Volume 12, Number 1, July-August 2008
Edwards Family Personal Impact
By Norman Scott Edwards
Families are very important to God. Of the over 3500 people mentioned in the Bible, all we know about most of them is the names of their parents, children or siblings. A stable family figures prominently in the qualifications of Christian leadership (1Tim 3; Titus 1).
Even though the events of Port Austin have put quite a strain on our family, I think most people who know us would say things are going quite well. Marleen and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in February of this year (see
|
|
|
Edwards 25th anniversary (from left) Joel & his wife Erica, Jesse, Josh, Norman, Marleen, James. |
photos, right). We
have four sons, Joel (23), Josh (21), Jesse (17) and James (14) and have a good
relationship with all of them.
Joel married
Erica on
Josh graduated
from
|
|
|
Edwards brothers play anniversary song written by Norm for Marleen |
|
|
|
Norman Caswell, his son
Mark, and Mark’s wife, Arlene all attended the anniversary event. Norman
Caswell was involved in an attempt to purchase the Port Austin airbase in
1991 (see PABC History). Mark is the present
director of |
Jesse
graduated from
James
completed his sophomore year in
Divine Protection
Ultimately, we must
attribute the soundness and love in our family to God. It is not always easy to
tell whether blessings have come about due to making choices based upon
scripture, or what simply comes about as God’s blessing and mercy in spite of
our flawed choices. But in any case, we certainly believe that for whatever
reason, God has blessed us. These photos (1 2 3) show the results of the fire
our family was in on
Similarly, I can still remember the phone call I received in August of 2007 from Josh and Jesse —that they had just destroyed our van but were able to climb out of it. The accident’s cause is uncertain, though drowsiness is suspected. Eyewitnesses saw the van cross the center line and roll many times at high speed along the side of a busy highway, yet their injuries were so minor that both refused to go to the hospital to be examined. Josh was driving and belted in, Jesse was sleeping on the back seat wearing a seat belt. The passenger side of the vehicle was crushed and the passenger seat bent in half. Many of the people who saw the accident or van believed it was a miracle of God that they were so unscathed, and I do too. Our friend, Mike Zaeske, pulled an old car out of storage and gave it to us, each of us putting in a few hundred dollars.
This is not to say that everything has always gone well with our family. There are times that we have reaped difficulty also: some because of our own sins, some because of the sins of others and some for uncertain reasons. Our experience at Port Austin has been a great trial upon our family, but has certainly brought us closer to God.
|
|
|
Even though the van rolled many times, picking up weeds in its doors, Josh & Jesse. by the grace of God, received only minimal injuries. All photos were taken in the salvage yard, but all damage was from the accident. |
|
Norm Edwards retrieves the speakers from the crushed van. |
|
|
|
Looking in the left side window, the unoccupied passenger seat is crushed. |
A Little History
Marleen and I both
graduated from
In 1994, I quit my steady job to start Servants’ News to serve non-aligned (non-denominational) Sabbath keepers. We lived from the proceeds of real estate sales for a year and then began receiving enough support from Servants’ News offerings. Our children were ages 9, 7, 4 and 1 when Servants’ News began. We never had any kind of health insurance or significant cash reserve from then until this date. With God’s blessing, we primarily took care of our family of six on typically $20,000 to $30,000 per year in gifts that we received. He took care of many of our needs in non-monetary ways.
Because of our previously sound income level and real estate payment record, we had continual offers to credit cards with high credit lines—with special offers at 0%. During the late 1990s, we had quite a few thousand dollars owing at this rate, but could usually always pay one card off with another “0%” check from another card. As the 2000’s came along, we were no longer getting 0% offers, but offers at 2%, 3% and 5% interest. I had a plan to pay these loans off, but when our children began to be teenagers, things did not work out quite like I thought.
As our older sons
began to reach high school, it became obvious that Proverbs 22:6 was not all
one needed to know about child rearing: tell them what is right and punish them
if they don’t do it. The parents own observable commitment to practicing what
they preach, the young man’s commitment to God, and their peer environment are
all very important. God was so serious about maintaining a righteous peer
environment in ancient
Child rearing required a lot more time, patience and prayer than I had ever thought. When parents claim to be Christians with the Holy Spirit, and they sometimes yell at each other or treat each other with disdain, children see this and ask, “If this Christianity is not bringing about a peaceful marriage for my parents, why do I want it?”
Even though I have
been engaged in a full-time ministry and constantly reading and expounding
scriptures, that does not mean that it is automatically easy to do them. It was
easy to become so busy “doing the work” that I did not always have time for my
family or was not always patient with them. God says that He will not let
believers be tempted above what they are able to bear (1Cor
2001-2003 were
difficult years for the Edwards family. My wife and I were divided on many
things, especially on how to raise the children, and I was not doing near
enough to work things out in peace, obtain counsel, etc. so that we could work
together better as effective parents. She wanted to send our children to
As I began to understand the problems relating to the difficulty in our family, I was also talking to many of my friends and Servants’ News readers whose children were also approximately the same age. Most were having similar difficulty—or much worse: most children gave up on the Sabbath, many left Christianity altogether, some went into drugs and alcohol, quite a few left home before high school graduation, some married contrary to their parents wishes, some lost all contact with their parents, and one boy, who used to play with our children, committed suicide. Better results were often achieved by families associated with a large local church group or school, or who had a large Sabbatarian extended family. I realized that I wanted to put my life’s energy and resources into something that would both help my children and others.
We enrolled Josh and
Jesse in
We had to rely on Josh to drive Jesse and himself to school every day. Had he decided to not go, or to move in with a friend and go to his old high school, there would have been little we could have done. If the state got involved, they would probably have sided with our sons. The state regularly emancipates 16 year-olds from their parents if they have a place to live and are doing well in public school. They would certainly want Jesse to be in 8th grade, not 9th. But after a month at SVA, both boys liked it and wanted to stay.
I became a part time teacher at SVA in order to pay for our sons’ tuition. My computer class was easy to teach, I had to study at least an hour a day to teach Anatomy and Physiology, much of which was new to me. That is a big reason why there were no Servants’ News issues in late 2003 or 2004. Unfortunately, my credit card debt rose, and so did the interest rates available to me (these companies know how to work it).
Late in 2003, Eternal Life Bible Institute (ELBI) contacted me about buying the campus in Port Austin. I wrote articles about it for a Servants’ News that never materialized, but was able to e-mail them to about half the readership. My wife was not in favor of buying the property or moving there. She felt we needed to stay there near our children, and she felt that we did not have the resources to get involved in this big of a project. In short, she felt I was unrealistic, I thought she lacked faith. We had a difficult time discussing the issue in peace. There were things that both of us should have learned from each other.
By early 2004, ELBI was desperate to find a buyer, and three other men expressed interest in putting their time and resources into the Port Austin project. My wife felt—even more strongly—that these were not the right people for me to work with. I felt that since she was against the project in general, she would be against everyone that wanted to do it. But I should have listened and asked her why. She was right. But I was so anxious to get going. What I once thought was out of reach now seemed within reach. If these other three men were willing to expend all of their resources to begin this ministry as I was willing, it should be possible. Unfortunately, a commitment among the four men was never set into writing.
I did realize this
was one of the more weighty decisions of my life. It would mean we would be
moving 2½ hours away from our 14- and 17-year-old children, leaving them at
Seeking the Will of God
Several times, I have
asked for and received specific guidance from God, as Abraham’s servant (Gen 24:12-22),
Gideon (Jdgs
As my wife and I were praying together about this issue, I prayed—without premeditating this—that God would send someone to us at the Church of God Seventh Day potluck to which we were going who would bring up the subject of Port Austin to us and tell us that we either should or should not go. Due to an unplanned circumstance, I ended up going to the potluck late, and Mark Caswell, one of the few people there who even knew about the project, was similarly late and walked up to me asking, “Are you going to buy that property in Port Austin?” We sat together and talked during the meal. I told him I intended to continue Servants’ News and some of the other men similarly had made plans to continue their income producing efforts. At the end of the conversation he recommended: “If you can live and work there like that, I would go and buy it.”
That was what I
wanted to hear! I believed I had received an answer from God. Similarly, the
other men had asked for direction from God in various other ways, and had
largely received it. In our minds, we were all set to go. We signed papers to
purchase the property on
When we ask for direction from God, we need to ask in such a way that he can reveal his true will. If we simply give him options that we want, He cannot answer with what He wants. When we do receive an answer, we must be careful to pay attention to the details, because it is therein that He can impose his answer to our request based on limited knowledge. If we are asking the Creator of the universe to answer us, we need to desperately want His answer, not ours—why else should He answer at all. It is very easy to hear just what we want to hear.
And he [Elisha] said, “Open the east window”; and he [King
Joash] opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The
arrow of the Lord’s deliverance
and the arrow of deliverance from
King Joash knew that the arrows pictured deliverance and he should have been diligent to carry out this symbolic action that the prophet was giving him to do. Similarly, in this morning’s PABC Bible study we read 1 Samuel 15 where Saul was commanded to destroy all of the Amalekites and their livestock. Saul probably did over 95% of what God commanded, but somewhere along the way he decided to make a few “improvements” keeping king Agag alive as well as some sheep for sacrificing. This was the proverbial “last straw” and Saul lost the kingdom.
A modern example of how God sometimes does the best he can to answer our prayers of direction was Angela King’s request to know what her relationship should be with a single preacher she had met. She prayed that if the very next thing he gave her were colored, it would mean that he would be her friend, and if the next thing he gave her were white, it would mean that she should marry him. The first thing he gave her was black. In hindsight, it is easy to see that if she had the faith that God would answer her then she should have had faith that he would answer with the “first thing” he gave her as she asked. The black thing was not considered in the prayer and must mean that neither friendship nor marriage was beneficial to her. But she simply gave the black object back to him, and later on, accepted the second thing he gave her—which was white—even though her prayer asked God nothing about the “second thing”. It was only after she married him that she realized he had terribly deceived her and was involved in much sin—so much that his church was removing him from his preaching job. A divorce followed.
Realizing My Own Mistake
It is only now that I, Norman Scott Edwards, writing in June 2008, realize that I did the same thing to God with my spring prayer about whether or not to begin the project. Now that I am thinking deeply, I can see that of the many times I have told about this prayer, I have not told and nearly forgotten significant parts that I had considered unimportant. Firstly, that I do remember specifically asking God to send one or two people to encourage us to move to PABC if it would serve God. If one person fulfills the requirement of “one or two”, then is not one enough? One is not enough if God’s answer was more complicated than just “go” or “no go”.
The prayer was for
someone who would “bring up the issue to us” because we wanted clear action
from God and did not want to hand-pick someone whom we thought would answer the
issue our way. During our conversation with Mark Caswell, George Boyles also
sat down. He did not independently bring up the subject then—we were already
talking about it. However, he was the one who first who challenged me to
provide a post-secondary educational place for Sabbatarian young people—way
back in 2002. He also made his own unsolicited recommendation—that I not go up
to Port Austin then, but that I stay and continue to teach part time at
I remember explaining that ELBI was getting close to foreclosure and that somebody had to take action within a month or so. George Boyles suggested that the other three men move there first, and then I join them a year later. I answered, something like “Oh, no, they couldn’t do it without me.” He, a very mild-mannered man, responded fairly strongly with, “So you think you are indispensable in the work of God?” I explained that I just did not think that any of them had the patience or thoroughness to lean all of the physical plan, real estate, and legal things that were necessary to make the project work. Mr. Boyles did not argue the point any more, but it was obvious that he felt it best that I stay another year.
Ever since Mr. Boyles stirred me to provide a place for Sabbath-observing young people in 2002, I had believed that God was at work in that stirring. I struggled with what he said during that 2004 conversation. Was he just changing his mind? Yet I did not think he was speaking from any hidden agenda, but was trying to give me Godly counsel—quite probably the counsel I had prayed for. I dismissed it all with the technical reason that he did not “bring the subject up”, but I think the truth is that I did not want to try to integrate his advice to “stay” with Mark’s advice to “go”.
So as I write this section, I believe, for the first time, that I should have listened to both. If I had faith that God was behind the project, then I could have had faith that He would make it possible to purchase the property even if I could not move there for another year. If the other three men would have agreed to begin the project without me present, they all would have had to expend their resources and that would have settled much of our later disagreement. If they were going to rely on the funds from my house, we all would have had to come to a written agreement on the responsibility for each person. If all of these things were accomplished, we might have been able to work together. If they started and then backed out, or if they never agreed to get started without me there, I think God would have provided other supporters (just like he has these last four years) who would have allowed us to eventually purchase the property and continue. While all of these scenarios sound difficult, none would have been as difficult as what actually happened: the forcible legal separation that occurred in October 2004, and then the 2005 fire and lawsuits that followed.
I feel embarrassed, but it seems that I had not learned Rebekah’s and Jacob’s lesson:
But the children struggled together within her
[Rebekah]; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to
inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger
than the other, And the older shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:22-23).
(I do hope that I, as well as all the SN readers have learned that it is not wrong to sincerely ask God the reason for something as simple as a tummy ache, and that sometimes God speaks and gives an answer.)
But here Rebekah, and later Jacob, missed God’s promise that the elder, Esau, would serve the younger, Jacob. Quite a few verses of Genesis 25 through 29 are devoted to Rebekah’s and Jacob’s efforts to trick Esau out of his birthright and blessing. If God had established it, there was no need to trick Esau. So, Jacob went on to work for Laban, where God taught him by letting Laban trick him into working seven years for the “wrong” wife. The bottom line: God has good plans for us and does not need our “improvements” upon them, but he will work with us in spite of our sins if we see them and repent.
Last Four Years in a Nutshell
I must stress again that the last section of this writing was not understood by me until today. So in August of 2004, Marleen, Josh, Jesse, James and I moved to the Port Austin property and began to organize the Christian community. Marleen worked hard, cooking meals for many people, cleaning buildings, opening and processing mail and in later seasons tending to our garden.
Josh and Jesse
attended
As the 2006-2007
school year approached, it was evident that we would have little credit
available for tuition and related expenses. James, who was both physically and
academically advanced for his age, was also ready to bypass 8th grade and start
For a day, I was
strongly opposed to the idea. I would miss her company and help in many areas.
The time lost due to that, and the extra time spent driving would take its toll
on my effectiveness at PABC—and it did. But we neither sought nor did God
provide any other solution and so for both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school
years Marleen lived and worked at
Unfortunately, in March of 2007, our personal finances finally reached the point of no return. There was no significant credit line available on our personal credit cards and their combined balance was about $110,000. The PABC lawsuit was still unsettled, and we found that few people could get excited about helping PABC when the judge in the case could order the property to be sold. So I wrote all 11 of our credit card accounts asking who I could contact to work out a single arrangement with all of them so that we could pay a small amount or a partial amount until either PABC was doing better or until I obtained another job elsewhere.
It was then that I learned how corrupt the practice of debt collection is in our nation—more than half of the complaints the Federal Trade Commission receives regard unfair debt collection practices. I went to court to oppose some of the illegal practices, but our temporary local judge was not the least bit interested in deciding against them, and I realized that I did not have the time or money to go through the multiple appeals that would probably be needed to obtain a favorable ruling. (Almost nobody who is deeply in debt can afford civil legal representation—that is why so much abuse goes on unchecked.)
While there certainly are irresponsible people who should have avoided getting into debt, many collectors try to keep them in debt and extract far more than is owed—often by trickery. Credit card companies are some of the worst offenders. None of them ever seriously answered any of the four or more letters that I wrote each of them. Instead, they showered me with hundreds of letters and phone calls each basically saying, “What can you pay or agree to pay us right now?” The letters were all automated and the people who make the calls usually knew nothing about what I wrote them. While several offered reduced payments and reduced principle, the offer usually had to be accepted within a month or less. It would do no good to commit most of my resources to one company, when I would still have 10 other accounts outstanding.
It became very clear to me that the only way to provide a single solution to all 11 accounts was to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. While that sounds scary—maybe even unchristian to many people—it is something an individual is allowed to do every seven years—a legal procedure based upon the scripture:
At the end of every seven years you must cancel
debts. 2
This is how it is to be done: Every creditor
shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require
payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord’s time for
canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3
You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your
brother owes you. 4 However, there
should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to
possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are
careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you as he has
promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will
rule over many nations but none will rule over you. 7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of
the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be
hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he
needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The
seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show
ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to
the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging
heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work
and in everything you put your hand to (Deut 15:1-10, NIV)
Our federal laws are many times more complex than the Bible . For various technical reasons we will need to delay our filing for some additional months. In the mean time, many of the credit card companies started court cases against us and have obtained judgments against us. Unfortunately, I used two cards that were issued to both myself and my wife. So she has been dragged into two lawsuits, something that she never wanted. These judgments allow the companies to garnish wages, but we no longer receive enough for them to take anything. Similarly, they would be able to take away other property of various kinds, but with old vehicles, no investments and no luxury items, there is almost nothing they can take. Filing bankruptcy eliminates these judgments, but it will require us to list all of our assets and surrender things over a certain minimum value. It appears unlikely that we have much of anything that will be affected by that.
As it is, all of this collection and court action, being apart for two years, and the numerous struggles at PABC have put quite a strain on our family. I know beyond any doubt that God has given me the responsibility to take care of my family. I can tell that being away two years has taken its toll on my relationship with my wife. Even though three of our children are out of high school, they all are relatively young and want me to be there to help them start their businesses and ministries, to work on their cars and computers, and to talk about their families-to-be. I have been away from most of them for four years. If God makes it possible for me to continue the work at PABC and spend time with them too, then I will. But that would probably take a minor miracle—a financial miracle.
First Things First
Presently, there are excessive demands on my time at PABC. I am spread way too thin doing too many things in frugal, labor-intensive ways. We have a number of aging buildings, computers, software and other things that will need significant financial upgrades in the next few years. It has been a struggle to produce one Servants’ New issue per year. There are many other areas of ministry (internet, prisons, helping local individuals, etc.) where we have begun to serve, but do not really have time or resources to do a good job. I realize that even though I have stayed with it for over four years, I do feel overwhelmed more and more often—and have suffered from discouragement and depression—which causes even less to be done. While a lot has been accomplished (see PABC Accomplishments Thus Far), we are capable of doing a better job of almost everything—with the right people and resources to do it.
I realize that I am
better at working and accomplishing complex physical tasks than I am at doing
things of the spirit such as: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do
not quench the Spirit” (1Th
For the benefit of my
family, it appears that I need to spend the next year or two with my wife and
family at
I think I have made a reasonable—though certainly imperfect effort to help Sabbatarian young people over the last four years. But I would be a terrible example if I lost my own family to do it. What about you? How can you help? If you can’t, can you give this publication to someone who can? It would only take a few good people. Please see the end of the article PABC Future for how to help! &