STRANGERS GALLERY
We all settled into the little house, some in bedrooms and some in sleeping bags in other rooms. There was only one bathroom, which made things kind of touchy, but you are supposed to believe everything is for a reason and not worry. The first day after we figured out who was who, we went out to find jobs. We were only allowed to work part time and spend the rest of the time spreading the word, or as they put it, saving the world. Tim got a job at a clothing store in a nearby mall and Tom worked as some electrician's helper in a little shop along the main drag through Taylor. Roger was a janitor somewhere and I wound up at a Taco Bell.
This is after having been a promising young up and comer at Allstate insurance, with an office style career ahead of me and a normal life in tow. I was working part time at Taco Bell. But to stave off such feelings of inadequency I reminded myself that I was not here for me, I was here for others who needed saving from the evil, rotten world.
We would work whenever scheduled and "witness" the rest of the time. Every night we had fellowships with one of us taking turns "teaching."
Eventually Richard and his group rented a house across town and we stayed in the other house, while Frank the owner and his wife moved somewhere else. On Sundays we would go to Richard's for the big Sunday gathering of both twigs plus the local believers. And anyone we met by way of witnessing.
It started to get kind of scary when we had the occasional guest teacher for a Sunday fellowship, usually a high ranking ministry official. They would talk frequently about how our goal is to no longer be part of "this world." We needed to leave before it was destroyed by the "natural man." There were even songs about the topic. One of them was "Ready to Go," and the chorus went, "I'm ready and willing to go." We would sing this at meetings, everyone all happy faced and joyous.
Even though we worked only part time at our nothing little jobs we were still supposed to "tithe" each paycheck. I soon got to thinking that this was all a waste of time and a scam, and on reading the Detroit newspaper one morning I saw a biline underneath a story and the name was familiar. It was the same name as a high school teacher I had back in Virginia. I called the paper and talked to her and the first thing she said was,"what the hell are you doing here?" So I told her. And some ministry people found out. And it wasnt pretty.
TO BE CONTINUED...