.  Remember his stint as a used car salesman.  He couldn't hack the hard work or the singing of Christmas carols. 

And that includes being a pastor.  We are aware of 3 pastoring jobs in the US where he failed.  The only thing he has succeeded at is fake-missionarying.  It really has paid off for him. 

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Very few are willing to do what my dad did,

Except for me, John Shrader.  

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but I rise up today and honor him,

And myself.  The golden child.

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thank him, and praise God for a father who taught me God Daddy CAN be trusted!

FTFY, John.

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He has been a servant-leader for more than 40 years, and has stayed faithful to his God, his wife, his children, and his calling. Love you Hero.

Perhaps ask Jace about that.

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Your firstborn,

John

 

The only child Rick has who is following in Daddy's footsteps.  

And the poem.  Tighten your seat belts.  It's even worse than usual.

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My Real Live Hero

The world is looking for heroes, like they would want to be, so they invent fantastic men that can fly or rip up trees.

Crazy things like shooting webs, or glowing in the dark, or throwing flames or riding white horses and always hitting their mark.

Yes the world is looking for heroes, they're pretty desperate you see, for dads are abandoning their children, they're just "looking out for me."

So the world keeps looking for heroes, in Sports or Politics, and they wear their jerseys, caps and colors, and flock to the movie flicks.

But I've never needed a jersey, or a character from fantasy, for I have a real live Hero, who means so much to me.

See many people like my dad, have not had a real father, for my dad already knew when young, his dad counted him a bother.

He then abandoned his family, like many are today, and went and chased the women, and drank the nights away.

But there's a God in Heaven, that cared about that lad, and looked out for that smiling kid, that never had a dad.

And then a glorious change did occur, when my dad met a converted bartender! She had a daughter, but to church he must go, to sit with her in the old church row. And he heard the Word preached, told the church kids "shut your face," "That man is talking!" he put them in their place!

Well the "foolishness of preaching" brought conviction to his heart, and one day he repented, and got a brand new start. He's never gotten over when God saved his soul, it's never become normal, it's never gotten old.

And he began a life of faith, trusting God to make a way. He began giving and serving, as a teenager gave his sock of money away.

The church was buying a bus to bring children in, to tell them about the Lovely Lord Jesus Who would save them from their sin. And he remembered as a child, how on the porch he'd sit, and hear the church bell ringing, and he knew something didn't fit.

So he emptied his sock with a joyful heart, and that began an adventure, it was just the start, of a life of faith and trusting God, giving His life as a servant as his journey he trod.

He found money under rugs, God for Bible college did provide, and with continued provision, it's been quite a ride!

When God called him back to Texas, to plant a church, he and mom came by faith, God never left them in a lurch. Like when the tires were bald and he knelt on the floor, beseeching God...then a knock at the door! I kid you not, even while he did pray, a woman to my mother gave her money that day!

They started in their house a church to begin, then a storefront then land as God did it again! The Building Fund for a roof they gave away, for the Missionary in Mexico had the rainy season on the way. But God promised "sow, and you shall reap," and brother, God ALWAYS His promises keep!

In three months there was a building, completely debt free, and 40 years later that's still their testimony! Time does not permit me to tell all of the stories, about the lives that have been touched, testimonies both triumphant and gory.

My father's been hurt so many times, by those he's loved and served in kind. But no matter the pain that others have caused, the heartache and sorrow and deeply felt loss, he continues to serve and preach and love, and look to his Heavenly Father above.

For the God that saved my dad years ago, is continuing to work, dad's continuing to grow! He's learning more than ever to die to self, to live the crucified life and put Rick on the shelf.

He's completed a miracle by God's Gracious supply, why to see the sanctuary he's built would lift your heart to the sky!

Yes, a life lived by faith is never wasted, and I truly feel sorry for those who have tasted, the truth of God's Power and Majesty, yet live a small little life that's just focused on "me."

My dad can do anything, from designing buildings to pottery, to see what he's done some would think he won the lottery! But dad would never "sin, by hastening to be rich," he just believed God, on the mountain tops or in a ditch!

And God has NEVER FAILED him, as he has walked by faith, my dad's life has been miraculous, a tapestry of Grace.

Oh I could tell you stories, of all my dad's been through, it's simply just amazing all the things my dad can do. Welding, fixing, inventing, just to name a few, to say he can do almost anything would simply be the truth.

But greater than any earthly talent I could laud on this special day, I'll praise my God through all my days for my dad's example of faith. He's a servant like Christ and he trusts in God, he walks by faith and not by sight, and many people could testify of the ways he's touched their lives.

Yes the world is looking for heroes, and they can have their fantasies, but I've got a real live Hero, for he's my dad you see. And with grateful tears from a joyful heart I thank my God above, that one day "Well done" my father will hear from the One whom he loves. And dad if Jesus tarries, and to heaven takes you home, your flag of faith I've taken up, and with my children we'll carry on!

Thank you for being my hero dad. I love you. Your example of servanthood and faith has equipped me for Africa and led me to live a life of faith! Happy Father's Day Hero!

 

All my eye and Betty Martin.  

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