Meet Rev. Francis
Reverend Francis, our pastor, has recently moved into Caleb's and my hotel room. We have two adjoining rooms and use one as our bedroom, The other room serves as our living room, kitchen and dining room.
Rev. Francis was living in our little storefront church in the backroom but there are no bathing facilities and the man at the gas station around the corner has become very cranky because Rev. Francis was using the men's room there sort of as his private bathroom. We never thought he would complain and tell Rev. Francis he couldn't use it anymore to clean up and wash his clothes once in a while.
Anyway, Rev. Francis sleeps on the couch and now, at least he has a bathroom. And he makes good use of it, too! Since there isn't any privacy in the living-kitchen-dining room,
Rev. Francis often goes to the bathroom where he types his sermons on the computer while taking care of other things at the same time. Rev. Francis is so efficient! He is always thinking of ways to save time! I took this picture from our hidden video cam in the bathroom. He will probably be upset when he finds out I took it and put it on here. But I think he is just so clever finding a quiet place like this to work on his sermons.
Just look at how he is concentrating on what he is doing! You just can't help but love him to pieces, can you?
I think finding Rev. Francis was like a miracle. Caleb met him in a soup kitchen when they were both out of work.
Bartender
Rev. Francis worked as a bartender in Philadelphia for 17 years.
He liked to work in the sleazier bars so he could give good advice to the poor souls who came to his bar to get drunk. He has always liked to help people. He even helped some of the alcoholics save money by keeping it for them until they needed it.
Rev. Francis Accused Of Embezzlement
Well the last man he worked for accused him of stealing money from the cash register over a period of 7 years. He said Rev. Francis stole something like $43,000. Rev. Francis also kept the financial records for the bar so for awhile, it didn’t look too good for him. Of course Caleb and I know that just couldn’t be true. We have known Rev. Francis for almost a year and he is truly an honest, born again, godly man.
Anyway, Rev. Francis went to court just after we met him. Peculiarly, the bar owner's house was burglarized and the only thing taken were the bar’s financial books so the bar owner couldn’t prove anything about Rev. Francis stealing money from him. Rev. Francis was acquitted for lack of evidence. Praise God!
Right after that, Rev. Francis got saved from my husband Caleb witnessing to him and convincing him that he needed to get his sins forgiven and get right with God. After Rev. Francis got saved, he got ordained from the Universal Life Church right on the internet. Imagine that! One day he was an accused embezzler. The next day, he was saved and got ordained as a minister.
Rev. Francis And Our Church
Right now we just have a store front for our little church. This isn't a real good picture of our church but it will give you an idea. It is called 'Gifts Of The Spirit Pentecostal Church Of Bible God On Fire' and that is what is painted on the window. Caleb did that with a stencil. He also painted the two red crosses on each sign of the window, free hand. We are just to the left of the building on the right.
We got 25 folding chairs for fifty cents each at a yard sale and we use a dresser we got from a flea market as a pulpit. Caleb took the handles off the dresser and nailed the drawers shut and painted a big red cross on the front of the dresser. Then Caleb got a wooden skid and nailed plywood on it and put it under the dresser (pulpit) to make a platform. Caleb is such a handy man.
We have converted our little church's back room into a pastor's office and a kitchen We found a used microwave oven and a mini refrigerator we found in someone’s trash one night when we were taping salvation tracts on car windshields. Isn’t it amazing what people throw away.
Our church is in an economically deprived neighborhood (Skid Row) so we don't get a lot of money in the collection plate. We have 23 members right now. Caleb wants to eventually move the church into a better area so Rev. Francis won't have to carry his gun with him all the time. Since Rev. Francis is good at accounting and keeping books, he also fills in as the secretary-treasurer of our little church.
We are so fortunate that the police drive by our church all the time. They always slow down and try to look inside the church through the big window in front. Rev. Francis has asked me to make curtains for the window. He says we need more privacy in the chapel and its none of the police's business what's going on inside.
Rev Francis says he would like to see us relocate to an area where there are better houses and older people he can minister to. He says he specializes in working with older folks and has better luck with them. When we move to a better place, Caleb plans to get ordained and then he will be the assistant pastor.
Mysterious Break-ins
We do have concerns that someone is breaking into our little church's back room and drinking whiskey in there when the pastor is away. We keep finding half full Jack Daniels whiskey bottles in the closet, and in the toilet water tank. We even found a bottle of whiskey under Rev Francis’s chair cushion so whoever is breaking in is even sitting on his chair. Rev. Francis says he doesn’t drink so we know someone has to be breaking in when he is away.
Several times we have also found marijuana butts, smoked very short, on the floor or on the pastor's dinner plate. So whoever is doing it is so rude, they are using drugs in the pastor's room. Rev. Francis calls the marijuana butts "roaches" and he calls marijuana "weed" and "trees". He is just so funny with the names he gives some things.
Caleb and I want to call the police and report the break-ins but Rev. Francis is very opposed to that and won't let us call. He says he wants nothing to do with the police because they ask too many questions and we should just pray about it. He is a very private man. I suppose he is right.
The Reverend's Family
Rev. Francis is separated from his wife but she and their kids come to our church services every Sunday. Mrs. Francis is very good with her tambourine.
Right after we feed the family, they usually go back to the shelter where they are temporarily living. Once in awhile they all spend the night together in the back room but Rev. Francis hates sleeping on the floor. Caleb and I think they might get back together before too long.
Rev. Francis refuses to stay at the shelter any more. He says he got head lice 3 different times from staying there.
They get along OK, its just that there isn't enough room for them to live in the church back room. The landlord doesn't even know Rev. Francis and his family sleep in the back room sometimes.
I hope we don’t lose him as a pastor. He is a very spiritual man and so good when he preaches.
Many Visitors And A Healing Ministry During The Week
Rev. Francis has a lot of visitors at the church during the week. Most of the people who visit don't look too good. Some are even shaking when they stop by. After Rev. Francis prays with them in the church's back room they seem to be in a better frame of mind when they leave and they aren't shaking as much. They never stay too long. Caleb and I would like to have them attend Sunday and Wednesday services but Rev. Francis says we shouldn't push the issue.
Rev. Francis says the Lord has called him to a healing ministry and that's why he and the visitors go in the back room and pray privately. Praise the Lord! We bought Rev. Francis a pager and had a phone put in his back room after he asked for them. He says it is very important that his followers are able to contact him. Such a dedicated man!!