Sonny, Abe, and Ted
I was getting a bit vindictive over all the plotting, jealousy, envy and intentional discord being sown by leaders and outside influences in the church. My only redemptive quality in this is that God hates it more than I do. I was simply just not handling it well; wanting to take matters into my own hands, you know, John Wayne fashion, “Shoot’em all and let God sort them out”.
About the time I was wanting to “do something”, I received a request through Sonny Weimer, our International board president. I had been invited to be interviewed by Randy Clark, a well known apostolic teacher, the founder and director of Globalawakening. I was inclined to stay home and deal with problems, but I was enticed to change my mind by an additional invitation from a potential sponsoring church to come and speak with them. Since we need more home support donors, I went to Albuquerque.
Few times in my life has such a beneficial convergence happened. Randy Clark is no “slouch” in Christian circles. We did not know each other but, at his request, I met him in a prepared interview that was being videotaped. Somehow, our souls connected. He was preparing to leave for Brazil while finishing a week long training school in Albuquerque, NM. To pack for the trip, Randy needed to return to his home in Mechanicsburg, PA where he has the Global School of Supernatural Ministries. Randy left after the interview, but returned just minutes later and asked if I would teach the morning session. It must have gone well, as he asked if I would then participate in a panel discussion at the end of the course. As soon as that finished, he asked if I would go to Pennsylvania to teach the closing session of his Global School which was preparing to graduate about 90 students.
Sonny and I set out for the east coast. On the way we stopped to visit with our partners, ICM in Hampton, VA who have helped us build over 100 church homes. We spent the night in Washington, D.C. Being an amateur Civil War historian for the past 30 years, I wanted to visit Willard’s Hotel where many covert plans of the war were cussed and discussed. I gave the free and unsolicited history lesson to a rather bored Sonny. He kept working on my heart, “Ted, God can’t deal with these problems if you don’t let them go! Bless your enemies, pray for those who despitefully use you.”
About that same time we had our picture snapped at Willard’s standing with a photo of Lincoln between us, and I’d just finished reading “Team of Rivals”, the history of the gracious Lincoln dealing with a team of deeply divided leaders. The “old goat” finally got through to me. We drove through Harpers Ferry, WV, the site where I did my initial training for Laos in 1968, the building in the picture is about ready to fall down. I continued the history lesson, and Sonny renewed my faith in the power of forgiveness.
