Roy was pleased to find that none of the other church leaders noticed his absence, and had gone after Wuting and Jian. He rejoined them for day two, and he was amazed at how enlivened that had become since he left. What had excited them the most was seeing the Pope and other world religious leaders speaking like by private TCS. St Antipas residents loved it when the world included their little island in global discussions, and it was no different with the religious leaders.
There was another address coming that afternoon, and Roy was eager to see it. While they waited, various speakers were scheduled to offer a unique view from their own denominational background. When he read the programme he was horrified to see that someone had put his name on the list, and he was due to speak Thursday morning at eleven-fifteen. The worry in thinking what he should say caused him to pay no attention to the speakers as they came and went from the stage, each making the most of their fifteen minutes.
Roy knew, as the official Kingdomite representative in St Antipas, that he must speak for that denomination. Whether he did or did not speak, it would be reported back in Chichester. In his heart of hearts he wanted to ignore his spiritual overlords and say what was on his mind. He was now sure—as sure as he could be, at least—that his idea of a gradual-rapture was a genuine possibility. How would they take that?!
As he thought more about saying what was on his heart, he felt like telling them all to seek the Lord and forget everything else. He knew it would be what Wuting and Jian would say. He wanted to tell the leaders to discard some of their religious traditions. He knew that some of the churches represented were downright bizarre, but nothing was ever said for the good of the unity of the Christian community as a whole.
Then Roy realised what he wanted to say would be seen as just as offensive as the Two’s words. The more he thought about saying such things, the more worried he became. Word would quickly reach Kingdomite headquarters and he could be defrocked. That he pondered that if he was indeed defrocked, he could still run his own church meeting from his lounge. He wondered if the traditions of the church should be discarded anyway. The lounge was unsuitable for Kingdomite tradition, except for singing the hymns, although he had also discarded them when Wuting and Jian got going.
He snapped out of his thoughts when a speaker began to make the audience roar with laughter. Roy missed what church he represented, or anything of what he said. He listened for the next funny remark, not wanting to miss out on the entertainment.
“So,” the man said with a poorly suppressed chortle, “this guy went into a shop, sees all these shoes on the floor, all over the place. He says to the shop-keeper, ‘Is this a shoe-shop?’ She says, ‘No it isn’t.’ He says, ‘Then what are all these shoes doing all over the floor?’ She says, ‘Oh, there were people in them a minute ago. We must have had another one of them raptures!’”
More laughter burst out from the audience. Roy felt like he had been hit square in the face. He felt pinned to his seat, unable to do anything.
“And there were these two professors,” said the man, barely able to stop himself laughing, “and one says to the other, ‘I had a problem-student in my class. He believed the rapture was due any moment.’ The second says, ‘Did you have him expelled?’ The first says, ‘I didn’t need to, because he was right!’”
With the audience laughing Roy found himself enraged enough to stand up. Without realising what he was doing, he shouted out, “How can you stand there making fun of the rapture? You should be seeking to be a part of it, rather than joking about it!”
The laughing abruptly stopped and Roy found himself the centre of attention, and horrified. He was about to sit down, to try to forget and get out of the embarrassing situation as fast as possible, but the man on the stage started laughing at him. The man’s laughing went directly into the microphone and filled the auditorium. That made Roy angry enough to forget himself and remain standing and want to challenge him.
“What are you laughing at?” Roy shouted up at the man.
“You, of course, my dear fellow. Do you really believe in the rapture?”
Roy took a hard swallow, recalled the prestigious members of the audience, recalled the Kingdomite stand on such matters, and said, “Yes, I certainly do.”
He felt like he had stepped over the line. He was now on his own. There was no church background to support him. His only foundation was his two Chinese visitors who had offended them, a poorly written book, and a remnant of Premillennialists who were not really sure what was going on. He asked himself if there was any other backing for his outrageous stand. Surely I’m basing this on more than that? What’s the matter with me? How could I have done this?
“Then please tell us all, dear sir,” said the man, “why you did not fly away with all the others that fateful Sunday. Please tell us, for like you, we too missed out, and we don’t know why.”
The man was talking in a playful way, making a mockery out of him. Roy felt himself drained of confidence, with his anger giving way to fear. He contemplated confessing his secret sin to them, but then quickly suppressed that thought. He just ended up dumbfounded, searching for something to say.
Jamieson walked across the stage to the man and politely requested to take the microphone. “Please be seated,” he said to Roy. “You will have your chance to speak; everyone had been allotted fifteen minutes, where you can put your views forward. But for now I would like to discourage interruptions from the audience. And Dr Leppard, if you could please refrain from jokes at the expense of some of those present in the audience. This is an inter-community conference, and we must all strive to keep the unity that is so precious to our Saviour. I would also like to remind all of the grief felt by thousands of people over the loss of their loved-ones; we must show them the utmost respect and compassion. I know your levity was an attempt to help us through this time of confusion, but I think it is time we refrained.”
As Jamieson spoke, Roy found that he could sit down without being noticed. The speaker was the one who looked embarrassed, and he continued his talk without any further jokes. He said little of interest and when his time was up he hurriedly descended the stage.
Lunch was provided in the conference hall’s large dining area. Roy ignored the food and searched through the hungry crowd for Jamieson. He found him sitting and eating at a table all to his own. He went and sat next to him, without any food.
“Jamieson, can I have a few private minutes with you? There’s some things I need to discuss with you.”
“Roy, you’re not eating? They have a beautiful lunch put on for us. Feel free to take whatever you want.”
“I’ll get something later, thanks,” Roy said as he felt calmer at Jamieson’s interest in something as simple as lunch. He remembered how his friend’s attention to the simple but important things in life made everything else fall into place. He knew of no one better to seek advice.
“You surprised me, standing up and interrupting the meeting like that. I didn’t know you believed in the rapture doctrine, or felt passionately about it. I don’t believe we have ever sat down and discussed it, have we? Of all the things that have come under our combined scrutiny, that is one we have missed.”
“Things have been so crazy lately. Some of my theology has taken a bit of a battering.”
“Really? We must discuss it one of these days. As you see, I’ve very busy here. I didn’t know running this conference would be such a strain. You don’t know what I went through just to get away and have some decent time off for lunch. So many people want to speak with me; they don’t know I’m in here at the moment, which is why you caught me alone. But I’m only too happy to spend my lunch with a friend.”
“Jamieson, I really don’t know how to say this, but I guess I’ll just have to come out with it. I trust you as a good friend. More than that; the best friend I have. I know I can trust in you, and confide in you about things I can’t really talk about with other people.”
“I’m honoured you think that way, Roy. We
need to stick together, we who are of the cloth, as they say, and serve the Lord God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with a commitment to remain pure from the lusts of the flesh.”
“I know we come from different church back-grounds and everything.”
“But we have the same God, do we not?”
“Of course, yes. And some things we cannot agree on, as a rule.”
“Which we agree to overlook for the sake of unity, yes. What are you getting at, Roy?”
“Jamieson, I think I know what we must do, to escape the wrath of God that is coming on the Earth.”
“You do? This intrigues me. You won’t hesitate to share this with your friend, will you?” he asked with a wry smile, like he thought Roy was making a joke.
“I’m serious. I couldn’t be more serious.”
“Forgive me,” Jamieson said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and set aside his plate to give Roy his full attention. “I seem you have something important for me. Do tell me.”
“I only just thought of this last night. It came to me like a revelation from God. I don’t know; perhaps it was. We’ve missed the rapture. You know what I mean, like the Premillennialists teach?”
“Yes, I know the rapture teaching. Please go on.”
“But we don’t have to miss out, and endure the Great Tribulation.”
“If there is a Great Tribulation.”
“If there is, sure. But I really think there will be, and that we will soon see terrible things happening. Look, the reason we missed the rapture is because we were rejected by God, spat out since we were lukewarm, from the passage in Revelation about the Laodicean church. But we don’t have to stay rejected. If we work at getting ourselves back to an acceptable maturity, we will be deemed worthy of Heaven and raptured up there, to be with the others.”
“Roy, this is not like you at all. This is a most peculiar idea. Whatever do you base it on?”
“Some people I know have been disappearing, over the last few days. Three of them. I know two of them are strong Christians. It’s possible that the other one became a strong Christian just recently, and now he’s gone too.”
“Really? Have you notified the authorities?”
“No, I didn’t see the point.”
“Since they are in Heaven as the rapturists teach? No Roy, I think you should have notified the authorities. They must be kept informed about what is going on.”
“You think so?”
“Oh, yes. It is our duty as citizens to keep watch of what is going on in the city. And Roy, I don’t think your biblical exposition stands up to close scrutiny. The Lord will not return to those he spits out. Only a dog returns to vomit; so says the proverb. I hope you’re not implying you think of our Lord as a dog? Heaven forbid.”
“No, I course not.”
Jamieson reached over and gave him a friendly pat on the back, and then kept his hand there to comfort his friend. “I know you have been under a great deal of stress lately. My council to you is to take it easy and let us take control of this mess that we’ve found ourselves in. I know you have lost your church and have no place of worship other than your house. And I hope you have not forgotten that I wish to attend your lounge-church?”
“No, of course not. You will be most welcome,” Roy said as he tried to think of how he would introduce him to Two. He wondered if Jamieson could talk sense to him about them as well. He doubted that Jamieson would see them as prophets.
“But for now, please take my advice. We are doing a good thing here at this conference, which I myself find most exciting. Certainly, some people might say some things and make crude jokes that make us angry, those who show us their own spiritual immaturity. We must learn to accept them for what they are, and hope they will grow to full maturity in the faith. They can only do that with our help.”
Roy thanked his friend for his advice and went to find his way out of the building. He found himself doubting his once confident gradual-rapture theory. He knew Jamieson was right about the idea of eternal rejection of the “lukewarm”. Roy should have seen himself the inconsistency of his theory.
But it worried him. If Bern had not been taken to Heaven, then where was he? Roy then wondered how Bern could have possibly been raptured anyway. He surely knew nothing about the foundation doctrines of the faith; unless the Two took him through it all in quick time. The he wondered if the Two themselves had a good enough knowledge of the foundation beliefs. From what he knew of China, they had a shortage of Bibles. Any Bible school was either deprived of teaching materials of controlled by the atheistic government. He decided to quiz them on what they knew; carefully, without arousing their suspicion.
“Whoa there, boy; you’re not leaving us again, are you?” Alex Malone said loudly as he caught Roy’s arm and held on tight. Roy had nearly made it to the big glass doors that were a feature of the foyer, and he was so caught up in his thoughts that he had taken no notice of the people around him. Even though Alex was a big man, he had not seen him coming.
“Yes, Alex. I have some business to attend to.”
“Your business is here, Reverend Hoyle,” Alex said quietly, without easing his grip. His face looked kind, like he was a concerned parent with a misguided child, but his words were caustic.
“I beg your pardon?”
“As official representative of the Kingdomite churches, your first and foremost duty is to attend for the duration. We saw you leave early yesterday and you were not here for the Pope’s address. This reflects badly on us all, you know.”
“How did you know I was not here to see the Pope?”
“We were watching you. We have it on video. Don’t you know all this is going to get reported back to Rome? We’ve got to put on a good face for them. We don’t want them thinking St Antipas religious leadership is nothing but an unruly mob; drifting in, drifting out as they please.”
Roy realised he should have known a hidden camera was watching the entrance, and probably every other part of the building. He told himself to stand up to him, to show some courage. Alex was a big man, and strong. He naturally looked down at Roy anyway, and with his now accusing eyes it made him feel weak.
“I think you should show your unity of faith a bit more thoughtfully,” Alex said as he began to walk Roy back to the dining hall, smiling so much he was nearly chuckling. Anyone seeing them would have thought Alex was sharing a joke, but his grip remained tight and unyielding.
“Get your hands off me!” Roy shouted at him, with a shove that sent Alex staggering backwards and off balance. Alex reached his hands back to stop himself from falling into the wall, and when he hit the floor he was so shocked that he said nothing. Roy turned and walked quickly to the door, this time unopposed.
When Roy sat in the safety of his car he looked back to the building, wondering is he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He looked at himself in the car mirror, and wondered if he was losing his mind. He began to contemplate returning back to the conference, to apologise to Alex and hear what the Pope had to say. He knew that Jamieson would be offended if he missed the Pope again. As he thought of Jamieson he remembered what he had said, and why he wanted to leave.
He fired up his car confident that he was doing the right thing. His first duty was to find Bern and the Carters, and perhaps all the others.
At Bern’s house he spent some time hammering and shouting, until he was certain it was empty. He then returned to his car phone and reported him missing. The receptionist responded like she could not care less; just another number to add to the 87,000. Roy tried to explain to her that this was a recent case, but it made no difference to her. He gave up and drove to the Carter’s house. There was no sign from them and when he also reported them missing he was not surprised at the same uninterested response.
Feeling like he did not want to ever see the leaders of their conference again, Roy drove the city streets hoping to find Wuting and Jian. After about forty minutes he saw them on the wide and impressi
ve steps of the city’s main court building. Facing each other, they were kneeling on the stone tiles with their heads bowed. Deciding that they looked stationary for the time being, Roy put his car in an adjoining car park building and ran to meet them. Seeing that they had not moved or gave any sign of moving, he sat nearby on some wooden seating. Other people were there eating snacks, looking at the Two with some amusement. It was the lunch hour, when most workers flee their offices and go in search of a light meal and anything to take their interest.
After Roy had heard enough of the onlookers’ taunts, he was angry enough to do what he had secretly feared since he first saw the Two on the steps. He walked over to Wuting and Jian and knelt down beside them. Most people took no notice, but Roy felt like the whole world was staring at him. He shut his eyes and mumbled a few prayerful words.
After a few minutes he needed to glance around, to see how many people were looking at him. To his surprise he saw that no one was giving him so much as a second glance. The taunters on the seats were still there, but talking among themselves and studying what was left of their food. Roy returned to his prayers with more heart. After a few minutes he ran out of things to say and just listened to the Two, praying in a language he could not understand. He knees began to ache unbelievably, but he told himself to do whatever they did, no matter what it was.
When the time of kneeling finished, the Two resumed their walking. Roy knew they were not ignoring him, they were just not acknowledging him, but he had to force himself to not get offended. Their pace was fast and Roy sometimes needed to run to keep up. They cut a wide path through the shoppers in Carlow’s main mall, as people seemed eager to get away from them. They were loudly proclaiming, “Repent! The Kingdom of God is near!”
Roy found it disturbing to hear such words. He had learned and taught that the Kingdom of God was already in the world; his church even called itself that! But now he did not know what to believe, although he was willing to learn.
For the entire afternoon and several hours into the evening he followed them as they walked the streets of the business district. They took only occasional stops for rest, when they went down to their knees to pray. The only time they would stop praying was to shout at an unsuspecting passer-by. Some would react by claiming that some illness or debility had gone. One or two reacted by falling down to the ground with screams and convulsions, which would soon cease and the person would then act at peace. No matter what happened, Wuting and Jian gave no reaction, and did not even stop to talk with them. Roy did his best to comfort each person, until he saw he could not do that and keep up with the Two.
Even the darkest alley-ways would be shouted down, and hostile night-bars not avoided. Street prostitutes called out for them and they shouted back the same words of warning. Many people laughed, mocked and jeered, but no one confronted them.
It was after ten o’clock when they arrived home, and they only agreed to travel home by car because Roy insisted. Even in the car, both seated in the back seat, they kept praying, with either Wuting and Jian taking turns. Roy found he could not ask them any of his urgent questions. Recalling their work, he told himself that his questions could wait. He also told himself that he would no longer let them go on any more street walks without him. He did not want to miss any more of what they were doing in his city. As far as he was concerned, it was the chance of a lifetime.
When they arrived home and pulled up to the garage, Roy could not believe his eyes when he saw the two Thompson brothers climbing over his fence. Their luminous coloured heads made it seem all the more unreal; it was like he was dreaming. They were both carrying baseball bats. Roy went to put the car into reverse but he was too late to prevent the back doors being opened. Wuting and Jian were getting out.
“Get back! It’s not safe!” he shouted at the Two. He charged up his stunner and swung his own door open.
The Thompsons ran at the Two, who were walking toward them praying. Roy ran to them, shouting for them to get away. As one, Wuting and Jian shouted a single word. Roy stopped in amazement as the Thompson brothers turned and without breaking their stride ran down his drive and back to their house. Then their car was started up, with loud, surging grunts. The wheels screamed as they sped dangerously fast out from their drive and then down the street.
“What did you say?” Roy asked. He was so shocked that his voice was barely audible.
“They will not harm you,” said Wuting. “Not yet.”
“I think they were after you, weren’t they?”
“They will not get us, Roy. They are not allowed. But you must watch out. You must pray much. Pray you will be kept safe, until your time comes. When your time comes you will know. You will feel at peace, and know you must no longer hide. Until then, do all you can to hide, if your faith is not strong.”
Roy took it all in. He was learning from them; receiving everything they said.
“Look, I need to ask you guys some questions.”
“We have no time for questions. You do what you did today and you will have all your questions answered. You follow us. You learn. One day you will do the same as us.”
“I’ll learn, but I don’t know if I can do the same as you.”
“The same Spirit that is in us is in you, Roy. Do you believe that?”
“The Holy Spirit? I have to believe that.”
It was taught as a major doctrine and Roy had to believe it to be ordained. Somehow he thought the Two did not want to hear that.
“Then you can do what we do,” said Wuting. “But be warned, Roy: it will take a lot of learning.”
“Of course.”
“A lot of sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?”
“A lot of courage.”
“It will?”
“And much grace from our God as he waits for you.”
“While he waits for me to do what?”
“While he waits for you to get to the place in your spiritual walk where you will believe him and everything that he can do through you.”
“Wuting, do you know what happened to Bern? He’s gone. I’m worried about him.”
“Your time has not come, but it appears Bern’s time has come.”
“You think he’s gone? He’s missing, like the others?”
“We know he’s gone. We saw him go.”
“What? You saw him go?”
“Your time is not yet. You must pray much.”
“Where did he go?”
“We don’t know.”
“Well, how did he go?”
“We don’t know; a van, that is all.”
“A van? What kind?”
“Just a van. Nothing new, nothing fancy.”
“What colour? What number plate?”
“Dark; hard to tell at night.”
“You must know more than that, Wuting.”
“We know nothing else.”
“But you must!”
“We don’t know everything, Roy.”
“I left the conference of church leaders,” Roy said after he gave Wuting’s last remark some thought. “I walked out on them. Was that the right thing to do?”
“You must do as the Spirit says. For now, we will rest. We still have much work to do.”
Roy let them retire for the night with no further questions. He tried to sleep as well, determined to leave with them in the morning, determined to never again let them out of his sight.