Statements
The following are letters which have been submitted by those who have had a part in laboring at the Print Shop over the years, and which we didn't have space to print in last month's edition.
Randall Flynn
The year 1972 stands out quite vividly in my mind, for this is the year that we made our move to Guthrie. I had no idea at the beginning of that year that before the year had ended we would be living in Guthrie, OK! I had a good job with opportunity for advancement and had no thought of doing anything else. During the year, however, there was something that got my attention.
After Bro. Clifford and Sis. Dorothy Wilson's departure from the work at the Print Shop, quite often Bro. Lawrence Pruitt would make mention in his editorials of the vacancy to be filled. I had some experience in printing, but it had been six years since I had left the printing trade. I thought that surely there was someone else who would answer the call. As time went on it seemed Bro. Lawrence's request for help was becoming more urgent. Finally, I felt that the Lord wanted me to answer that call. I discussed my feeling with my wife, and she encouraged me to write to Bro. Pruitt if I felt that that was what the Lord wanted me to do. After I mailed my letter to Bro. Pruitt, I really was in question if I had done the right thing. At the time we had five small children, and I knew that this was not something to be taken lightly. I was really troubled about this and was looking to the Lord for a clear answer.
Before receiving an answer to my letter, I had gone home one day on my lunch hour. I lay down for a short nap and had drifted into a light sleep. All at once it seemed that a voice spoke so clearly, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" Matthew 6:25. I was awakened immediately and knew that was my answer. I read the rest of the chapter and knew that this was an answer directly from the Lord. I never worried any more, and in two or three more days I received a letter from Bro. Lawrence, rejoicing for the burden that the Lord had laid on my heart. Within a reasonable period of time we were able to sell our property, and near the middle of December we made our move.
There never was a time in the years we were there that I felt we had made a mistake. The Lord provided for our every need, both temporally and spiritually. During that period of time (1972-1984) we made many acquaintances. When we made our move back to Louisiana we felt that a part of us was being left behind. We have many fond memories of our work there, and are thankful to see that the work is still being carried on.
Rebecca (Sorrell) Shaffer
It doesn't look as if we'll still be in Oklahoma City when the workers' reunion comes up, but we trust you all have a wonderful day and lots of memories! We had some good days while working there; fought some battles, won some victories and had some experiences. It was all good for us! I have always appreciated what Bro. Lawrence and Sis. Maybelle did for us. I never knew Sis. Marie very well, as she was already quite ill by the time I came, and then the next summer she passed. Most of my memories revolve around the Pruitts, Sandra, Grace, Randall, Bob and Wayne, along with those that proofread and helped out on Faith and Victory mailing day. I can remember Sis. Irma bringing over "bubble bread" to munch on while we put labels on the papers. Of course there was the kitchen help-first it was Linda Craddock, then June Flynn and then Maude Hornbeck filled in as needed.
Jeanne (Busbee) Eck
When my mother told me that she was writing of her experiences as a former employee of Faith Publishing House, my mind began to go back, and I hope you won't mind if I share a few of my thoughts.
I could never say that I was "employed" at the Print Shop. I lived within walking distance of it for about 12 years, probably the most formative years of my life. Sweet and many were the times when, braids streaming behind me, I would come flying around the corner on my bike and screech to a stop outside the Print Shop door.
I can still hear the rattle of the knob, and the sound of the door opening. The concrete floor felt cool to my bare feet, and wonderful smells of ink and developing fluid tickled my nose. Sometimes the chinking of the linotype met my ears, and Bro. Lawrence would greet me pleasantly when I poked my head around it. I had to be careful not to get little chips of metal in my feet, but it was fun to stand there and read the type as it slid down the chute into place.
Other times Sis. Geneva Ray was sitting at the folder, flipping those big sheets of paper, which I loved to watch go through the machine, marveling all the time how it could come out the other end all put together!! She always had a smile for me, but her eyes never left the job she did so well.
Pushing through the swinging doors, I would find myself in the mailroom. Sometimes, if it was paper-time, the tables would be surrounded by busy workers. They always had a job for me!
Sometimes I got to help wrap packages. It was great fun to go up the stairs for more books or tracts, find the right ones, place them on the dumb-waiter, and send it down! If there were no packages to do, I loved to read tracts. Precious truth found its way into my young heart.
In the next room, I would stand behind Sis. Maybelle's back watching the stencil machine put addresses on the papers. Sis. Maybelle often shared her pumpkin seeds with me, a treat I still enjoy with fond memory.
The phone would ring. Sis. Marie's voice would answer cheerily, "Faith Publishing House!" Her desk was always so neat! Here was a sweet woman I respected greatly, for I knew that her life had not been one of all smooth roads. Yet she bore the fruit of one who spent time with the Master. My girl heart thought it was really something that she was the one who performed my Mama and Daddy's wedding ceremony! I was also named after her.
The back of the Print Shop held many more wonders, but I will not go into detail. The sights, sounds and smells are forever printed upon the pages of my memory.
There were times when a call came, and we would all kneel together and pray for the present need. To me this was nothing extraordinary, for I did this in my home, too. In fact, these people and their occupations were not strange. I knew and loved them for who they were, and because I felt they loved me.
The names I have mentioned are not the only ones who did a lot to make a little girl feel special. As I became their little shadow, perhaps underfoot inconveniently at times, they unconsciously portrayed to me that life was good and happy when one served the Lord.
Now I look back and realize these things. I went through a time when I thought I wanted to go the other way, but I never felt I belonged. What I really wanted was to be a part of God's beautiful family, not just because I was naturally born into it, but by a spiritual birth!
Precious memories! Precious people! Precious Truth!
I have made my vow to the Lord, as did this great cloud of witnesses, to serve Him all the days of my life. It won't always be easy. I know that. I watched Bro. Lawrence pass the torch in a most painful way.... But I know where he is today!! And I want to go there!!
I praise God for my happy childhood and realize that it is to be treasured. I thank God for His beautiful plan for my life.
Charlotte Huskey
I will be forever grateful to Sis. Marie Miles, who encouraged me to write and also gave me my first assignment, which was to write stories illustrating the fruits of the Spirit based on Galatians 5. After much prayer, I decided that my mother's life had truly demonstrated fruits of the Holy Spirit, so I wrote "Mabel's Triumphs." That really increased my appetite for writing, which I had desired to do since childhood, but never felt I could.
During those years when I was writing at home and cooking at the Print Shop, our daughter, Rosi, showed me an itchy rash on her body. The next morning the rash had covered most of her body except her face, hands and feet. She wasn't sick and didn't want to miss school, so I called the school and told them perhaps the school nurse should look at it.
About ten o'clock, Rosi called me at the Print Shop. "The nurse says I can't stay. I'll have to get a doctor's permission to attend classes." I picked up Rosi and took her directly to a doctor who diagnosed the rash to be a type of ringworms. She could attend school as long as the ringworms were covered. I could handle that-high neck-lines, long sleeves, leotards-her usual dress style. But the thought of ringworms made a fear come over me which brought tears. I left the office crying. "Don't cry," Rosi said, "I'll be all right. I'm not sick."
Two years before this, while living in La Mission, a coastal settlement in Baja, California, Mexico, our family had had a bout with ringworms. They started on Leah, our youngest, from playing with a stray kitten, and spread to every one of our five children. The condition lasted for about four months. I tried dozens of supposed remedies: Lysol, Clorox, bathing in the salty Pacific, sunbathing and many more. The ringworms kept growing and spreading. Some of the children lost perfectly round patches of hair. As a last resort, I shaved one of our son's head and bathed it in undiluted disinfectant. The next morning I saw huge water blisters on his head. I felt like a "Hitler." I patted his cheek and hugged him. "I'm so sorry. I promise to try nothing more," I sobbed, "that is, except prayer." In a few days the blisters had healed and the ringworms had dried up.
Those past experiences hung like a dark cloud in my mind as I drove straight to the Print Shop. I could feel myself trembling and my voice was a little shaky as I asked the workers to anoint and pray for Rosi. The following morning Rosi came dashing out of her bedroom shouting, "Look, Mom, the ringworms are gone!"
This is just one of the blessings I experienced at the Print Shop. The most thrilling one is writing Bible lessons for children. It is a dream come true! I had never had the time to study the Bible as I really wanted, but in 1985, when I started doing the Beautiful Way lessons there at the Print Shop, I got away from home duties and could study the Bible for seven hours a day. How thrilled I was! Some nights I would lie awake thinking of my life's dream finally being fulfilled. Thank you all for extending this privilege to me.
Mary (Sprague) Murphey
"Men who are the longest remembered, and whose memories are most highly revered, are not those who make the most money, but those whose hearts were gentle,...whose sympathies were broad, and who best served humanity."
In my estimation, one such gentle man was Willie C. Murphey, editor of the Mission Trail. I think I am here at the Print Shop today largely because of the influence of his love for the Lord and the special way he had of showing an interest in others. Bro. Willie was gifted with the ability to make a person feel special and cared for. After my father died in 1971, that caring meant a lot to me as a teenager.Mother and I lived in southern Illinois at the time of my father's death, and because of the friendship and fellowship developed through correspondence with Bro. Willie and Sis. Frances Murphey and Sis. Marie Miles, Mother developed an interest in moving where we could attend worship services regularly, associate with our friends, and help at the Print Shop.
So, in my senior year we made the move, and it changed the course of our lives.
It led to another gentle man-my husband, Wayne Murphey, who also has a passionate love for the Lord and for others, and who demonstrates it day by day.
Some people view gentleness and tolerance toward others as a weakness, but I find it a pleasing trait that always attracts me to Christ.
We want our ministry here at Faith Publishing House to characterize the spirit of Christ. We want it to be a ministry of grace that will draw people to the Lord and to the fellowship of His people, just as it did for my mother and myself.
Always lingering in the back of my mind is the realization that someday, we too will be a mere memory in the minds of others, and that our time working here for the Lord is limited, just as it was for those who preceded us. My hope is that when we are gone a gentle influence and the effect of goodness will linger on.
I like what one poet expressed when she wrote,
"True worth is in being-not seeming,
In doing, each day that goes by,
Some little good-not in dreaming
Of great things to do by and by,
For whatever men say in their blindness
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness
And nothing so royal as truth."
Bob Wilson
I have many enjoyable memories of working at the Print Shop and of its people. Those years have added something to my life that will not be erased.
I remember the time I was by the big cutter, and just outside I could hear Sis. Maude complaining to Sis. Maybelle and someone else that somebody had hoed up some of her plants. My heart sank. I thought I had done a good job of raking and hoeing out the weeds. I went out and confessed guilt to the ruthless act, and she said it wasn't that important.
The dinners that Sis. Maude prepared and sitting around the dinner table together hold special memories-those nice enchilada dinners on Friday with a cold soda, and we could nearly always have seconds! I sat between Bro. Wayne and Bro. Bob. Sis. Maude sat at the end, Sis. Maybelle, Sis. Bunnie and Sis. Wanda sat on the other side.
It was around that table, in front of everyone, that Sis. Maybelle told me that I had just become a man (on my 21st birthday), which means I actually married before I became a man. I could tell by the smile on her face and the gleam in her eye that she wasn't looking for a debate. Often Sis. Maybelle would walk by while I was working in the back, turn an extra light on, and say, "Better throw a little more light on the subject." She was a very special person to me and I enjoyed being around her so much. She also gave me special encouragement after hearing that I had preached a message for the first time.
Bro. Bob became a special friend in helping me assemble books in the back. I enjoyed the many talks we had. I also especially enjoyed the trip with Bro. Bob to San Antonio to get the song books bound. Bro. Bob probably got tired of hearing those swinging doors squeak when I would come up and ask for help on fixing a press or folder. Building the new bookstore at Monark was also a memorable event.
Well, I don't want to tire you with a long letter, but I do feel blessed in these memories. The Faith Publishing House has had a long history and I am thankful to have been allowed to be a small part of it.
Roberta (Melot) Wilson
There are many things I would like to express, and find it hard to be able to put into words what my heart feels. The foundation of my life's work began in 1963 at 924 W. Mansur. Sis. Marie Miles asked me if I had a burden to come, which I did. I was Bro. Lawrence's and her personal secretary for all of their correspondence. I loved it! I am forever grateful to God for this opportunity to be a part of the Print Shop family.
My co-workers were Sharon Watkins and Cliff Smith. We shared many happy times in all occasions of the work. The older workers were Sis. Marie, Sis. Dorothy and Bro. Clifford Wilson, Bro. Lawrence and Sis. Meek. Sis. Maybelle would fill in when they were gone, which we loved, for she let us do whatever we wanted.
I soon learned that my duties were not limited to shorthand and typing, but included proofreading (with low tolerance for errors), cleaning the bathrooms, and general cleaning of the offices, which included waxing in the evening. I well remember Sis. Meek's lemon cheesecakes and cherry pies. I also trembled a little each morning when Bro. Lawrence walked in, stern-appearing, and spoke "Hello."
On the "big" day, as we called it, the printing, wrapping and mailing day of the Faith and Victory, all other duties stopped and we joined in a congenial group around the table to send out the printed page. We spent a fun-filled, very busy day until all was delivered to the post office. Bro. Lawrence was very strict on meeting deadlines, and many a night we would see his office light burning after all others were gone. Also, Dad Wilson spent many nights building things to improve the office. His creative work was everywhere and we all loved it.
I could write so much more. I owe my spiritual beginning, in part, to Sis. Marie. I loved her dearly and have tried to pass on what she taught me about working with young people. Sharon, Ed (who worked there a few months), Cliff and I formed a quartet and sang together for different occasions. My heart overflows still to remember those priceless, "same-old," repetitious, yet "blessed with God's presence," days. Sometimes it would seem like just another job-ordinary work-yet other times, we knew it was not just a job, but getting the gospel out to a lost world. My memories are special.
P.S.-I can't let the most important event of all be left out. I married Dorothy and Clifford Wilson's son, Ed, and we have spent 32 adventuresome, exciting years in the ministry. What wonderful blessings come when we consecrate all to God.
Genevieve (Capps) Carver
Time was approaching the latter end of the summer of 1944 when I arrived at the home of Bro. and Sis. Fred Pruitt, to help with anything I could do in their efforts to print the Word of the Lord. I had graduated from Owasso, Oklahoma, High School that spring, and during the grand and solemn moments of graduation night and the farewell address at Baccalaureate all the talk and speeches were of how we seniors were at this moment beginning a new life out in the wide world, a world to be challenged and captured, a world in which it was our time to go out and become successful and even famous leaders. I think we were all emotionally stirred and our young hearts were beating high as we thought of launching ourselves out from our homes.
I was restless, agitated, as well as inspired, to leave my father and mother immediately in order to start this new life. Time was wasting every day, until I could get away and get on with it. I was a sincere Christian and had long before made a commitment to go with God for all my life.
At the Hammond camp meeting I met a totally dedicated young Christian, Dorothy (Byers) Wilson, who had been working at the Faith Publishing House. She told me she was leaving the work to go to be reunited with her husband, Clifford Wilson, to live in Iowa. He was being released from the government service for the World War II effort, and now they could be together again.
Dorothy encouraged me to go to fill the vacancy she was leaving. She wanted me to meet the editor, Bro. Fred Pruitt, and have a talk with him. I did follow after her to be introduced to him, even though I was scared and nervous, thinking this editor and owner of a printing company would be evaluating me by what I said and how I said it, and would think I was not qualified.
Bro. Pruitt made neither a commitment nor a sign that there was hope he would want to have me come to work, so that I had no encouragement to believe I even might be accepted. I was disappointed.
After the closure of the Hammond meeting I went home to my parents. My mother always attended the National camp meeting of the Church of God in Missouri ever since she had met the saints. She was healed of cancer even though she had been given up to die by the doctor. This was in Collinsville, Oklahoma, when I was seven years old. The saints had prayed for her. She and I went on to that camp meeting as usual, and within a very few days after returning home I received a letter from Bro. Pruitt, asking me to come help in his work for the Lord in printing. I was thrilled and packed my clothes at once and got on the road to Guthrie.
I soon found myself environed in a warm and welcoming atmosphere of the home and workshop of Bro. and Sis. Pruitt. I recognized right off that I was in my niche-a place where I felt God's very presence. I think I experienced some of the very feelings the ancient Jews of Israel felt when they were able physically to walk on the streets of their Capitol city of Jerusalem. This was where God had chosen to put His name and where He dwelt.
The two years of my life that I gave to God's work and to the Pruitt family in their endeavors for God and the Church have blessed me beyond what I can express. The two years remain sacred to me and I can only thank God that He made a place for me with the other workers who have served there.
My jobs at the Lord's Print Shop were varied. I ran almost every machine but the stapler, but mainly the Intertype and Linotype. I have memories and "scars in my body" from getting my hand caught in the machine and my fingers run through the cogs on a job press. I told Bro. Pruitt those were scars I received in my work for the Lord and I was proud of them. We laughed together.
Thanks be unto God that there really was a man who loved his Lord so much that he sold out all earthly possessions, and thank God for the faithful wife who agreed with him and stayed by him in a decision to publish the Word of the Lord. And I thank God they gave me some time and a place with them for a while. It was blessed and wonderful to me.
Bonnie (Matthews) Riley
It was the spring of 1972 when the Lord led me to resign from the California public school system and consecrate for His work. I didn't know exactly what He would have me do, but a position as typist and mail clerk was soon offered at the Faith Publishing House, and the Lord impressed me to answer the offer. I was accepted! Bro. Lawrence Pruitt was editor at the time.
At the age of 28 I was going to another state, another job and ministry, another congregation and another family-the Print Shop family. I would be living away from my familiar home and surroundings for the first time. When I settled into the little house beside the Print Shop, an attack of homesickness set in on me which I will never forget! Until that time I thought homesickness was a figure of speech, but I found out it was real. The Lord's comforting Word ministered to me with a scripture which He had blessed to my heart in other times! "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." Psalm 138:8. This produced an assurance that the same Lord who was with me at home would be with me at the Print Shop, and would continue His perfecting in my life, and would not forsake me, the work of His hands.
I remember the Print Shop family and the Guthrie congregation warmly accepted me, the only black sister. Bro. Lawrence, Sis. Maybelle, Sis. Marie Miles, Bro. Gene and Sis. Dora Lela Beisly, Bro. Randall Flynn and family, Sis. Joan McIntosh, Sis. Carol Harmon, Sis. Geneva Ray, Bro. Leslie Busbee and family and later Bro. Mark Spinks, were among those who worked when I was at the Print Shop. I remember Sis. Lottie Porter, who took me as her "adopted" granddaughter. As we shared the things of the Lord, she was a blessing to me many times.
My duties at the Print Shop were to help get the orders for literature filled and mailed each morning, to help cook the noonday meal, and to proofread. I also helped write articles for the Beautiful Way, typed on the old Justowriter and translated into English some of the Spanish correspondence from the Mexico brethren. I also helped assist the many saints and visitors who came to the Print Shop for literature and visiting.
When I moved into a little upstairs apartment above Sis. Leona Green's house, Bro. Lawrence and Sis. Maybelle flew to California to visit relatives and drive back my little car so that I would have transportation. They were precious saints. I then would travel to various congregations around to be in camp meetings and services. It was at the Goulds, Florida, camp meeting of April 1973 that I met my husband, Jackie Riley. We were later married at Guthrie, and I then moved from the Print Shop to live in Florida. My time there was a time of very rewarding service in the work of the Lord.
Hyrum Ray
I have fond memories of my days in the Print Shop. I had been saved a short time when Bro. Pruitt asked me to come there to work. The paper and tracts had blessed my soul many times. I felt it a great opportunity to do something for the Lord and get the gospel out to souls. As it is with anything else we do, there is work involved. To work means to toil. To work with machinery can be very trying at times, but the good blessings exceed all the problems.
One of the greatest blessings in my memory is that each day, after the mail had been read, if there were prayer requests (which most days there were), the workers were all called together for an agreement of prayer. The requests were read and we knelt in prayer. I have witnessed many answers there, often instant. We could go back to our work much lifted in spirit.
We lived there on the grounds with Bro. Pruitt as a family, even after I was married. Bro. Pruitt loved his garden. I remember one year he had a rather large crop of potatoes. He had a little garden push plow which was hard work to use to cultivate them. He got a rope and tied it to the front of the plow. On the other end he tied a stick. Bro. Clifford Wilson and I would pull the plow, and Bro. Pruitt could plow pretty deep. It was a very humiliating task. Bro. Clifford and I were away working at a C.P.S. camp during the war, and when he came back he brought his garden tractor with him! There were many great experiences during my time there.
Grace (Lassché) McMillan
I enjoyed my years at Faith Publishing House more than these few words will be able to say. I spent the last two and a half years of my single life at "The Shop," and so my time there was filled with some of the best memories of my life. I remember working with Bro. Lawrence and Sis. Maybelle Pruitt and how highly I respected them. I remember praying together. I remember eating dinner together at the big house next door. I remember the "Family of God" atmosphere that only participants can understand.
But more than that, I came from Canada, where we were isolated. As a young person, coming to Guthrie was almost like going to heaven. To be with other young people, to worship with the congregation, to be invited to the different homes and to be taken in like family-that was the love of God personified, to me.
I remember walking to the chapel on Wednesday evenings and drinking in the testimonies of the saints. Bro. Leslie and Sis. Sylvia Busbee were the pastors then, and I will always be grateful to them for warmly welcoming this homesick Canadian girl into their home.
I remember observing the Christian family on the other side of the Print Shop: the Bob Sallee family. I remember praying with them, laughing with them and putting out the Faith and Victory paper with them. All the Sallee children would sit in a row, each by an adult, all eagerly participating in the distribution of the gospel of Christ.
I remember Bro. Wayne Murphey and I having interesting scriptural discussions, and looking forward to the next one.
And I have to say this, too: I have always enjoyed learning. I wanted to learn how every machine worked in the Print Shop. I wanted to learn how to fold the tracts and how to cut the paper; in short, how to run everything but the presses. The only problem was that it seemed that everything I tried to adjust, broke. Bros. Bob and Wayne were so patient as they set about fixing yet another of my clumsy attempts at productivity.
One day, after I was married and helping out on a fill-in basis, as I was typesetting on the Varityper, something went wrong yet again, and Bro. Wayne said, "Oh, that's okay. I remember there was one girl who broke everything she touched."
There was a dawning horror on his face as I said dryly, "Yeah. I know. That was me." And we proved yet again that God's grace is sufficient.
I enjoyed my years at the Print Shop so much. From that foundation, as I typeset and proofread the Bible Lessons and the Faith and Victory, the tracts and various books, the Bible doctrines became firmly embedded in my heart and soul. I saw the love of God in action, each member working at his or her respective duties, all combining in a united effort to publish the gospel.
The smaller Print Shop family is indicative of the larger Family of God in my mind. We worked together in unity. We all believed the same Bible doctrines. We were a help to each other. We combined our efforts for common cause. We prayed and sang and ate together. We worshiped together. I thank the Lord for the privilege of being a part of the Print Shop family and carry those memories dear to my heart.
Sylvia (Forbes) Busbee
It was the springtime of 1956, and Sis. Marie Miles was visiting in California. She had always been very close to my parents, Bro. Erle and Sis. Vera Forbes, so while in our home she told me of the need of a worker at the Faith Publishing House, and asked me to pray about it. I don't emember any particular call of the Lord, but I felt it was the right move, so I gave in my resignation at work. I also had to give up the little Sunday School class and tell the congregation good-bye. In tears we sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." Sis. Opal and Bro. Ostis had been dear Shepherds to guide me these five years since I'd been saved.
My parents were glad to know I would be working and living with Sis. Marie and Bro. Pruitt, but it was sad for me to leave them for I had taken them as dependents on my income tax and helped them out financially. My Daddy was 71 and showing age.
In July I took Sis. Georgia Morton (later Zinn) and two other people in my 1952 Mercury to Missouri. This was my second time to Monark Springs camp meeting, having gone the first time in 1947. And this (1956) was the year of the awful sickness and typhoid when young Sis. Shirley Allen died. Most of us were sick when we got home.
My new home was the west upstairs bedroom of the Print Shop house. It was very hot and I had one little oscillating fan. The one bathroom was downstairs off the dining room. With the sickness this was a great inconvenience. Sis. Marie and her husband, Carl, lived downstairs. Their son, Carl Jr., occupied the middle bedroom upstairs. He was around 15. Their other son, Vernon, was about 19 and shared a room with William Weir in the back of the Print Shop.
Sis. Marie introduced me to Viola Atnip as "the new worker from California." We soon became good friends. She and her mother shared the east bedroom upstairs.
Bro. Fred Pruitt and his new wife, "Mother Nettie," lived just east of the Print Shop. Many times we heard them having worship together, Bro. Pruitt having a difficult time getting the right tune to the hymn. We always smiled.
Bro. George Stephenson lived in the garage apartment in back. The sign over his door read: "I have left all the world to follow Jesus, and this is my little Heaven." He rode his bicycle around town. Sometimes he had to share it with Johnny Ray, who was about four or five. He and his parents, Bro. Hyrum and Sis. Geneva, lived up the block a few houses. Sis. Geneva ran the linotype and the folder for the Faith and Victory.
Bro. Lawrence and Sis. Maybelle lived over two blocks and up a few houses. Their son, Byron, his wife Clarice and baby Genece, and their 17 year-old son, Harvey, also were part of this big family. Bro. Lawrence later took up the leadership, but at this time he only helped with maintenance, which was once in a while. He was still employed at the Co-Operative Printing Co. Bro. Edward Joe Cramer and also Sis. Lois (Whipple) Sharp worked there, too.
Sis. Leola White lived across the street from the Rays. She always helped on "Paper Day," folding by hand. Sometimes she helped Mother Nettie staple tracts.
Sis. Lillian Meek lived over on the next block. She always came on Paper Day, but sometimes she took Sis. Cassie's place as cook and housekeeper.
Usually we had dinner for all the workers at noon sharp. The table in the dining room held most of us. The water would be in the glasses and the pie or cake ready to serve. Sis. Cassie was an excellent cook. We girls always did the dishes. It was a pleasant hour for all of us.
Many were the days when saints from afar would drop in, knowing they were welcome to a good wholesome dinner. About this time we usually had another "visitor" at the table, a young man recently saved, Bro. Leslie Busbee. He was usually there to help on Paper Day, or to be with the boys, bringing his brother, Leland.
My first day at the Print Shop, Bro. Pruitt handed me an article which had to be typed. I hadn't typed for several years. I went up to my room and prayed, asking the Lord to help me to remember the keys. Then I came back downstairs and typed the article with no trouble. Praise the Lord! Another time, with a twinkle in his eye, he asked me to proofread a tract. It was in an African language.
Sis. Geneva set the type on the linotype. This was a large machine that had a keyboard which, when pressed, lined up letter characters. When a line was filled the arm was lifted and a lead slug was released. These were formed together into a frame called a chase, locked in place, the chase was inserted into the big press and sheets of paper were run over it to print the pages.
The Intertype was an older version of a lineotype. Bro. William Weir ran this. Both machines used lead which was melted in a lead pot with a fire under it. Every once in a while the operator had to skim off the dross which formed on the top. When this was done you could see the image of your face. It was like looking into a mirror. This was like the scripture in Malachi 3:3, "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."
Sometimes the machines malfunctioned and the hot lead would spew out and make a great mess. The operators learned to clean it up, generally, but sometimes Bro. Lawrence was called.
When Bro. Hyrum Ray was sent out to Arizona on the pipeline, Sis. Geneva went also, so she taught me to operate the linotype. I set a lot of Faith and Victory, the Beautiful Way children's paper, tracts and books. Some of the books were Touching Incidents, How I Got Faith and Tim And His Lamp, rewritten by Sis. Fern Stubblefield. Several times I set up Spanish tracts. To do this we had to change the magazine on the part that held the type characters.
When a tray of type was ready, we made a proof to be read by running over the type on a hand "press." Then the material was proofread, checking for typographical errors, grammatical errors and doctrinal correctness. Several in the Print Shop family proofread: Sis. Maybelle, Sis. Marie, Sis. Geneva and myself, and maybe others. There was a proofreading code that we used. The errors were corrected by making a new line slug, then the pages were locked into the chase, another proof was made and a final reading was made.
On Paper Day the Faith and Victory was folded on a lip folder and glued and trimmed. Bro. Charles Weir sat at the back of the folder on a little stool to catch and stack the paper. He lived in a little room down by the chapel.
Several from the congregation came to help fold the paper, for this was done by hand. Some of these were Sis. Emma Dilley, Sis. Evelyn Taylor and Bro. and Sis. Stover, after they moved to Guthrie in 1959. We used a little stick, which became very smooth through the years, to help crease the fold.
Sis. Maybelle or Sis. Viola had already printed the names and addresses on the wrappers with a machine called an Addressograph. We took out a whole tray of mimeograph stencils, and the machine would automatically feed each stencil into place to print the address on the wrapper with the press of a foot-pedal. Sis. Viola kept these names and addresses in up-to-date order. She was very efficient at this, and she knew hundreds of the addresses by heart. All of the mail orders were hand-addressed in her beautiful handwriting. She usually used aqua-colored ink. She took care of the many orders that came in for the printed material in stock, finding just the right size box and wrapping and tying with precision.
When Sis. Viola felt that she should be released from her duties at the Print Shop, Sis. Malinda Penner and then Sis. Bernice (Eck) Miles came in her place. All of us girls worked in these categories, filling in wherever needed.
One Paper Day stands out in my mind. I was seated at a table opposite Bro. Stephenson, and we were folding, first in half, then in fourths. We quoted by memory the 34th Psalm until we had learned it. I still know it pretty well. Many times we sang hymns as we folded. The papers were then taken by states and towns to their proper pigeonholes. Each bundle was tied, and then Bro. Pruitt or Bro. Lawrence put them into their respective mailbags. The rolled papers (sent by 10's or more) were usually counted and their wrappers glued by Sis. Viola or Sis. Maybelle.
Another Paper Day stands out to me. We got word that a semi-trailer truck loaded with strawberries had overturned outside of town. So, some bargains were made, Sis. Marie had us put white paper over our tables, and we all prepared strawberries for the freezer. Many times a call for prayer would come in and we all got down on our knees in agreement. We know that the Lord heard and honored these prayers by the many testimonies which came in.
Our day began with worship in the Print Shop home living room. Bro. and Sis. Pruitt, Bro. Stephenson, and all the workers sat around in a circle, and we each took our turn to lead with a Scripture reading and prayer. We would begin by singing a song or two from the Evening Light song book. When I knew it was my time to lead, I would fear and tremble and really look to the Lord beforehand. I was really timid and fearful, but the Lord did help me and I grew stronger in my spirit. This was a great benefit to me and helped me to grow in the Lord so that I could also lead out in public service.
Bro. Pruitt gave us workers about $30.00 to spend during the month we were in meetings. Sometimes the Lord would lead someone to give us a little extra.
Our "salary" at the Print Shop was $8.00 a week. Bro. Pruitt would come around on Friday and kind of clear his voice in a chuckle and pay us from bills in his hand, saying, "A little of God's filthy lucre." We were given our room and board. This taught us to depend on the Lord and to live by faith. It was a rich experience.
Although we had strong convictions to be sober and mild in spirit, there were times of relaxation, like the time the boys threw cups of water at each other, then buckets, then used the hose. Viola and I had to scramble to keep out of the way, and sometimes we couldn't.
When snow fell deeply enough to sled in, we would go over to Highland Park to be pulled by Bro. Lawrence's jeep. Sis. Maybelle liked to "skate" on the icy pond. Once, when the weather was below zero for several days, it fell on a Sunday when we made our usual trip to Okeene. Because the bridge was out north of the chapel, we had to come in from the south on the route through Dover and along some country roads. Bro. Fred Pruitt noticed how nicely the ponds were frozen over. On our way home he asked me to stop by a pond. (I happened to be the only one with him and Mother Nettie that Sunday, driving the car.) He wanted to get out of the car and crawl under the fence and go skating on the ice. If I had been more mature in my judgments then, I would have tried to persuade him against such ideas and thoughts, knowing what dangers there were. What would I have done if he had fallen on the ice or if the ice had broken? But he did not go far and the Lord protected all from tragedy.
When anyone in the Print Shop family had a birthday, we came together in the Print Shop home. After Vernon married Bertha Eck and little Connie was born, we had many such times together. One time we honored all the mothers on Mother's Day, with each child making a cake. I helped Johnny Ray make a cake for his mother, Sis. Geneva.
One Saturday Bro. Pruitt informed Sis. Malinda and me that we would be the only saints accompanying him and Mother Nettie to Bristow the next day. He wanted us to pray that, if the Lord would be pleased, He would give us some of the Word to read. A great burden came over us, she in her room and I in mine. I read the entire book of Hebrews. It just lit up to me. This was a picture of Christ Jesus. I was most impressed with Hebrews 6:19 and the thought of HOPE being our anchor.
Not conferring together at all, Malinda and I were two sober girls. The Lord so blessed that my thoughts blended perfectly with hers. Oh, how good the Lord is!
I worked constantly with the Bible open on my lap. I knew it was important, when a portion of Scripture was reproduced in printed form, that it must be correct in every detail. Thus I became acquainted with the scriptures and was beginning to understand its deep truths. When the minister would be preaching along a certain line of truth, it wasn't unusual for me to have the very next scripture already in my mind.
Was not this a Bible School taught by the Holy Spirit? Oh, how great a privilege it was to be in this school, with Holy Ghost-filled men and women to assist us in our learning! What great benefit it was to me as I became a minister's wife! Yes, my diploma after four years of "college" was a marriage license to a young minister.
Editorials
Thanks to all who have continued to support the printing work here and encouraged us with your prayers, offerings and words of appreciation. Your communication was truly a blessing. As we enter the fall season of 1998, we press forward in the Lord's work, fervently looking to Him for His help in each endeavor.
In reviewing the events of summer, we recall many noteworthy happenings: Some gladdened and others were difficult to understand, but all were committed to God.
From a human standpoint, the commencement of summer was blighted by the death of Bro. Bob Sallee, whom we continue to miss. Another loss which saddened us during the summer months was that of Sister Irma Butler. I had the privilege of getting acquainted with Sis. Irma and her husband, Bro. Don, while serving the Shawnee, OK, congregation when they were without a pastor. I found her to be a saint who loved to worship God and hungered for more knowledge of Him. She opened her home and heart with a warm smile and great hospitality. We will miss her, and our prayers continue for her husband, Bro. Don, who no doubt feels the loss the most keenly. If you would like to correspond with Bro. Don, you may do so at 36404 Clear Pond Road, Shawnee, OK 74801.
Sis. Evelyn Wilson's death also stands out as we consider her friendship and recall her involvement in the work of the Lord in the early years of the Sunset Guest Home in Pacoima, CA, and in the ministry of Bro. Ostis Wilson, Jr.
I would also like to mention Sis. Ellen Campbell, who went to be with the Lord this summer. I came to know her a number of years ago when Aunt Maybelle Pruitt, my wife, Mary, and I, visited the Pineland, TX, Church of God. Her perseverance in serving the Lord was outstanding. In subsequent visits we came to appreciate her dedication to God even more. I know her son, Bro. Clarence Campbell, will greatly miss her support and love.
Others of the saints finished their course on earth recently, and though God has been gathering His children to their eternal home in heaven, we have also seen Him gathering children into His Kingdom upon this earth. The Holy Spirit's power continues to work in the lives of those who love Him, and the saints have been encouraged. Still others have reached out into the mission fields. The end of summer has seen Bro. Michael Smith return from visiting the saints in Ghana, West Africa and Malawi, Central Africa. A report of his trip can be found under missionary reports. For his return and all God's blessings, we praise the Lord.
Now we are ready to enter the closing months of this year and to see what God has in store for us, the Church, and the world at large. We are earnestly desiring to improve the work here at the Print Shop in order to labor on a larger scale and more effectively. Please share this burden with us that the work will prosper and move forward for the Lord's cause.
Our nation has been in great turmoil due to the scandals surrounding President Bill Clinton. The question of morality has been put center stage, and many have furrowed their brows trying to figure out which political side will triumph in the end.
Even the professed spiritual leaders of our country have been in a quandary as to how God will rule in the affairs of men. But the Bible contains principles for living which we can depend on to hold true. One of them says, "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him." Eccl. 10:8.
It is inevitable, if you are deceitful, that you will fall into deceit, or if you break down the hedges of God's righteousness, you will suffer the consequences of sin. Politics will not save you from it. It doesn't matter how much you might scratch and grab in order to preserve yourself, or how skillful your political allies may be at aiding you, if you dig the pit you will ultimately fall into it. This rule of God's law crosses all political lines and will exact a penalty upon every offender.
So will our president resign or be impeached, censored, or fined? To try to predict that would be to fall into the quagmire of all other political theorists. But we know that at the bottom of the pit of sin and deceitfulness is grief and sorrow (Isa. 17:11) and great unrest (Isa. 57:20). Therefore, let us pray earnestly for God to deal with the hearts of our leaders.
-Wayne Murphey
