[cust.idl.net.au]

I'm a bag of mixed emotions at the moment. Lately we've been experiencing a few injustices that sometimes see me feeling quite angry about how unfair society can be, and sometimes see me quite spontaneously thinking, "How exciting! It's evidence that we are getting closer to the end." Somewhere in between, I just try to rationally analyse it all.

It is so stupid of us to worry as much as we all do about what people think, when there are other issues in the world that are so much more serious to deal with. We have, for example, been keeping secret for months now that Reinhard is being held in detention in the U.S. for having overstayed his visa there. We did not want people to use it as a way of suggesting that he was a criminal, and that is why we kept it quiet. Because of the court case involving the assault on him, the authorities would not deport him, but neither was it clear what they were actually doing about bringing him to the court. It has left him in limbo for months. It seemed so unfair that he is the one being punished while Jared and John are getting away with so much.

But then Reinhard has been using his time in detention to translate several whole books into German for our German web site. And he's been getting great food and free accommodation, as well as a chance to really rest up from all the responsibilities that he had as a leader in the U.S. It has also given the others in the U.S. a chance to take more initiative in leadership. And to top it all off, he has met some wonderful people while there, and was the only one in the centre who could speak the languages of all the detainees, from Spanish to Russian. He has earned the respect of staff as well as detainees. One refugee, who is now out and free to live in the U.S. has actually started doing some Russian translations of our material, as he continues to maintain contact with us. So what is there to complain about? Praise God for his provision!

Reinhard overstayed his visa largely because we knew that if he left the U.S. before the court case, it would have been easier for the Long Beach police to use that as an excuse to drop the case altogether, which they've been trying to do from the start. And that, too, is one of those frustrating injustices. Jared and John eventually pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon, and were found guilty, but the police prosecutor himself actually ASKED (after they were found guilty) for the charge to be changed to a misdemeanor instead of a felony, in an apparent attempt to let Jared continue to teach school despite other acts of violence on his part which were also covered up by the authorities. We presume that the argument for making the assault a misdemeanor was that they were justified in trying to kill Reinhard because their son had joined the Jesus Christians; but we'll never know, because it all happened in a secret hearing... another injustice as far as we are concerned. In fact, the police never, in all of their investigations, even ASKED to interview Joe about what he knew about the case, even though Joe is a vital witness. Then the judge said he/she would wait for a whole year (the maximum time) before imposing any penalty on Jared and John. In the meantime, it is REINHARD who continues to sit in custody while Jared and John walk free! He, the VICTIM of the assault, could be there in the detention centre for a whole year while the court dithers. More injustice.

But hey, the main thing we wanted was a guilty verdict so that Reinhard could recover some of the more than $30,000 in medical expenses that he has incurred since the attack. Now we have that opening. So that's not so bad. And revenge was never our goal in the first place. We know that John and Jared (and Sheila) can never be trusted not to repeat the attack, because they have never acknowledged in communication either with Joe or with Reinhard any guilt, or shown any remorse. Nevertheless, time in jail would almost certainly not have achieved that either. So good luck to them! All we Jesus Christians have to do is to stay as far away from them as possible. Reinhard is recovering well, and the U.S. government even insisted on paying his fare back to Europe, despite our offer to pay for it. Wonderful!

Then there are the Quakers. A few months ago the gang over at the Rick Ross forum started getting their act together big time, and they set out to destroy our relationship with the Quakers. At the moment they are having immense success. Gossip is flying all over the world (literally) amongst our so-called "Friends", and we are shocked at how quick people have been to believe the rumours. It feels like we are in the middle of a maelstrom of hate with a lynch mob mentality behind it all.

But once again, what is it that has us so worried? Isn't it just the sting of knowing that our opponents are winning at the moment, and that many people whom we assumed were our "friends" have turned against us? But isn't that what we have been saying would happen for years? That they ARE going to succeed, and eventually reach a point where people will feel justified in killing us because their hate has become so intense? Yeah, sure, it hurts to think that some of the people who have been famous for centuries as leaders in the art of tolerance and peace have been so quickly turned on their head by a gang of hate-mongers, but, once again, this is precisely the sort of stuff that we have been saying is going to spread around the world in these last days. They are proving us to be right. And really, what we're seeing now is nothing by comparison to what is yet to come.

What does Jesus say? "Rejoice when you are persecuted!" What is happening amongst Quakers is actually a victory for us as well, in that it has forced many Friends out into the open who have been opposed to us for years. There is this horrible nasty side to some Quakers (which all of us are capable of giving in to) that is virtually indistinguishable from the horrible nasty side of the worst fundamentalists and war mongers, and it's coming out in some of the most unexpected places. It is sad to see how far-reaching it is, but at the same time, this present persecution is bringing to the surface those rare individuals who really do believe in the core values of Quakerism like ourselves. We've seen it happen in the past that Friends have pulled out of what could have been a spiritual nosedive with some very powerful spiritual giants amongst them steering others back to their core values. And we still have some hope that it will happen this time.

So on the whole, these are exciting times to be alive, and to be witnessing what is happening from, what we believe, may be God's perspective. The masks are being ripped off, the teeth are being bared, and, while our job seems to be to act as bait, we understand that it's all part of the overall scenario that will lead to the return of Jesus. What we are experiencing at the moment is nothing in comparison to what is yet to come; but it is a good opportunity for us to get things into perspective and to laugh off the threats and accusations of the Enemy. So praise God, and let them bring it on!
[i:9caff8fb7b][/i:9caff8fb7b]

zeuzor:

The link doesn't seem to work on your last post.

Also, you didn't introduce it and explain the context etc.

I assume it's Dave McKay posting?

The usual, everyone is to blame, but Dave McKay.

Copy and paste it to your browser and it'll work fine. Yep, that's David.

[b:440b9d5ec5]
JESUS CHRISTIANS NEWSLETTER #91, AUGUST, 2007

REINHARD AND THE AUSTRALIAN QUAKERS

We have posted an article on our home page which deals with problems
we have been having with Quakers in Australia, and an explanation for
why we have been so secretive about Reinhard for the past few months.
If you would like to read this article (called "Ups and Downs")
please click here:

[cust.idl.net.au]

It seems that just about everything we do gets someone upset with us.
For people who would like to research some of these issues, we are
going to post a few links here...

LIVE ORGAN DONATIONS

Some people react in horror at members of our community donating
kidneys to help people suffering from kidney disease. Click on the
two links below to get further information.

The ABC documentary:
[www.abc.net.au]

Previous documentaries and articles on the subject:
[cust.idl.net.au]

FREEGANISM

Others react in horror that we live largely on recycled waste,
including perfectly good food that is thrown out by Western
supermarkets. This lifestyle is attracting a lot of interest in the
media at the moment, under the heading of "freeganism":

An introduction to the concept:
[www.welikejesus.com]

Some pretty heated debate about the concept:
[www.welikejesus.com]

LIVING BY FAITH

The whole subject of living by faith (i.e. working for love and not
for money) is also deeply offensive to some people. Here is some
material to explain our position there.

The Root of all Evil:
[cust.idl.net.au]

Our New Economic Policy:
[cust.idl.net.au]

How We Do It:
[cust.idl.net.au]

THE MOCK TRIAL

Then there is that little mock trial we held in Long Beach,
California, last year. It has raised a lot of hackles. Get info on
that here:
[cust.idl.net.au]

AND NOW FOR THE NEWS...

INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS

There has been an increase in international visitors at the community
centre in Kenya this month as the summer vacation crowd comes to
explore options for volunteer work in Kenya. A couple from San
Francisco were very enthusiastic about the reading program and
interacting with the kids from the orphanage. A young South African
woman helped out for a while, planning to stay for just one week; but
she enjoyed herself so much that she has extended her stay to one
month. A woman from New York came with her 9 year old son. They
have been having a great time, and have been a big help with the work.
Rosy has returned for another stint with us and is proving to be a
great help with our programs too.

Other visitors included the parents of a Young Quaker woman whom Fran
and Kim had met at the World Gathering of Young Friends. They were
in Kenya promoting a water filter which purifies water using a
combination of microbes and sand. They also helped out with the
reading program, which they found to be rewarding.

SCHOOL ART COMPETITION

We recently held a drawing competition amongst five schools where we
have been doing the reading program. It has produced some fantastic
artwork. What a task it was to choose only 10 winners per school
when there are over 1000 students in some of the schools! The fifty
winners will also participate in making a mural about Simple Living,
Honesty, Peace, Equality and Community -- the five Quaker
"testimonies".

BUNNY BREEDING

We have acquired our first two female bunnies after Karl finished
constructing a very nice rabbit hutch. Once we get a male we expect
them to be fruitful and multiply. The rabbits can later be used for
food and to help children learn about responsibility. Raising
rabbits can be a first step towards a sustainable lifestyle for some
of the poverty stricken orphans in the area.

VISITS WITH RELATIVES

Casey and Giddy had a lovely visit with Giddy's relatives, who live
near Mount Kenya.

Grace also had several days together with her family in California,
with the whole family experiencing "a day in the life of a Jesus
Christian". It was an educational experience for all of them, and we
greatly appreciate the support she has received from them.

THE DATING GAME

Alf has been invited to participate in a novel television dating game,
where he will take his date out on two outings which reflect our
lifestyle, and then she will take him out on two that reflect her
lifestyle. We expect some interesting and humorous encounters!

INDIA

Rob and Christine are back in India tidying up a few loose ends there.
Our first order for 180,000 copies of "Listening" is now being dealt
with by our printer. They have had a good chance to share with Boop,
who is back in India now, and to meet many of the interesting people
that he has been dealing with in India. They have a meeting with
Israel planned this week (just before Israel leaves to join the team
in Australia), as well as a meeting with our publisher in India, who
continues to get the Easy English material out there, and to offer
free copies of the book to people there in lieu of royalties.

IRELAND

Alf and Martin have just concluded an amazing outreach to Ireland,
where they were able to get out as many as 400 copies of Survivors in
a single day to the enthusiastic crowds that they encountered. They
are already making plans to return!

AMERICA

The U.S. teams have been challenged spiritually by the absence of
Reinhard's leadership for so long; but it is causing others to rise
to the occasion on this very young team.

SUDANESE REFUGEE

Cherry has finished all of the necessary paperwork to make George,
the refugee from Sudan who she has been settling in here in Sydney,
completely self-sufficient. He has his own flat (two bedrooms!), a
couple of casual gardening jobs, and has been enrolled in an English
reading course. The local Catholic Church, where George attends
several times a week, has been especially helpful. One day George
hopes to be able to sponsor some of the other refugees whom he met in
his fifteen years living at Kakuma Refugee Camp, just inside the
Kenyan border.

SURVIVORS CD

The soundtrack for the "Survivors" CD is now completed. It brings
the story to life, with theme music and sound effects from beginning
to end. These CDs will enable us to make longer-range outreaches,
since teams will be able to carry tens of thousands of them in their
vehicles and trailers with very little added weight now. Many thanks[/b:440b9d5ec5]

The "dating game" sounds like another desperate attempt to garner attention.

Does "paperwork" by Cherry mean that another JC is being supported by the Australian taxpayers?

How many JCs live on the dole?

Well it looks like David finally come clean about Rheinard's arrest, despite being asked repeatedly about it.

Given the choice between honesty and dishonesty, he had no problem concealing the truth.

His ridiculous, "so called" explanation is laughable. As with many of his explanations, he relies on his newsletter audience's lack of ability to adequately research what he has to say and they just have to take his word for it.

Just remember folks, you heard about the arrest here first!

While Dave's having a moment of honesty. Perhaps he could tell us what the deadly weapon was, that he keeps referring to? I don't seem to be able to pick it up in any of the transcripts.

I am also interested where my Nationwide Criminal checks might vary from David's copies. You see in the United States, virtually anyone can for a fee, obtain nationwide criminal records of anyone. Mine don't seem to mention any other offences in relation to Jared and John.

Could this be David using his writing skills to infer things, knowing most people wouldn't either know how to or wouldn't take the time to check? Surely not!

Is it my imagine or are there more references to parent visits in the Jesus Christian's newsletters of late?

This from the July 2007, edition:

Quote

Both Karl and Gidraph visited their families this month, and both families expressed joy that their sons are doing something so positive and meaningful with their lives, even though there is no monetary reward for the work that they do.

If I was a synic, I suggest that sentence above was written by someone with a bit of PR experience.

This couldn't have anything to do, with the questions being raised about David's trying to keep families apart. Something along the lines of, our members have good relations with their parents, except if they're, "dysfunctional". Read that to mean, any of them that disagrees with Dave.

It anyone's ever doubted Dave's ability to turn a negative into a positive, they should read, "God's Provision", posted by him on his website on Monday 31 July, 2007.

Dave, ever conscious he might be filmed and no doubt starting to feel the effects of being recognised after being on television, embarks on the best defence is a good offence.

Here is justifies his been seeing at Star City Casino using the slot machines and making use of the facilities.

Ross, the "paperwork" is referring to Cherry assisting a refugee.

These people obviously end up thinking that it's simply Dave and Cherry helping them and become "grateful" to them. The disappointing thing is that the Quakers have provided funds for this refugee work, when there are lots of legitimate and accountable refugee organisations that the money could go to.

The Jesus Christians are not incorporated, they are not registered by ASIC as a company, they do not even have charitable status in New South Wales. Effectively, any money given to them is being given to Dave and Cherry and it says as much in the Minutes of the Quakers.

Dave's claim to fame for helping refugees comes from a time he used a situation (he "uses" lots of situations) in Australia in 2002 to write yet another book, that could be sold. He set up what he called a refugee embassy not far from the Woomera Detention Centre. He couldn't set it up in Woomera, as he got himself arrested, but that's another story. Anyway, the refugee embassy was basically a van, draped with some banners. It shows how gullible the media are, in that he was regularly quoted as running this embassy, which was really only the base he was using to write his booklet. The Newcastle Quakers were one group who funded "the embassy" and Ross Parry a JC Member was actively promting his bank account to solicit further funds, obstesively to pay for the cost of printing the book.