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Listen to the Heart of the Matter program!

Heaven or Hell? gospel tract

The Value of Our Souls gospel tract

An Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics

Una Advertencia Urgente a los Catolicos Romanos

More Than These: A Call for Reformation by Pastor Ralph Ovadal

No Excuses! pro-life/gospel tract

What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality

Homosexuality: The Truth
 

WCU Action Highlights
Ministry Triple-Header
WCU's Mike Foht Escapes Mental Hospital
Confronting Red Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Minuteman Ministry at the Capitol
This is getting to be a habit.
Christians Join to Minister in Three Towns
Preaching the Gospel during March Madness
Operation Saturation Soaks Wisconsin
WCU Ministry Round-Up
The Mailbag

March 24, 2004

"Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,
that it may be displayed because of the truth.."
Psalm 60:4

Dear Friends,

I am happy to finally have the time to send you an update on WCU activities. This has been a busy period, and not just for WCU. My church continues to minister in front of Planned Parenthood of Monroe. We have also been doing an ever increasing amount of street evangelism and preaching. I find myself planning a growing number of gospel outreaches for WCU as well. Quite frankly, I would be happy to put all my energy into shepherding my flock and conducting open-air gospel outreaches; yet I believe we have no choice but to meet New Sodom's political/religious propaganda machine head-on. This we must do in defense of God's Word, Christian liberty, and those vulnerable to sodomite predations. I am also committed to maintaining a witness against the murder of unborn human beings by abortion. Thus, my church continues weekly PP ministry, and WCU gathers Christians for a pro-life picket once a month in a selected southcentral Wisconsin city. However, the main focus of our church is gospel outreach, and the main focus of WCU is contending for the truth against New Sodom. The Lord's shepherds could certainly use prayer that He would give them the discernment to know how to use their time and strength.

I do want to encourage you to consider circulating WCU literature in some way. The only thing which has ever defeated and will ever defeat the lies of the devil is fervent prayer and the proclamation of uncompromised, immutable truth from God's Word. That has been WCU's strategy for years. It is a strategy which we believe God has greatly blessed. I would remind you that the WCU Bible and Truth brochures have the gospel in them. So when you spread those brochures around, you are also spreading the gospel; and that is how it should be. Before I turn to a report on the recent activities of WCU, I want to encourage you with the opening lines of a March 19, 2004 Associated Press story. As you know, Wisconsin was once known as the "Gay Rights State." Those days are gone for now, I believe in no small part due to the prayer of God's people and the unrelenting spread of truth by WCU.

City stays out of fight for gay marriages
Associated Press, March 19, 2004
Jenny Price, Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wis. - Long idealized as the Midwest's hotbed of liberalism, Madison has never been afraid of a fight.

But while local officials from Asbury Park, N.J., to San Francisco bucked state laws and issued marriage licenses to gay couples, Madison didn't even bother to pull out the gloves.

Gays and lesbians say the environment is different in Wisconsin . . .

To my knowledge, no other state has an equivalent of WCU. We are a ministry dedicated to flooding our state with the pure, unadulterated truth which terrifies -- and enrages -- New Sodom's propagandists. We also reach thousands of lost people with the gospel every month. We are able to continue in this work only by the grace of God and with the support of His people. Thank you for your prayers and the badly needed financial gifts that allow us to press forward our defense of God's law and our proclamation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not the time to lower our banners -- no, just the opposite is true. If we are not advancing with the weapons of righteousness in our right hand and in our left, we are retreating; and that is dangerous in every way.

Pastor Ralph Ovadal

Back to top.

WCU Action Highlights
January 9 - March 23, 2004

The Main Events

January 10—Ministry Triple-Header

The day began with Christians gathering in Brodhead for a 1-1/2 hour pro-life picket just inside the town limits on Highway 11. Next we traveled to Juda to literature drop salvation tracts on the doors of homes in that town. Then it was on to Monroe for several hours of salvation tract distribution and street preaching with gospel banners. We ended the day with refreshments, worship, and prayer at Pilgrims Covenant Church. Back to top.

WCU's Mike Foht Escapes Mental Hospital

While the title of this brief article may be humorous to those of us who know and love Mike, the subject is not. On January 20, as Mike was handing out WCU literature to high school students in Lena, Illinois, he was accosted by a Stephenson County sheriff's captain and a Lena High School administration official. Although Mike was on the public sidewalk, he was ordered to leave. When he protested that unjust order, he was threatened by the police officer with incarceration in a mental hospital! After a considerable amount of mocking and bullying, Mike's taxpayer-funded tormentors finally backed down.

The fact that government officials would seriously threaten to institutionalize a Christian as a mental case based on the fact that he was taking a biblical stand against sodomy should be cause for concern and sober reflection. Those Christians who still believe that sodomy enthusiasts will be happy to peacefully coexist with the true followers of Christ need to be disabused of that fantasy as soon as possible. Please pray for Mike Foht and his family as he perseveres in service to our Lord. Mike is becoming ever more efficient and effective in ministry work. If you are looking for a man to uphold in prayer and with financial support, I heartily endorse Mike Foht. Back to top.

Pastor v. Pastor: A compromised American defends China's state church.

Pastor v. Pastor: A compromised
American defends China's state church.

Confronting Red Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Over the past several years, WCU has taken pains to expose the Symposium on Church Ministry in China, which is sponsored by Danny Yu and the Christian Leadership Exchange. We have done this through press releases, interviews, and my "Heart of the Matter" program. Mr. Yu and his organization subtly work with Red Chinese state church officials to convince Westerners that religious freedom is blossoming in China. Their goal is to bring disrepute upon the persecuted, unregistered house church Christians while strengthening the hand of the government's puppet church. In past years, WCU has succeeded in causing some high-profile American ministries which had been openly supporting Yu and the CLE to distance themselves from both, although men such as Pastor Rick Warren have not yet done so. The Symposium on Church Ministry in China brings in Christians from across America to listen to speakers from China's state church apparatus, including the Three Self Patriotic Church and the China Church Council. The message transmitted is that true religious freedom can be found in the state church and that the house churches are renegades which are a hindrance to the progress of Christian liberty in China.

Fortunately for us, we were not in China!

Fortunately for us, we were not in China!

This year, WCU sent out an exposé on Yu and the symposium to forty Chinese churches in Houston, where the event was being held February 10-13. We then traveled to Houston to picket in front of the symposium and hand out literature exposing it as nothing less than a propaganda event for the Red Chinese government. The two days which we spent being a voice for our persecuted Chinese brethren were cold and, at times, rain-soaked. Their persecutors treated us with contempt in many ways. After our first day of witness, symposium security personnel followed us back to our hotel. Early the next morning, we spotted them on the hotel parking lot again. When we arrived back at the grassy strip where we picketed the day before in front of the symposium, we found that a layer of animal manure had been spread over the area! We took that as a sign of what Danny Yu and Co. thought of us and the brethren for whom we were speaking.

During the two-day ministry, nine of us gave out a great deal of information to undiscerning Americans attending the symposium and had considerable opportunity to share truth with them. Some of our exchanges were on the intense side, including my interaction with several of Danny Yu's personal friends, who were infuriated with both me and WCU. I also had a very fruitful conversation with a Bulgarian pastor who had endured several decades of persecution, including prison, under communist rule. That man said that he had come to see what the symposium was all about. He was very grateful for the documentation which we supplied and made the insightful remark, "This is what I needed to know. This is what they did in Bulgaria as well!" All in all, our efforts seemed to be very effective. Next year, Lord willing, we will again confront the red wolves in sheep's clothing if they insist on having the symposium. Back to top.

Preaching in the capitol surrounded by sodomites. This AP picture appeared on the front page of a number of midwestern newspapers.

Preaching in the capitol surrounded
by sodomites.  This AP picture
appeared on the front page of a
number of midwestern newspapers.

Minuteman Ministry at the Capitol

During the recent legislative debate on "same-sex marriage," WCU sent our brochure A Little Discrimination Can Be a Good Thing to a number of state representatives and senators.

On Thursday morning, March 4, I heard that a pro-sodomite rally was about to take place in the capitol in Madison. The actual location of the rally was on the second floor of the rotunda in front of the assembly chambers where a constitutional ban on "same-sex marriages" and civil unions was being debated. With no time to spare, Mike Foht and a couple others joined me in racing for the capitol.

When we got to the second floor, we took up our positions directly across the rotunda from the sodomites and their friends. We held signs reading, "Remember Sodom," "Homosexuality is sin," and "Christ can set you free." As TV cameras swung around toward us and reporters began snapping pictures, I raised my Bible and lifted up my voice to preach. Amazingly, considering this was inside the capitol building, no police officer told me to cease. At one point, a group of sodomites tried to drown me out by standing around me and chanting; but they soon gave up. I preached for quite some time and included in my message a strong rebuke to sodomite state representative Mark Pocan when he walked out of the assembly chambers.

We and our signs appeared on several television channels as well as in a number of newspapers, both in and out of state. We also were able to witness and debate one-on-one with some of the sodomites and their supporters. God truly blessed our minuteman ministry in the halls of state government.
Back to top.

This is getting to be a habit.

On March 9, I once again spoke to a government high school civics class in a town near Madison. The topic was homosexuality and related issues. I was given the entire hour to speak, and no restrictions were placed upon me. This is the third time I have spoken in that school, which I hesitate to name, even though the sodomites must know its name, considering one of their representatives was also given an hour to present the "other side" of the issue. During my time, I spoke on God's law, its application to civil law, and the practical implications of ignoring it. I spoke of the danger of homosexual acts and also shared what God's Word says about them. I talked about objective law versus subjective opinion. I gave some warnings from history. I talked about the founding documents of our nation and their application to civil polity. I talked about all of that and more. I also shared the gospel. Although several of the young people were clearly upset by me, a number seemed very touched by my message. I praise the Lord that He gave me such an opportunity to contend for the hearts, minds, and souls of those vulnerable young people! Back to top.

One corner of our picket in Portage.

One corner of our picket in Portage.

Christians Join to
Minister in Three Towns

Through the course of the day of March 13, about fifty Christians joined WCU as we did ministry in three different towns. Our first stop was Portage where we did an "anti-homosexuality" picket with signs and banners at a busy intersection. As always, our signs and banners included gospel messages along with biblical warnings against homosexual acts. Several of us also took turns preaching over a "truth horn" to the occupants of cars lined up at the stoplights. Others of our number gave out WCU literature. While we received a certain amount of animosity for our efforts, many people also made it clear that we had greatly encouraged them. We trust and pray that such individuals will grow bolder in their own resistance to New Sodom's agenda.

Basketball fans received the gospel by preaching, banners, tracts, and one-on-one witness.

Basketball fans received the
gospel by preaching, banners,
tracts, and one-on-one witness.

After our Portage event, we moved on to set up a pro-life picket in West Baraboo along the very busy Highway 12. Then it was on to Reedsburg where we literature dropped the town with the brochure What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality. After Reedsburg had been saturated with truth, we were blessed to then be fed a meal prepared by members of First Baptist Church. We closed out the day with a time of worship and prayer. Back to top.

Mike Foht preaching at the Kohl Center.

Mike Foht preaching at the Kohl Center.

Preaching the Gospel during March Madness

A pause for breath at one of our preaching locations in front of the Kohl Center.

A pause for breath at one of
our preaching locations in
front of the Kohl Center.

WCU spent Friday, March 19, preaching, holding gospel banners, and handing out gospel tracts to fans attending the 2004 WIAA boys basketball state championships at the Kohl Center in Madison. Between 9:30 AM and 2:00 PM, we handed out 4,000 tracts to fans coming to and going from three different games!

The Kohl Center is set back almost 100 yards from the street; but since it is a public facility, we were able to stand in front of it and preach to the teeming hordes as they trudged up the sidewalk from the street. During the course of the day, there was also a period of time when fans were stacked up by the hundreds around the front of the center, waiting to get in. At one point, the crowd was large enough that we had three different preachers going at once while a number of other Christians with us were busily handing out tracts. As usual, we met with a good amount of scorn and verbal abuse; but at the same time, we saw deep conviction written on the faces of more than one of our listeners, especially among the young. We went home rejoicing in the realization that thousands of lost sinners had heard the same gospel which saved us! What a shame it is that more Christians will not spread the gospel to those who so desperately need to hear it! Back to top.

A portion of the stuff-a-thon crew at Pilgrims Covenant Church.

A portion of the stuff-a-thon crew
at Pilgrims Covenant Church.

Operation Saturation Soaks Wisconsin

By the time this newsletter reaches you, Operation Saturation will have soaked 63,000 rural households in Wisconsin with the gospel and critically needed truth about homosexuality. Each household will have received an action alert pertaining to domestic partnership legislation which may be pending. We are quite concerned that in the midst of the "same-sex marriage" melee, sodomite strategists will attempt to sneak through other "pro-gay" legislation. The mailing also contains the WCU brochures What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality and Homosexuality: The Truth. Our goal for Operation Saturation is 80,000 rural homes. As soon as we are able, we will send out to 17,000 more homes. Between the International Conference on Homo-Fascism which we sponsored last fall; our ongoing lit drops and outreaches; our ministry in Houston, Texas; the literature we mail out to persons for distribution; and our printing bills for Operation Saturation, we are in a bit of a financial strait right now. But we are confident that storm will soon pass, and Operation Saturation will reach its successful conclusion. Our thanks to all who have donated for mailing costs and also to all who joined us at two different "stuff-a-thons" to prepare the mailing. Back to top.

WCU Ministry Round-Up

Here we have provided you a summary of where WCU literature has been distributed during the period reported on by this newsletter. Unless noted otherwise, all literature used was WCU's brochures on homosexuality.

Handed out literature at the following high schools: Madison East, Wisconsin Dells, Lena (Illinois), Beloit, Elkhorn.

Lit dropped homes in the following towns: Reedsburg, Beaver Dam, West Bend, Mauston, Lena (Illinois), Juda, Wisconsin Dells, Juneau, Fox Lake, Loganville, Hillpoint, LaValle, and Wonewoc.

Provided literature for others to distribute in: Milwaukee, Bay View, Platteville, Sheboygan, Viroqua, Portage (No Excuses pro-life tract), Palmyra, Waukesha, West Allis, and Racine, Wisconsin; Miles City, Montana; Omaha, Nebraska; Lebanon and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; Columbia, South Carolina (An Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics) and South Africa (An Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics). Back to top.

The Mailbag

Here are some excerpts from hundreds of messages which we have received in the last several months. As usual, we have been lectured by "Christians" about our hatred and received violent, obscene messages from sodomites. We decided to leave the latter out and only use the former here. We also threw in excerpts from some encouraging messages.

+ "The truth will set you free. Free of bondage to error and misinformation which has plagued this world for thousands of years. Homophobia has it roots in the mad dreams of Lucifer and the rest of the fallen . . ."

+ "Hate-filled humans such as yourselves give true Christianity a very bad name. I pray that the love of Jesus enters your hate-filled hearts."

+ "I just received your mass mailing . . . Thank you for taking such a strong stand against this attack on our culture and morality. . . .You gave me courage . . ."

+ "I received your brochure in the mail yesterday. As a Christian pastor, I found your material to be offensive and judgmental. I disagree with your interpretation of scripture."

+ "Tomorrow morning while I'm worshipping in my own congregation, I will pray that God forgives you and those that took it upon themselves to be the judge of others."

+ "As . . . a teacher of tolerance, I object to finding your hateful pamphlets in my mailbox. Please be assured that my students will not be subjected to this hate mail. Your website is as hateful and intolerant as the White Power/Pseudo Nazi websites that I have my students peruse to let them have the opportunity to truly identify hate as it exists in our Democratic country. I just may encourage them to peruse yours to let them know the horrible truth that can come from those 'Wolves in Sheep's Clothing' that also go by the name of 'Christian.'"

Note: This message was sent by a Chippewa Falls government school teacher on the school e-mail system. Do you still have your children in the government schools?

+ "Received your flyer today. Thanks! We will do what we can to support your recommendations."

+ "Pastor Ralph Ovadal . . . You are an ignorant bigot who should be happy that stupidity is not a crime in this country."

+ ". . . I am well aware of you and your organization -- and your and its silly homophobic rantings. . . . Shame on you. . . . I, like countless other thinking Wisconsinites and others, will continue to consider you a sick joke, say so publicly, and oppose you by any and all lawful means necessary."

+ "Jesus does not discriminate. . . . you are an ignorant cold hearted human being. . . . you are sick!"

+ "It's truly a sad commentary on Christianity that organizations such as yours continue to manipulate the words of the bible to fit your private agenda and continue to preach hate. . . . I PITY ALL OF YOU AS YOU WILL ULTIMATELY FACE THE WRATH OF A LOVING GOD!"

+ "My husband and I were feeling alienated for our stand on homosexuality. We were very encouraged to receive your brochures. My brother-in-law is a homosexual. . . . We had run out of ideas for witnessing to him, but then your brochures came!"

+ "Your fundamentalism is truly frightening, your arguments bizarre. Thank goodness your archaic way of thinking is in the minority, and on the way out. . . . I truly hope that you, one day, discover how ridiculous and stupid your way of thinking is. (I might add dangerous.)"

+ "The Jesus I know is more loving than yours, and the Christians I know are loving, not hateful."

+ "I pray you are healed by Jesus from your misguided way."

+ "Thanks! Good stuff! . . . I will use what you sent. . . . Keep up the fight and God bless the ministry God has given you."

Back to top.

 

This web site contains references to Wisconsin Christians United (WCU). That ministry, which was founded by Ralph Ovadal in 1993, has been included as a ministry of Pilgrims Covenant Church since April 1, 2005. Those who desire to support the ministry of Pilgrims Covenant Church may send their gifts to PCC, P.O. Box 314, Monroe, WI 53566. Those who desire to support a specific ministry effort of PCC, such as "The Heart of the Matter" or the cost of the literature which we distribute, should be sure to designate that when sending their gifts.

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