What Sparked the Writing Project?
(in the author’s own words)
For years I wondered what God wanted done concerning the gang experiences and worked with several ideas. Several people encouraged me to write a book, but it did not seem to come together. One night, in 1996, the idea of writing plays about the experiences came to me. Groups could act them out, and people could be reached for Christ.
I was trying to write but there never seemed to be enough time. In the spring of 1997 God allowed my left arm to be broken to get my right (write) arm in motion. I had just finished a hectic schedule and was planning on working on the roof of our house before traveling and speaking for the summer. In April, my wife’s brother, his wife and their daughter came to visit us. I suggested we have a prayer meeting before they left. During the prayer time we prayed for God’s will to be done concerning their ministry, my play project, and for safety for me while doing the roof project. Within ten minutes from the time they left, I had fallen and broken my left arm in two places while trying to start the roof job. There were also injuries to other parts of my body, but it could have been far worse! During recovery, I used the time to get the first play The Chase written. By God’s providence, a series of additional incidents were allowed to give me time to complete the condensed versions of The Chase; to write The Wallet, the sequel to The Chase; to work on The Rumble, the sequel to The Wallet; and to work on other writing.
- In December, 1998, I was pinned by approximately one thousand pounds of material. I was alone so I had to fight my way free. This accident caused a number of injuries especially to the abductor muscles (groin muscles) in my right leg.
- In December, 1999, I was involved in a motor vehicle accident, which resulted in re-injury to the right leg and new injuries to the groin muscles of the left leg.
- In November, 2002, a fall on the ice resulted in new injuries and re-injury to my body. An additional fall on the ice in January, 2003, complicated the injuries even more.
- In April, 2005, a step broke as I was stepping up on it. This caused me to fall backwards, twisting and landing against a parked vehicle, resulting in re-injury and new injuries.
- In May, 2005, a toxic spider bit me. This resulted in several weeks of medical treatment and a setback in my recovery.
- In July, 2006, I received another toxic bite. This resulted in extensive medical treatment and another setback.
- From August, 2011-July, 2012, I had two operations because of a huge number of kidney stones.
- In November, 2012, I had an accident resulting in a broken shoulder.
- In January, 2015, I received another toxic bite.
In the midst of all of this, God protected me, spared my life, and held me in His hand as He taught me some precious truths. God had a purpose and a plan and caused the writing project to progress in an unbelievable way. Lessons and time given because of the incidents prove once again that God is in control no matter what happens. As we advance with Project 521, we need prayer, wisdom, finances, helpers, equipment, organization, and plans for additional plays and perhaps even films and CDs.
See Testimonies about the writing project.
Note: All Scripture verses are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible which is in public domain.