Harold Carman

26 July 2015

Dear Phyllis,

Of the hundreds of missionaries that I have known and worked with I would have to put Harold Carman right at the top. Unchallenged, Harold was the most unusual missionary I ever met. When I was the director of the Karuizawa Japanese Language School, I had a phone call one night from a pastor in southern Japan asking if I would take a new Baptist missionary in the school. “Certainly.” The day came when the pastor and the new missionary arrived. I went to the eki (train station) to meet them. When they got off the train I was stunned and said, “What in the world is this?” I had never seen a man like him. He weighed well over 300 lbs. His face was as round as a basket ball, with a silly grin, and a funny hat on his head. I thought, “Oh my goodness, is this the new missionary?” But what I didn't know was behind that round face was one of the most outstanding hearts for Jesus I had ever met.

Apart from looking odd, Harold was the most simple (that isn't the right word but I don't know what is) man I had ever met. He came from Tennessee and it was like he had never been out of the state. But I soon discovered Harold had a heart for Jesus as large as the south end of his torso that required two chairs to sit on. Not only did he have an enormous heart for Jesus but he was one of the most disciplined men I had ever met. He had been with us a short time when John Schone said to him, “Brother, you would have a better testimony if you lost some of that blubber". In less than six months Harold had shed over 100 lbs. He now could put his whole body in one leg of his former pants. The school required six hours a day of Japanese study – two hours in class and four at home. Most missionaries felt like heroes if they kept that schedule. Harold wasn't satisfied. He asked if he could have three hours of class a day. That was unprecedented. He still wasn't satisfied and asked to go to four. I had never had a student like him. He was not a born linguist but by pure discipline his progress in the language was astounding.

Harold was hugely popular in the school and wherever he went, but it was his love for the Lord that was so unusual. We were very close friends. One day Harold said, “Doctrinally, I'm slam different than y'all”. I asked, ”Harold, how are you different? You are as solid a man as any I know.” He wouldn't tell me. I asked, “Harold, do you know anything about Baptist Bride?” He snapped, “That's it. I'm Baptist Bride.” Baptist Bride believe that they are the Bride of Christ and everyone else are friends. He had never met anyone outside his denomination and now he was fellowshipping with missionaries from a wide spectrum of theological backgrounds that obviously were marvelous Christian brethren. That challenged the basic tenant of his denomination.

The Camans had only been with us nine months when he called me one day and asked if I could take him to the hospital in Tokyo. He had woken up in the middle of the night convinced he was dying and woke his boys up to say goodbye to daddy. He was amazed when dawn came and he was still on earth. I took him to Tokyo in my truck but the doctor said there was nothing wrong. Five days later he asked me to take him to the airport. “We are going home.” His father had an ambulance waiting for him at the airport in Nashville and took him directly to the university hospital. He was in the hospital for a week and all medical test proved there was nothing wrong with him.

The last thing I told Harold just before he got on the plane was, “Harold, keep your mouth shut and don't get in a hassle with your Baptist brethren before you physically get on your feet. And secondly, while you are in the states, if you ever have a chance to meet Joe Carroll of Greenville, he is the best man in America.”

Harold was still in the hospital when his Baptist brethren tagged him as a heretic and excommunicated him from their church. He felt like Martin Luther only he had been cut off from the only church he had ever known. In his loneliness he got to fellow shipping with Pastor James Bell in Gallatin 20 miles down the road. One day Brother Bell said to him, “Next week we are having Australian evangelist, Joe Carroll, coming for some meetings.” Harold's heart soared. He asked, “Could I meet Brother Carroll?” A few days later Harold was having lunch with Brother Carroll explaining his problem. Joe told him, “It's the devil. This is your problem and this is the cure.” Harold did as Joe directed him. He said it was exactly as Joe described. Everything broke loose. I was the worst day of his life. He was sure he was dying. But he stood firm and in 24 hours he was completely free. After that the Carmans went to Brother Carroll's Evangelical Institute in Greenville where they were tremendously popular. Harold wound up returning to Lafayette, Tennessee where he has pastored two churches.

As a postscript to Harold's testimony; while the Carmans were in Karuizawa, Harold was teaching English in the local middle school. He had a tremendous burden for the English teacher, Nagai sensi. Well do I recall his burden and then joy when Nagai sensei got saved. Twenty years later, when I was working at NLL, there was a large group of Japanese pastors visiting the plant one day. At the end of their tour there was a brief meeting in the dinning hall with snacks. I was supposed to sit at a table and fellowship with these pastors but declined. A physical struggle ensued with the staff at NLL pushing me. A brother came over from his table and asked me to sit next to him. As we sat down he asked, “Cook san, do you remember Harold Carman? I'm Nagai.” I burst into tears. After he got saved, Nagai sensi had left the school and had been a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators for several years. What a legacy! Harold was only in Japan for nine months but he cut a swath for God wider than any man who had ever lived in Karuizawa. His impact was not restricted to the Japanese alone, but also to the major mark he has had on my life. I saw in him a rough diamond. A man with a very restricted background, but a man with a gigantic heart for Christ coupled with steel like discipline to live for Jesus only. He raised the bar for us all of what a Christian should be, higher than any missionary I ever met. He has been an example to me but one whose stature I will never reach. Thank God for the men He sent in our lives.

Gambarimasho (Let's give it all we have),                  bill

Staying In Thailand

19 July 2015

Dear Phyllis,

Friday night I had a nightmare. I dreamed I was stateless. Then, in my dream I thought, “Well praise the Lord I am legal in Thailand.” Suddenly it occurred to me, “Am I legal?”. With that I woke with a start. It was still dark outside before dawn, but I jumped out of bed and ran to look at my passport. Terror gripped me when I discovered I was a month overstay for my 90 day check. The best visa we can get in Thailand is one year. But the worst part is that all foreigners have to check in with Immigration every 90 days. The penalty for overstay is 500B ($17) a day. At 30 days that meant that I had to pay a 15,000B fine ($500) which I flat did not have. A couple of years ago I had another problem when I was charged for being 6 months overstay. (I still feel that was Imaginations fault not mine.) At that time I was told there is a limit of 20,000B. After you hit that level you can say as long as you want and the fine does not increase. A Christian lady who used to work at Immigration told me my best shot was to forget about the visa and just stay on illegally until I either tried to leave the country or got caught. I paid the fine at that time and have tried to stay inside the 90 check period. But this one got away from me. What I have decided to do this time is join the large crowd of hundreds of thousands of illegal residents in Thailand and just stay here illegally. This means I can never leave without paying the 20,000 Baht fine or – if I get caught – go to jail.

Illegal residence in Thailand is a huge problem. Thailand appears to be the sanctuary country of SEA but the fact is that it is a hostile one. The Thais don't want refugees and will not legally accept them. But for tens of thousands from neighboring countries that flood in, it is either be here illegal or get killed in their homeland. The worst is Burma. Probably the next is Pakistan. My Pakistani pastor friend has been trying for over a year to get his sisters out of Pakistan to live with us here. Last Sunday he sent me an email asking about the problem and if it would be possible to get asylum status for his sisters. Obviously he wants to get them out of Pakistan. In Pakistan Islamics openly kill Christians and the police look the other way. Six months ago a Christian couple were thrown into a brick kiln and burned to death in front of their son. The chance of Pastor Hanook's sisters getting raped and killed is always there. I was pained to write him that Thailand is not open to refugees and the plight of 4,000 illegal Pakistanis here is terrible.

I had a permanent visa for Japan that was almost as good as a Japanese citizenship, but there was a limit if I stayed out of the country for over three years my reentry permit would run out. That expired last year so now I have no refuge but to return to the US – and pay 20,000B ($750) to leave Thailand.

But I don't consider America a safe place to go. All Christians have been saying for many years without repentance, and a return to God, America is doomed as a nation. The moral slide America has been on for the past 50 years has been astounding. But the official stance of the government has been the most damning. In America there is a group of nine non-elected judges who have illegally established three laws that no one has been able to correct. First, in 1962 these judges illegally created a law banning the Bible and prayer from the public school system. Then they made another law making it legal to slaughter millions of unborn children. But most recently these judges made one more law now making sodomy and vile sexual perversion to be on the same legal status as God given marriage. Many feel, and I intensely share that conviction, that this new law has driven the final coffin nail into America. I strongly feel that the door of salvation for America has now been permanently closed. That's it folks. It's all over. Salvation for America is no longer an option on the table.

I believe Rabbi Jonathan Cahn is God's prophet for America. Two years ago he wrote about the Harbinger where he saw 9-11 in America clearly prophesied in Isaiah 9:10. It is uncanny that everything he has said about America and 9-11 is undeniably fulfilled. The, then Speaker of the House, Tom Daschal and other, non-Christian, high government officials quoted this verse fulfilling the judgment prophecy. More recently Cahn has come out with two more books on the Shemitah. Jonathan Cahn points out that by the Law of Moses there was to be a release of all debt every 7 years, and a year of Jubilee at the end of 49 years. This was to be a blessing but if the Jews did not keep it the Shemitah (seven year release) would be a curse. Cahn points out how these dates have corresponded exactly with major events in Israel and more recently in America.

John Hagee has been warning about how the Blood Moons are a sign of major events to Israel. It is ominous that Hagee's fourth Blood Moon and Jonathan Cahn's dates according to the Shemita both fall on the same time this fall. All of this is available on You Tube. It is dangerous to be a date setter. Every date setter for the return of Christ for the past 2,000 years has been wrong. These men are not suggesting that this is the time of the return of Christ but they are earnestly warning of terrible judgment coming on America this Fall, with a high probability that something major will happen in Israel. I seriously believe it is impossible for America to avoid the terrible judgment of God very soon, and, when it comes, there will be catastrophic consequences. As an illegal resident in Thailand I feel it is considerably safer here than to be in the states. To think that America and the Church of Christ (not the denomination) in America can a avoid the judgment of God is to deny the overwhelming message of the Bible and the lesson of history. It is not a question of IF but only WHEN. And I strongly believe that day has come.

Anyway you look at it, these are extremely ominous days. If there ever was a time to walk closely with Jesus it is now. We dare not be silent but I fear the world is too drunk to hear our voice. The day will soon come when men's hearts will fail for fear but that is after the hammer of God has fallen. There maybe room for personal salvation but not for the nation.

Praise God, Jesus is on His horse and He soon will be here.

                                                                                                          bill

John Cathcart

12 July 2015

Dear Phyllis,

Of the hundreds of missionaries I have known over the years I would rate John Cathcart in the top 5%. John is the most child-like man I have ever met. Child-likeness is not a high priority attribute to put on resume for a job application but in the Kingdom of God it is a mark of greatness. All three synoptic gospels record the incident of the disciples disputing among themselves who was the greatest. To end that dispute, Jesus took a child set him before them. In Mathew 18:3,4 it is recorded that Jesus said, “Except ye be converted and become like little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same shall be the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” In God's sight child-likeness is greatness.

Tenri City is probably the spookiest city in Japan. It is the headquarters of Tenri Kyo which is the third largest religion in Japan. Until 1982 no one had the courage to go in there with the Gospel. John Cathcart was the first one to raise the flag for Jesus. After getting put out of two or three places John decided his only hope was to build a church. Like an idiot he started walking around asking farmers to rent him a rice field to build a church on it. Amazingly in 1986 Kami no Ai (The Love of God) church was built. It has never become a mega church but it has been there for nearly 30 years and from it five other churches have sprung up. And John's faith was the example that encouraged Nagai sensei to build and establish the Gospel Town Bible School in Sendai.

After serving the Lord for ten years in Japan John felt the Lord would have him go to Russia. He was there for only a little over a year but did astounding things. One of the craziest was to go into the public school system. John would get in his car, drive to a large school there in Siberia, and walk into the principal's office unannounced. He would say to the principal, “I want you to cancel all your classes, get everyone in the auditorium, and let me preach the Gospel to them.” If that isn't insane I don't know what is. The first time John tried that, it got real quiet in the room. He thought to himself, “Oh oh, this is where I disappear and wind up in a Siberian prison”. After a long silence, the principal would raise his head and say, “We have had 70 years of communism. Let's try something else.” The principal would then ring the bell, cancel all the classes, and assemble everyone in the auditorium. John would get up on the stage, preach the Gospel for an hour, and give an invitation for salvation. After praying with dozens who came forward for salvation, John would pass out Bibles to everyone in the school. As he packed his car the principal would thank him for coming and invite him to come back. Then John would drive to another school and do it all over again. That beats any stunt I have ever heard of in reaching souls for Jesus. Nobody in their right mind would dream of doing something like that.

Vanya was one of the best books to come out of Russia during the cold war. It was the testimony of courageous young Russian soldier who was tortured to death for his faith. John read it first in 1987 and loaned it to me. In 1994 I was with John doing dendo (evangelism) in Siberia. The situation varied considerably depending on where you were. Where I was in Chernigovka the mayor was wonderful. But where John was 200 km further north the police were giving them a real hard time. But John said there was a Baptist pastor in that town that was fearless and refused to back down. After the meeting that night the pastor invited John to come home and stay with him. As they were drinking tea the pastor said, “I would like to tell you about my son.” He got part way into the testimony when suddenly it struck John that this was Vanya's father. John said that was the greatest night of his life.

Monday Pammy and I were going into Chiang Mai in our car. We were sitting at a red light when suddenly smoke poured out from under our hood. We suspected something might be wrong. Pammy turned right, went 100 meters, and pulled into a Shell gas station. It turned out that this was not just a gas station but also a garage where many people brought their cars for repair. A mechanic looked under our hood and discovered that an electric motor that cools the radiator had come loose and burned up. Amazingly they said they could get a new motor and fix it at that garage. They had a very nice waiting room with nice chairs, TV, and free coffee. There was another man sitting in there waiting to get his car fixed. Compulsively, Pammy never draws a breath that she isn't witnessing telling someone about Jesus. Predictably, we hadn't been there five minutes until she was sharing the Gospel with this man. She is so aggressive she embarrasses me. I usually wind up praying for the other person that they won't be offended. She had a Gospel of John and a tract that she was showing him. Then she called me over and said, “Please pray for him.” Why not? So I dutifully prayed in English and then Pammy prayed for an hour (slightly evangelistic, but it was a long time) for him. I was amazed. It seemed to be an extremely positive witness. The man seemed to be genuinely interested and thanked Pammy before he left.

Our car was going to take a little longer, so we decided to take a song tau (pickup truck bus) home and get the car later. Later that afternoon Pammy went back to the garage to get our car. Two hours later she came home with a lady she had just led to Christ. This gal had ridden her bicycle to town and left it next to the garage. Along with everyone else in sight Pammy witnessed to her, prayed with her for salvation, and brought her home to introduce her to me. She also had several pictures she had taken with her Samsung Galaxy of all the workers at the gas station holding up tracts she had given them. The car repair cost us $75 but it thought that was a bargain to see someone saved. The next day Pammy asked me, “Who can we witness to today?” I said, “I don't know unless maybe we could have a flat tire some place.”

I admire her zeal but I looks to me like she has a couple of loose screws. Normal people can't witness like that. You have to be a little bit crazy. The only problem with loose screws is that it is important that Jesus loosened them. People with missing parts are dangerous.

Lord Jesus, loosen our frozen tongues.

                                                                                bill

Smuggling Bibles

5 July 2015

Dear Phyllis,

In 1955 a young Dutch brother had just graduated from a Bible school in England and was praying about what the Lord would have him do in serving Christ. One day he saw an advertisement for a communist student rally in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In those days the Iron Curtain so tight it was like trying to look inside a submarine. On a whim Brother Andrew applied as a student to attend this communist rally and got a visa. Once inside Yugoslavia his main interest was not the communist rally but an attempt to contact Christians. They told him of the desperate condition of Christians in communist countries and begged him if there was any way he could get Bibles to them. That was the birth of Open Doors Ministry. No one had ever thought of smuggling Bibles into these countries in suitcases. On his first run, when Brother Andrew faced the custom inspection he prayed, “Lord, when You were here on earth You made blind eyes to see; now I ask You to make seeing eyes blind.” Miraculously the custom inspector never saw the Bibles in Brother Andrews suit case. For the next four years Brother Andrew was busily engaged in smuggling Bibles into many communist countries in the Soviet block and wrote the epic book God's Smuggler. When I read that book in 1960 I thought that was the most incredible book I had ever read, but thought the man must be mad to be so involved in this clandestine ministry and then write a book telling all about it and how he did it. But on the last page he wrote, “As one man I have been able to do this much, but if this was multiplied a thousand times by tourists going in these countries think how much more could be accomplished.” That was perhaps the most significant statement of the 20^th century. His vision has been fulfilled ten thousand times over. For the next 50 years this has been the life line supplying the church in closed countries with the life-giving Word of God.

When an unprecedented revival broke out in China in 1980 there was an insatiable demand for the Word of God and the only way this could be met was by someone bringing them in from the outside. In response to this need several hundred courageous young people volunteered and congregated in key distribution centers. It has been my great privilege for the past 17 years to know and work with many of these warriors for Jesus.

One was a slender brother from Illinois. Bob had been in Vietnam and suffered serious emotional damage, but he was as courageous as they come. He worked full time out of Hong Kong making hundreds of runs carrying Bibles all over China. His stories range from the most hilarious to the most miraculous. Bob weighed about 135 pounds but he had a special coat with dozens of hidden pockets on the inside. In these pockets he could carry over 50 New Testaments. It was so bulky that he looked like the Michelin man and he waddled like a duck. It is hard to imagine what the custom inspectors must have thought when this slender man waddled up to inspection in this enormous coat. Another brother followed Bobs technique except he had special pants with dozens of hidden pockets. The story is told that one time this brother walked up to custom inspection and when the inspector asked to see his bags his pants fell down. The custom inspector was so embarrassed he turned his head while the poor man pulled his pants back up.

Bob told of one time he was up in Tibet. A basic principle is that you never stay in the same town where you are working. One morning Bob went to a neighboring town to a busy market. He had a handful of tracts that he was cautiously passing out. When the crowd saw what he was doing, suddenly a mob formed so thick he feared he would get crushed. Simply to protect himself he threw all the tracts in the air. The police noticed this sudden mob and put two and two together that the gaijin (foriegner) must be responsible. A policeman stopped him and demanded his passport. The Chinese policeman was bewildered by the American passport and didn't know how to read it. Bob demanded in English, “Am I arrested?” The policeman had no idea what he was saying as Bob kept pointing to his watch. Then suddenly Bob grabbed the passport from the policeman's hand and, stuck it in his pocket, and walked away. The policeman was so stunned he didn't know what to do. Bob briskly walked to a corner and then took off on a dead run. By that time the policeman had recovered his senses and started chasing him with two or three other policemen. As Bob was running through the market he saw an old Tibetan man sitting behind a low table with a blanket over it. Bob dove under the table. The old man sat there like nothing had happened and the policemen went dashing by. They knew they had him trapped in the market but couldn't find him. From time to time Bob looked out from under the blanket looking at shoes. After half an hour the police gave up the search and Bob crawled out. He got to the bus terminal and got back to the guest house where his partner was staying. His partner asked, “Did you have any trouble. An hour ago I saw a dark cloud over you and was praying for 30 minutes.”

Another friend of mine was leading a large group on a Bible delivery in central China. The delivery had been successful and the team was coming back riding in a bus when the bus had a head-on with a truck. Astrid went through the windshield but was not injured. There were 30 in that team. None were seriously injured but some did have to stay in the hospital and the rest she put up in a hotel. That night the police came to their hotel room and asked who the team leader was. They all pointed to Astrid. The police took three or four of them down stairs to an interrogation room and asked them what they were doing in China. The others answered, “Oh, we are just tourists buying things to take home.” Then the police suddenly became totally ballistic slamming their fist on the table demanding, “What are you doing here? All your suit cases are empty!” It got real quiet. Then Astrid began to speak in Chinese. The atmosphere totally changed. The police relaxed and reached in their own pockets to give them some money. The other team members were tremendously impressed. As they went back to their room they asked, “What in the world did you tell them?” Astrid replied, “I have no idea. I don't speak Chinese.”

There are myriads of these stories most of which have never been told. It has been my great privilege to work with these people and hear these stories over a cup of coffee or while riding in a bus. And thank God I have a few of my own to tell.

Thank you Jesus,

                                   bill