September 10, 1975 (6th post): We find joy and cleansing through a chance meeting with friends of the Waterman’s, fellow born-again Christians who have the same openess of heart and non-condeming attitude regarding faults shared.

September 10, 1975 (5th post): The church leaders who see us as stumbling blocks to the salvation of youth, fail to understand that it is they who are the stumbling blocks.

September 10, 1975 (4th post): I reflect on how we were kicked out of the Baptist Youth conference over the Labor day weekend and by those who were former Christian friends.

September 10, 1975 (3rd post): We believe God has purposely and repeatedly led us into dire circumstances, so as to reveal to us the hypocirsy of traditional Christianity. I digress, recalling our experiences at the Baptist Youth Congress.

September 10, 1975 (2nd post): Upon arrival in St. John’s we stayed in youth hostel, then were offered a room in a non-christian couple’s place. Non of the many Christians we met and fellowshipped with during our first week were willing to help us out with a place to stay, even though Cindy is nine months pregnant.

September 10, 1975: Hitchiked across Nova Scotia to the Cape Breton ferry then the 3 or 4 hundred miles across Newfoundland. We feel caught between two worlds: traditional Christianity and Christian community. Having tasted the joy of daily shared experiences with other believers; having experienced the greater love found among believers dwelling together in unity; how can we do other than strive for what is best?

August 6, 1975 Wednesday: We try relocating to Bear River but nothing works out so we move to Halifax in the hopes of finding work and a place to minister.

July 9, 1975 (8th post): Our closest friends, Joe and Marie Umidi, abandon us. In a flash of insight I realize that as great as our suffering seems to us, it is far, far less than what Jesus suffered on our behalf. We return to Bear River to be among friends who still stand with us, in particular, Rev. Earl and Pat Waterman and they family.

July 9, 1975 (7th post): The fundamentalist mindset is what gave rise to all that is evil in Christianity’s past: the inquisitions, the crusades, the torture and burning of heretics, the salem witch trials, the only difference being that for the first time in history our American separation of church and state provides for deliverance from the force of the state. But having witnessed first hand the lust of these so-called “Christian” leaders for power and for the destruction of those whom they imagine to be evil, I have no doubt they would have tried to kill me if it were in their power.

July 9, 1975 (6th post): We confront trans-local shepherding, discovering that Jake wrote his church (a 1000 miles away) about me. He provided no details, requesting a Holy Spirit “reading” and they wrote back that I was a false prophet (never mind the fact that I’ve never prophesied and don’t consider myself a prophet!). There is much spiritual sickness among Christians who are both uneducated and prone to fear things they do not understand. The leaders of this so-called “Deliverance Ministry” will have a lot to answer for, when they stand before God!