RURAL BRYANT, SD, PRESENTS:
His jabber-mouth and continual mischief-making and wrong-doing, which had made him a difficult child to rear, got worse and worse. He heard voices tempting him to take things, and he took them and got in trouble, some of it big trouble, enough to have him arrested and land him in a penitentiary [a misjudgment by the judge, since it was a gang of wicked juvenile boys who saw him as a stooge or fall-guy and put him up to stealing a car, then ran away and he was charged.--Ed.
He might have continued on this way, going in and out of jails and correctional and rehab institutions for the rest of his life but for the intervention of his own praying and interceeding relatives, who wanted something better for him.
This intervention on their part led to the crisis, where Darrell discovered the truth of what he had denied all along, that he was and had been for a very long time the unwitting tool of demonic powers.
Darrell, hearing them, realized they were right about his demon possession, and he began crying out desperately for help and release. He had felt the demons actually cutting off his vital air and strangling and choking him to death, and so he knew they had terrific power over his own life, and that he needed God's deliverance and nothing less!
He resisted the idea, since he thought being a Christian would exclude demons from coming in and taking over, but here was proof he could no longer deny. Would he let them kill him or was he going to be set free by God? It had come to the parting of the ways, for Darrell wanted God and life more abundantly than demons and bondage for the rest of his days on earth.
For him there was no question that this was the choice set before him. Just as he emphatically said "No!" to more shock treatments, he said "No more!" to the demons that possessed and afflicted him. He truly wanted to be free.
The demon of kleptomania ("compulsive stealing" in psychology's jargon) had gone too, praise God. While he was in the other prison he would steal most everything he could carry away. When the boys missed something they would go to Darrell's drawer and usually find it. His drawer was so full of stolen things it would at times run over on the floor.
This November, the 24th, I received a letter from him asking, 'Aunty Cora, could you send me what you remember about me in the hospital so I can add it to the story called, "MY PERSONAL DELIVERANCE"'? HE WAS PRAISING GOD FOR THE REALITY OF 2 TIMOTHY 1:7 WHICH HE CALLS HIS DELIVERANCE VERSE, 'FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVE US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR, BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND A SOUND MIND.' Now he is determined for the rest of his life to preach this deliverance message to everyone that will listen for His Glory."--End of Introduction by New Tribes Mission Life-Time Missionary, Cora Stadem-Taylor.
He also managed to work at many temporary jobs, such as dish washing, custodial work, yard work, and window washing. He was adept at earning money on the spot by doing windows or odd jobs for people in their yards or businesses. His ability to talk to anyone, opening conversation with a cheery smile, got him countless little ways to earn a little cash when he was needing a meal or a haircut or a ticket somewhere on the bus. This ability got him out of many a tight financial spot, showing he could survive a pecuniary short-fall with dignity and self-respect by exercising pluck and a little Protestant work ethic and elbow grease where others might give up and have to beg for money.
Darrell truly loved people, even those who couldn't respond back favorably. He went to the outcasts, the street people, and to the shut-ins in nursing homes, and to the elderly who cherished any human contact but seldom got any.
To these Darrell came as a breath of fresh air blowing straight from heaven. He would give them a word of the Gospel, then maybe a verse or two from scripture to plant the word in their hearts, and be on his way!
[His brother Ronald accompanied him once in a nursing home and observed him doing this, and sensed that the Holy Spirit was giving Darrell just the right word or scripture tailor-made for each individual, because of the reactions he witnessed--Editors].
Darrell, very much like a human hummingbird, was a dispenser of "Gospel dainties and sweet honeydew," who had received so much Word of God in his study at Bible School and in his personal study and prayer times, that he could overflow all day long.
Even when mistreated, when he had done nothing to deserve abuse, he did not fight back or defend himself but just moved on to another place. He always brought a message of cheer and the Gospel wherever there was the possibility of people being open to it, but if they were not he quickly moved on to other places and other people.
"He makes you uncomfortable, this sidewalk evangelist, waving his red Bible and orating tirelessly on sin and its penalties. People keep their passions to themselves in public, yet here on this clear, sun-drenched day, Darrell R. Ginther is stumping for the Lord--a smile on his face, an earnestness in his theatrical gestures.
In front of the Normandy Mall at noon, Ginther preaches to about 20 people, somewhat of a captive audience as most are waiting for a bus. He speaks in a loud, firm voice. Shoppers and strollers on both sides of Superior Street stare.
'The wage of sin is death, friend.' A passerby grins at the preacher in the bright paisley tie and calls out 'amen' as she walks past. Teenagers in T-shirts and jeans on bikes stop and stare, snickering. The New Duluth bus arrives and a crowd of people surround Ginther, waiting to board.
Then Ginther thanks his reluctant audience, packs up his American flag and tambourine in a vinyl flight bag, and heads for his room at the Martin Hotel on First Street.
'It costs $25 a week now,' Ginther says. 'The last time I was in Duluth it was $17.'
For Darrell R. Ginther, 45, self-styled downtown evangelist and wandering preacher, this has been a good day.
The police haven't hassled him, and crowd response was, in his opinion, good."
Article by Cynthia Hall of the Duluth Herald staff, Front Page, Friday, June 13, 1980. [It is worth mentioning that the Front Page also featured the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, with "fallout heavy"--Editors]." Permission to re-publish this article is being sought--Editors
Darrell may have appeared "self-styled evangelist" to Cynthia Hall and other reporters, but he was accredited as a minister at the Miracle Life Bible Training School in Seattle, Washington, in 1970, after graduating with honors.
Operated by the Northwest Evangelistic Association and church, 7930 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, Washington 98118. Pastor H.L. Wood was head of the church and association at the time Darrell studied there and received his diploma.
Darrell prized his ministerial identification card, for not only did it accredit him as an authentic minister but it entitled him to fare reductions, as much as 50% off fares, on trains and buses. This stretched his travel money considerably. In the Miracle Life News paper, Vol II, April 1970, two pictures of Darrell appear on page four, with the article: "STUDENT OF THE MONTH DARRELL GINTHER.
The student of the month for March was Brother Darrell Ginther. The student is selected by the staff. The staff selects a student according to co-operation, attitude, etc. Bro. Ginther works in the print shop in the afternoons. He also sings in the choir, and is willing to help whenever he is called upon. We appreciate Bro. Darrell's faithfulness to the church, and to God."--permission to re-publish this article is being sought--Editors.
The cosmetic Christmas gift sets appealed to her, and she bought. Practically everyone of her neighbors on both sides of the street also bought. Later I got a letter from J.R. Watkins announcing I was a winner coming in 9th in the nation among all their salesmen. The letter said I could go to the college of my choice, at their expense.
I answered and said I would go to Bible School, and they sent me several scholarships. While in prison I completed correspondence courses training in the Lutheran Bible Insitute of Minneapolis, Minnesota, receiving a diploma. Upon release and after winning the scholarships I also attended the West Coast's Lutheran Bible Institute, Faith Bible School, and Miracle Life Bible Training School, all of Seattle.
President H.L. Wood, a former Lutheran Free Church pastor, president of the Miracle Life Bible Training School, presented me my Diploma, along with my licensed minister's card. My Mother and youngest brother, Jerry L. Ginther, attended my graduation in Seattle."
Links to other
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Tribute to
Pearl Stadem Ginther Tribute to George
Baldwin, Brother to Jerry L. Ginther Stadem Family
Prayerline Plain View Heritage Farm Road
Map Stadem Families Saga Continues Central For Ron's
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