December 2000

 

 

Dear Saints,

 

Sister Bonnie and I thank each and every one of you for your prayers during the last several months. We are sorry to report that sister Bonnie's mother, Juanita Jones, age 72, past away on September the 26th. My brother, Larry Gilles, age 43, past away on October the 28th. Both deaths were bitter sweet as they were both saved. Please remain in prayer for all family and friends involved, especially during this, the first Holiday season.

 

I returned, this fall, to Bradley University in Peoria, IL. My first time to preach there was three years ago. This was the first campus that the Lord taught me how to go to the City Engineers office and obtain the plates for a campus and to then have the City Engineer certify as to where the Campus property ended and where the City property started. I had to do this because the Chief of Campus Security lied to my face by telling me that all of the adjacent streets were University owned. With the evidence from the City Engineer, I proved him to be a liar and preached the rest of the week there. Needless to say, I am not the Chief's favorite preacher. I have to stand on the public sidewalk in order to preach there because Bradley is a private University.

 

This time, the same Chief, approached Jeremiah Baldwin and me, on the second day of preaching, and told us that if he received any complaints that he would have us removed from the sidewalk.  He stated it in such a way as to convey to me that there would definitely be a complaint even if he had to pay someone to give it.  About an hour later, a Security Officer, drove up and handed us citations for Disorderly Conduct and then drove away, leaving us to preach the rest of the day.  I returned the next day with Brother Mike Johnson who videotaped my preaching.  After an hour or so Brother Mike had to return to work.  Before Brother Mike could drive out of the university parking lot Mike saw the campus officer walk up to me and kick my briefcase.  Brother Mike's video camera had kept the officer at bay and infuriated him so that once the camera was off he had to display his hatred for God. The University, through the kind efforts of my attorney friend, Jim Elsman, quickly dropped the Disorderly Conduct citations.

 

This fall, I opened up three new campuses in the Indianapolis area.  On the first two campuses I was accompanied by Sister Pat Noordewier. The first campus was the University of Indianapolis.  I was stopped from preaching by an administrator who told me that they were a private University.  He also told me that he had heard Bro. Max Lynch and me preach years ago at Indiana University while he attended class there.  He tried to get me cleared to preach the next week but was over ruled by his superior.

 

Franklin College was a different story.  The Chief Of Campus Security, for several hours, unsuccessfully told the students to not listen to me, but to return to their classes and dorm rooms.  The Chief turned a blind eye to several students who were pelting me with wet paper towels, spitting tobacco juice on me and my briefcase, threatening to hit me, stealing my briefcase, stealing and burning my pamphlets, etc.  The Chief then called for a grounds man to bring over a leaf-sucking machine in order to drown me out by sucking up nonexistent leaves.  I was not deterred by this most juvenile attempt to distract me.  The Chief then instructed the grounds man to blow the mulch on the crowd and me.  I was simply amazed at the extremity that this demon inspired Chief was willing to engage in just to hinder the Gospel.  Mulched leaves, was a first.  On my last day there, the Chief offered, in front of his officers, an official and personal apology to me.  Could it have been my Bush-Cheney bumper stickers on my briefcase that caused all of my problems this fall?

 

We thank you for your love and prayers. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Brother Jim - Sister Bonnie - Aaron - Gabrielle