John Shrader 20: The Little Plane that Dared

[gustava]

9 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Fallopian tubes? All sin leads to Eve after all!

I had the same thought🤣

[NoneIsEnough]

On the video, Esther says the middle names of the two youngest boys, which I don't think had been stated before. 

It was hard to hear, but I wrote down what I thought it sounded like. if someone hears better or is actually familiar with language/words in the area, a correction is welcome!

This is what I heard - 

Caleb Gulundola - she said it means to follow

Joseph Angomelo - she said it means someone of good characger

*

Also their new prayer letter is up and he said Esther was in a car accident, but was ok. Also some of their kids bikes were stolen, but they were able to recover them. 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by NoneIsEnough

[Jrodseyeliner]

Buggar being Esther or Anna or even Pris… I would be Susanna or Rebeckah. 2 kids, holiday house private plane. A bit of distance between the crazy parents.. 👌

[anjulibai]

@NoneIsEnough Thanks! There are middle names listed on Fundiepedia, but they don't have sources, so I was always suspect about them. 

Now I wonder what they older boys' middle names are. We know the girls' middle names are (sort of for Alatheia, because it's been said to be two different things). 

[thoughtful]

Spoiler

John, we know that, when you refer to the "dear people" of Zambia, you are really thinking the most racist, white savior-ish slurs about your neighbors.

And please proofread - you don't need "often" and "at times."

Also, learn to spell "choked."

It sounds like you vomited.

[anjulibai]

Just a note, but Enoch just turned 19 on the 17th, Nehemiah turned 15 on the 20th and Caleb turned 4 on the 2nd. Not a word from oh so important patriarch father John boy. Wonder if he will mention Alatheia turning 18 in March. He might, but I doubt he will mention the two birthdays that are before that, for Elijah and Sophia. 

[Beermeet]

In another thread, I mentioned not liking reading about Esther and that letter John wrote reminded my why.  He never mentions how Esther is doing or anything at all actually.  He immediately says she was exhausted ( what picture?) and talks about distractions, bags on other drivers in general and then moves on.  How is Esther doing?!  WTF.  

This woman has a gaggle of children and is constantly driving people to and fro. Whith *that guy* leading the way.  It's too awful!  I can't even.  Poor lady and children.  

[KnittingOwl]

Of course Esther is exhausted! John in his manic phase must be harder to deal with than the whole house full of kids. I guess the only benefit for her is that he can be gone preaching 11 hours at a time when he’s manic. 

[Xan]

John's latest post on "reproof and rebuke".

Spoiler

I have no desire to insult anyone regarding their religion.  Myself, I veer between agnosticism and atheism.  Some days, though, I just read John's stuff and wonder how he and the other fundies got so far in the weeds with feeling that the Bible dictates their entire lives.  I have to think that our alien overlords must laugh themselves silly at this.  We could just as easily have decided that War and Peace was so profound that a passage could be found to lead us through any situation.  Or someone could have decreed in the mid 70's to gather up all the appliance manuals and put them into one big bible and we'd now be gathering in groups to glean wisdom from "1st Kenmore; Chap. 2: 5-7."

Even if there is a deity, he has to be wondering how John has made a livelihood from reading and making pronouncements from one book.  These fundies don't live life.  They just talk about whether things are permissible or not according to their book.  Life isn't here for the sake of life.  It's just here so some deity can decide at the end whether to reward you or torture you forever.  It's bizarre.  At the very least, future anthropologists will be intrigued.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Xan

[ToriAmos]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:18 PM, KnittingOwl said:

Of course Esther is exhausted! John in his manic phase must be harder to deal with than the whole house full of kids. I guess the only benefit for her is that he can be gone preaching 11 hours at a time when he’s manic. 

Does he go through manic phases?

And wow, that poetry is really something else.

[Jasmar]

On 1/24/2022 at 9:43 AM, CTRLZero said:

Ha!  From the way it flows, it does looks like a formulaic sequence to create some sort of robot.  (I read too much science fiction, lol.)  

I mean, you’re not wrong. 😆

[Ozlsn]

7 hours ago, ToriAmos said:

Does he go through manic phases?

And wow, that poetry is really something else.

He's never been officially diagnosed with anything but he has noticeable periods where he is energetic and full of plans interspersed with periods where he is full of woe, bewailing Satan's attacks on him and if not always taking to his bed then at least coming close. It's consistent enough to be... a pattern. 

(Also 11 hours of preaching... yeah, even without a pattern I'd be wondering what he was on exactly. Most parents with large families can't preach for 11 hours in one hit brcause, you know, family responsibilities. But not John, whose contribution to his actual family is debatable.)

[waltraute]

What the heck is up with Isaiah's name? Esther says it 2 different ways when introducing him. First with a long I sound then a long A and then a long I again.

ETA: Add a second long A pronunciation in there - I watched the video again. So twice as Eye-zeye-uh and twice as Eye-zay-uh. Weird. maybe it's just my hearing.

Edited February 1, 2022 by waltraute

[NoneIsEnough]

1 hour ago, waltraute said:

What the heck is up with Isaiah's name? Esther says it 2 different ways when introducing him. First with a long I sound then a long A and then a long I again.

ETA: Add a second long A pronunciation in there - I watched the video again. So twice as Eye-zeye-uh and twice as Eye-zay-uh. Weird. maybe it's just my hearing.

Not just you, I heard that too and wondered about it. Who knows. 

[Xan]

John has a new post up.  He's still rabidly anti-vaccine and now he thinks it's a sign of End Times.

He's got a number of comments and they're all just as crazy as John's post.  Now, he think that pharmacists are the same as sorcerers?  It's irritating to me that he was gung-ho for science when his back needed surgery but now he's thrown in with the Q crowd and thinks that the vaccine is a malicious plot.  

Edited February 13, 2022 by Xan

[NoneIsEnough]

John making excuses for why he doesn't have more converts.

This is the article he references - https://www.facebook.com/MinisteringtoHisServants/posts/1595783674121458

Spoiler

Very well written short article, amen to the key points such as that people in 3rd world areas, that struggle with poverty, can easily be tempted to make "professions" in the hope of seeking to get something out of it (more of my own serious observations below)

Oh, how heartbreaking that is to see. I've experienced it, as careful as we are here!

To be transparent, I often struggle with the "feeling of failure" and being unworthy of support because we don't see large numbers of people turning to Christ. It's even more so a temptation, when you read and hear reports of others talking about hundreds or even a thousand or more making professions in a single year!

I would, after almost 8 years full time on the field here in Africa, humbly counsel any supporting pastors or Biblical, New Testament Baptist churches that reads of such reports to please follow up, ask questions months or years later how many of those are still there, growing, being discipled, and making disciples themselves? Often, such Rapturous Reports are Rejoiced over, but Rarely Researched, to see if the "fruit" is Real, and fruit that Remains, as Jesus said in John 15:16!

I asked one Zambian man one December, after he told me their church had "won a thousand people to the Lord" that year, how many of them were faithfully attending the church. Not baptized and added to the church... just faithfully attending, out of that 1,000 that had been led to pray a prayer.

His answer?

"One or two."

That was his honest admission.

All I did...was ask.

We have seen other missionaries in the past that claimed half a million "saved" in about 20 years, but...we are here "on the ground." We can personally go and look for said churches and believers, and talk to them, get to know them...and I have. It has been heartbreaking, to be open with you.

One such situation here in Zambia, men actually told me, "When the missionaries are around, we are 'Independent Baptists,' but after they leave, we go back to being Union Baptists." Without getting deeply into what that means, in short, it was hypocrisy, but everybody (excluding myself, obviously) was seemingly quite happy with the arrangement... except God.

From our hearts, we take extremely seriously the weight of dealing with eternal souls, and we are committed to praying for, seeking for, and carefully dealing with (as most of you know, I usually take at least 5 hours or more to cover the Gospel of Christ, and some that we have been praying years for their Salvation have still not given their lives to the Lord, trusting only in Christ's Precious Shed Blood, and His Finished Work to save them. This at times baffles us and breaks our hearts, but we refuse to Spiritually manipulate eternal souls here, just to appear "successful" to those that stand with us, and graciously allow us to represent them for the Cause of Christ here in Sub-Saharan Africa).

I have shared far more than I intended to as a mere introduction to a brief but thoughtful article, but truly, thank you from the depths of our hearts to those that sincerely pray for us.

We so deeply want the work and ministry here to be, as Paul said in I Cor. 2:4,5:

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Amen.

Selah,

Bro. John Shrader for the Team

Zambia

Sub-Saharan Africa

 

 

 

He's also asking for prayers to get a plot of land next to their current church. He's been praying to get this land for 6+ years. 

Spoiler

Testimony & HUGE & Important Prayer Request!

Dearest friends,

I come to you asking ONLY for your sincere prayers, NOTHING else! We are about to clock 8 years full time here in Zambia in about 3.5 months, and have been amazed at how God has kept us here, and all He has done.

The Lord provided a small piece of land for the church less than 1 year in, a little over 1/2 acre, and we have been praying ever since that He would give us the next plot over, for a host of reasons. It has been an ongoing prayer of ours for more than 6 years!

I have sought several times to seek out the owner of the plot, even checking in Lusaka, and have been unsuccessful each time. Every time I tried, no doors were opened.

Without going into all the details, God used a failed Septic Pumping Bid (for a local business), then me having to wait on the side of road in a hot vehicle for more than an hour (someone once said "The Stops as well as the Steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord), together with a young lady asking my wife to meet her at the church property today to get some more John & Romans to give out, then God putting it on my wife's heart to stay and pray over the matter of the property, then me coming with the Septic Pumping truck (the one that made me wait over an hour) to the church, because they had called me to check if I was interested since their other job fell through, so as to not waste a trip from Lusaka!

Everything and everyone converged together at the church property, my wife was literally sitting over by the baptistry praying, me meeting and directing the men who CALLED ME because their other job didn't work out, to pump out the tank...then the folks planting maize on the property "just happened" to show up, the man whom I had not seen since months ago when they were preparing the ground. At that time, I had asked him if the owners wanted to sell, and he said no.

Long story a bit shorter, he actually called one of the 5 siblings that now have the Estate of their late dad, and he was so kind. He listened as I shared that we had been praying for almost 7 years about the Lord maybe allowing us to get that property.

Again, trying to be as brief as possible (for me, anyways, lol), the gentleman said I could make an offer and send it in a letter to him, and then he would be willing to take it and discuss it with the other siblings!

We have NEVER been this close to an answer, just praying by Faith for the Lord's will to be done for so many years!

We are amazed to see how the Lord orchestrated the meeting today, how the man was willing to call the son, and how he was willing to at least consider an offer!

Please pray for great wisdom, I am seeking counsel, funds are already available, and we just want the Lord's Perfect Will.

I will be sending him the letter of proposal regarding an offer to consider for purchase of the property tomorrow.

This is huge, and potentially very important for some of the ministry expansion and possibilities that the Lord has, as best we can tell, laid on our hearts! It would double the church property to 80x60 meters, or roughly 1.2 acres!!!

Please join with us in asking, seeking and knocking.

Again, we are NOT asking for money, ONLY for your prayers that the Lord, if it is His Will, would touch the hearts of these 5 Siblings to sell the land to the church here!

I've posted this with a short video that I made for the plot owners, a pic, and a maps view showing what both plots together would be!

Thanks dear friends, we truly covet your prayers,

Bro. John for Esther and the Team

Zambia

 

[Howl]

On 12/25/2021 at 7:09 PM, apandaaries said:

ETA: medical neglect also. There’s the son with seizures

I was noodling about on Twitter where threads by medical doctors pop up occasionally.   The ER doc on this particular thread noted that the sudden appearance of seizures in young adults would be assumed to be caused by metastases to the brain from undiagnosed cancer until proven otherwise. 

This was ultimately not the cause of the Shrader sprog's seizures; otherwise, he'd likely not be alive.  But just to point out that not seeking medical attention for his child is the ultimate in irresponsible, selfish parental behavior. 

[Ozlsn]

1 hour ago, NoneIsEnough said:

Again, we are NOT asking for money, ONLY for your prayers that the Lord, if it is His Will, would touch the hearts of these 5 Siblings to sell the land to the church here!

Can John own land as a non-national? I guess if they bought the land where they're on the answer is yes but I vaguely remember something weird around the whole thing.

36 minutes ago, Howl said:

The ER doc on this particular thread noted that the sudden appearance of seizures in young adults would be assumed to be caused by metastases to the brain from undiagnosed cancer until proven otherwise. 

Well it's certainly the thing you'd want to rule out first - assuming they did that in Lukasa with Nehemiah. It's concerning that he seems to have had several seizures with no apparent cause.

[NoneIsEnough]

In the latest update video they posted about a month ago, each kid introduced themselves and spoke. Nehemiah thanked everyone who prayed for him and said he hasn't had a seizure in a year and a half. 

So I hope he's grown out of them and continues not to have them. 

[KnittingOwl]

All I got from that story is that God wants John to be part of an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine that starts with a clueless American and ends with either a land sale or the American getting conned. This might also be the next hit movie in Zambia. 

[Cults-r-us]

On 1/30/2022 at 1:18 AM, KnittingOwl said:

Of course Esther is exhausted! John in his manic phase must be harder to deal with than the whole house full of kids. I guess the only benefit for her is that he can be gone preaching 11 hours at a time when he’s manic. 

Who has it worse, Anna or Esther? Anna lives with public humiliation, a marriage in purgatory but dies so in relative comfort and companionship and help from the Duggar TTH. Esther lives in a foreign country with a bazillion kids and this mentally-disordered, failure preacher loon, but their circumstances seem improved from their life in the U.S. I guess Anna knows she's miserable, as opposed to Esther who believes herself to be happy.

[Gobsmacked]

3 hours ago, Cults-r-us said:

Who has it worse, Anna or Esther? Anna lives with public humiliation, a marriage in purgatory but dies so in relative comfort and companionship and help from the Duggar TTH. Esther lives in a foreign country with a bazillion kids and this mentally-disordered, failure preacher loon, but their circumstances seem improved from their life in the U.S. I guess Anna knows she's miserable, as opposed to Esther who believes herself to be happy.

This will ever be an FJ mystery me thinks. It may end when John eventually gets kicked out. It has to happen at some point???? Right?????

[K'Z'K]

On 2/18/2022 at 3:49 PM, NoneIsEnough said:

Without going into all the details, God used a failed Septic Pumping Bid (for a local business), then me having to wait on the side of road in a hot vehicle for more than an hour (someone once said "The Stops as well as the Steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord), together with a young lady asking my wife to meet her at the church property today to get some more John & Romans to give out, then God putting it on my wife's heart to stay and pray over the matter of the property, then me coming with the Septic Pumping truck (the one that made me wait over an hour) to the church, because they had called me to check if I was interested since their other job fell through, so as to not waste a trip from Lusaka!

[NoneIsEnough was quoting John Esther here]

This is one sentence. 145 words.  Followed by a 68-word sentence. Just to explain why he was at a place he spends a lot of time at. Where he talked to a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy* who might ask the land owners to consider selling land that they are actively using. And what would Johnny do with this extra land? Who cares? What's important is that he wants it.

You're coveting your neighbor's things, John Esther. I thought that was a no-no.

 

[*yes, I know I added a guy or two, but I couldn't resist the temptation to paraphrase Saul Goodman]

[postscript]

On 2/18/2022 at 2:49 PM, NoneIsEnough said:

John making excuses for why he doesn't have more converts.

This is the article he references - https://www.facebook.com/MinisteringtoHisServants/posts/1595783674121458

  Hide contents

Very well written short article, amen to the key points such as that people in 3rd world areas, that struggle with poverty, can easily be tempted to make "professions" in the hope of seeking to get something out of it (more of my own serious observations below)

Oh, how heartbreaking that is to see. I've experienced it, as careful as we are here!

To be transparent, I often struggle with the "feeling of failure" and being unworthy of support because we don't see large numbers of people turning to Christ. It's even more so a temptation, when you read and hear reports of others talking about hundreds or even a thousand or more making professions in a single year!

I would, after almost 8 years full time on the field here in Africa, humbly counsel any supporting pastors or Biblical, New Testament Baptist churches that reads of such reports to please follow up, ask questions months or years later how many of those are still there, growing, being discipled, and making disciples themselves? Often, such Rapturous Reports are Rejoiced over, but Rarely Researched, to see if the "fruit" is Real, and fruit that Remains, as Jesus said in John 15:16!

I asked one Zambian man one December, after he told me their church had "won a thousand people to the Lord" that year, how many of them were faithfully attending the church. Not baptized and added to the church... just faithfully attending, out of that 1,000 that had been led to pray a prayer.

His answer?

"One or two."

That was his honest admission.

All I did...was ask.

We have seen other missionaries in the past that claimed half a million "saved" in about 20 years, but...we are here "on the ground." We can personally go and look for said churches and believers, and talk to them, get to know them...and I have. It has been heartbreaking, to be open with you.

One such situation here in Zambia, men actually told me, "When the missionaries are around, we are 'Independent Baptists,' but after they leave, we go back to being Union Baptists." Without getting deeply into what that means, in short, it was hypocrisy, but everybody (excluding myself, obviously) was seemingly quite happy with the arrangement... except God.

From our hearts, we take extremely seriously the weight of dealing with eternal souls, and we are committed to praying for, seeking for, and carefully dealing with (as most of you know, I usually take at least 5 hours or more to cover the Gospel of Christ, and some that we have been praying years for their Salvation have still not given their lives to the Lord, trusting only in Christ's Precious Shed Blood, and His Finished Work to save them. This at times baffles us and breaks our hearts, but we refuse to Spiritually manipulate eternal souls here, just to appear "successful" to those that stand with us, and graciously allow us to represent them for the Cause of Christ here in Sub-Saharan Africa).

I have shared far more than I intended to as a mere introduction to a brief but thoughtful article, but truly, thank you from the depths of our hearts to those that sincerely pray for us.

We so deeply want the work and ministry here to be, as Paul said in I Cor. 2:4,5:

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Amen.

Selah,

Bro. John Shrader for the Team

Zambia

Sub-Saharan Africa

 

 

 

He's also asking for prayers to get a plot of land next to their current church. He's been praying to get this land for 6+ years. 

  Hide contents

Testimony & HUGE & Important Prayer Request!

Dearest friends,

I come to you asking ONLY for your sincere prayers, NOTHING else! We are about to clock 8 years full time here in Zambia in about 3.5 months, and have been amazed at how God has kept us here, and all He has done.

The Lord provided a small piece of land for the church less than 1 year in, a little over 1/2 acre, and we have been praying ever since that He would give us the next plot over, for a host of reasons. It has been an ongoing prayer of ours for more than 6 years!

I have sought several times to seek out the owner of the plot, even checking in Lusaka, and have been unsuccessful each time. Every time I tried, no doors were opened.

Without going into all the details, God used a failed Septic Pumping Bid (for a local business), then me having to wait on the side of road in a hot vehicle for more than an hour (someone once said "The Stops as well as the Steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord), together with a young lady asking my wife to meet her at the church property today to get some more John & Romans to give out, then God putting it on my wife's heart to stay and pray over the matter of the property, then me coming with the Septic Pumping truck (the one that made me wait over an hour) to the church, because they had called me to check if I was interested since their other job fell through, so as to not waste a trip from Lusaka!

Everything and everyone converged together at the church property, my wife was literally sitting over by the baptistry praying, me meeting and directing the men who CALLED ME because their other job didn't work out, to pump out the tank...then the folks planting maize on the property "just happened" to show up, the man whom I had not seen since months ago when they were preparing the ground. At that time, I had asked him if the owners wanted to sell, and he said no.

Long story a bit shorter, he actually called one of the 5 siblings that now have the Estate of their late dad, and he was so kind. He listened as I shared that we had been praying for almost 7 years about the Lord maybe allowing us to get that property.

Again, trying to be as brief as possible (for me, anyways, lol), the gentleman said I could make an offer and send it in a letter to him, and then he would be willing to take it and discuss it with the other siblings!

We have NEVER been this close to an answer, just praying by Faith for the Lord's will to be done for so many years!

We are amazed to see how the Lord orchestrated the meeting today, how the man was willing to call the son, and how he was willing to at least consider an offer!

Please pray for great wisdom, I am seeking counsel, funds are already available, and we just want the Lord's Perfect Will.

I will be sending him the letter of proposal regarding an offer to consider for purchase of the property tomorrow.

This is huge, and potentially very important for some of the ministry expansion and possibilities that the Lord has, as best we can tell, laid on our hearts! It would double the church property to 80x60 meters, or roughly 1.2 acres!!!

Please join with us in asking, seeking and knocking.

Again, we are NOT asking for money, ONLY for your prayers that the Lord, if it is His Will, would touch the hearts of these 5 Siblings to sell the land to the church here!

I've posted this with a short video that I made for the plot owners, a pic, and a maps view showing what both plots together would be!

Thanks dear friends, we truly covet your prayers,

Bro. John for Esther and the Team

Zambia

 

So John is the smartest missionary ever because he realizes that not all so-called converts stick with their profession of faith? 

He made a video as part of his pitch to the property owners? Overkill, John (or are you hoping to convert them and get them to give you the plot of land for free?). Just an offer for fair market value would suffice. If it’s a group of siblings dealing with an estate, they probably just want to get their money out of the land and/or are squabbling about what to do with the property. Alternatively, perhaps praying about it for years without result is God saying John shouldn’t have this property.

[anjulibai]

Happy 18th to Alatheia (whose middle name may either be Joy or Grace, John has said both). I'm wondering how long it will be before she's married off. On the one hand, she's another mouth to feed, and thus take away from John. But on the other hand, she's probably a big help to Esther and John probably loves having an adoring daughter around. 

On another note, Sophia just turn 9 on the 6th, and the youngest, Joseph, turned 2 on the 8th. No new pregnancy in sight, thankfully.