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Thursday, November 04, 2004
Family Abandons Life to Work for IBLP
The Harrington family was recently attending a regional ATI seminar when they were pulled aside and invited to come and work at Headquarters. The family went back to their home in Lima, Ohio to think and pray about the proposition. After much discussion, they decided to move out to Oak Brook, Illinois. "We felt that were obligated to go," said Mrs. Harrington. "After all, Mr. Gothard is our authority, and if he wants us to work at Headquarters, we need to follow God's will for our family."
Mr. Harrington agreed. "The hand of God is definitely on Mr. Gothard and his ministry. We're honored that we were asked to come on staff."
The family set about relocating. Mr. Harrington sold his lucrative accounting practice, while Mrs. Harrington and the children prepared to place their house on the market. Once the house was sold, the family loaded up a few belongings in their 12 passenger van and hit the road.
Imagine their shock upon arriving at Headquarters to discover that no one anticipated their arrival. "It was very disappointing," said Mr. Harrington. "Here we had changed our life for IBLP and they couldn't even throw a welcome party for us."
The family was put up in temporary housing on Pine Street. Mr. Harrington was asked to pray about God's Will for his ministry at HQ's and was told to report to the kitchen the next morning. Mrs. Harrington was advised to unpack her sewing machine to assist in the staff's sewing needs.
After a few weeks of serving in miscellaneous capacities, Mr. Harrington approached his manager, a 17 year old young man, and asked about payday. "We need to pay a few bills and I'd like to take my wife out for our anniversary," he said.
His manager looked at him with an odd expression and said, "We were told that you were volunteering your time here. I don't think you're getting paid."
Mr. Harrington approached several key people in leadership who all confirmed that the Harrington's service was a blessed opportunity to give and not receive. "You should work on your gratefulness," said one. "After all, we're providing your housing!"
The Harringtons spent the night in prayer, and in the morning they announced that God's will was for them to move back to Lima.
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6 Comments:
yeah, this one sounds familiar.......
ATI and LDS seem to share some remarkable similarities. All the LDS "ministry" is "volunteer" also. Unless, of course, you're really high ranking. . .
This one isn't funny. It's sad. I hope it's an exaggeration. -- Mairzy
This sounds like my experiance when I got to Indy for my servitude there. I'm suprised Transportation even picked me up from the airport. When I got to the TC the front desk was quite taken back I was there and even more when I told them I'd be there for 6 months. Of course I was just volunteering my time so they couldn't be to picky. They finally found me a empty bed and put me to work... Someone must have forgotten to tell them I was coming
it sounds so close to reality that I would almost be surprised to hear it was "just fiction"!
I am assuming that this is a fictitious scenario but unfortunately it hits too close to home and is altogether way too familiar.
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