No, never. It's a funny thing. I either wanted to be a professional cartoonist or open up a pet store. I really loved animals. That was sort of my fallback- 'if the cartooning thing doesn't work, I can always start a pet store.' I used to correspond with Charles Shultz, creator of Peanuts (Charlie Brown, Snoopy). He used to always write me letters -he was very gracious - I would ask him questions and he would write me back... that was very encouraging to me. That was really my goal - cartoons and graphic designs in general. The interesting thing was, my cartoons were a way of escaping from the world I lived in. My mum would sometimes be in the bars until 3 in the morning, and I had to occupy myself. I would get out a piece of paper and pen and escape into my own little universe that I had created for myself. It was a way of coping with what I was exposed to. Also, I wanted to make people laugh through my cartoons. I sort of liked to entertain and get people laughing...it was a way to diffuse tension. There was so much fighting and tension with the environment my mum was in. I used to want to make people happy and help them get along better. I just hated that hostile environment.
It definitely seems like God is using you in a much greater way now. And you still make people laugh through your drawings.
Yeah, I doodle a little bit on the side. I'm channelling those creative energies through other ways. They're still there. I'm involved in the design aspect of our ministry - I really pay a lot of attention to how the website looks, how our visuals look, and the way our music sounds - I'm very oriented towards the artistic expression of what we do. My older son, Christopher, is actually a graphic designer; he runs the graphics department at our church.
Did your sons ever mention plans to follow your path as a pastor?
They've both been obviously raised in our home and thankfully both are following the Lord. That's the most important thing. We never press on them the idea that they're supposed to be preachers. But we did press on them the idea that, number one, they are to be Christian, and number two, they are to glorify God with their lives in whatever they do. So my oldest son Christopher, 31, is using his graphic designing abilities for the work of the Kingdom. And our younger son Jonathan, who is 20, is actually working in our Crusades' department, as sort of an intern. So they're both serving the Lord in ministry, which I am very thankful for.
Let's talk about the main theme of the Silicon Valley Crusade.
The main theme is the mission statement of the Harvest Ministry, 'Knowing Him and Making Him Known'. Silicon Valley is probably home of many manufacturers and computers. Obviously this is a very influential culture. Statistically, I heard that only 7 per cent of the people in Silicon Valley attend church on a Sunday morning. That is low. In America we'll have much higher numbers in other communities, up to 25 per cent. I think this is a pretty secular environment that I'm going to be holding this crusade in, which to me is a great place to do it. I actually enjoy speaking to people who have no background of Christianity because I can relate to them. Sometimes speaking to people who carry a lot of religious baggage with them can get in the way of a relationship with God. Because they could say, 'oh I was raised in this church, I heard this, I know that,' when in reality, they don't really know all that much. When you're talking to a non-believer, however, they will acknowledge that they know little or nothing about Christianity.
