Chapter 2 the harvey family
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- REHABILITATION CENTER NEEDED
- EXTRA MILE DOMICILE
- WILFRIED
- HERMANN
- OTHER YOUTH
- ORTWIN
- MOVING AGAIN
AT THE TRAIN STATIONI was getting into my car at the railway station when I saw a young man sitting in a car next to me reading a pornographic magazine. He had an "SOS" sticker in the rear window of the car, so I approached his open window and said, "Excuse me sir, but I have often seen these "SOS" stickers on car windows. Could you please explain what they mean?" He was friendly to explain. "In event of a serious accident, the sticker tells police and rescue workers to call a priest to administer last rites. I replied, "Oh are you a Christian?" He replied affirmatively. I continued, "Do you think a Christian should read that kind of magazine?" He stammered that he was really not very religious. I gave him an invitation to our youth center and a Gospel of John to read. REHABILITATION CENTER NEEDEDAs the number of addicts who had given their lives to Christ increased, it was no longer possible to take them into our home. We began to search for a building large enough for us to live in and run a rehabilitation program. In 1972, a man murdered his recently-divorced wife and buried her body in the basement of a house they had been building. He poured a concrete floor to "cover up" his evil deed, but police became suspicious. They had the floor broken up and found the body. The murderer was given life imprisonment, and the unfinished house was put up for auction. Since many Austrians are superstitious, no one even offered the opening bid at the auction. I could envision the place as a great rehabilitation and youth training center and began to pray that the Lord would somehow provide the building for that purpose. I even went to the house one night after closing the youth center and, kneeling on the street, claimed the house in prayer. The building was sold to a man who finished the construction work and rented it to migrant laborers from Yugoslavia. I thought that this was the end of the story, but two years later, the house became the home of a Bible Institute! I will share more about this answer to my prayers in "The History of Bible Schools in Austria." EXTRA MILE DOMICILEShortly after this, we were able to rent ten rooms from the Salvation Army in Linz for our rehabilitation program. Several youths who were relatively strong Christians agreed to room here with others who needed help. We could never fill more than five rooms (ten boys including five with drug problems) because we couldn’t find enough Christian youth who were willing to make the necessary sacrifices to live there. WILFRIEDOne Friday night, an addict named Wilfried came into the youth center holding a blood-soaked handkerchief over his wrist. He was obviously high, and I quickly took him aside to inspect his wound. The moment he released pressure on the wound, blood began pulsating down his hand and onto the floor. I realized that he had slashed an artery and rushed him to the hospital. We, as well as the hospital personnel, assumed that he had attempted suicide, but when I visited him the following day, I discovered that he had smashed a store window with his fist while high on heroin. Wilfried had quite a colorful criminal record. On one occasion, he entered a church in Hamburg, Germany and destroyed the altar and other furnishings. The German police sent him back to Austria where he served time for the offense. Once released, he was again arrested for robbery and received an eight month sentence. I visited him in jail and gave him a New Testament to read. Wilfried was not an avid reader and decided to "read the last chapter first, to see how the story ended.“ He began reading in Revelation, but the first chapter didn't make much sense. He turned the page and began reading in the third chapter, "I know your works. You profess to be alive, but you are dead. Wake up and rescue the rest, which is close to death..." There in prison, he recognized the warning voice of God and promised God that he would "go straight." After his release, Wilfried looked up the "Katakombe" and tried to copy the lives of other Christians, but he soon reverted to drinking and "fixing" again. After Wilfried was released from the hospital, he committed his life wholly to Jesus and was fortunate to find a place in our rehabilitation center. A few months later, Wilfried again came into the youth center with a bandaged arm, but this time there was another reason. He had spent his hard-earned money to have a large tattoo of a hypodermic needle and the word "HEROIN" surgically removed! I learned an important lesson from Wilfried. I was sitting at a table in our youth center one evening, engaged in a debate with a notorious, but intelligent youth of the city about spiritual matters. He kept firing questions at me, which I was usually able to field at least to my own satisfaction. The youth, however, would simply ask a new question and I was again thumbing through my Bible for a suitable answer. Wilfried was waiting on tables and overheard our discussion. He interrupted, saying that he too wanted to ask a question. Instead of asking me something, he turned to the youth and asked, "Hey man, if Ralph answers your next question, are you prepared to give your life to God?" The other youth hesitated to answer and Wilfried repeated the question. The young man tried to change the subject and wouldn’t answer the question, so Wilfried turned to me and said, "You're wasting your time with this guy! He just wants to argue!" Wilfried later married a nice girl and they had several children. HERMANNHis long, black hair was his only possession, and Hermann spent hours each day brushing and combing it until it had a shiny luster. When he came into the Katakombe one day with extra short hair, everyone gasped, "What happened to Hermann?" In actuality, nothing much had happened to Hermann to cause him to have his hair cut. He had been reading his Bible and praying, as was his custom, when he realized that he actually worshipped his hair. According to the Bible, a Christian was to have "no other gods" and Hermann decided to be consequent! He was elated that the barber didn’t even charge him for the haircut! I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the barber probably sold his hair for a bunch of money! Much had happened to Hermann before his ears saw daylight however! His mother had given birth to at least ten children by several different men, and Hermann never knew who his father was. Being one of the older children, he often cared for his younger siblings when his mother was drunk or staying somewhere with a strange man. When Hermann turned sixteen, he left home and began an apprenticeship in a music store, repairing musical instruments. A colleague recognized Hermann's musical gift and offered to teach him how to play the drums. He learned so well that he was given a position as drummer in a local rock band. It was there that he first came into contact with drugs. Before long, he could no longer support his habit from what he earned and turned to illegal methods of procuring money. Hermann soon lost his job and became one of over 4,000 drug statistics in Linz, sleeping in freight cars, under bridges and in abandoned houses. Like many addicts in Linz, Hermann discovered that he could usually get a free bite to eat in the "Katacombe" youth center. After several visits for food, we noticed that Hermann was staying longer and asking questions. One Saturday evening in the summer of 1972, he committed his life to Jesus and prayed for God's help to get free of drugs. When he asked if he could stay in the rehabilitation center, we declined, saying that there was no one to stay with him. Inwardly, I wondered if Hermann had simply gone through the motions of a conversion in hopes of getting free room and board. Sunday mornings, we offered the homeless a free "Katakombe Breakfast" in the youth center. We hoped that some might stay for the church service and occasionally, some did. Hermann seldom missed these breakfasts and once he had even attended church. The experience was entirely new to him and he tried to adapt as well as was possible. He noticed that church people called each other "Brother" and "Sister" and attempted to comply. After the service, he made the rounds, greeting "brothers and sisters" with the customary handshake! The morning after Hermann's conversion, he was missing at breakfast. Sunday evening, however, he was back in the youth center wanting to share his "miracle experience" with everyone. During a wild party among drug addicts the evening before, someone had been killed. Early Sunday morning, police raided an abandoned house where Hermann and other homeless youth had been sleeping. They took everyone they found into custody for questioning. During interrogation, Hermann repeatedly denied attending the party, claiming that he was in church! The police officers just laughed and asked if he had gone to confession. Hermann tried to explain, but the officers concluded that he was still under drug influence and led him to a cell. A few hours later, Hermann was again interrogated, and this time he persuaded the police to call the Baptist Church. "The pastor will verify that I was in the "Katacombe" until midnight.” At the mention of "Katacombe" the policeman reacted. He was familiar with the youth center, but had never heard of a Baptist church! Hermann's claims were soon confirmed and he was released. That evening, one of our faithful youth helpers offered to move into the “Extra Mile” with Hermann. Hermann stayed "clean," married a fine Christian girl and they had three girls. He started his own business making and repairing stringed instruments and custom furniture. Hermann never got a driver's license but rode his bike almost everywhere, even into Yugoslavia for a vacation. After returning to Ampflwang in 1980, I sent him an invitation to evangelistic tent meetings that we were holding. He rode his bike 40 miles each way in the rain to attend. I asked if he would share his testimony and he agreed. When I introduced him, I said, "If you had known Hermann 8 years ago, you would find it difficult to believe that this is the same person." Hermann got up and said, "What I used to be is not worth mentioning. I want to tell you about Jesus." His was one of the most powerful testimonies I have heard. OTHER YOUTHNot all of the youth with whom we worked were addicts. Some had dabbled a bit with drugs, but not enough to become addicted, and most were just ordinary young people. Our original core of youth workers was composed of youth who grew up in the church, but later, new converts became involved in the music, serving guests and working in the kitchen. As they grew spiritually, we integrated them into program committees and evangelistic teams. Michaela was a vivacious girl of about 5' 2” who loved to talk. I once jested that Michi’s favorite hymn was probably “Oh for a Thousand Tongues.“ The youth loved that joke, but on Sunday, I regretted having said it. When the Pastor announced that we should turn in our hymnals to “Oh for a Thousand Tongues,“ nearly all the youth started laughing uncontrollably. Michi evened the score that summer when she helped me earn my nickname. We took the youth camping next to a lovely lake within sight of the majestic Alps. Michi and a girl named Leoni were sleeping in a tent next to an old farm house. The first night, the girls giggled and talked all night. In the morning, the farmer came out and angrily demanded to speak with the "traurige Aufsichtsperson" (the literal translation is "sad supervisor," but the meaning was more like “lousy leader”). From that time on I was the “traurige Aufsichtsperson.” Walter and Leoni were brother and sister who grew up in the church. Their mother was a Christian, but their father claimed to be an atheist and made no secret about his high regard for Adolf Hitler. Both Walter and Leoni were musically gifted and loved the Lord. They married Christian partners, but their Father refused to attend their weddings. I was asked to fill in for him and gladly accepted the invitation. A couple of the youths who were converted in our center came from Lutheran backgrounds, but their own church had little to offer them. Each year, the few protestant churches in Linz began the year with a week of prayer meetings. I was placed in charge of a youth night, which was to be held in the Lutheran Church. I delegated different responsibilities to young people, trying to ascertain that all the churches had some representation. When I announced that a young man from the Lutheran Church would read the Scripture, the Lutheran Pastor looked startled. The church had no youth! After the service, he asked me who the boy was and I told him. The Pastor had baptized him as an infant and never seen him again, but he was still listed as a member of his church! Since most Austrians are Roman Catholic, many of those who were converted in the "Katacombe" were Catholics. One of these was Manfred, who soon became an active witness everywhere he went. Once, Manfred and several other youth were out on the streets, inviting strangers to the youth center. When passing by the large "Heart of Jesus Catholic Church," Manfred paused to read a poster displayed in a showcase. Turning to the other youth, he said, "There is a mistake on this poster -- let's go tell the priest!" It was the month of May, when Mary is honored in Catholic Churches. When the priest responded to a knock on his office door, Manfred pointed to the showcase and stated, “There is an error on that poster.” The priest walked over and read it out loud, “Mary is our special mediator in approaching God.” “Where is the mistake?” he asked. Manfred replied, "The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man." The priest was obviously upset and asked what kind of religious sect the boys represented. Manfred and the two boys accompanying him replied that they were Catholic. Manfred opened his Bible and read the verse he had quoted. The priest was at first speechless, but then insisted that church tradition is just as important as the Bible; he was not about to remove the poster! Soon after Manfred was baptized, he enrolled in a German Bible College. Upon graduation, he accepted a pastorate in Germany and later he became a Bible professor in his Alma Mater. One evening, the 13-year-old daughter of a church member showed up in the youth center wearing the shortest Mini Skirt I had ever seen. While I was pondering how I should handle this, one of the young men, a recently converted drug addict, walked over to where she was standing, bent forward and stared at her legs. She became very indignant and called him some uncomplimentary names. He just looked at her in obvious surprise and said, "I'm sorry, but I thought you wear those things so guys would admire your legs!" She ran away in tears, but returned the next night wearing modest clothing. Once, a student was debating with one of our youth about the existence of God. The believer asked him, "If God should answer a prayer, would you believe?" With a smirk, he replied, "Sure, I'll pray that I win the lottery!" "Oh no, that wouldn't work;" the Christian youth responded, "God only answers the prayer of faith and you don't believe. I'll pray for you!" The student thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, but it has to be something really convincing." The Christian youth began to pray, "Lord, you heard this guy. He's going to be a tough one to convince, so I'm asking you to do something really strong, like a bad accident on the way home tonight..." The student suddenly interrupted, “No, stop that! You don't have to pray for that!” The Christian youth bowed his head again and said, "You don't need to do anything Lord; he already believes you are for real." ORTWINOne evening three strangers came into the youth center together. I greeted them and invited them to a table. I asked if they would like something to eat or drink. While they were waiting for their order, I handed them each a program for the month's activities and asked if they were from Linz. One of them, named Ortwin, said that he was from Linz, but the other two were from Enns, about six miles away. They were members of a Yoga Club and had heard of the Katakombe from another member of their group. The program was about Heaven. I passed out cards to each person, telling them not to show anyone what was on it. Each card had the name of an animal, insect, plant or a person on it. I said that they should pretend to be whatever or whoever was written on their cards and describe to others how they pictured paradise or heaven. The others were to guess who or what that person represented. It was a fun discussion, but also educational. One girl's card read, "FROG." Her idea of heaven was a lake, lily pad and lots of flies. Ortwin's card said "THIEF". When it was his turn, I expected something like “lots of rich people and no policemen or jails,“ but Ortwin's response was totally unexpected. He said, “There is no paradise or heaven for me. If there was even one other person like me, it would be hell, yet if people were different from me, I couldn't be happy or satisfied. If I was all alone, I would be terribly lonely and miserable. There is no paradise for me!” No one could guess what he was, but afterwards we had a good discussion about what he wrote. After the program, Ortwin told me that he was leaving the next day for India and Nepal. He had heard that the really great Yogis were in that area and he wanted to learn from them. We talked until about 2:00 AM, and before he left, Ortwin prayed and asked God to forgive him and help him begin a new life with Christ. I encouraged him to cancel his planned trip even though it had cost a lot of money. But he said that he still wanted to go. Seeing that I was not going to convince him, I finally took one of the unused cards and wrote several questions on it. Handing him the card, I said, "I will pray every day for you and want you to read that card every day and ask yourself these questions." The first question on the card I had given was, "When you see deeply religious people, ask yourself, 'Are they really happy?'" My second question was, "What kind of an influence do the most devout and advanced members of this religion have upon their environment?" The third question was, "What kind of an influence do they have on other people? Do they show a love and concern for the poor and needy? Do they encourage others to abhor evil and espouse that which is good?" Ortwin promised. A week later, I received a postcard from Ortwin. He wrote how thankful he was for that card and the questions. He could hardly wait to get back and tell me about his experiences. He had planned to stay at least three months, but returned in two weeks. He came into the Katakombe on his first night back and told me all about his trip and what he had learned. Ortwin said that the more religious the people were, the less happiness they showed. At best, the people seemed to be in a state of unconsciousness. Everywhere he went, there was dirt and filth. The worst situations were in the temple areas and around the altars. Monkeys and other animals left their excrement everywhere and no one felt the need to clean it up. The stench was often almost unbearable. Ortwin said that he was shocked by what he saw. There was extreme wealth on the one hand, and great poverty on the other, yet no sign of sympathy or concern. This was the most depressing part of his trip. Soon afterwards, Ortwin was baptized and joined the church. He had a very keen mind and a journalistic gift. When we started to mimeograph a youth magazine, he was a great help and continued to write and edit when printed it. Ortwin fell in love with Franciska, one of our most faithful youth, and they were married the following year. I wish I could say that this was a story with a happy ending, but am sorry to say that Ortwin and his wife later fell away from the Lord and the church. He is now using his time and talents to prepare and perform cabaret shows. This was probably my biggest disappointment from our ten years of ministry in Linz. We still pray that "He which hath begun a good work" will somehow cause them to realize how foolish they have been and return to the Lord. On a recent visit to Austria in 2011, I got together with many of our old youth group. I should underscore the word "old!" Most were retired grandparents and Hermann wss already with the Lord! Ortwin and Franzi invited everyone to their home for desserts and fellowship. I shared my testimony of how the Lord was using us even in retirement and encouraged them all to follow the Lord. Ortwin seemed convicted but tried to deflect my words by explaining how the number 153 had been very special to him. I pulled out my Social Security card and showed him that the first three digits of my number were 153. Then I said that we prayed to God to lead us to the right house. The house he led us to is 153 Bentwood Drive. When the disciples obeyed the Lord in John 21, they caught 153 large fish! We all ought to obey the Lord! From the Spring 1975 GOSPEL MESSAGE YOUTH EVANGELISM Austrian youth are fed up with religion. But they are open to the Gospel! They find little to interest them in the staid, sterile State church of their parents, which they seldom attend. Since their parents have usually forbidden them to have anything to do with the "evangelicals,“ by the time they are teenagers, they have developed a strong curiosity about such "fanatics.“ When we came to Austria, our purpose was to train, equip, encourage and assist the Austrian evangelical churches in growth and development (There are only 2000 evangelicals in this country of 7 million people). The openness of the youth soon became apparent, as did their desperate need for the love and power of Christ in their lives. In order to reach them, we opened the "Katacombe" youth center with the help of youth from the Baptist church in Linz. Here, each weekend, we offer a place for young people to gather, listen to music, talk, and hear the Gospel. A number of young people have accepted Christ as their Savior as a result of this ministry. Right now the "Katacombe" is under the leadership of Herwig, a young Austrian who was saved at the center in 1968. We also have the "Extra-Mile Domicile"-- a dormitory for young drug addicts who want to "get clean." There, they live, work and get acquainted with Jesus Christ on a day-to-day basis. One young man who lived in the "Extra-Mile" is now in Bible school preparing himself to evangelize his own people. And there are others -- Hans, Herman, Peter and Manfred are also studying to prepare for full-time Christian service. One young man is already serving the Lord in another Austrian city. Another young couple is very active in the church's youth and children's ministries. It is exciting to see these young Austrians grow in their faith and in knowledge of our Lord as they set themselves to the task of evangelizing their country. That is why we are here. -Ralph Harvey, Austria MOVING AGAINOur three-room apartment in Ansfelden was small, even for a family of four, but after Becky was born, it became apparent that we would need to find a larger place. There were other drawbacks to the apartment. Our oldest son would begin school and have to walk two miles each way or be delivered and picked up personally. We had applied for a telephone, but were told that the normal waiting period was at least two years in that area. The biggest problems were created by our landlord, who lived with his family in the apartment beneath us. He had been quite reasonable at first, offering to loan us money for a new washing machine and giving us some furniture he didn't need. But we were constantly entertaining visitors and he didn't like that at all. There was a nice lawn, sandbox and even a small swimming pool in the yard, but our children were not allowed to use them. Our boys liked to ride the tricycles they had gotten from their grandparents, but the only possibility was in the street. The house was centrally heated, but the landlord refused to turn on the circulation pump, “because it used too much electricity.“ The hot water heated his apartment, but by the time it reached the upper floor, it was hardly warm enough to melt butter. We had to use expensive electric heaters to keep from freezing. We were allowed to use part of the attic to dry clothes, but the light was on our landlord's meter. One day, the 25 watt bulb burned out and I replaced it with a 40 watt bulb. He soon noticed and was furious! His wife must have had a difficult time living with such a tightwad! When I once complained that our heating and electric bills were so high, he suggested that Verna do like his wife did. She always washed, ironed and baked after ten o'clock at night. I asked what difference that would make and he said that the electric rate was nearly half as much after ten. Many Austrian homes have a second meter installed for cheaper nighttime electric, but this is only for hot water or electric heat. I explained this to him and said that the rest of the house is still on the regular rate. He checked with the electric company and discovered that I was right! His wife had been "burning midnight oil" for fifteen years to save electric - all for nothing! The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back came in June, 1970, shortly after I left with the boys. Verna was home alone with the baby when the doorbell rang. She opened, and the landlord was standing there with only his undershorts on! He told her that she needed to open the windows for ventilation, but his breath smelled of alcohol and Verna quickly closed the door and locked it. We decided to look for another place to live! Bracing ourselves for another long and difficult ordeal of house hunting, we placed an ad in the next weekend paper. The first response to our ad sounded promising, so I went immediately to check it out. It turned out to be a repeat performance of Verna's experience with our landlord, only this time it happened to me! When I knocked on the door, a woman of about 30 opened and invited me inside. She was dressed only in her panties and a bra! I excused myself and left. After that episode, we decided it would be better for the two of us to do house hunting together even though it meant taking three kids along. Someone else had advertised a house to rent in the same paper that contained our ad, but there was no phone number. In Austria ads often include a chiffre number and you have to send your response to the newspaper, which passes the message on to the advertiser. We responded to the ad, but, from past experience, we had low expectations of receiving an answer. Fortunately, the owners had seen our ad and contacted us first. They lived in Steyr, about 40 miles away, but the house was located in Traun, near Linz. We decided to drive to Steyr immediately, but just as we were about to leave the house, the door bell rang. I was asked to attend the funeral of someone related to a church member - in Steyr! Verna thought it would not be good to take the three children to a funeral and opted to stay home. I attended the funeral and then went to visit the owners of the house. The owner met me at the door and said that if I had knocked five minutes earlier, no one would have been home! He was a dentist and had built a brand new home for his retirement in the Linz suburb of Traun. He wouldn't be retiring for three more years and didn't want to leave the house empty. I made a date to look at the house the following day. We arrived promptly at the appointed time, but when the home owners saw that we had three small children, they let us know that the door was closed. Twenty others also responded! They didn't want children in their house! I said that after seeing what a nice home they had, I could fully understand. I apologized for not telling him that we had children but was thinking inwardly, “How many couples our age are childless? They were obviously proud of their future home and offered to show us around if we were interested. As we walked, the dentist asked why an American family would be living in Austria. I replied honestly and also asked a few questions about his work and family. They said that they never had children themselves, which helped to explain their reluctance to have children in the house. When he found that I was quite familiar with the history of Steyr and Austria, he seemed to warm up to us. We must have been there an hour when we excused ourselves, saying that it had been a pleasure to meet them. We hoped our paths would cross again. The wife turned to her husband and said, "Dear, I have never seen such well-behaved children. Don't you think it would be okay to rent them the house?" He replied, "I was just thinking the same thing myself!" We moved on February 25, 1970 and within two weeks we even had a telephone! Directory: documents documents -> Concept stage documents -> Concept stage documents -> The great global switch-off documents -> Nonprofit grant application documents -> The Truth about the Rwandan Genocide documents -> Annual InStructional unit plan documents -> Chaos equipment included Download 2.2 Mb. Share with your friends:
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