Dear James,
Thank you for your patience...I wanted to talk to John before emailing you, I'm sure you'll understand better by the end of this letter.
I was introduced to John about two months ago by my close friend Nathan Gunn who heads up the Jesus Booth Ministries ( www.JesusBooth.com ).
John is one of hundreds of homeless people in Santa Monica which seems to be a mecca for the homeless. But don't let that throw you, hes not a bum or a drunk and hes not mentally ill, theres really nothing about him that I'd say is really strange. John is very intelligent, extremely compassionate, patient and I'd have to say that he is homeless by choice as odd as that may sound.
I don't know what the last was that you heard of him, but it seems you're aware that his health was suffering some time ago.
From what he has told me, he was very successful running his own insurance business, but the stress of workin 20 hour days, 7 days a week caught up with him and he had a nervous breakdown. It sounds like his business partner took advantage of the situation, his wife left him, and John was at a loss of what to do so he got on a bus in St. Louis and got off in Phoenix. John wound up living in a park, he was so ill that he couldn't stand up, he lived in the park for 2 years, crawling around, eating dates and handouts, suffering from uclers, perpetual dizziness, etc. Occasionally some church people would visit the homeless in the park and minister to them. One day one of them gave John a Bible. He already believed in Jesus, but wasn't reading the Bible or praying or going to church or anything like that. So John started reading his Bible every day and he asked God, "Lord if you heal me I'll live my life for you." You might see where this is headed, after two years of living on the ground under a tree and eating dates, John got well in a very short period of time and has been doing his best to keep up his end of the bargain ever since.
Needless to say, John doesn't have a phone number or an email address. He wishes you and your family the best and wanted me to tell you that since he has given his life to God he has no reason to celebrate the foolishness of his past. The console stereo you mentioned was a "Majestic". John spends the majority of his time being kind to people. He ministers to the homeless people by living his faith. He encourages people, buys people food, gives them gifts, shares the Good News of Jesus Christ with them and prays for people. Two years ago John was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. Just as a matter of curiosity, do you know of any other men in your outfit who have contracted Thyroid Cancer? John had a apricot sized tumor protruding from his neck, but after asking God again and again to take it away it finally disappeared.
Today John keeps himself well groomed, very clean, polishes his boots daily and is well liked by the local police who even take him out to lunch on occasion.
Rex Price
Lost Horizon.com / SonServer.com / PreTribulation.com
(Please observe John's privacy in not wanting to bring up the past. If you must make contact please e-mail Jim Tansey )
02/25/02 - Hi. Well, I met him last night. He was well spoken, intelligent, and a nice man. He told me he was very successful in the insurance business, but left that lifestyle because it was evil. He feels technology such as cars are from Satan, as they produce the oxygen God made and turns it into poisonous gas. He chooses to be homeless because he feels the lifestyle of when he was wealthy was against God. His wife cheated on him and turned his kids against him, so he's on his own at Third Street Promenade. I'm just interested to know what he was like in the past when you guys were roommates. Oh by the way, he does have cancer, but he defied medical terms. He said doctors told him he had a year to live, but he has lived for several years after the diagnosis. Just thought you should know.
Hi. Thanks for writing back. From what John told me, she cheated on him twice and he divorced her, with her taking full custody of the kids. Though he was granted visitation rights, his father-in-law and brothers-in-law prevented him from seeing his children. I don't think he's seen his children in a while. His children live in the Imperial Valley and he hears they are doing well. She did remarry, from what I've been told, and their relationship has gotten better. I hear she moved to England to help out her new husband with churches. I'm not sure how many kids they had together. He seemed ok talking about his past with me, though he did not go into much detail. He seems to be living life ok. He just gets along, and although he suffers from cancer, he still has a good outlook on life. I go out with my church called CCO (College Community Outreach) where we go to Santa Monica, CA, and we go to a place near the beach called the Third Street Promenade. It's a strip near the beach with stores and restaurants. I just came across your website after I was searching for John. I figured from what he told me, he had to have some info on him on the internet after leading an interesting life. I wish there was someway to find out what he did after the Air Force though. The past that you talk about though, seems to be different from the one he talked about. This is kind of interesting. Thanks for telling me about John.
Sincerely,
Richard Oh