...preaching the gospel is a business, and when you don't get a return, you pull out. We tried Africa, but got nothing back, so we will not help African brethren"
Of the hundreds and hundreds of various splinter groups of Armstrongism that have emerged over the decades, those that have actually done things beneficial for people have been extremely small. Two standouts are Norm Edwards, Port Austin Bible Campus that takes in the poor and homeless to help them get back on their feet and Bill Goff's, Kenya Hands of Hope, that take in orphans in Africa.
Bill Goff relates below his frustration in various Church of God's he has reached out to for help in taking care of the kids and building them places to stay and other facilities. The tale of the Good Samaritan or Jesus caring for the prostitute or valuing the gentiles more than the law guardians are just useless fluff to the leaders of the Church of God's. The true face of Armstrongism at its finest is on display below!
A Voice In The Wilderness web site.
Trouble At The Orphanage
Greetings Brethren,
Hope this letter finds you well, as we patiently await the return of our Lord and Savior, whom this world so desperately needs. We are having some trouble at the Sengera Orphanage. The police have arrested Haron (the overseer). They are complaining that we are not completing the improvements they required of us, fast enough. We still need to plaster the outside of the cafeteria, tile the girls bathroom, and erect a security wall along the front of the orphanage.
We have made much progress with their original demands; the store room is completed, the boys indoor and outdoor toilets and shower have been tiled. The cafeteria is completed inside so the children have been able to use it. But the work came to a stop because schools were opening, and we used the only remaining funds to pay their tuition.
Fortunately this time they released Haron temporally, although they are threatening to close the orphanage down if we don't complete these required improvements quickly. (Last time they jailed him for two day, and when he was released, had to be brought to hospital because he had been beaten by some of the inmates.)
Brethren, If you can spread the word that these church orphans need help, please do so. I have contacted numerous large churches of God recently, trying to get them to help assist, but sad to say, haven't received even one positive response. Please understand, I'm not requesting more help from the few who have consistently been assisting these orphans, I'm reaching out to those who have the means to help, but are not aware of the dire situation because their "leaders" continue to cause division in the churches of God, and refuse to inform their congregations that there are true members of the Body of Christ, the church, who need help.
After informing one high ranking leader of one of the large churches of God of the dire need of some of our impoverished brethren, he patted me on the back and said (and I quote) "Your doing a great job over there, but we like to take care of our own brethren before helping those abroad." He would not help at all, and I know for a fact that his organization has tens of thousands of dollars of tithe & offering money sitting in the bank. I then contacted another high ranking leader explaining the suffering that our African brethren are enduring, and how they need our help. His reply was even more shocking, he said (and I quote again) "preaching the gospel is a business, and when you don't get a return, you pull out. We tried Africa, but got nothing back, so we will not help African brethren"
Another well know "leader" of another larger church of God group who had a little over $200,000. of tithe and offering money sitting in his bank account also refused to help. He said we weren't part of "his" organization. Yes, you heard me correctly, he would not help because we weren't part of his particular "cog group". And he not only had $200,000 sitting in his bank accounts, but was also purchasing stocks and bonds with all the tithe & offering money that the brethren were sending him.
I don't mean to be so blunt here, but keeping silent about this atrocity would be a sin. The Apostle Paul instructed us to do good unto all men "especially" those who are of the household of faith. Brethren, these suffering people are of the house hold of faith. Even these orphans children came to us from various churches of God who could no longer care for them after their parents died. We didn't care which particular cog group they were part of, that didn't matter one iota. What mattered was that they needed our help. And believe me, their needs are quite dire. And I'm not only addressing these orphans here, there are also other brethren who need our help. I received a call from a cog pastor in Western Kenya last week informing me about two deaths in his congregation. One was a child. They needed to bury them, but didn't have enough funds to purchase coffins. I had to turn their request down due to lack of funds.
We have also been assisting a number of "true" widows, also from various cog groups. One from the border group living near the Maasai tribe, another from Ogembo, and a few from Sengera area. We help the brethren that are reaching out to us the best we can, and our Heavenly Father has always been good at stretching the funds that come in, but if a few more were involved, we could help so much more.
Brethren don't allow these false leaders to continue dividing the church of the living God. Don't be fooled by men. Men have divided the church of God into hundreds of separate organizations, but in God's eyes, He sees only 2 groups (yes two) the wise & the foolish, the sheep & the goats.
Please pray for our impoverished brethren who are living in these 3rd world impoverished countries, many of them are suffering severely. And most of all let us pray "Thy Kingdom Come" because the coming kingdom of God is the only thing that can resolve all the man made troubles of this untoward world.
Your brother in Christ.
Bill Goff
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