“Okay, Brian. Standby, we may be back to you.”
“Thank you John. This is Brian Wilcox reporting from Rosemead California.
“Now, let’s turn to our Washington correspondent, Debbie Cochran. She is outside the White House where the Vice President is staying while President Stevenson is in Kansas City.”
“Debbie?”
“Hello John, not much more to say since the Camp David meetings ended. Vice President, Alvarez Johnson, is staying at the White House to oversee things until the President returns. However, as you know, this is protocol when the President travels. There is also no new word on the assassination of the Attorney General. The FBI has said little about it and the local police are mum. However, there is a rumor that President Stevenson will address the nation on Monday night; but there is no confirmation as of now.”
“Thanks Debbie. We will get back with you.”
“Thank you John. This is Debbie Cochran reporting from the South Lawn of the White House.”
“When we come back we will go to Houston, Texas, where we have an interview with the mayor regarding the fast-approaching hurricane, which is now in the Caribbean. It is expected to hit on Monday morning. A satellite picture is in the background, behind John, showing the enhanced photos of Hurricane Alex. It now stretches over three-hundred and fifty miles across.”
Chapter 131
5:45 PM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - City Center, Jack South’s Suite
I heard a knock on the door and opened it. Veronica, Mark, Thomas, and Luke were all there. I invited them in and the first thing Veronica said, as her eyes glanced towards the bed was, “He gave it to you, huh?”
“Gave me what, Veronica?”
“The staff there on the bed; and don’t worry I know not to touch it.”
“Have you ever seen it before?” I asked.
“No, but I knew that you would eventually have it. Shraya said you would and that God would give it to you in good time.”
Mark asked, “Is that really Moses’ staff?”
Thomas replied, “Yes, that is exactly what it is and Jack got specific instructions with it from Gabriel.”
“Mind if I pick it up?” Luke asked.
“No Lucas. You cannot. I cannot let any man touch it except myself. It is a command.” I did not want to tell him that only a man of God could touch it. His feelings would probably be hurt.
“Okay, just asking.”
Veronica then said, “Alright gentlemen, we don’t have much time and we need to chat a moment. We will be seated in about a half an hour and we need to get going soon. Jack, Thomas brought you some vestments. Do you want to try one on?’
“I guess, but if it were not for this staff, I would not even consider it.”
“It’s not that bad, just try it. All preachers and priests wear them,” Veronica said.
“Do you have something simple?” I asked, looking at Thomas.
Thomas laid out the four vestments he had brought on the couch and I looked them over. “What do I wear with them?” I asked to no one in particular.
“You just put them over your clothes you have on,” Thomas said.
I saw a light tan one with a dark brown rope belt and said, “Maybe that one. Red, blue or white will not work for me.”
“Well, try it on,” Veronica said, seemingly impatient with me. Sometimes she made me feel like I was her child, but then I probably acted like one sometimes.
Thomas picked it up and handed it to me. I took it from Thomas then slipped it over my head as I looked in the mirror by the dresser. “I look almost like a monk,” I said.
“It looks great Jack,” Veronica said. “You will be fine. You need to play the part, so quit whining. Here, let me straighten your belt.” She adjusted and retied the rope belt then stepped back from me to admire her work. “Looks good, Jack. Grab your staff and let’s see how it will be.”
I took my right hand and picked up the staff from the bed, turned and looked at my flock. “That will work. Now you do look like a witness; as well you should,” she said.
Each of them agreed, so I reluctantly said, “Okay. Before you go, can we all pray together? I really think I need your prayers and Thomas would you lead us?”
The others and I kneeled down. I held the staff with my right hand. Thomas began to speak, “Oh Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, please pass among us your wisdom and help us O lord to pass the same upon the people. We know your desire and will comply with your wishes within our human abilities and proclaim your word and that of your son, Jesus Christ, unto the nations. Lord, as you send your witness into the world tonight, fill him with the Holy Spirit, that he may proclaim and show your power to the world. In addition, one final request dear Lord, in this time of Tribulation, those whom you take, may they be sealed by the love and blood of Christ. Amen.”
We all got up. I walked over to my desk, and took a folded piece of paper off the top and handed it to Thomas. “When I come out onto the stage and I ask you to lead us in prayer, say this prayer. It was on one of the pages I read.”
“I will,” Thomas said. “I will.”
As everyone started walking out the door, Veronica came over and said, “Shraya said to do this at the beginning, then they will listen.” She handed me a small scroll. “And Jack, regarding the staff, you know you can hand it over to a man of God? Read the chapters in Exodus about Moses and Aaron in front of the Pharaoh. It is important to know when you can and when you cannot use the staff and pass on the power to another.” She also then handed me a Bible.
Chapter 132
5:50 PM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, Anchor Desk
They had just finished the interviews in Houston and Mississippi and were going to the weather updates in Africa. Then they would report on the status of the hurricanes, and finally, the news commentary. John sat waiting for the go ahead from commercials. As he turned once again to face the camera, he watched the seconds click by, three, two, and one.
“Welcome back to the summary part of the day’s newscast, tonight. We have with us again, Chester Nichols, our meteorologist, with the latest on the rains in Northern Africa and the now two hurricanes in the Atlantic. Chester?”
The satellite pictures of Northern Africa were on the screen as Chester began speaking, “Thanks John, as you can see on the satellite picture here of Northern Africa and parts of the Mideast, the rains are still coming down. Today is the third day and flooding is becoming widespread, especially near the rivers where most of the major cities are located. We show on our graphic, the total rainfall since it started, by using different colors. The darker areas represent heavy amounts of rain and the lighter areas, less. In some places it has exceeded twenty-four inches, most of that in the Sahara Desert. However, it is a steady rainfall of about a quarter inch of rain an hour, over most of the affected areas. That equates to six inches of rain a day. At this rate, in thirty days it would equate to one-hundred inches of rain. This would cause such incredible damage to the areas where it is raining, that we cannot even begin to calculate.”
The graphic changed again, showing the enhanced satellite photo. It covered an area that looked as if it was all the way from the Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, but still mostly in the Atlantic. Chester stated, “In the Atlantic, Hurricane Alex has now reached category two status and is still on track, as best as we can tell, to the Galveston, Houston area. A new tropical storm, Baxter has reached winds of up to fifty-five miles per hour. Like Alex, it is considered a hurricane. At the moment, Baxter is tracking the exact same path as Alex has been, and is almost right behind it.”
“Chester, how long does it take a hurricane to get to our coast from Africa, on average?”
“That depends. It could track fast or it could track slowly, so anywhere from six to seven days, up to two weeks.”
“Thanks Chester. It looks like, as we were expecting, they are on the same path as Jack said they would be. Moving on, we
have one of our correspondents in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, with a live report.” Turning to the monitor John said, “Eric?”
“Yes John, this is Eric Kuhl. As you can see, all around me the rain is still coming down and has not stopped since Tuesday morning. The Nile is spilling over its banks. President Mohamed Basarick declared martial law this afternoon and they have started evacuating as much of the city as they can. If you will remember, we were concerned about the Aswan Dam, but for the moment, it seems to be holding.”
“Any property damage or deaths reported Eric?”
“No John, not at this time; but they usually don’t report things quickly here. It is usually days before we get word.”
“Thanks Eric. Please be safe and we will get back to you soon.”
“Thanks John. This is Eric Kuhl reporting from Cairo, Egypt.”
“We will be back with our final comments after these words,” John said to the camera. He leaned back in his chair and thought to himself, the next three hours will change history forever. He got up to get a drink.
Chapter 133
6:15 PM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, staging area, Reverend Thomas
Thomas had the choirs and singers in place on the stage and was doing a last minute check with the sound technicians and the cameras. He had a featured renowned international singing star that was going to sing with the award winning acclaimed Black Choir from Center Church in Chicago. The choir had made the pilgrimage at their own expense, paid through donations from their church. Sarah would be singing the lead to “Amazing Grace,” which was the last song before Jack came onto the stage. He also had three other choirs from the Kansas City area that would be performing before her.
They were all in the display building at the south side of the Memorial, where the directors from Bear News were giving last minute instructions to the performers. He noticed also that some very high profile local talents were there. Clyde West, a local country singer was going to sing an Elvis spiritual song, ‘Mama Liked the Roses.’ He would be first on and backed up by the local Methodist Church choir, his band and the Kansas City Philharmonic, as all the singers were singing with them. With the philharmonic volunteering, this was turning into quite a production. The Philharmonic was also performing one of the scores from Handel’s “Messiah.”
Thomas felt he had done as well as he could and he hoped Jack approved of the songs. Jack had been lenient in letting him choose the songs for the pre-sermon entertainment. Thomas knew that people expected this prior to hearing God’s word, as it put them in the mood. Song and prayer always did.
He walked up to Clyde and said, “You have about ten minutes. I will start with a prayer, and then you will come to center stage. You and the choir need to get into position now, please.”
“No problem Reverend,” Clyde said. “I am ready. I just need to plug in my guitar and the band is already out there. We practiced with the orchestra. It’s gonna sound pretty.”
Chapter 134
6:26 PM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, Anchor Desk
John looked around the stage. He noticed that Reverend Mark’s crew was getting everything ready. The camera people had been filming the dignitaries and guests who were being seated on the stage behind the bulletproof glass. These included many of the world’s power brokers, commonly known as The Waldger Group. His co-anchors had been doing commentary since 6:00. His thoughts were on the fact that his entire career had been based on attacking this group and for the first time ever, he had so many of them just a few feet away from him. John had really wanted to walk among them and ask for interviews, but that would not be appropriate today.
He was sure that in lieu of God’s Witness coming forward, The Waldger Group was the one that would battle them. This was described in Revelations, which he had read up on just a couple of nights ago. Would the Group be the one to produce the Antichrist and the False Prophet? He had a feeling on what the truth was. In the past few days, he had brushed up on Daniel and Revelations, and it was all beginning to make sense to him.
John noticed that sitting with the dignitaries was the young former Jewish, now Catholic Bishop, from Africa, Praterus. Some called him Peter and he was here with Cardinal Luke Richital, who was from the Vatican. He wondered if there was a connection. It was very unusual for an event like this to have them both attend, even though the rumor was they were representing the Pope.
Praterus was rumored to be the next in line to succeed in the Papacy, when the current Pope dies. His background was that he was born a Jew, then became Catholic at a very young age when his mother remarried after the death of her first husband, and became Catholic herself. He became almost an overnight success as a young man in the church, taking the oath of celibacy when he was 18. He climbed through the maze of Catholic politics very quickly and now at the young age of thirty-four, was the youngest ever Bishop in the history of the church. He was quite powerful and known by many.
John also noticed Aafre Waldger, who was already seated, was the somewhat self-proclaimed leader, the Chairman of the Board. At least that was what he had been reporting all these years. It seemed that no matter what was occurring in the world of politics, finance or even sometimes, criminal acts, somehow the road always led to him. Nothing could ever be proven, for they controlled the media, at least until Jack showed up. His holding companies, John knew, controlled a string of news media outlets and movie studios around the world that usually kept public opinion in the favor of he and his members.
John noticed the Baroness Sherry Billings from England was here also, but then she had attended every meeting of The Waldger Group since he could remember. She was also accompanied by the Prime Minister of England, Sir Richard Weingart, whom everyone knew was a lifetime member of the Waldger Group. There had to be a connection with Revelations. There was no doubt, he thought. It was probably time to find out what. He noticed that well over one-hundred of their members were here on the stage and in public for the very first time together. This included every leader of the Common Market countries and most western ones also. That made it even more interesting. Why would they now come out in public and not behind closed doors? Moreover, why would the President of the United States be seen talking to Aafre in public?
He guessed Jack was right. The time had come for the new world order to take shape and it was time for God to take back the earth, and that would be a battle.
Chapter 135
6:30 PM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial Stage
Ann told him it was time to start, as Thomas walked out onto the stage. Most of the microphones were remote; so, he did not walk up to the mike stands. He stood in the middle of the stage and said, “Welcome,” to the multitudes that were assembled. He then turned to his left and welcomed those on stage.
“To all of you that have taken time from your busy schedules to come witness the first sermon from God’s Witness, it is a pleasure to have you. I am sure God is pleased that so many leaders of the world are here tonight.”
He then walked to the edge of the stage, which overlooked Union Station and started addressing the massive crowd, “Tonight, as we all know, God’s Witness, Jack South, will talk to you within the next hour. However, before that, we have for you some spiritual songs performed by many of your local talent in Kansas City. We also have worldwide acclaimed talent who will praise God and his son Jesus Christ.”
“Before we start the evening’s program, I would like to make a very important announcement. Jack South has requested that there be no offering collected at this event. What that means is, if you see people coming around asking you to donate to God, donate to Jack, or even mentioning the word “offering,” they are professional cons and thieves. This program has not, and will not ask you for money. If you hear of someone requesting funds, then please report it to the nearest official.
Jack does ask though…If you wish to give an offering, you can hol
d onto that wish till you return to your communities and give back to them or your church.” He paused, and asked everyone to bow his or her heads and said an opening prayer. After his amen, he continued, “Now with that said, here is Kansas City’s singing star, Clyde West, singing “Mama Liked the Roses.’”
Chapter 136
6:33 PM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, Anchor Desk
Bear News had the cameras directed at Thomas and his opening speech, but they broke away for comment with the singer in the background, after getting a close up and a few bars of his song. The cameras were now focused on the three anchors at the desk, John Roddenburg, Mary Ann Sinclair, and Geraldo Vasquez.
Mary Ann was commenting on the President’s and the First Lady’s attire. That in true form, they were casual in comparison to other political and business leaders in the stands. “Well John,” she was saying, “I think that if the President came out with a suit jacket and tie, the American public would probably not recognize him. Nevertheless, I also think that it is quite warm and I really would not want to be wearing a tie like the Prime Minister is. It is just too warm for that.”
“I never wear a tie, so I can relate to the President,” John said. “In the meantime Mary Ann, let’s let the viewers get a bird’s eye view of the multitude of people that are waiting for Jack here in Kansas City. I understand from officials, that it is almost five million spread out over the city.”
“Yes John, as you can see from the aerial shots that we are showing provided by the Blimp, both Royals Stadium and Arrowhead are packed to standing room only; even with chairs on the fields. That probably breaks a record here at the Stadium for attendance. Looking out over the Park, it is shoulder to shoulder, much like what you see on New Year’s Eve in Times Square.”
“Yes, and as you can also see from the live shots from our cameras here on the hill,” Geraldo cut in, “The area around Union Station, which is right below the Park, all the way as far as you can see, is again filled wall to wall with people. That stretches all the way to Twelfth Street, if I have my facts right. The crowds continue the other way past the barrier on Main Street. It goes all the way up the hill to the hospital.”