If Douglas Stauffer was as dangerous as I had internally questioned, would not our pastor or the men at our church have had the wisdom to discern such a froward spirit? Even if people did recognize his haughtiness, were we not not to be one body, working together in our respective strengths to accomplish God’s work? We were not each beset with our own weaknesses and sin nature, but still behooved by Scripture to be gracious, knowing that God looketh on the heart? It was not until 2016, at a time before my family had ever personally witnessed or experienced the vast extent of Stauffer’s destructive nature, that we realized Stauffer essentially camouflaged his true nature in plain sight for all to see. Just two months before our Zambia trip that year, Douglas Stauffer showed his true colors after Pastor Andrew Ray sent us his direction, as head of missions, for his analysis of our flight situation with the upcoming election. Little did we know that Stauffer had no qualms with twisting the truth, and that my family was suddenly in the cross-hairs.
A Dire Situation
At the beginning of June when several missionaries responded back, they informed us of violent protests taking place across Zambia because of the upcoming election. Properties were being destroyed, lives were being lost, and our tickets landed us directly in the capital on election day. The missionaries strongly suggested that we either alter our trip dates, or change the final flight destination to a large city a few hours north of the capital. When we called the flight agency, however, the representatives informed us that the insurance we had paid for with our tickets only covered medical emergencies, not political unrest, and it would cost several hundred dollars per ticket to change either the location or the date, plus whatever additional fees the agency required in the process. We were suddenly looking at needing several thousand dollars more, on top of the original ticket costs, during the same month that we were paying for the vaccinations costs as well.
As we prayed, knowing that God had worked through every circumstance thus far, we remembered that Pastor Andrew Ray had said to let him know if we needed help with any expenses. My husband, Matthew Olds (Matt), humbly spoke with Pastor Andrew Ray, asking for financial assistance to protect our family. Looking back, it would have been disheartening if Pastor Ray had simply said our church was unable to help us, but we would have just continued to pray and wait for God to work. Much to our dismay, however, Pastor Ray directed us to go through Douglas Stauffer for his analysis on if our church could help our family or not, and to what extent.
Claws Beneath the Wool
Over the course of the next several weeks, Matt brought data and information to Stauffer about the situation and potential costs. Stauffer would then ask more questions, and Matt would return with the exact answers until one evening in late June, just prior to meeting with Pastor Ray and Stauffer about the financial situation, when Stauffer finally shared his opinion: “You didn’t do your homework.” As we frantically searched through our files for proof of our research, we had no idea what Stauffer had planned for the coming meeting with Pastor Andrew Ray.
In this series I share my thoughts and opinions concerning these ministers and the events which led to my departure. Click here to continue reading: “Blindsided: Douglas Stauffer’s Deceitful Misleading” or click on the link below.
For a list of the complete series, click here.
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