Category: Churches

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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**Names marked with an asterisk (*) have been changed for the privacy of individuals and their families**

When Doctor’s Shrug

Researching online today (2020), documents, studies and even recent evaluations about the yellow-fever vaccine and breastfeeding are readily available, likely because of the push toward “Breast is Best.” Four year ago, however, it was nigh impossible to find the details of documented cases with nurslings, but the Lord had already opened the door for contact with multiple International Board Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) and several doctors who were knowledgeable about breastfeeding because of those many years of struggling with breastfeeding that I NEVER thought I would be thankful for! Though the lack of published documentation about the transfer of the yellow-fever vaccine through breast milk yielded more questions than answers, each doctor was able to provide new pieces to the puzzle which aided us toward a clearer answer. We continued to research and pray, knowing that God already knew the answers, until one evening, while scouring the internet for any credible data, the Lord finally guided us to the very cases used as evidence to support not administering the yellow-fever vaccine to nursing mothers!

As it turns out, the only documented cases in nurslings that were adversely affected (yellow-fever encephalitis, etc.) by their mothers receiving the yellow-fever vaccine involved newborns who died within a month of the mother receiving the vaccine. Our little Annabelle*, though a nursling, was going to be nine-months-old by the time we went for our travel immunization appointment, the exact minimum age for receiving the yellow-fever vaccine. If Annabelle* was medically old enough to receive it herself, though not required yet in Zambia until age one, why would it be dangerous for the vaccine to pass through breast milk, except in the possible case of her dose, plus mine, overloading her system? We continued to work with the medical professionals until we all reached the safest conclusion: I would receive the yellow-fever vaccine, not Annabelle*, and my breast milk would provide her with the antibodies my body created in reaction to the yellow-fever vaccine. We were relieved, but we also knew we were not entirely out of the woods, yet.

Our Miraculous God

When we arrived at our travel immunization appointment, we respectfully showed the nurses the clearly-listed requirement for the yellow-fever vaccine on the Zambian Embassy’s website, but they still could not administer it to our family because it went against the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control (CDC). We followed up in the room by calling the Zambian Embassy, as we had already done over a month prior at home to verify the requirement, and then requested that the nurse come over and speak with the Zambian embassy in D.C. directly. Afterwards, she left for what felt like years, but then came back with the vaccinations and blank certificates we required for the trip! God was faithful, and once again, He answered our prayers in ways that we NEVER could have imagined.

Looking back, God’s hand was evident every step of the way, from finding out that most of the vaccination costs were covered, to keeping Brendon* safe when his neck spasmed up a week after receiving the yellow fever vaccine. The Lord miraculously corrected a prescription note mistake at no cost to us, and then provided just the right pediatrician before the trip to advise us about using jelly packets to help our children ingest their anti-malaria medication! This does not even begin to cover how he provided for the international medical insurance, the approval from a sleep doctor for my husband’s CPAP to be on the plane, or the process of getting my medication authorized for the plane in case of an allergic reaction!

God had been so good to us, and we rested in that knowledge as we continued to wait and pray for God to somehow work through the situation with our tickets and the dangerous protests erupting in Zambia with the upcoming election. Our faith had been tried, our resources spent, and we were exhausted already, but we encouraged each other to keep our eyes focused on the Lord, knowing that the God who parted the Red Sea and made dry bones talk could handle this situation, also. The last thing we expected, however, was for Douglas Stauffer to become the next major roadblock on our way to Africa.

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: Sent to the Wolf, Unaware” or click on the link below.

For a list of the complete series, click here.

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**Names marked with an asterisk (*) have been changed for the privacy of individuals and their families**

When my oldest son, Brendon* was about two months old, he developed an infection with a severe wheezing cough that left even the on-call pediatrician concerned because of his general lack of responsiveness. After realizing that Brendon* had not been inoculated against whooping cough, the pediatrician instantly sent him over to Children’s Hospital to be tested, but as I frantically researched through the night while waiting for the results, we learned that whooping cough usually killed around day ten, while results would not become available until around day fourteen! I was distraught, especially considering we had just made the decision not the vaccinate against pertussis (whooping cough). Knowing that my uncle died from polio, we had previously decided to move forward with vaccinating our children- just on a delayed schedule- but we decided against the whooping cough vaccine because the immunization had proven itself deadly on my father’s side of the family and almost claimed my brother’s life as well. The new a-cellular pertussis vaccine contained a lower dosage, according to the pediatrician, and thus tended to have significantly less side effects, but we were nervous to take the risk. Shortly after this decision, my little newborn was being tested for whooping cough, and it carried just shy of a 100% death rate in children under six months. I was an emotional wreck for days, fearing we could lose our little boy.

Within a few days, however, Brendon* started acting more like himself, and shortly after that, we received the negative results back from Children’s hospital! Though we were beyond grateful that God had saved his little life, vaccines became an even weightier topic in our home. Unfortunately, when it came to our Zambia trip, the list of recommended vaccinations appeared endless. To make it worse, Zambian officials required a certification of immunization against yellow fever, a live-vaccine known for knocking trained military-men off their feet, before permitting travelers into the country. Though we worried for our children, we had no idea that this one vaccine would become a predicament unto itself.

Required… Or Not? 

In Zambia, yellow fever had only been eradicated for several years and the Zambian embassy clearly stated, “Since 1^st October 2011, all travelers to and from Zambia are required to be in possession of either a Yellow Fever Certificate or a valid wavier certificate.” With this in mind, we gathered our immunization records from out-of-state, obtained updated records for our children, and called the health department to gather precise information about immunization requirements and costs for our upcoming trip. To our dismay, the nurses informed us that they could not administer the yellow-fever vaccine to us because the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website stated the vaccine was not recommended for American traveler’s to Zambia! No matter what information we gave from the Zambian embassy, their hands were tied.  Furthermore, even if they could approve the vaccine and give us the yellow-fever vaccination certificate required to enter Zambia, they could not administer it to Annabelle* because she was less than nine months, creating a new conflict for administering my yellow-fever immunization because it was “counter-indicated” for breastfeeding mothers. Combine that with learning that the total vaccinations costs amounted to several thousand dollars and it was beyond our ability. We could only rest in knowing that God alone was able to work out the details and get us to Zambia in a few short months.

Should Our Children Stay? 

The Zambian embassy confirmed over the phone that they did, in fact, require the yellow-fever vaccination certificate for Americans to enter into the country, but there was still nothing more we could do until the appointment at the health department. Should the health department decide to follow the CDC website according to protocol, our options would be limited to canceling the trip or risking someone stopping us at the border and possibly offering our family that vaccine unofficially at inflated prices. To say the least, receiving the vaccines through the health department before departure was the significantly better option. We decided to pray and allow God to work miraculously in the days leading up to our appointment, while we focused in on the safety of me and Annabelle* even receiving the vaccination because of breastfeeding.

Would it not be better to wean Annabelle* before her first birthday so we could leave our children safely behind with trusted friends? On the other hand, would it be detrimental to be away from our separation-anxiety-prone children for two whole weeks? And how would we ever know exactly what we needed to have prepared for the field if our children stayed back in the states? We grappled with the idea for a while, but finally decided, again, to move forward, knowing that the very God who called us to go to Zambia in a few years was the same one we needed to entrust with our children for the upcoming trip, and the same one who already knew the answers.

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: Medical Mazes (Part Two)” or click on the link below.

For a list of the complete series, click here.

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Early in public high school, I was privileged to see the Lord work miraculously by answering prayers in ways that would increase my faith and even begin preparation for missions later in life. During this time, I firmly believed that Crown College was the next step in God’s direction for my life, but simply visiting the college was a hurdle unto itself as my unsaved parents hesitated to send me to a private Bible college that was out-of-state, rather than to a successful, accredited college nearby. As the months went on, my father eventually set his eyes on a liberal college nearby in honor of a friend’s devout daughter who had unexpectedly passed away while attending the college just a few months prior. On the morning of our visit, however, the Lord used an elderly gentleman seated behind us at Bob Evans- nearly a hundred miles from our home, by the way!- to sternly warn my father about the college’s immense shortcomings! By the time we left the college that day, my father was not only firmly against this particular school, but he was finally ready to visit Crown, with one stipulation in mind: I had to do the leg-work for planning the trip.

Truly, the entire situation at Bob Evans was an answer to prayer, a solid pillar in my life that I could look back on to remember God working through the impossible, but the Lord used it for significantly more later on. While I probably looked like a deer-in-headlights from my father’s purposefully limited guidance in planning the trip to Tennessee, this one life-lesson provided me with the knowledge and experience to break down a major trip into manageably-sized potions. By the time my husband and I were preparing for our Zambia trip a decade later, that seemingly minuscule folder of lists for the Crown trip evolved into organized binders, an expandable file folder, multiple envelopes to carry pertinent documents, and computer files where the folders had folders, and even the lists had lists! Zambia made the Crown trip look like a cake-walk, but the Lord used it to prepare us for navigating through passports, visas, medical authorizations, complications with necessary immunizations, packing for our young family, and infinitely more. Through it all, when we became overwhelmed or discouraged, the Lord continually reminded us of His goodness in the past, and that “The future is as bright as the promises of God.”

**Names marked with an asterisk (*) have been changed for the privacy of individuals and their families**

Passport Blessings

Back in 2014, before Douglas Stauffer had a significant influence, we were astonished when Pastor Andrew Ray had graciously offered for Antioch Baptist Church to pay for our passports to assist us in completing our survey trip before starting deputation! Our tentative trip that year did not come together, but around the time we bought the airline tickets two years later, we continued to count it a blessing that we only needed to apply for Annabelle’s* passport, saving us hundreds of dollars. We were even more excited to learn that we only needed to get two extra passport photos each to send with our visa applications. Imagine our relief to learn that Walgreens was still issuing regulation-approved passport photos considering we needed 2inx2in photos, with head sizes between 1-3/4 inches, white backgrounds, and neutral expressions, not just for ourselves, but for an eight month old infant and a high-energy two-year-old boy! The ways that God worked in the little things were ever a reminder of the goodness and greatness of God.

Strict Government Documentation

After receiving Annabelle’s* passport in the mail and confirming with the missionaries that we needed to apply for four tourist visas, we finished-up the two completed visa applications per family member, with a signed, recently-taken passport photo attached to each individual application, as per instructions on the Embassy website. The Zambian Embassy also required our physical passports, individual copies of the confirmed airline ticket/itinerary, and separate money orders/cashier’s checks for each set of applications! As we prepared to send off the documents, praying they were filled out correctly/entirely and attempting to trust the Lord to keep these sensitive documents safe in the mail, we learned that the Zambian embassy FURTHER required the paperwork to include a pre-paid return-envelope that was completely filled out. Any mistake in paperwork, documentation, or mailing information could not only delay the approval of our visas, but significantly increase the amount of time it would take to receive them back.

After calling around to the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the United Postal Service (UPS) without success for the service we needed, we were finally directed to Fed-Ex, a company that had already established a process for providing tracking numbers with the initial and return envelopes, as well as the ability to charge an account later on for the return shipping cost. Within a few short weeks, the Lord came through once again as the Embassy notified us that our visas were approved without complications, and we later praised the Lord for returning our sensitive documents in a safe and timely manner!

Planning for the Unexpected

Per my father’s advice, we placed our passports in our recently-purchased passport holders to go around our necks during travel for safe-keeping, and we made copies of our passports and other important documents in case anything became misplaced on the trip. After that, while researching about passing through customs, we learned that misplacing our passports could result in our children being stopped and held in a country overseas until we could provide official documents- in this case, birth certificates- to prove to the government that we were not transporting someone else’s children out of the country illegally! In general, presenting birth certificates would have been considered sufficient, but as a married woman, several governments required a marriage license as well as proof of a change in surname!  After making multiple copies, we placed these pertinent documents with the other papers for the trip.

Thankfully, we never lost our passports and never had to show proof of rightful guardianship, but we were grateful for the advice to prepare ahead of time. Imagine our surprise, however, to learn of our next bump in the road: immunizations. The local health department already greatly hesitated to give us the yellow-fever vaccination required by the Zambian Embassy because Annabelle* was a nursing infant, but then they further informed us that they were restricted from administering it to us because of conflicting information between the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations, and the Zambian Embassy website’s requirements for entering the country.

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: Medical Mazes (Part One)” or click on the link below.

For a list of the complete series, click here.

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Shop at our Amazon store! As an Amazon Influencer, this website earns from qualifying purchases.