John Shrader 21: Nine Years in Zambia and Still Failing

[Coconut Flan]

Continued from here:

 

[Giraffe]

@postscript asked what I was thinking. Why bother shipping a motorcycle? Wjat a waste of money. Although I’d say having John and his family of way too many is a waste of funds, too, so I guess it’s just one more stupid way of spending their money but hey, to each their own*.  That said I’m enjoying the motorcycle vs satan drama and need to pop more popcorn. 
 

*I will feel smug when/if some kind of “tragedy” falls the motorcycle and it never actually gets to Zambia (or makes it but is irreparably damaged shortly after arrival. What a waste of resources.)

[FiveAcres]

1 minute ago, Giraffe said:

@postscript asked what I was thinking. Why bother shipping a motorcycle? Wjat a waste of money. Although I’d say having John and his family of way too many is a waste of funds, too, so I guess it’s just one more stupid way of spending their money but hey, to each their own*.  That said I’m enjoying the motorcycle vs satan drama and need to pop more popcorn. 
 

*I will feel smug when/if some kind of “tragedy” falls the motorcycle and it never actually gets to Zambia (or makes it but is irreparably damaged shortly after arrival. What a waste of resources.)

When I was hanging out in the Herman Cain Award groups, during the height of the deaths of white, rethuglican males from COVID-19, it was amazing how many of their memorial photos posted to Facebook were of the guy with his motorcycle, which frequently looked a lot more expensive than the car that I drive. Though to be fair, some of the photos were with over-sized trucks, that look like they had never actually been used as a working truck. 

[Xan]

John was Rick and Jodi's first child.  The best info I could get was that Rick is in his 70's.  I think he looks at least his age if not older.  He was ill last year, I believe, with Covid and he now has a regular minister doing most of the church work.  I'm sure Rick still controls the money.

It's a safe bet that no one around Texas wants John back.  If he'd been any good at preaching at all he wouldn't have been living in someone's backyard in a pop-up camper with his wife and seven or eight children one winter in Oregon.  If I remember correctly, he and Esther went on a semi-missionary trip to Zambia in 2012 and he decided that that's where God wanted him to be.  Relieved, Rick started banging the drum for money to send him over there.

[SPHASH]

Haven't been following the Shraders for a while.  John wanted a plane, now he wants a fucking motorcycle?

[postscript]

27 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

Haven't been following the Shraders for a while.  John wanted a plane, now he wants a fucking motorcycle?

A retired couple, the Mearses, is in the process of relocating to Zambia to join the Shraders’ mission. The man is shipping his motorcycle to Zambia rather than buying one there (honestly, the cost to ship is probably more than buying one in Zambia). However, in order to ship it, the container company needs the title and original bill of sale. Mr. Mears sent them by certified mail, but apparently Satan decided to attack them and caused the post office to lose the envelope.  They are asking for urgent prayers. 

I’m still shaking my head as to (A);why they didn’t spend a few extra dollars to send a vehicle title by overnight courier and (B) why they are going to so much trouble and expense to ship something that will either be damaged in transit or stolen on arrival. If the cycle makes it intact, he is going to have a lot of trouble getting it registered with the local authorities, and it probably won’t adapt well to local roads. 

[Ozlsn]

41 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

Haven't been following the Shraders for a while.  John wanted a plane, now he wants a fucking motorcycle?

No, he has someone coming over to join him who is shipping their motorcycle. Because logically they will need it or something.

I get the feeling that the Mears have pretty much sold up to fund this and it's going to be a debacle.

I'm surprised John's adult children are still there, surely they should need a different visa type now?

[thoughtful]

1 hour ago, postscript said:

Mr. Mears sent them by certified mail, but apparently Satan decided to attack them and caused the post office to lose the envelope

 

Spoiler

 

[Xan]

I honestly find the Mears part of John's mission to be very interesting.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Mears were widowed, met each other not that long ago, and had a whirlwind courtship and marriage.  They appear to be embarking on this as one last grand Christian mission.  I know they've both got grown children from their previous relationships.  I wonder what the kids think about all of this?   

It's not going to be an easy life and I bet they sold most of their stuff to get ready and to fund the move.  Maybe Rick's church is paying for the tickets but I doubt that it's guaranteeing financial support.  I bet the Mears' will be on the hook for their own living expenses.

And exactly what is Wade supposed to be doing there in Zambia?  John is not about to give up his long-winded sermons in his fake Zambian accent.  He won't be letting Wade do hymn translations or write booklets because, here again, those are some of John's favorite things.  Is John going to be having Wade run errands or doing physical labor?  Will he leave Wade in charge of the local guys for putting up any buildings?  Will he even trust Wade to teach any classes?   John wants an underling.  A retired Marine officer isn't what he had in mind.

[Ozlsn]

16 hours ago, Xan said:

John wants an underling.  A retired Marine officer isn't what he had in mind.

You know the absolute funniest thing that could happen from my perspective would be the Mears splitting with John and taking up with the original other half of Team Zambia... and then being explicit about it on Facebook. 

[Xan]

I think those Zambians have suffered enough.  Somebody needs to make John go home and get a regular job.  Of course, it won't be easy to get him onto a plane.  Someone, I guess Esther, will have to deflate his head in order to get him in through the door.  I think he's starting to himself as a prophet.

I honestly wish this about most of our fundies.  I think it would do most of them a world of good to just do normal, useful work.  Steve Anderson could spend his days at a car wash.  Gary Hawkins could be heard asking, "Do you all want fries with that hamburger or what?"  And Jim Bob could go back to driving a tow truck.  David Rod could probably get a job printing so he's the lucky one in the group.

[Gobsmacked]

19 hours ago, thoughtful said:

 

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Now I’m seeing the Bat out of Hell album cover and hearing the initial Brrrrmms!! Rip Meatloaf. 

19 hours ago, thoughtful said:

 

  Hide contents

 

 

3 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

Now I’m seeing the Bat out of Hell album cover and hearing the initial Brrrrmms!! Rip Meatloaf. 

 

Sorry to quote myself. I messed up somewhere! 
Thoughtful this may be one for you….. changing the BOoH lyrics to say 

I’m battling Hell but my bike hasn’t turned up…etc. 😋

[Giraffe]

19 hours ago, Xan said:

John wants an underling.  A retired Marine officer isn't what he had in mind.

This is why I’m looking forward to John’s updates. There’s no way this will end well (for Esther and the children).

[thoughtful]

2 hours ago, Gobsmacked said:

Thoughtful this may be one for you….. changing the BOoH lyrics to say 

I’m battling Hell but my bike hasn’t turned up…etc.

Meat loaf  - again?  👄

Let me think about that project . . .

[Ozlsn]

47 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

Meat loaf  - again?  👄

Let me think about that project . . .

We could also go with Queen... "I'm forced to ride this bicycle..."

[Xan]

John posted on Facebook again.

John must be having real trouble lately getting those Zambian men to sit and listen to him lecture for hours about being TRULY saved.  Maybe Daddy Rick is starting to breathe down his neck about the lack of results.  

And what does he mean "scripturally sent"?  I don't recall seeing "And God sendeth John Shroder to a foreign land" anywhere in my Bible.  What he really needs to say is "Scripturally Sent (as interpreted by John Shroder) Solely By Tri-County Baptist Church".  I guess that would be SSAIBJSSBTCBC.

I did look up his former church in Oregon (which appears to have closed after John but might have reopened recently).  You've got to be a pretty bad preacher for a fundamentalist Baptist Church to kick you out and close its doors.  That's how he ended up in a friend's backyard in the pop-up camper.  Other than being an associate pastor at his dad's church, that's John's entire work history.  He went to what appears to be the usual, unaccredited Bible college which is nothing more than a diploma mill.  Those Zambian government officials really should have vetted John better.

What is clear to me now is that John was an abysmal failure.  His dad needed him married so he got in touch with Mike Keller.  (Apparently, he's the go-to guy when you need to marry off your troubled fundie sons.)  Rick must have helped John find the church in Oregon and, after he made a mess of that, Rick sent him on a mission trip to Africa.  Now, Rick is trying to get John a helper and maybe someone who can bring in financial support.  Rick's not getting any younger and John's not becoming less crazy.

[Gobsmacked]

John also worked in second hand car sales when he was younger. Perhaps I’m not recalling correctly? 

[Xan]

2 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

John also worked in second hand car sales when he was younger. Perhaps I’m not recalling correctly? 

I'm sure you're right.  I hadn't heard that but it sounds like something John would do.  He doesn't have it listed on his Facebook profile but that wouldn't help him with any religious jobs.

[Gobsmacked]

He was probably fired from the job or resigned because of the wrong type of customer. 

[Coconut Flan]

Unless I'm imagining it, it was the music the dealership played.

[Xan]

When you think about it, this is what happens when you get to second and third generation fundies.  This doesn't include the Bates and the Duggars because they had more money and exposure.  But you look at the Rods, the Shroders, the Kellers, etc., you can see how the brainwashing affects their ability to maneuver in the world.  If you're taught your whole life to spend every waking minute thinking about God and worrying about the devil, you have difficulty in the secular world.  Even those who gravitate towards being preachers are barely functional.  The only hope is breaking away from the family and trying a new path.  If Rick doesn't like how Johnny turned out, Rick has only himself to blame.

[anjulibai]

If John wants to be "scriptually sent", then he should have left his family at home. The apostles went out sans families. 

[Giraffe]

If/when the Mears going to Zambia falls through John just needs to bring up “scripturally sent” and tell whoever listens that god didn’t want the Mears to go and wouldn’t release them. It will never occur to John it has anything to do with him. 

[SisterCupcake]

This may have been mentioned before, but I went to see The Book of Mormon last night and I saw so many parallels between those missionaries and The World’s Worst Missionary (tm).

 There’s a song called “I Believe” where one of them loses faith and sings about what he believes to reaffirm his beliefs. I wonder how often JS does this?

Spoiler

 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by SisterCupcake
Spelling

[NoneIsEnough]

I read through all of the Mears facebook posts about why Zambia and the process of getting there. 

A few things I found funny or stood out to me. 

This from before their frist trip. This doesn't sound like John at all... 😜

Spoiler

That same week, we went to Ethiopian Airlines and bought our tickets to Zambia for the first week of June 2022. We let the Shraders know we had bought our tickets and they were overjoyed! Not long after this, Bro John and Sis Esther called us and we spent five hours talking on the phone! I asked Bro John if I needed to send him some oxygen? He said why? I said he would talk, talk, talk, deep breath, talk, talk, talk, deep breath, talk, talk, and talk! I was able to get a couple words in here and there. He said it was fellowship deprivation! We both laughed!

They had to delay their trip home because Vicky had a cold. Those multiple tests lie, it was JUST A COLD...🙄

Spoiler

We were up and ready to go early the next morning. Headed to Lusaka to get our covid test results then on to the airport. But when we got to the hospital, we had a problem arise...I had a negative test result but Vicky's was positive! These test are completely unreliable and can't tell the difference between a cold and covid. Vicky had a cold and had a runny nose when she took the test. This really messed up our plans! We got together with Bro John and Sis Esther and we prayed.

We were told about another lab not too far away so we went to have a rapid test done. We went and had her test done and it too was positive. Vicky was so upset at herself. I comforted her and told her God had everything in control.

After they were back from Zambia and starting on their Zambia presentation tour, John had this advice:

Spoiler

After talking with Bro John Shrader, we have decided not to cold call churches but to let God chose where we will share our vision. This way He gets the glory...not us!

But then Wade mentioned this:

Spoiler

In May 2022, Bro John Shrader put out the word to his supporting churches about us coming to be a part of his ministry. Bro Mike Thornley Jr. email Bro John and let him know he wanted us to come to his church. Bro John called me the same day and let me know about Bro Mike

I think John already wants to be in control of who the Mears are visiting. So this Mike guy had to e-mail John in Zambia to then get in contact with Wade, but Wade can't contact churches on his own. How is that letting god choose where the Mears go if all the scheduing has to be done via John in Africa. 🤔