Brother Lee
In Aden Ohio, there was a young man 19 years old named Michael Stamper. He barely
finished high school, because he missed school a lot. He graduated at the bottom of his
class, the class of 1941. All of the boys at the top of class already had jobs waiting on
them after graduation in the places their fathers were already working. The girls already
had picked out who they were going to marry and all that. The Fathers and Mothers of
Aden didn’t want their daughters to have any thing to do with Michael because his father
was an alcoholic and his uncles and grandfather, he came from a long line of alcoholics.
The community held a view that "No Stamper would ever amount to anything, never have
and never will."
Michael tried to find work, he tried every business in town. They said no, and not only did
they not want him working for them, but they didn’t even want him in their stores or place
of business. They wasn’t very kind about it and made it very clear he was not to come
back. The last place even gave him two cans of beans, to get him to leave.
Michael decided to leave Aden. All Michael had to leave with was the two cans of beans
and one change of clothes. He wrapped the beans and pants in the shirt, and tied it on a
stick. He threw the stick over his shoulder and started walking down the railroad tracks
out of town. When he got about seven miles out of town, he started thinking what
if he couldn’t find a job in the next town either? He made up his mind that if he couldn’t
find a job, he would just start robbing banks and hold up people and take their money.
He had already whipped everyone around that was his size and bigger, so he would make
a great robber, maybe as famous as Jesse James or Bonnie and Clyde. As much as people
had done to him, it was time they paid, and to him.
About that time the 5:00 train was on it’s way to Aden and was coming this way now.
Michael stepped off to the side of the tracks, where he wouldn’t be hit. While he was
standing there watching the train go by, he saw a man jump from the train. Michael had
seen a lot of hobo’s jump off trains before. Most of them waited until the train was closer
to town and slowing down. This one jumped off at full speed, and way out here. He must
be new at this, because he didn’t even know how to break his fall when landing. This one
bounced and flipped every which way before coming to a stop, not far from where
Michael was standing. After the train had passed, Michael walked over to where the man
was getting up off the ground. He was an old man, far too old to be jumping off trains.
Michael said Old man your going to kill yourself jumping off trains going that fast. The
gray haired man looked at Michael and declared "I jump when God says jump, I don’t ask
why or where!" Michael had heard a few stories from the Bible, but not many seeing how
he or his family had never gone to church.
The gray haired man introduced himself as Brother Lee, a minister spreading the word of
God. Michael told the man his name, and hoped he had not heard of the Stampers, or of
their reputation. Michael said, "Well I’m going this way and I better be moving on." He
told the gray haired man that Aden was just a few miles in the other direction. Brother
Lee said, I’m not headed to Aden.
Michael said, "You just came from this direction on the train." Brother Lee said, "It
doesn’t matter in what direction you were going, but in the direction that you are going
now, that matters." So the two men started walking together. It was a long way, about
fifty miles to the next town. Michael told Brother Lee he was lucky the train conductor
didn’t find him on the train, or he would have been beaten, then thrown off. Brother Lee
said, " I had a ticket , a first class ticket to ride coach." Michael said, "You mean to tell
me you jumped off a train that you had paid to ride on ?" Brother Lee said, "I jump when
God says jump, I go where he says go and I don’t ask him why." Michael said why do
you think he had you , up and jump off the train like that? Brother Lee said, "I don’t
think about it, that would be like asking why. Maybe it was to show you the way."
Michael said all I have to do is stay on the tracks and I ll find the next town, I didn’t need
you to jump off a train to show me how to get there. Michael said , All I need is a job to
make some money. Brother Lee said, "Well I didn’t know that you were all taken care of,
I thought maybe it was you I was suppose to help. Michael said he didn’t need nobody or
no religion, he could do fine on his own.
Brother Lee asked if he had ever been to church? Michael said he hadn’t the time, he was
too busy for church. Brother Lee asked if he had time would he go? Michael said he
already knew all he needed to know about the Bible, it was just a bunch of stories about
people building boats and floods and stuff like that, it wasn’t true anyway. Brother Lee
said Did you know there is an angel named Michael? Michael said No he didn’t know that.
Brother Lee told Michael the story of how the angel Michael fought the Devil and cast
him out of Heaven. Michael said Well thats just a story. Brother Lee explained to him that
nothing in the Bible was just a story, it was all true. I preach the word of God. Brother
Lee started preaching as they walked, just like he was in a church with hundreds of people
listening. He started out with "In the beginning God created the heaven and earth."
Brother lee managed to quote the whole book of Genesis before dark. Michael was
pretending not to listen.
They stopped and built a fire to stay warm by and to heat up the cans of beans Michael
had. Michael told Brother Lee how he had come about having the beans. Brother Lee told
him God had given him the two cans of beans, because God knew they would be out there
and hungry. Michael said Well preacher you see it one way, and I see it another. After
they ate Brother Lee was tired and turned in for the night, but before he did, he laid down
the Bible on the log they had used to sit on by the fire. It was in plain sight for Michael to
see. Michael laid there looking up at the stars. The words of Brother Lee kept going
around in his head and he couldn’t sleep. He got up and put some more wood on the fire.
He saw Brother Lee’s Bible laying on the log. Michael picked up the Bible and started
reading it by the fire. Michael stayed up all night reading that Bible. The next morning
Brother Lee awakened and watched Michael reading for a while, before getting up.
Michael quickly laid down the Bible and pretended to stur the fire. Brother Lee said
That’s what the Bible is for, it’s for people to read. Let him that thirst, drink. Michael
denied seeing it there, or that he had picked it up and was reading it.
After the two had got under way again. Michael asked how big is your church anyway?
Brother Lee said I don’t have a church, not a building anyway. We hold church outside or
at members homes, in barns or where ever. Michael said I never heard of having church in
a barn, why would you even think of having church in a barn. Brother Lee said God’s son
Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. If that was where God choose for his son
to be born, why couldn’t we hold worship services in one too. Brother Lee explained that
there had been a church in the community for many years, it was in bad need of repair
before the Depression started. The years of weather finally done the building in last winter,
when a very large snow fell and the roof couldn’t hold up anymore.
Brother Lee offered to let Michael stay with him, while he looked for work. Michael said
No thanks, I don’t need preached to night and day. I’ll find a place were I can be alone.
Brother Lee said There is still a shack behind where the church had stood. It was used to
keep the hay in to feed the minister’s horse that was there before him. I keep a few bales
there now to feed my mule. Michael said It couldn’t be worse than where he had been
living, the shack he and his family were living in had so many holes in it, you didn’t have
to go outside to see which way the wind was blowing. They arrived at the shack and
Michael moved in by throwing the stick in that had his change of clothes tied to it.
Michael looked all over for work, the only place that would give him a try was a sawmill.
It was hard work and only paid 25 cents a day for 12 hours work, it was also 10 miles
from the shack. It took Michael two hours walking to get there, and close to three hours
to get home because he was so tired. Brother Lee stopped by one evening to see how
Michael was doing and to see if he needed anything. The young mans pride said No I’m
doing fine. Brother Lee said I thought you might be interested in riding my mule back and
forth to work instead of walking. Michael said I sure would, his pride now put behind him.
Brother Lee said Good, the mule is for rent. Michael who had started to reach for the
rains, said For rent? Michael thought about the long miles and said How much? Brother
Lee said I’ll rent him by the week, the price is you attend church on Sunday and you ride
all week, you miss on Sunday and you walk all week. Michael said OK and reached for the
rains. Brother Lee said You pay in advance, your credit is no good with me. Brother Lee
climbed up on the mule and said You have till Sunday to make sure if you still want to
rent the mule.
Those next few days were even harder to walk, thinking about he could have been riding
instead. Sunday came and Michael was the first one there, and then Brother Lee. Michael
asked Why Brother Lee had been so hard on him and not let him ride the mule before
Sunday, but instead had made him walk. Brother Lee said I wanted you to know there was
another choice, and to give you time to think about the differences between the two. It’s
like the road of life, it has a starting point and a ending point, the way you travel the road
makes alot of difference. Walking is how you have been traveling and riding is how you
could be traveling. The church offers a different way for you to travel than the way you
have been traveling. The mule is yours now if you want it, you don’t even have to stay, the
choice is yours.
But wouldn’t you even like to see what you are missing out on. Michael said I can take
the mule and go now right? Brother Lee said Thats right, you don’t have to stay if you
don’t want too. Michael climbed on the mules back and rode off. It was Sunday December
7,1941.
Brother Lee stopped by to check on Michael weekly to see how he was doing. Michael
would say just fine, things are going great. The sawmill had a government contract for
lumber to build barrects. Everyone got a raise and is making more money. The
government has strict requirements on the grade of lumber, so there is a lot of lumber that
don’t make the cut. Michael is buying up most of it to build him a house with. Michael had
even bought an acre of land close by the shack. He had started building on it already.
Brother Lee would help guide him on how to frame up the outside walls strong enough to
support a roof. Brother Lee always invited Michael to come to church on Sundays but
Michael said No, He worked five days at the mill and worked on his house on Saturdays.
Sundays he was just going to sleep late and be lazy if he wanted too. His plans didn’t have
church in it.
Michael got all the outside finished, the roof on, everything but dividing the inside up into
rooms. Michael received a letter from Uncle Sam, he was drafted into the Army. He had
five days to report for active service. Brother Lee had a long talk with him before him left
on the bus. Michael just said the samething as he’d always said I’m OK I don’t need
anyone and I don’t need church. Brother Lee told him to write and he would write him
too. One letter came from Michael, it was while he was in Hawaii. He said all those days
at the sawmill paid off, boot camp was a breeze, I learned to swim in the ocean, I didn’t
think 250 lbs of pure muscles could float. My outfit is shipping out soon. Michael.
Six months went by with out a word from Michael. One day an official looking letter
came from a Chaplain in Hawaii. It said I’m sorry to inform you that Michael Stamper
was on a plane shot down in the Pacific with no survivors. Enclosed is a letter he
requested to be sent to you if something was to happen to him.
The letter said:
Brother Lee,
If your reading this, it means I’m not coming home to finish
the house. I was thinking maybe the church could use it, instead of a barn to hold services
in. All those times you tried to get me to go to church I wished I would have went. But I
thought I had plenty of time. I picked up a tiny Bible today, not as big as a regular size
one, but pocket size. I seen it in the window of a store here and something told me to go
in and buy it, I guess just like when you jumped off the train the day we meet. I just wish
we had more time together.
Michael
The church started having meetings there the next Sunday. Years pasted and every
Sunday the Church would hold services there. The Newspaper read JAPAN
SURRENDERS!, and the church decided to hold a revival two months later, after the
boys came home. It was the first night of the revival, Brother Lee gave the invitation. A
skinny man rose up out of the back row. He might have weighed eighty pounds. He
walked very slowly down the isle towards the alter where Brother Lee was Standing. He
must have been a very old man, his head was bald and his eyes sunken in. There was no
muscle just bones, with skin on it, but he was walking. Another man in uniform was
walking behind the man to catch him if he was to fall. When the man got to where
Brother Lee was, he spoke with a voice that was like a whisper and said "I jump when
God says jump." Silence came over the church and the man following behind in uniform
spoke up and said this man was a prisoner of war for three years. He was beaten and
starved the whole time. The living conditions were terrible, they were covered with lice
and dirt. We don’t see how any of them survived. The other men said that if it wasn’t for
this man, they all would have died. He told them about God as it was told to him by
Brother Lee. The Bible stories and faith was all that kept them alive threw it for the long
years. This man was picked up by the Japanese after he had parachuted from a plane that
was later shot down with no survivors. His name is Michael Stamper, out side are twenty
nine other men that would like to hear you preach, there wasn’t enough room for them to
come inside, some of them are too weak to get out of the truck.
Brother Lee and Michael went outside and met with all the men outside and in the truck.
It took all night to speak to them and to listen to them. Later after Michael got his
strength he told Brother Lee that soon after he bought the Bible he had turned his life over
to Christ and he was on a plane that was flying him back to Hawaii for reassignment back
to the states. God told him to jump and he did. A Japanese ship seen his parachute and
picked him up out of the water. It wasn’t until after the war, that he found out Zeroes had
shot down the plain he was in and there were no survivors. The Japanese kept us in a pen
like animals. They gave us each only one cup of rice per day and the ones that were sick
did not get a cup. So we would pass around a cup and each one would give a little of
their rice. We gave the rice to the ones that were sick, so they would not die from
starvation and prayed for them. We had nothing but the little Bible I bought to read, and
we took turns reading out loud to each other. We read it from front to back many times in
the years there. All of us decided we wanted you to baptize us when we got back. As
each of the men got strong enough they came back and was baptized, many of them
brought back wives and children to be baptized too later on.
Brother Lee has retired now, many were called from his work and they continue to
Jump when God says Jump.
Written by: Johnny lee Hall
