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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, October 18, 1979
Page 2
Did you think the Almighty GOD would ever help the telephone company?
Well, He certainly did this time!
There was NOT time to arrange the hook
up by satelite. So they went to work to do it by microwave and cable.
At one site they had to build a special tower. Many of our sites are
located in other than major telephone centers. This required special
emergency operations. As the days went by, they continued to notify us
as they succeeded in adding more sites, and by Friday, I think it was, we
had the good news they had done THE IMPOSSIBLE, and we would be hooked up
with ALL U.S. sites--and perhaps some in Canada.
Now all this required special emergency activity also on our part.
A switch at Savannah had to be made to fill in for me on Thursday morning.
We had TIME ZONE differences to deal with. We here in Tucson are not on
daylight-saving time, so we are in the same time zone as the West Coast.
To accommodate the Atlantic time zone feast sites we had to arrange for
them to start their final afternoon service at 4:30 p.m.; Central time
zone sites at 3:30. We .had to move the morning service in Tucson and the
West Coast sites up to 9:30, and the final afternoon service to 1:30 in
stead of 2:30--and have all the brethren notified in time.
I decided, to avoid irregular timing mix-ups by having other feast
sites start with their own song service and special music, it would be
necessary to deprive them of this, and ALL SITES simply be with us here
at Tucson, and listen in and see our opening song service and special
music. Instead of a sermonette, I wanted Mr. Rader to fill in the entire
U.S. membership briefly on the California lawsuit invasion. I hated to
deprive other sites of your final day special music, for other sites have
inspiring expanded choirs. But I felt that our brethren here at Tucson
did not let you down, and provided superb, moving, special music under the
direction of John D. Schroeder and with possibly the two most emotionally
inspiring choral numbers--the Hallelujah Chorus, and "Battle Hymn of the
Republic"--("I have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord"), the latter
accompanied by proper orchestral instruments.
On Sabbath morning Mr. Rader gave me the final good news of the
"IMPOSSIBLE" telephone hookup--some three or four Canadian feast sites had
been added.
WHAT A THRILL! It was not like an NBC, CBS or ABC national network-
already smoothly operating for years. This hookup had to go into sites far
off the main telephone and television network centers. It really was the
"�ISSION IMPOSSIBLE"--ACCOMPLISHED! I'm sure it required some divine inter
vention--actually a real MIRACLE!
GOD WANTED HIS WHOLE CHURCH CONGREGATION IN THE U.S. AND MUCH OF
CANADA TO HEAR T HE MESSAGE HE GAVE ME!
But SATAN DIDN'T. It seemed every possible obstacle was thrown at me
personally. Three or four nights before, I came into sleeping difficulties
--nerves would not let me sleep. Wednesday night I don't think I managed
to get as much as three hours sleep. Thursday I was like a physical wreck
from loss of sleep. That night I was troubled again, but managed to get
about 5� hours sleep, due to sheer physical exhaustion.
"Don't worry, God will give you the strength and cause you to rise to
the occasion tomorrow," assured my wife. "He isn't going to let you down."