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As if hand-sewing were not already the bane of all existence, the inventor of the sewing needle must laugh in his grave, watching the hours of torture people endure attempting to get an ever-fraying piece of thread through a minuscule hole barely chiseled out at the top of a needle! To make matters worse, certain projects require various sizes of needles, while thread seems to come in as many widths as it does colors, resulting in the need for a different sized needle depending on the thread! Several years back, however, a man visited at my church in Maryland and preached a message I have never forgotten: “God knows how to thread your needle. He knows how to supply your need.” That one phrase has stuck with me for more than a decade, especially considering I am one of those people that is extremely grateful for the self-threading option on sewing machines and I avoid hand-sewing like the plague! In the midst of uncertain trials, the Lord has often reminded me that God already knew exactly what I needed, exactly how to take of it, and how to use it to make me more like Him. As we encountered obstacles along the journey of finally visiting Zambia, I reminded myself of that truth often, repeating multiple times along the way, “God knows how to thread my needle. He knows how to supply my need.”

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

Moving Forward By Faith

Just before the spring of 2016, Matthew Olds and I were elated to see the Lord work out the finances for our survey trip to Zambia, Africa after several years of waiting and praying, but we also knew that the time-frame for purchasing tickets at a decent rate for during the cool-dry season was closing fast. According to several missionaries, as well as the Zambian embassy and travel sites, the long cool-wet season was often crippled by flooding, and the hot-dry season would be nearly unbearable, if not dangerous, considering the ages of our young children. We also knew that if we did not order tickets soon, we risked postponing our survey trip another year, or possibly needing to start deputation without a survey trip under our belts. Therefore, after looking at the Zambian calendar to avoid major holidays and events, we ordered tickets for our little growing family in March of 2016 for near the end of Zambia’s cool-dry season, trusting God to work out the details.

Twenty-Seven-Year-Old Lap-Baby

In late April, as I went online to send off copies of the flight itineraries to both of our parents as a safety precaution for going overseas, I noticed something peculiar about the tickets. The tickets listed Annabelle*, our youngest at the time, as a twenty-seven-year-old male, and my husband as the eight-month-old, female lap-baby attached to my ticket. My two-year-old son, Brendon*, was also listed as the head person to reference on the tickets! While ordering the actual tickets online, I had to call the travel site because I was struggling to add Annabelle* as a lap baby- one that is young enough to sit on a passenger’s lap and usually does not require a full-price airline ticket- but the website lacked clear directions on how to purchase her ticket. Over the phone, almost a month prior by this point, the customer service representative confirmed that Annabelle* was not listed and added her to my ticket, but he must have mixed up our family’s personal information in the process!

As comical as it was to imagine my husband as a lap-baby and my daughter as a twenty-seven-year-old male, I feared this technical error could delay us in customs or prevent us from boarding a flight. Unfortunately, calling multiple times a week for months and dealing with conflicting information even between representatives, accomplished absolutely nothing besides wasted time and stressful days. As the dilemma continued, never resolving until shortly before the trip, it tried our faith as an underlying current throughout the entire preparation process. We held-fast to God’s declaration that He held the entirety of the world in the palm of His hand.

Letters Through the Internet Abyss

Even though we had a few missionary contacts in the country, the internet in Zambia was entirely unreliable, and snail mail could circulate around the globe for months. After working through several drafts, we sent out emails, Facebook messages, and any form of contact we could think of to find a missionary to host our family, but even after a month, there were no responses. We continued to wait and pray, keeping in mind that several people who had visited Zambia before had already warned us that emails seemed to get lost in the abyss of Zambian internet. In the meantime, we researched the possibility of needing to stay in a Zambian hotel by ourselves. Disheartened, we admitted what we already knew, that learning the culture and seeing the ministry work of an already established missionary was wiser, and not to mention safer.

Right On Time

As we worked through the process of passports and visas, and the dilemma of my infant’s ticket, we waited prayerfully, yet anxiously, for a response. Finally, after what felt like years, the Lord answered in HIS timing- not ours- and a missionary responded back near the end of May. They could not host us at the time, but they were able to get in contact with another missionary. Then another responded. And another. And another. We witnessed God working miraculously until a point in time when we had several missionaries that were graciously willing to host our family during our survey trip!

Just two months before our scheduled trip, the Lord worked out the locations our family would stay in Zambia, and we were excited to stay with a missionary family to the Deaf that Matt had been praying for and keeping up with throughout college, as well as another missionary family nearby that had been in Zambia for almost twenty years! Reading their responses, however, we also learned that political unrest had recently started in Zambia because of the upcoming election, and we were set to land in the capital on election day. The missionaries suggested changing where we were set to land or adjusting the dates of the trip entirely. While my head started spinning and I anxiously called the travel site on multiple occasions, my husband bathed this new dilemma in prayer and encouraged me to continue planning and preparing as we had been for months, resting in the knowledge that God was able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or think.

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: Crossing I’s and Dotting T’s” or click on the link below.

For a list of the complete series, click here.

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“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” Proverbs 25:14

My husband and I had always questioned the rational behind Douglas Stauffer leading the missions department at our church considering his lack of experience as a missionary, but what difference did it make when we could inquire from other people around us about the realities of deputation and the mission field? Besides, maybe he did have bits of wisdom from his time as an assistant pastor, and considering he was a supposed evangelist, he would have already had experience and knowledge about deputation and how to get one’s name out to churches. We hesitantly tested the waters, keeping our eyes on Zambia, but instead of wells of wisdom, we found a perpetual drought.

Straining at a Gnat

“”Ye Blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” Matthew 23:24

Peter Ruckman, an Independent Baptist scholar and founder of Pensacola Bible Institute in Pensacola, Florida, is well known for his outlandish claims about the “Authorized King James Bible” correcting the so-called errors of the Textus Receptus and the Greek and Hebrew texts. Ruckman’s followers, commonly referred to as “Ruckmanites,” have continued to perpetuate these teachings even after Ruckman’s death in 2016. Despite Pastor Andrew Ray telling us initially that Antioch Baptist Church was not a Ruckmanite church, we heard often from the pulpit about the fallacies of using the Greek and Hebrew, and how missionaries are Bible-corrupters [correctors] if they do not translate from the King James Version on the field. What did this have to do with Douglas Stauffer? Stauffer was a strong Ruckmanite and as far as we could tell, a major part of his job description was scrutinizing potential missionaries against this standard.

Stauffer’s personal view can be summed up with his statement that if one uses the modern version, he has no authority, and if one uses the Greek or the Hebrew, he is his own authority. (For a more detailed response from Stauffer himself about referencing the Greek and Hebrew, click here.) When it came to those of us surrendered to the mission field, rather than advising on how to find churches for deputation, he asked us to make a database of churches for him that were not only King James Only, but also did not use the Greek or the Hebrew. Essentially, he taught us how to limit our resources to a legalistic, Ruckmanite standard, making us thankful for being able to fall back on the insight we were given from experienced missionaries at Crown College of the Bible.

Seeing the Forest for Trees

The second part of Stauffer’s job description as head of missions was visiting the missionaries our church supported to make sure they were doing what our church felt they were supposed to be doing with our monthly support. But how did he view them? As equal brothers in Christ in the ministry? As one body working together for the cause of Christ? No, not in the slightest, because interestingly enough, Douglas Stauffer stated repeatedly that pastoring in the United States, a job he supposedly did not want to do, was significantly more difficult than being a missionary on the foreign field. The irony though, considering his previous position as an assistant pastor, is that he stated repeatedly that he, personally, would never go to Africa.

Guiding Future Missionaries

While we were not looking for a close mentor or someone to hold our hands, we were longing for hands-on experience in the ministry to prepare for the field. In contrast, when it came to our calling to work with the Deaf in Africa, Stauffer purposefully limited- and eventually eliminated- the amount of times we were interpreting in the service despite that the set-up was established in case any Deaf showed up at the church. What was his reasoning behind the decision? It was supposedly so we could receive more of the actual preaching.

Additionally, his lack of encouragement for anyone in their personal walks with the Lord and failure to point anyone to Christ for direction and guidance spoke volumes. Instead, he was a detriment to those God had called to the mission field and even later excused his behavior by equating one’s ability to deal with his discouragement with how successful one would be on the mission field. Stauffer was, admittedly, a purposeful stumbling block to my family, but God had already proved Himself faithful in our lives multiple times over, and thankfully, we were not dependent on Douglas Stauffer to get us to the field.

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: Planning on a Prayer” or click on the link below.

For a list of the complete series, click here.

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Pastors and church members alike stand in grateful awe of an innocent young man who daily longs for a closer walk with his Heavenly Father, and desires nothing more than to follow God to ends of the earth, no matter the sickness, storms, or trials that may come, even if it means he loses his life. On the other hand, there are wolves and serpents who desire to destroy them or at the very least, tear them down, leaving them to pick up the pieces. Why is this? Is it jealousy? It is a bitterness toward God? Is it because man wrongfully tends to esteem the missionary calling above the work of an evangelist in the states?  Or is it the future missionary’s child-like faith that stings and convicts the heart of men like Douglas Stauffer?

Just a Little Boy in Michigan

The spunky little boy elbows his brother as the missionary wife teaching the rambunctious Sunday preschool class is asking for the hands of those who want to accept Christ as their Savior. His older brother tries to pull his arm down until his side is met by the pointed corner of the little boy’s elbow. As the blonde preschooler proceeds to go to another room with a few other children, he does not come to a saving knowledge of Christ until the very moment he is repeating back, and simultaneously grasping, the points of a sinner’s prayer.

A Call to Missions

At the age of seven, he surrenders to be a missionary, and at the age of twelve, specifically to the lost and dying souls in Africa. As a teenager, the young man fervently studies the word of God and prays with such personal intimacy that God can be felt nearby with every word. During his first year of Bible college, after a heavy influence on the country of Zambia, Africa (two countries north of South Africa), he yields himself yet again to the tugging of the Holy Spirit to reach the Deaf in Zambia, a people group often without even a basic language structure, almost completely unreached for Christ.

Moving Forward by Faith

That same year, that Christian young man and I meet, myself just a young Christian girl also surrendered to missions, but completely entrenched in the troughs of a legalistic, Independent Fundamental Baptist mini-cult situation. We begin courting as the situation unravels, and we begin to plan our lives together through deputation and serving God on the mission field. A couple years after getting married, we leave the pastor-worshiping church at the college and find a quaint little church in the Knoxville area: Antioch Baptist Church. We join knowing full-well that my husband, Matthew Olds, will likely never receive his bachelor’s degree because we were initially from out-of-state and will no longer be members, per the enforced rules at our Bible college. We press-on through education at Antioch Bible Institute in preparation for the mission field. Just a few months later in 2014, the Lord works a miracle, placing Matt on the list to walk at graduation, opening the door for him to complete his classes and officially complete his degree. All he needs are a couple more classes and his mission’s internship, a trip that he has been planning for years to use as his survey trip to the mission field.

An Opportunity to Visit the Mission Field

Later in the fall, an opportunity arises to go to Zambia through a missionary the church supports, but because of timing, Matt will have to get his passport and visa within two weeks, leaving me and our infant nursling at home in order to visit the field. This may be our only opportunity to see the field before deputation, but the largest Ebola outbreak in history recently emerged and is spreading rapidly, killing thousands of people, even within the Congo, one of Zambia’s neighboring countries. Even though I am a mess and trying to support him, Matt trusts the Lord, by faith, that if God desires for him to go on the trip that month, that God will work it out. Evangelist Doug Stauffer, on the other hand, strongly points out the logical flaws in expecting God to come through on such short notice and with the hectic circumstances. Individually, Matt and I see a stark difference in Stauffer’s view versus the spirit of faith so evident in our pastor, Andrew Ray. In the end, the trip does not come together, but we continue to pray that God will open the doors for us to visit the field before starting deputation.

Looking back, I can see the discernment in not going to Africa during the Ebola outbreak, but we had been taught repeatedly to “count the cost.” Even before surrendering to the field, we knew of missionaries that God protected when they ended up being swept down the Amazon river, literally watching the piranhas as they went, as well as countless other missionaries who lost their lives for cause of Christ. But Matt kept his eyes “set like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) with a tunnel-vision on the precious Deaf he had prayed for already for years. This was our first true interaction with Douglas Stauffer beyond casual conversations about the King James Bible and the end times, and what we saw very vividly was Stauffer’s rapid shifting to relying on sight instead of faith. We questioned Stauffer’s mindset in the coming months, but when Pastor Andrew Ray encouraged us to garner wisdom from Stauffer as the head of missions, we attempted to trust our pastor despite our hesitations. But was Stauffer a man from whom it would be prudent to seek wise counsel and understanding?

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- Clouds Without Rain” or click on the link below.

For a list of the complete series, click here.

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“Let another man praise thee, and not thine out mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.” Proverbs 27:2

“Every way of man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.” Proverbs 21:2

As a social butterfly and extrovert, greeting came almost naturally, even in a backward church where several of the prominent men hesitated to vocally welcome or shake hands with a woman who had not spoken up or extended a hand of fellowship first. Surprisingly, this ministry opened many opportunities to connect with church members that tended to keep to themselves, or ones with whom our personalities did not easily mesh. The best part was that with every service we greeted (only about once a week), we developed a better grasp of some of our church family’s facial expressions and body language,  allowing us to reach out to those in our church family who appeared to be silently carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. On the other hand, unfortunately, greeting also increased the incidence of a reoccurring interaction with Douglas Stauffer, yet another product of what we feel is Stauffer’s greatest infatuation: himself.

A Peculiar Greeting

Sometime before serving in the greeter ministry, probably around when we all first joined at Antioch, he caught us off guard when he shook our hands and said, “Good to see me!” It was such a unique and comical statement that even when he said it the second time, it had only slightly lost its charm. By the third time, however, it had grown old, and even more so with every time he repeated it after that. For a long time, I brushed it off, attempting to give Stauffer the benefit of the doubt because of how often he traveled, and “Who could possibly remember everyone he made a particular statement to, especially if he used it at every church?”

When he stayed in the Knoxville area for several months at a time, however, focusing on his next book, Stauffer continued to use that phrase at most services with my family and countless others, revealing that there was likely some truth behind his playful statement. As if in betrayal, his tone and body language also left the lasting impression in several families that he actually believed the statement himself. I can still hear his sarcastic tone as he regularly greeted my husband at the door with a handshake and a “Good to see me!”, but at least formally greeting Stauffer at the door prevented him from focusing solely on our children while completely ignoring my husband, as had been Stauffer’s habit for years already. Were we justified in our frustration or were we merely becoming disgruntled over something petty and insignificant?

Parroted Justifications

Over the years, I privately questioned a couple people I trusted and respected about Doug Stauffer’s attitude in general, but the majority excused Stauffer’s words and mannerisms as merely being a part of his personality and confidence. There is no doubt that he has an outgoing personality, and, in the world’s view, that portrayed confidence during public speaking is considered essential, but then even in general conversations with out church members, keeping my hesitations to myself, many seemed to randomly parrot the justifications about his confidence and being a man who “loved numbers.” It was as if they were sub-consciously attempting to convince themselves at the same time, but because these were godly people who knew Stauffer better than I did, I attempted to let my guard down, even though I could never biblically justify the one continually boasting of his achievements in the Christian life. Later on, however, Stauffer confirmed my hesitations about his lack of character by relentlessly tearing down others and eventually placing his own pride before the safety of my family on a pending missions trip. Before finally getting to Stauffer’s deceitful actions in the months leading up to our trip to Zambia, let us look at Stauffer’s own perspective on the matter, as well as how his pattern of arrogance appears to continue after leaving Antioch Baptist Church.

Douglas Stauffer’s Prayer About His Pride

Just as several did in our church, Stauffer often supported his continual rattling-off of numbers by stating that he “loves numbers” as a CPA [Certified Public Accountant], but we feel his arrogance goes well beyond this overly used justification. A “love of numbers” is amoral by itself and does not automatically result in continually exclaiming one’s numerical achievements at seemingly every turn in order to increase other’s perception of his or her own knowledge and intellectual value. According to Douglas Stauffer, we are not alone in this observation. By Stauffer’s own testimony behind the pulpit in 2017, several people had accused him of being arrogant over the years, but after seriously praying about it, he concluded that he was, in fact, “not arrogant.” Therefore, taking into account the vast expanse of his supposed lack of arrogance, self-importance and egotism, I find the irony almost comical that on April 6, 2018, Doug Stauffer stated something seemingly profound on his personal Facebook page:

• Douglas Stauffer (April 6, 2018): “God won’t bless most of us with Bible knowledge because rather than a swollen heart, we would get a swollen head! (2 Cor 12:7).” (Link)
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe the Bible says it best in Proverbs 17:28, “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

A Continued Public Display

In 2019, just under a year after Stauffer’s carnal message at the King James Bible Conference where he compared godly people to a bunch of babies sucking their thumbs, Douglas Stauffer took over the position of pastor at Faith Independent Baptist Church in Niceville, Florida. As is to be expected, several people have posted reviews on the church’s Facebook page about how blessed they are to have him as a pastor and how thankful they are for him. While I truly hope Stauffer can learn from his past and actually treat people better as a pastor than he did as an “evangelist,” I feel that even his new stationary and promotional products continue the pattern of Stauffer promoting himself.

Notice the particular focus Stauffer placed (or allowed to be placed) on his achievements and accomplishments on his business cards and letterheads that he posted publicly on his Facebook page for all to see while “up at 3am studying for the Revelation seminar.” As is consistent with the way we believe Stauffer presents himself in a church and particularly while preaching, we feel that these documents paint an initial, surface-level focus on Christ, but is then packed with completely unnecessary information that focuses toward the great, accomplished and knowledgeable Douglas Stauffer.  The Bible says, “He must increase; and I must decrease” (John 3:30). Christ is the One that Stauffer is supposed to be exalting in the ministry, not himself.

• Douglas Stauffer (October 22, 2019 at 3:35am): Up at 3AM studying for the Revelation seminar…but want to share my new business card and letterhead. (Link)

The Prideful Preacher

Upon questioning any of his actions over the years, and especially following the Bible Conference in 2018, several justified Stauffer’s wording and mannerisms as merely being part of his personality and confidence. There is no doubt that he has an outgoing personality, and, in the world’s view, portrayed confidence during public speaking is considered essential, but continually proclaiming achievements and relentlessly tearing others down has no place in the life of a Christian. I firmly believe that this is more a matter of Douglas Stauffer’s character, or rather, the lack thereof.

Though one can attempt to give the benefit of the doubt, assuming Doug Stauffer may, in fact, be clueless about his prideful and spiritually abusive nature to use his presumed positions of authority to destroy anyone who does not worship the ground that he walks on, his proclamations in 2018 of purposefully starting off meetings with a heavy hand and being able to do whatever he wanted in the ministry at Antioch proves otherwise. Because of the numerous red flags about his lack of character, we had attempted to be cordial and friendly, but cautious. As much as we tried to avoid him beyond the casual greetings and conversations as church members, his swollen head eventually placed him at the head of missions, resulting in his direct influence over our time at Antioch Baptist. Personally, the part I will never forget is when Stauffer repeatedly used deceit, potentially leaving my family in a dangerous predicament in our upcoming missions trip 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: A Missionary’s Dream” 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.