To whom it may concern,
I just found out that a magistrate has ruled that all the properties owned by Steve Johnson were being held by Steve for Tony Alamo. It goes without saying that they will now go after every property that is being used by church members to try to stop the work that has continued on even after Pastor Alamo has been falsely accused and imprisoned. This will not happen no matter what they do. The local attorney who is fighting, trying to take the properties, has been quoted as saying that he is not going to rest till the roof is pulled off of every church property that we gather in. This is far more than just an attempt to satisfy judgments; it is a vendetta against our church and its beliefs.
I was born and raised in this church. For many years, all I ever knew was a church that worked together to get the gospel out. My mom worked in the sewing room making finances while my dad worked to build properties and do repairs or watch properties, so that when there were new converts, they could live amongst us. We had other women and some men who taught us school or watched over us during the day. We were only around Christian children. Our meals were prepared by yet another group of people. Others worked at various jobs to make finances to support this great work. But even with all this being done, the primary goal was to spread the gospel. We all gathered in the cafeteria many times preparing mail by the thousands to send out all over the world with gospel literature. There were groups constantly going out to “the highways and hedges” like the Bible says to evangelize (Luke 14:23). Church services were held twice a day and three times a day on Sunday. There was a prayer room where people gathered to pray every hour of the day. It was never empty. I always knew this was what true Christianity was, and it didn’t seem strange to me because when I read the Bible as a child, this is exactly how the early church was set up in the book of Acts. We are a church who believes every Word of the Bible and takes it very seriously.
There were two different times in my life as I got older when I lived with my family on our own away from the church. The first time is when the government came in and took all of our homes and properties under the guise that they all belonged to Pastor Tony Alamo, claiming he owed taxes, even though churches are supposed to be tax exempt. We were thrown out of our houses with nothing. Everything our families had worked hard to build up and accomplish for so many years was taken away, and we were left with nothing. It took a while and a lot of hard work for us to get on our feet, but as soon as we heard that people from our church were gathering again in different areas in the United States, our family moved near them, continuing to make our own finances and live in our own homes, but gathering for church services, etc. It was very limited what could be accomplished, because everyone had to work to support their families. Slowly, people who had good credit started buying properties that were paid for by the members of the church; many different people who were making money put their money in to make the payments. The properties that were bought were properties that had many different units, so the families could live in them, while other units were being rented out to pay for the properties.
By this time I was an adult, and I worked in Pastor Alamo’s office in Los Angeles. Even though I knew growing up that there was a lot of work done in the church, I never knew till this time, exactly the extent of work that went into this ministry. Everyone worked with all their heart, soul, and strength to keep every aspect of the church running. From the time I got up in the morning, till the time I went to bed at night, we were busy working for the Lord. It would be impossible to list all the different things that were accomplished throughout the day by all the different people in the church and especially by Pastor Alamo himself.
Several years later, I again lived with my mom, who had decided to move away from the church. This time I was older and got my own job, for the first time in my life not working in the church. I worked as a waitress. I only lived with my mom for a short time before I moved back to the church, but during the time I was there, I really came to the realization of what we have with our church, what a blessing it was. I could see clearly why God instructed Pastors Tony and Sue from the very beginning that this was how it should be set up. I went to a church that my mom attended and every one of them had to work all day to pay their bills, and then went home at night to prepare their dinner. They didn’t have much time to do anything for the Lord. I worked hard all day and went to bed at night feeling like I had accomplished nothing because I hadn’t done anything for the Lord. But I had to work, like everyone else out there does. It’s basically everyone for himself. I came back to the church as soon as I could.
Again, our church is set up like the church in the book of Acts, and after I spent time away from the church, I could see clearly God’s infinite wisdom. We are like an army that works together to establish God’s kingdom on this earth and to fight Satan. There is no church that accomplishes more for the Lord than us. This church is not centered around Pastor Alamo, but it is centered around God, His Word, and establishing His kingdom here on earth. They’ve taken everything away from us before, and it didn’t stop us. Now they’re trying to do it again. No weapon formed against us is going to prosper (Isa. 54:17). I say to all those who are fighting against this church, you should leave us alone. If this church were not of God, it would not have been able to stand through all the years of persecution. It is not just us you are fighting. It is God. You will never win.
Sincerely,
Misheal Jones