The Life and Ministry of Rev. Calvert H. Midgley by Kraig J. Rice

"Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain confident"
(Psalm 27:3).

Cal was one of those old time preachers who had a lot of wisdom and a lot of love. He had a marvelous sense of humor and I remember the first time we made contact. One day my telephone rang and my wife took the call. It was 1982 and we were living in Cloverdale, Calif. at the time. I saw her face brighten as she talked on the phone, then she got a big grin on her face. It was Cal on the other end of the line. He called to say that he heard of Bread On The Waters (BOW) and was sending a donation to help with the work. He was the owner of Midgley's Old Fashioned Flea Market in Sebastopol, Calif. Rev. Lenard Griffis, our pastor, had seen him and told him all about our unique ministry.

Cal was born in April of 1910, in Canada. He was first called by God to serve Him at age 9 in the Methodist Church. In 1924 he received the Baptism In the Holy Spirit and was called a second time into the ministry in 1926. His family had moved to the U.S.A. to Riverside, Calif. and Cal was able to first attend L.I.F.E. Bible College of the Four Square denomination in 1927. Cal called them "the Four Squabble Denomination." He was not a member of the denomination but was an independent Christian. He completed one year of "prep" when God spoke to him in the Spring of 1927. God was dealing with him about going back to Canada to pastor a church there during summer vacation. The call was confirmed when his grandmother wrote him a letter inviting him to pastor in her home church in Canada and his uncle offered him a ride there. Cal's uncle was going to give him a ride in his old Model T Ford, but Cal couldn't go before May 15 (because of Bible College), so his uncle left without him on May 1. An unusual snow storm closed the first mountain pass and his uncle was blocked. Highway personnel told him that the pass would be closed for at least 2 more weeks, but would be open by May 15. So, Cal's uncle came back for him and took him to Canada at the proper time under divine providence.

All summer Cal pastored a small church in the town of Forward in the province of Saskatchewan in Canada. The town only had about 30 people at the time and is now extinct. Cal's grandmother, aunts, and cousins lived there. At first, it seemed to Cal that his ministry efforts were futile. Even though the services were filled every Sunday at worship time there was no response of any nature from the congregation. No one came forward for salvation but God was doing a work. It was up to Cal to spiritually "plow the ground" or to hit them hard with the Word of God. He did this and then left to return back to Bible college at the end of summer vacation. The next pastor of that church was able to reap what Cal had planted. There was a sweeping revival and many were saved. Many missionaries came out of that church and were sent all over the world. In particular was Cal's cousin, who served in Africa as a missionary for 36 years. Many souls were saved by all those missionaries.

Cal attended the Bible College for a total of three years but earned no college degree. Thereafter, he served five years with evangelist Hershel E. Vaught as an Advance Agent. Then he launched out on his own and did church construction work as an independent for seven years in such places as Gary, Oklahoma; Brownwood, Texas; and in Florida at Hommasassa, Palm Beach, and St. Petersburg. Most of the churches he built was by faith during the Great Depression era.

Calvert H. Midgley- a brief biography:
He was married 3 times. His first marriage in Southern California ended in divorce. He owned a restaurant there named "Smileys." He lived for awhile in the east Bay Area in northern California with his second wife and children and later moved to the town of Sebastopol. His second wife passed away leaving him a widower (she died in his arms of throat cancer), and his third wife, Rose Louise Midgley, he met in Hawaii. Cal adopted Rose's daughter, Rosalie, as an adult. He came down with cancer and died on November 29, 1989, being 79 years old. He dictated this information to me when he was healthy and gave me his verbal permission to use it.

"I Went To Jail For Jesus" by Charles "Buster" Cowdrey

When I attended Graton Assembly of God Church (now Country AOG) I met Buster Cowdrey. His wife, Marie, introduced us in 1977. He owned the 60' fishing trawler boat, Albatross, and in 1978 he took 12,000 of our missionary bottles out in the Pacific Ocean 100 miles from shore and we launched them there to begin their 2 year journey to the other side of the world.

Many Sunday afternoons after church I spent at their house and ate many a delicious meal there. Buster and I liked to "spar" (argue for the fun of it) over the scriptures. He would take one side of an issue and I would take the other side and we would each use the Word of God to prove our point. I asked him one time how he got the nick name of Buster. He said when he was born he had some relatives over visiting at the house and when they saw how huge of a baby he was they said, "Wow! What a buster!" And that nick name stuck. Buster always liked to tell me about the old days. One day he told me this story:

"As a young man I went to church during the Great Depression days. There was a black man by the name of Henry Cotton, who was at the Azusa Street Revival, who was baptized in the Holy Ghost, and went around in those days spreading the Pentecostal message. He came to our church and I was gloriously baptized in the Holy Ghost. For three days I was under the anointing of God and spoke in tongues. I was on fire for God and wanted everyone to know it.

I did some preaching in those days. One time I was asked inpromptu to get up on the stage and preach a message. I didn't have anything prepared and so I was praying all the way up the stairs and onto the stage. When I got to the microphone, in the far distance I saw a store sign that read "safeway." Well, right then and there I knew that was my message and so I preached how Christ was the safe way.

Some time later I became active for God in Clovis (the Fresno area of) California. We were holding a big revival meeting in a tent. All were welcome. Many of the folks who came to hear us were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. They walked the sawdust trail- that was sawdust we put on the ground to help keep the dust and dirt down. We were loudly shouting and praising the Lord night after night. One night right during the middle of our revival meeting the local law enforcement officers came in to our tent and arrested all of us leaders. We were handcuffed and taken to jail. We asked them why and they told us that they had a complaint from a concerned citizen about disturbing the peace. Well, they threw us into jail that night and we all started having a hallalujah service right there in jail- just like Paul and Silas did when they were thrown into jail for Jesus. We shouted and sang and preached and praised the Lord all night. At one point the officers told us they were going to turn the water hoses on us if we didn't shut up! It didn't matter if they did because that wasn't going to shut us up. The next morning they turned us loose. Why? Because no one signed the complaint form. Well, the newspaper got wind of our persecution and printed the story. Then, more people turned out to come to our tent meeting than ever before. It was a great revival!

Charles William Cowdrey was born on June 21, 1908, in Arkansas, and died on August 23, 1997, at Graton, Calif. His wife, Marie, preceded him in death due to complications of diabetes.

Additional Note:
Henry Cotton was the pastor of Azusa Temple in Los Angeles, Calif., at one time.

Cal Midgley- Call to Service as told to Kraig J. Rice

It was 1927 (just 2 years before the Great Depression) when Cal was 17 years old. The Lord had impressed him several times to be a minister. The Lord also wanted him to go to L.I.F.E. Bible School but Cal refused it all. Cal told me he refused to go because he only wanted to be a Christian and had no interest in being a minister. In his mind, all ministers were a bunch of sissies. He did not want to be classified with them at all.

Cal put a fleece before the Lord for verification of his call to the ministry. What was the fleece? The fleece was- if his mom would ask him to be a minister- this was verification. Did his mom ask him? Yes. Did Cal consent? No.

One day Cal went for a ride on his bicycle and came home about 9 p.m. He went into his garage to park his bicycle. Without any warning or sound whatsoever, a black widow spider dropped from the ceiling onto his back. It crawled to the back of his neck and bit him. He was able to grab it and went into the house to show his mother and told her that he was going to die. Cal's father was not home, but his mom telephoned a doctor who gave Cal a prognosis of death. There was not a hope in Cal to be able to recover in his own strength. His muscles seemed to flex and reflex without any control. Throughout his entire body was a terrible and uncontrollable pain. Cal told me that the lemon doctor gave him no pain killers or muscle relaxants. Cal felt his life leaving his body. The sweat was just pouring from his body- he figured he was 7 pounds lighter from this fluid loss. His mom tried to help by wraping his legs with towels.

Then God was present with Cal- God had his attention. God impressed upon him that it was Cal's decision whether or not he died. He could serve God and live, or not serve God and die. This was a serious matter because God wasn't playing games. Cal really had to make a life or death decision at this time. He wanted some time to think it over but his time was up.

Cal told him that he had a vision from God while he was dying. In his vision, from far over the horizon he saw a huge figure of a man 50 feet tall that was coming from the east with a sythe in his hands. It was the Grim Reaper. He walked across the earth and sythed people down. Much blood was upon his instrument of death. He was making a pathway through the crowds of people as he killed them. The sythe blade stopped at Cal, directly over his body. Cal looked straight up at him. The Reaper had the human face of a man with a puzzled look on his face. It was like this thing was wondering wheather or not to kill Cal with the rest of them. Or possibly he was waiting for instructions on what to do with Cal.

Cal struggled with this decision and said yes to God- he would be a minister and he would go to Bible School if God let him live.

Then the Reaper stepped over Cal and went on cutting people down and disappeared over the horizon in the west.

After saying yes to God, Cal's pain immediately left his body and he got well, except that his stomach was numb. Later, Cal showed his obedience to God by attending Bible School, and then proceeded to Canada to preach Christ's gospel.

That night when Cal was so bad- God woke up a friend of a friend of Cal's at 1 a.m. to pray in intercessory prayer for Cal. This friend prayed all night long. He came by the house the next morning and wanted to know what happened to Cal and then Cal proceeded to explain everything that had happened to him.

Cal told me that when he made this commitment to God, it was to be a minister to God for the rest of his life. He said that he didn't really trust preachers for he knew that many preachers were not living the life that a preacher should be living. He didn't want others to think that they could not trust him if he went into the ministry. I knew him towards the end of his life and he did live the life of a true Christian. He said he did not have ordination at that time and really wanted it. So, the Board of Directors of my ministry, Bread On The Waters, ordained him, and he was ordained until the time of his death. He died an ordained minister.

Another Cal Midgley Story Not Mentioned Here

The Underwater Tract as told to Kraig J. Rice

A friend of mine at the time, Nat Gamez, and I took a missions trip to Mexico on November 29, 1988. We took with us 1,500 pounds of good used clothing in a utility trailer we pulled behind my car. We donated this to 2 Assemblies of God churches in Mexico for distribution to the poor and needy.

The pastor of one of those churches gave me this testimony. He told us that a close friend of His family had died. This man had been dead already for 5 1/2 hours before the pastor could even visit the body. The pastor prayed for him, exercising faith. He also read Psalms 90 from his bible. The man stirred as his soul came back into his body and he was raised from the dead. This was a well known miracle in his family. God be praised!

At the other church we went to there was a Christian layman named Luis. He had a testimony he wanted to share with us. Luis told us that one day his unsaved friend and him went scuba (skin) diving in the Pacific Ocean. They had oxygen tanks on their backs. His friend went diving to the bottom of the ocean looking for eatable shell fish. What he found on the ocean bottom was a submerged paper gospel tract in perfect condition. He picked it up, read it, and invited Jesus Christ to come into his heart. This was done under the water. And when he came to the surface he was "a new man in Christ Jesus."

Luis told us that no one knew how the tract had gotten there. He also told us that he believed that missionary bottle evangelism is an effective means of soul winning because the testimony of his friend getting saved was so similar to those individuals who got saved as a result of finding tracts inside of missionary bottles.

That reminds me of another testimony I heard when I was first saved in the Navy. I served on an aircraft carrier but there was another sailor, who went to the same Assemblies of God church that I did, who served aboard a submarine. He told the church that he witnessed to a fellow sailor who wanted to accept Christ right then and there. The only problem was that they were submerged beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean at the time. This sailor accepted Christ as his savior. Being under the water did not stop the Spirit of Christ from coming into this sailor's life. God can save under water just as easily as on top of the water.

The Hostile Banker by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice

One time during the Great Depression days, Cal Midgley was serving as an Advance Agent for evangelist, Hershel E. Vaught. Cal and his co-worker went into this one southern town to make arrangements for the coming revival meeting. The local banker, a very rich and powerful man, talked against them to the local town folks. He didn't want them or their Christian religion coming to his town. It didn't look good for Cal and his friend. Then as the banker went around town in a fury of hostile activity against them, he dropped dead instantly of a heart attack. Word soon went around that God had struck him down and killed him and the locals were afraid. Opposition stopped and the revival meeting was held with great success with many of those folks getting saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, and healed.

I asked Cal what his thoughts were about this happening. All he could say was that banker did them all a favor by everything that he did...

Almost a Victim by Bonnie L. Rice as told to Kraig J. Rice

It was Saturday, May 11, 1991, in Stockton, Calif. This city was known for having a high crime rate. After attending a fund raising event for Current Charities, My wife had to walk a considerable distance to get to her car in order to drive home. It was approximately 11 a.m. and our youngest 2 children had rode their bikes on ahead to the car in advance of her- as she was going to transport their bikes back to Lodi in the trunk of our car.

The path she was walking on was lonely and deserted, as the parking lot was in an isoated area. The pathway came near to some buildings. As she approached one of the buildings the Lord spoke to her and said, "Begin praying because around this building is a man waiting to grab you and rape you." At first, she doubted if anyone was around the building and so she was startled to see a man standing next to the building. He was glaring at her and she began praying. She prayed hard. Then she started to get scared but the man made no attempt toward her but kept glaring at her. She veered away from him and got to her car safely without incident. She told me that except for the intervention of God, she would have been a victim. But God had power over the evil spirit who was controlling the man who desired to commit this kind of crime. God's name be praised for His intervention and protecting power. It pays to walk with the Lord!

The Cracked Head by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice

I wrote Cal's stories down after he told them to me. Here is another one he told me:
"One time during the Great Depression I was in the midwest during the winter and I had to drive my Model T Ford a great distance to get to a place where I had to build a church. I spent the night with church friends and when we woke up in the morning there was snow on the ground and it was freezing cold. I had to leave that day in order to make my appointment.

We opened the car's hood and I could see we had a problem. The water in the engine block had frozen and split the (flat) head. The split was so wide I could put a 5 cent nickel on it's edge inside the crack. Well, right then and there I had a talk with the Lord about this and I told Him, "You want me to take this trip in this car, but now you broke it, so you have to fix it." All of us church folks gathered around that car and we prayed over it asking God to fix it and to give me traveling mercies.

What we usually did in those days was to pray over a car and then drive it around the block, asking God to break it down if something was wrong with it. That way we could get it fixed so we could make our journey for Him without breaking down out on the highway somewhere. So I got in that Model T and drove it around the block. After I made it around the block my church friends and I looked under the hood again. The crack was still there but it was sealed tight. Well, I bid my friends good bye and headed out on faith. Do you think I broke down with it? Nope. That crack stayed sealed tight for the remainder of the lifetime of that car and I never had any trouble from it."

The Testimony of Jiosedic Pacunla- Philippines as written to Kraig J. Rice

This testimony was sent to me around 1986 or so by a minister in the Philippines.

"I have pleasure in writing you my testimony about how God called me in the ministry to be a pastor. In 1981 during our Thanksgiving day here in the Philippines there came a missionary who told me that God was calling me to the ministry. I did not believe it because at that time I had a family and did not have any money and could not go to bible school. No one would support me and my family. So I forgot about it. Five months later I got extremely ill so my parents took me to the hospital. While I was in the hospital I remembered what the missionary had told me, so I prayed to the Lord and said to Him "Lord, if it is your will for me to be one of your servants as a pastor, then heal me and I will answer your call." So it happened that God healed my body- the pain was gone. That was the first time I got a miracle from God.

I went back home and told my wife that God had called me to the ministry. She laughed at me. She couldn't believe it because we had small children with no support. But I told her that God would supply all our needs. So in 1982 I went to bible school without any monetary support. I believed that God would meet all of my needs. I finished my first semester with my tuition all paid. My second semester was a lot harder because I had no money to pay for my tuition and the accounting department was always sending me notices to pay. But I always gave them promissory notes on faith and prayed and claimed the promises of God but received no answer. Then I was beginning to get discouraged so I went to the accounting department at the school. I asked to be excused from paying the tuition but the accountant said "no" - that they had rules at the school and he said to me that if I could not pay, then I should go home because otherwise, I would not be allowed to take my final examination.

I lost all of my hope. I was very discouraged. I packed up all of my belongings in order to go home. And I said that this must not be the will of God for my life. I was crying. I got permission from the school department to drop out of school to return home. While I was waiting for my transportation to take me back home one of my classmates ran up to me and said that the accounting department was looking for me. So I ran to the accounting office and the person there told me that all my credit debt had been paid off. I praised God! I was very happy but I asked the Lord to forgive me. And I thanked Him for His tremendous blessings. So I found out that God never fails in His promises. Then I prayed to Him and asked Him to give me employment so that I had money for the tuition for the next two years. And He gave me employment as a security guard at one of the places near the school. I went to work at night and went to school during the day.

I finished my 3 years of schooling with God's blessings. And in 1984 I became a pioneering pastor. I live by faith. I believe that God mades a way of blessing to meet the needs of my family and my ministry. This is the testimony of my life in regards to my ministry."

Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Jiosedic Pacunla

The Nest of Snake Eggs by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice

Are you a pastor and thinking about abandoning your flock? Then read this story and take warning...

What Cal usually did was to physically build a church and then be it's pastor (up to one year sometimes in duration) until the new congregation could find a permanent replacement pastor.

One time during the Great Depression days Cal Midgley was pastoring a church in the southern part of the United States. He turned his pulpit over to a friend, then drove north on a vacation.

Several hundred miles up the coast God gave him a vision as he prayed concerning the spiritual condition of his church. In the vision God communicated to him that his congregation was in immediate danger. The vision was of a nest of snake eggs. 2 of these eggs hatched, then those 2 snakes stood upright. They had human faces, a man and a woman.

Immediately, Cal turned around and went back to his church. He arrived during the time of the evening worship service that had already begun. He walked through the doors of the church. At the front of the church stood a man and a woman teaching his congregation. What did they look like? The faces on the snakes Cal had seen in his vision were the same faces on these 2 individuals. They recognized him immediately, walked past him, and left the church building. Cal did not know who they were or what they were teaching, nor did he ever see them again.

His friend, who was to take over the pulpit in Cal's absence, had some situation arise and had failed to carry out his spiritual duties. Cal and I talked about the moral of this story. The moral of this story is, if you do not carry out faithfully your spiritual duties, Satan will send someone along to do it for you. The wolf will get the sheep if the shepherd is only a hireling.

The Confused Young Man by Kraig J. Rice

I was at the bus station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1974. I had been on one of my adventuring trips and now I was heading back home to California. I had a pocket full of Chick comic book tracts that I had been giving away to people at the bus station. A young man approached me and saw the tracts in my pocket. "I am going to make an atheist out of you," he said to me as we boarded the bus for San Francisco.

As the bus rumbled down the highway we began our challenging conversation. One of his problems was that he was confused in his understanding of why he was here on planet earth. I was just as confused about this same thing a few years earlier when I had been in the Navy without Christ. But then I had found Christ and went to Bible College and had all of my questions answered.

He could not figure out where he fit in. If he thought he was merely the end product of a cosmic accident, then it was impossible for him to believe in a God who had created him. I taught him in a short period of time how I understand it all to be and the reasons why I thought he was here on planet earth. At the end of our talk he apologized to me for trying to make an atheist out of me. Up to that point he had thought he was right. But God the Holy Spirit revealed to him the truth and the fact that he had been deceived.

He explained to me the fact that his mother and sister were members of an Assemblies of God church and were praying for his salvation. In the past they had many unsuccessful talks with him about his accepting Christ as his savior. But now, as he left the bus with joy, he promised me that he was going back home to give God a try.

I helped this young man, and if you are a Christian, you can help others also in their journey through life. God is so good and He always reveals His truth to those who seek Him with all of their hearts. God is the greatest evangelist in the universe and He is never limited in His quest to win others to Himself.

"...be strong with the special favor God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach many things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others"
(2nd Timothy 2:1-2).

God's Plan of Eternity

Journey In The Winter by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice

"One time I was in the midwest during the winter in my Model T Ford during the Great Depression. God had called me to a certain town, 2 days journey away. There was snow everywhere but that wasn't going to stop me if I could help it. So, I headed off on my journey, praying. You know what I was praying for? I was cold and I drove during the daylight, but I was asking the Lord to build me a camp fire so I could keep warm that night. It was getting towards dark and I drove past this camp fire on the side of the road but didn't think much about it. The Lord spoke to me and said, "I built you a camp fire like you asked Me to and you just drove past it." So, I turned my car around and drove back to the camp fire. That flame was burning bright and hot. There was a nice stack of fire wood all cut and split next to the fire. I looked to see if there was anyone around but I was alone. I looked in the snow on the ground- there were no foot prints of any one there. I thanked the good Lord for answering my prayers and camped out there that night. I took the seat out of the car, placed it on the ground, and slept on it. I had a blanket and warm clothes to help keep me warm. I put my feet next to the fire to keep them warm. The next morning I continued on my journey for Him."

Words of Encouragement From God by Bonnie L. Rice as told to Kraig J. Rice

It was Friday, February 3, 1989, about 11 a.m. as my wife was driving her car when the Lord spoke to her the following words of encouragement, "My will for you is only good and not evil. I am very pleased with what you are doing."

My wife said the tone of the Lord's voice had deep satisfaction as He continued, "I am so proud of you. You are going to be my mouth piece to helpless and hopeless people. I am going to perform miracles, signs, and wonders. I am going to spiritually bless this ministry and many people will accept Jesus as Lord."

Note:
Bonnie was the Secretary-Treasurer of Bread On The Waters (BOW) at that time.

God Made Me A Millionaire by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice

At the age of 60 Cal Midgley was $50,000 in debt when God spoke to him and told him He was going to make him a millionaire. Cal told God he didn't want to be a millionaire because he was too old. God's plan was to use Cal to make him a financial backer of missionary work. God made him a millionaire, anyways, and that is why he donated money to my incorporated ministry, Bread On The Waters.

With his finances we were able to mail Bibles, New Testaments, and lots of other gospel literature to folks overseas in the harvest field. We mailed clothes overseas to folks who had little or none. We took gospel literature, clothes, furniture, and a bus to several churches in Mexico. And we were able to purchase the gospel supplies that went into the making of our missionary bottles that were landing in Communist China and Communist Russia. By the time of Cal's death our missionary bottles were not needed any longer in those communist countries- as the Berlin wall came down and those countries opened up to the gospel in other ways. But our missionary bottles were there when they had to be there.

Hanford M. Rice- Shocked With Spiritual Electricity as told to Kraig J. Rice

I was graduating from an Assemblies of God Bible College, Bethany Bible College, at Santa Cruz, Calif., in May of 1972. The school is now named: Bethany University of the Assemblies of God. I got my B.S. degree with a major in Bible and a minor in Social Science.

My parents came down for the graduation ceremony. The school officials had us all go into the college gymnasium for the ceremony. My unsaved father had a background in electrical work and that is why he worked for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Years earlier he had graduated from Quade Radio School in Houston, Texas, and had repaired appliances and radios in Hallettsville, Texas, when I was small. He was well acquainted with electricity and had been shocked many times in his work.

Dr. Cordas C. Burnett, the college president, had everyone stand, raise their hands in the air, and praise the Lord. I don't know why he did it but my unsaved father raised his hands in the air. When he did that the Lord shocked his fingers with electricity. My father got the shock of his life and told us all about it.

Why did the Lord do this? Well, only He knows but it appears to me that God was communicating with my father in reference to what had meaning to my father. My father understood electricity so the Lord shocked him. God definately got my father's attention that day but it would not be for another 11 years until he repented.

The Rock In The River by Emily Ann Schmidt as told to Kraig J. Rice

My mother told me this story about when she was a young girl living in Texas. One hot day she and her older sister, Lenora (Baby) Schmidt, decided to go swimming in the local river close to where they lived in LaVaca County, Texas. Lenora went a little too far from shore into the deeper water and started to panic. She was flailing around in the water screaming for someone to help her because she was drowning.

Emily boldly swam out to her to help her. Lenora grabbed hold of her in a panic and pulled her under the water. They came to the surface and then went back down. It looked like both of them were going to drown and Emily said she was really afraid she was going to die.

With Lenora clutching her around her neck and not letting go, it looked like they were both going to drown. As Emily started sinking for the last time her foot landed on a rock so she was standing with her head out of the water. They both caught their breath and in a few moments, Lenora let go of Emily and swam back to shore. Then Emily swam back to shore.

I talked with my mother about this. I asked her if she thought that God had instantly created that rock in the deep water or if her guardian angel had helped her in one way or another. She knew God had saved their lives that day. She didn't know how God had done it but she was thankful that He had.

The Repentance of Hanford Maurice Rice as told to Kraig J. Rice

In June of 1983, one month after my ankle surgery, my earthly father had a massive heart attack while riding as a passenger in the automobile of my brother-in-law. Two minutes later he was at the hospital and into the intensive care room at Feather River Hospital in Paradise, California, where his heart attack was arrested.

Intercessory prayer went to God for him and his life was spared. He told me he felt as if a two ton weight were upon his chest and decided it was time to pray. Previously, he believed in God with head knowledge but Christ was not in his heart. This is how many miss Heaven by eighteen inches because there is about eighteen inches (from one's head where one may have an intellectual acceptability of God) to one's heart that is empty and devoid of Christ and where one's sins are not under the blood of the divine atonement. His family members had prayed for 16 years for his conversion to Christ. God was faithful and never forgot those prayers.

God spoke to a minister C.B. (civilian band) radio acquaintance of his who lived nearby and who pastored a pentecostal church in Healdsburg, Calif., to go and pray with him. God spoke to that minister Himself. That minister drove 5 hours in his car on a Saturday afternoon to see him. He prayed with my father to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour. Hanford "Handy" Rice repented of his sins and invited Christ to come and live in his heart. God had heard and answered all the prayers for him. That was another miracle because Bear Tracks (Hanford's C.B. radio handle name) was a very hard man and was not easily persuaded. He was a changed man after that and one Sunday morning attended that pastor's church, stood behind the pulpit, and gave a public confession of his new found faith in Christ Jesus and a lot of praise for that pastor. He had found sweet peace in Jesus.

If you have unsaved loved ones you are praying for please keep on praying. Don't give up. God knows how to reach people as only He can do. Persevere and follow the Bible injunction to "Lean not unto your own understanding." God is a God of miracles and nothing is too hard for Him. Jesus never fails!

I heard of a woman one time who prayed for her unsaved husband for 35 years. While on his death bed, an angel appeared at the foot of his bed and asked him, "Don't you think it is time to ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart?" The man was shaking all over while he prayed and repented of his sins right then and there. The man's wife rejoiced because God had answered her prayers.

The salvation of my father in the midst of my 9 year Job's trial (my baptism of suffering) was like an oasis of blessing from God in the middle of my very dry spiritual desert. And it was unexpected. God is good and very merciful.

Our House Catches Fire by Kraig J. Rice

It was February 1984 and I was deep into my Job's trial. My wife and I had lost nearly everything and we joked that we only had 2 things left: our rented house and our children. Two weeks later our house caught fire. We were not home when this happened. My family, my mother, and my sister had walked to the downtown area of Cloverdale, Calif. to observe the annual Citrus Fair Parade. When we got back to my house I walked in to find it full of smoke. The fire was roaring inside the kitchen wall next to the chimney, and had eaten its way through the paper board wall and was heading toward the attic. I threw glasses of water on the small flames and then called the fire department. My sister suggested we lay our hands on the cooler part of the wall and pray and rebuke the fire in the name of the Lord. This is what we did and immediately thereafter the fire seemed "forbidden" (as if by some invisible giant hand) from traveling any further up the wall. So the fire never got into the attic- if it had, the entire house would have burned down in 10 minutes.

Have you ever wondered what you would save in one last moment of desperation if you could? You will save what means the most to you. My mother and sister stayed outside of the house watching my children while my wife and I went into the house in one trip to get the thing(s) that we treasured the most. My wife grabbed the jar where we kept our small amount of cash money and I grabbed all of the ministry records.

But we were not destined to lose our refrigerator, beds, and what small amount of furniture we had left. The firemen came and put out the fire, called the owner of the house, and condemned the building. No one had been hurt. The officials who talked to me said they did not know what had caused the fire but on their fire report they put down "chimney fire." The Christian owner of the house, George Silva, did not want to kick us out in the street so he gave us 2 months notice to move before he tore down the house. The only fuel we had was electricity- our natural gas was shut off and the chimney was destroyed so we could not use a wood stove any longer. We used electric heaters to stay warm at night in one bedroom but the rest of the house got so cold during that winter that there was ice on the inside of the windows.

The house owner wanted us out by the first day of May and I assured him that we would move out by that time. Even though the old Victorian house was 100 years old it still held a special place in our hearts.

One day in April as I was out in the back yard working on a utility trailer by myself I had a spiritual experience. I wasn't expecting anything and it had been a long spiritual "dry spell" when all of a sudden it seemed like a spotlight was shining on me from out of Heaven. It was broad daylight and I felt a little uncomfortable with the heavenly attention. I had spiritually survived the fire test (in the test by fire) and I felt that the Lord was pleased about this. God had trusted me to be righteous and true to Him in this trial, exercising integrity. I had done this and I had satisfaction inside of myself that I had never let the Lord down, nor had I hurt Him. Then a message came to my mind, "I have something better for you than this."

I moved my family out of Cloverdale to Lodi, Calif., approximately 40 miles south of Sacramento, the end of April in the year 1984. Being in a Job's trial, it took about 3 weeks for Satan to follow us to Lodi and about the end of May, the Satanic hedge was again tight about us and remained that way for a couple more years.

So, I write all of this to say that the good Lord is in charge of your life, if you invite Him to be, in spite of the worse trial of your life. He does not change and He keeps on loving you and being kind to you in the midst of terrible personal circumstances. Satan kicked us around, but the good Lord always picked us up, dusted us off, and helped us get started again for Him. We didn't believe in quitting and the Lord never gave up on us.

Testimony of William Henry Rice by Kraig J. Rice

William Henry Rice was the grandson of   Thomas McClure Rice  who came to Texas in 1836. He was also my paternal great grandfather.

He had very little education, but he was an intelligent man. He never knew how to read and so it is doubtful if his parents could. He did not have a teacher to teach him, so he taught himself how to read. To diverse a little bit, I have always enjoyed reading. One of the first books I ever checked out of the public library, when I was a youngster, was about John Paul Jones as a cabin boy on a frigate of war (the sailing ship days) during battle, who had to throw buckets of sand on the blood from wounded sailors that was flowing on the ship's deck so other fighting sailors would not slip in it. And my father and mother were also prolific readers, as well.

So, what did William Henry Rice do after he learned how to read? He started reading and what did he read? He read a book about the outlaw, Jesse James. When one of his sons was born, he named him Jesse James Rice. I know this to be true because my grandmother told me about this because she was married to Jesse James Rice. Just think- I had a grandfather named after an outlaw!

He also read the Bible and by so doing he was convicted of his sins by God the Holy Spirit. He felt he had to make a decision about Jesus Christ one way or another. So he went by himself down to the old creek bed. It was not an easy decision for him to make. He wrestled with himself for quite some time. Then he made up his mind to accept Jesus Christ as his saviour and he invited Jesus Christ to come into his heart. When did this happen? It happened in August of 1907, on his property outside of Yoakum, Texas, in De Witt County. His conversion to Christ resulted in him leading his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Karl) Rice, and his mother, Adeline Prudence (Courtney) Rice, to Christ.

Here is the obituary about William Henry Rice published in the Yoakum Baptist Church paper:
"In Memory-"
"William Henry Rice was born on April 7, 1857, in Crossingville Community, De Witt County, Texas. On November 13, 1882, he was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Karl. To this happy union there were born eight children, seven of whom survive him.

In August 1907 he was converted and on August 15, 1907, united with the Yoakum Baptist Church and baptized by Rev. E. L. Atwood, the present pastor of the church. About two years later Mr. Rice was ordained deacon in the church, being the years of Rev. F. H. Watkins, pastorate.

His health had been failing since an attack of the influenza during the Spring of 1919. He had a stroke of paralysis two weeks before his death which occured Tuesday morning at 1:30 o'clock, May 22, 1923, at the age of 66 years, 1 month, and 15 days.

Let it be said by the writer that no truer Christian father and husband ever lived. He truly loved his God, his wife, his children, and his fellowmen, and furthermore, lived to see the day when all his children were true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

From his heavenly home he views his worthy examples set forth while on earth and awaits the coming of his loved ones."

Rudolph Vogt, Sr.- I Saw Angels (written by Kraig J. Rice)

Rudolph Voigt, Sr. was my maternal great grandfather. After he first came from Germany to the United States he spelled his last name with the letter i but soon dropped this letter and spelled his last name Vogt. He was Luthern in his Christian faith and loved Jesus. He landed at Galveston, Texas, in 1872, coming from Brandenburg, Prussia. He was 14 years old at the time and came by himself. He had a brother who was already in Texas and also an uncle on his mother's side named Schiller.

One day, while he was by himself rocking in his rocking chair on the front pourch of his farm house in Molton, Texas, he was worshipping and praising God. He was in a wonderful attitude of praise and worship for his God who he was in love with. God was so pleased with him that God showed him a glimpse of Heaven. He saw many angels. He was so excited that he told everyone in his family about it including my mother, Emily Schmidt, who was his grand daughter, who passed this story on down to me.

Some time later, it was nearly time for him to die. He was dying of a heart attack and laying on his death bed. It appeared he had died. The local doctor showed up and gave him a shot of nitroglycerin to shock his heart back to life. He came to life again and told everyone around him this story:
He said that his soul had left his body and that he was walking up a pathway to Heaven toward a beautiful bright light which was the Lord. It was beautiful and the pathway that he was walking on was lined with beautiful flowers and everything was so peaceful. He said that he was disappointed to have to come back here to earth. After he had told everyone this story, he died.

There are many "Tell Me Another One" stories in the Guideposts: Treasury of Faith book

Tell Me Another One (page 2)

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As of March 3, 2010