History of Transition from Servants’ News to Port Austin Bible Campus Ministry
[Skip to the end of
this document for the very latest if you have read this before.]
The story of Servants’ News and the Port Austin Bible campus ministries is long, and at times, difficult to believe. There have been many difficult times. But now, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
In my younger days, when I first became a Christian, I had difficulty listening to the stories of Christian missionaries that suffered great things in their efforts to preach the gospel. I often thought, “If the Creator of the Universe were blessing them and working through them, wouldn’t He protect them?”
I felt uneasy reading the book of Job. How could God let a righteous man lose his children, possessions and health all at once? Why did Job’s friends accuse him of all manner of evil with no evidence? Why did Moses, Joseph, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Paul and so many others go through so much suffering? Is suffering a sign of sin? The words of Jesus come to mind.
"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute
you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake” (Matt
Our Savior, as well as John the Baptist, King David, and all
those righteous ones mentioned in Hebrews 11 suffered greatly because of the
sins of others. Some, like Job and David, were vindicated by the Eternal in
this life—their adversaries recognized that these righteous men were not
suffering for their own sin. Yet others “did not receive the promise” (Heb
We have not suffered anywhere near as much as these people
in the Bible have, but with a major building fire, lawsuits and much published
defamation against us, we have been overwhelmed at times. It has certainly
caused us to study the Bible in a new light and to gain new understanding. It
has helped us to look more deeply at when we are suffering for our own sins,
and when we are suffering for the sins of others (1Pet
While the apostle Paul also suffered greatly (2Cor
Similarly, we do not want to be a burden to people whom we hope to serve in a positive way. We are trusting God to see us through these difficult times, and then we hope to bless others with our publications and the facilities of the Port Austin Bible Campus. If that is your interest, we encourage you to read our goals in the one recent edition of Servants’ News.
If you want to travel with us on the rocky road of Christian service, then please read the interesting and diverse stories that follow. They are the stories that were written at the time the events were occurring.
Summary of Events at Port Austin explains the key events of 2004-2005.
January/February 2006 issue (PDF) This explains much of our purpose at Port Austin!
March 19, 2006 letter asking for help to make a critical pending payment which would place the property in our name.
May 12, 2006 letter thanking brethren for help and explaining why Servants’ News and PABC need to continue.
July 30, 2006 letter about successful PABC financial transactions and ongoing progress.
September 12, 2006 letter about why good Christians “get in trouble”, how the Bible shows Christians represent themselves, and our trial by fire.
December 19, 2006 letter thanking those who helped, giving progress of PABC, discussing health issues, and introducing the Edwards v Williams court case.
February 5, 2007 letter on Bible examples of Christians in courts and the rise of powerful governments possibly leading to the events in Revelation 13.
May 30, 2007 letter showing how other seventh
day groups recognize the need to help young people, but stopping short of
building the institutions they need. It explains the delay of our court trial
until
For the legally minded, Our Michigan Court of Appeals Brief
(PDF 342K) showing that a religious trust can represent itself through its
trustee. (Long and legal, but interesting!)
Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals declined to hear the issue on
July/August 2007 issue (PDF) containing extensive articles on Biblical Education and a brief Port Austin Update.
November 7, 2007 letter written the day before the trial, discussing the scriptures about going to law with brethren.
November 13, 2007 letter explaining the
court settlement between Williams and Edwards with complete text of settlement.
Images of the final recorded judgment are here: p1 p2
p3 p4. The $1000 due within 60 days was
paid on
Now that the court case has been
resolved, we hope that we can make much greater progress in the mission of PABC.
July 2008: PABC is ready to move forward with its original plan, find others to share in the plan, or find someone else to use the property in he service of God.
Read Servants’
News July/Aug 2008 On-line for the details.
Jul/Aug 2008 Quick PDF (1.1 MB) ● Jul/Aug 2008 High-Quality PDF (2.6 MB)
August 2008: PABC has made progress in self-funding operations. Servants' News is able to resume its by-monthly schedule for the first time since 2003. This issue deals with the biblical solution to the financial chaos of the day.
May-June 2009 Download PDF (1.6 MB) ● May-June 2009
High-Quality PDF (2.6 MB)
View Servants’
News July-August 2009 (read online)
July-August 2009 Download PDF (1.8 MB) ● July-Aug 2009 High-Quality PDF (3.7MB)
View Servants’
News September-October 2009 (read online)
September-October 2009 Download PDF
(2.1 MB) ● September-October
2009 High-Quality PDF (5.1 MB)
View Servants’
News September-October 2010 (read online)
September-October 2010 Download PDF (1 MB)
● September-October 2010
High-Quality PDF (3.3 MB)
February
8, 2011 letter to those who have helped support our ministries
View Servants’
News November-December 2010 (read online)
November-December 2010 Download
PDF (3 MB) ● November-December 2010 High-Quality PDF (6
MB)
2012
Port Austin Bible Campus Controversies
If the Eternal stirs you to have a part in this ministry in
some way, please contact us: Port Austin Bible Campus,
--Norman Edwards
