An Unknown Follower Of Jesus

[Overcomer]

I hardly know where to put this, but I am hoping it will be read by those who are seeking eye witness accounts of the truth. My response to this thread may need to go somewhere else on this site. Here is my testimony of what transpired when I lived with a young family of members of "The Church in Blackpool" sometime between mid to late 1979 to January 1980. I attended meetings there. I remember that there was a sister either there or in Ipswich who was a gifted singer and guitar player. She sang, I believe from one of the books on Timothy. She loved to sing and we loved listening to her. The Living Stream Ministry was interested in the tape she made of her singing, in order to distribute it under the Living Stream label. However, she had to sign legal paperwork to sign over and release her ownership of her music to the Living Stream Ministry. She received no remuneration, but had to give up all rights to her music. I do not remember her name but can only wonder if that music is still sold by LSM. I believe her tape was available by the summer of 1980, as I worked at the book table during the training, not a table but an area in the meeting area, with a long countertop where members could buy Living Stream Publishers materials. I believe that most of the workers tasked with book sales were also volunteers, providing free labor both for the office and as book sellers.

On another matter, did not John Ingalls write many of the hymns in the hymnal originally put out by LSM? It would have been the first edition. Were not John Ingalls and others the translators of the LSM Bible, but their names were later removed after they left??

I spent the summer of 1980 living with a young couple, Sterling and Karen Byassee, attending meetings in Santa Ana, and I volunteered at the Living Stream. My own locality was greatly affected by the eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano, so I came south back to my home state. In addition to my volunteer work at LSM, I also worked as a temporary worker for a company unconnected to the Local Churches or to LSM to support myself. I was not privy to the turmoil in the office. However, I do remember that Bev Goyer, in my brief time there, was tense. I also remember a chubby guy who wore suits but never seemed to do any work. The work I did was helping to duplicate tapes; there was a special duplicating machine for cassette tapes. I also worked packing orders for books, small orders to individuals. I remember there were unlocked metal filing cabinets in the open area adjacent to the packing area, where correspondence from around the world was kept. I remember reading a letter which I had written in a prior year to Lee telling him that I was not following any man, but I was following the Lord and if he ever deviated, I would not continue with his teachings. Ha! I was true to my word.

I don't know if anybody reads this, but I was a faithful, innocent young person saved at the age of 8 in vacation Bible school (in a mainstream denomination). I encountered the LC during 6th grade and was a member from 1971 to 1981, plus an additional two years after I left, re-entering society outside the group. I am currently reading the end of Jane Carol Anderson's book about her experiences, called Thread of Gold. I also read with interest, Dr. Hsu's book on her experiences both in China and the U.S.. As a contemporary of Nee and Lee, she gives an enlightening account well worth reading.

I think this site is an important one because it gives people who fell through the cracks a voice to speak the truth. The LC members won't listen to us (I know I did not when I was a member), but people who are seeking the doorway out of the LC might find the accounts on this site related to their own experience and/or an eye-opening experience. Current LC members have to leave their own agendas to understand what is being spoken here. Respectfully yours, an unknown follower of Jesus.