Page 161 - Evidence of Things Unseen

be one thing to experience such humble means in a third world nation, but I was living in
the midst of America, the land of plenty, the land of idolatrous consumerism. How could
I justify such experiences to members of the church who had been inculcated with doctrines
of prosperity and the love of mammon?
The answer is that I could not justify myself in their sight, so I quit trying. I simply had
to bear reproach. I had to choose to die daily to the respect and affirmation my soul desired.
My hope was that I might attain to all that the Father had for me and my family as I
persevered and continued to follow the Lord wherever He would lead.
After six years my wife had enough. She had listened to other Christians telling her
that it was not necessary that we live as we were. She had heard numerous criticisms of her
husband, often from pastors and their wives. The decision to leave troubled her soul, for she
had seen the hundreds of ways in which the Lord had intervened in our lives to manifest
provision during the years of full-time ministry. Yet, she did not see any others living as we
were doing, and she desired to be free of the trials and afflictions that seemed to beset our
family more than all others around us.
In 2004 my wife left. Our son went with her to live with a wealthy Christian family
who had boys his age. My daughter remained faithful in her desire to follow wherever God
would lead, and the Lord opened a door for her to stay with a family in a Mennonite
community, with my blessing. I was left by myself. Since I was by myself, the Lord was able
to accelerate the trials even further. I found it much easier to endure hardship alone, than
with wife and children.

II Corinthians 11:23-30
Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far
more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five
times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with
rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have
spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers
from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in
the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false
brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in
hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such
external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches.
Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense
concern? If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.

My suffering has not been to the degree of Paul’s, but I can testify that I have endured
far more than most of my Christian brothers in America. I spent five months living out of
a car, eighty days camping in the forest in a small tent. During this period many days I was
without food, and often was low on water. I spent a week one time without eating, and at
another time I went seventeen days before the Father provided something to eat. In five
months I lost forty pounds.
I knew exposure to the elements, camping out in a small tent in the woods in
November and December. Some days I awoke to ice on the ground, and I had no winter
clothes with me. I wore layers of summer clothing and had one fleece pullover. For months
at a time I had no other human companionship, no one with whom to carry on a
conversation, no one to share my burden. Yet through it all the Lord was with me. He made