Tell Me Another One
To God Be The Glory
Outlandish tales or
true stories and testimonies of God's Guidance and help,
not verified, as told by God's children.
You decide...
shared with you by
Kraig J. Rice
Bread On The Waters (BOW)
www.breadonthewaters.com
Terms of Service: Kraig Rice may email you for verification of your story. By
writing your story here, using your name and what personal information that you volunteer-
you are giving Kraig Rice permission to place it on his ministry's website and also to
publish it in a book if I ever get around to writing one. I have a right to delete any
information, writing, or content that I don't like or agree with.
Thank you for your contribution.
Cordially In Christ,
Kraig J. Rice
It was May of 1970. I was working for Pacific Gas & Electric Company (P.G.& E.) in Santa
Rosa, Calif. I was driving a macho blue 1951 Chevy half ton pickup. I had just gotten off
of work and was leaving Santa Rosa to drive home to Cloverdale where I lived with my parents.
In Santa Rosa the Lord spoke to my mind these words, "There is a car on the side of
the road. I want you to stop and help them." I doubted these words because sometimes my
mind plays games with me and I get my thoughts and the Lord's thoughts mixed up. So I thought
to myself, "Nah, these are only my thoughts," as I drove onto the freeway but I
made an agreement with myself- that just in case this thought was from the Lord- I would
stop and help any folks on the road side.
She said, "thanks for helping us," and I told her, "God always takes care
of His own." Then I left and thought about what had just happened.
God had used me to answer their prayers- and I felt good about it.
The Station Wagon That Was Out Of Gas by Kraig J. Rice
Sure enough, there was a station wagon on the side of the freeway headed north on Hwy 101-
just north of Santa Rosa. As I pulled in front of their car I saw that there was a mother
and a teen age girl in the car praying. I got out and asked them if they needed any help.
The woman said they had run out of gas- so I told her I would help her. She told her
daughter to stay in their car with the doors locked while she got into my pickup with me.
Her anxiety with a total stranger was lessened a little bit when she saw my big metallic
cross of Jesus hanging from my rear view mirror. We went to a near-by gas station where we
got some gas in a gas can and then I drove her back to her car. I stayed until she got
her car started.
"Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear.
Even if they attack me, I remain confident"
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.
Calvert H. Midgley- a brief biography:
The Life and Ministry of Rev. Calvert H. Midgley by Kraig J. Rice
(Psalm 27:3).
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.
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.
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.
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:
"I Went To Jail For Jesus" by Charles "Buster" Cowdrey
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!
Henry Cotton was the pastor of Azusa Temple in Los Angeles, Calif., at one time.
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.
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 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
Cal Midgley- Call to Service as told to Kraig J. Rice
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.
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.
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!
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 Underwater Tract as told to Kraig J. Rice
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."
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...
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.
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."
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.
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!
I wrote Cal's stories down after he told them to me. Here is another one he told me:
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 Cracked Head by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice
"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.
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 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,
The Testimony of Jiosedic Pacunla- Philippines as written to Kraig J. Rice
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.
Pastor Jiosedic Pacunla
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.
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 Nest of Snake Eggs by Cal Midgley as told to Kraig J. Rice
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.
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 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"
The Confused Young Man by Kraig J. Rice
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.
(2nd Timothy 2:1-2).
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."
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."
Note:
Words of Encouragement From God by Bonnie L. Rice as told to Kraig J. Rice
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."
Bonnie was the Secretary-Treasurer of Bread On The Waters (BOW) at that time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Our House Catches Fire by Kraig J. Rice
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.
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.
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 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 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:
Testimony of William Henry Rice by Kraig J. Rice
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!
"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.
Rudolph Vogt, Sr.- I Saw Angels (written by Kraig J. Rice)
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)
BOW Master Index