As you might know Daniel Chapter One has been battling the US government for the last 3 years. This attack against our ministry is without cause. We have never harmed a single person in 27 years. The purpose of this letter is not to present our plight with the Federal Trade Commission but to share with you my heartfelt impressions relating back to elementary school.

I recall my school experience from a poor hard-working family in a bad neighborhood and all its life challenges. In those days I never really saw my parents; my mom was a maid for several Jewish families. By the way, we did not and still don't hate them. Actually we were and will always be grateful to them and love them like family! My Dad was working in the mills, sweat mills as they were called. I visited them many times and vividly recall the heat and noise, horrible conditions. Besides the long hard days in the mills he also, like my mom, was a servant to other Jewish families.

I'm sure many of you can remember some of these same experiences: having to get anthracite coal in the basement and lug it up stairs to the second floor in the middle of the night to keep heat, not having hot running water, no tub to bathe in but just a big galvanized pan, and the toilet with the overhead bowl and the pull chain . . .Well, enough stroll down memory lane.

To get to my point, the reason for writing: to release this burden of oppression my wife Tricia and I have been lugging around now for the last 3 years. As a child I was the oldest in my family. We were the original latch-key kids. Mom and dad worked and my sister and I would go to school and come home for lunch, then back to school day after day. With local school, and families usually staying in the same neighborhood, all my cousins and I attended the same school. I was the youngest of us. This had advantages and disadvantages.

One of the benefits was protection. My family was a real street family, with wars between the other neighborhoods. These were often fist fights that generally escalated to weapons, usually knives, bats, brass knuckles etc. I would hang with these cousins at night and weekends since my parents were usually at work leaving my grandparents to raise me. I learned to survive. I really had it made in a sense when it came to fighting. I would just run to one of my older cousins and they would take care of my problem.

The bully would then face a bigger, more powerful opponent to deal with! I'd run behind one of my older cousins and hide behind him placing him between the bully and myself. This was a great solution for me except for those times and situations when there wasn't any big cuz to hide behind. Likewise, we all face the moment when we are going to have to stand and make our choice to stand and fight or to be the victim of oppression.

That moment came for me. One day as I fled from the bully to my cousin who thwarted the assault, I was once again freed from the tyrant. But something different happened that changed my life. My cousins were leaving year after year to go to the junior high school and this eventually meant that my bully shields were gradually disappearing. My cousin said that day, "I'm not going to be here next year and you are going to have to defend yourself." It was one rude awakening!

What would I do? Would I continue to run and hide? This never solves the problem. The tyranny would continue day after day by those who smelled blood, so to speak. Bullies have learned that they can continue to attack since those whom they attack never confront them.   

I made my choice. I decided I would rather be beaten and bleed than to live day after day being oppressed by the bullies in my life. All men make such a decision nearly every day of their lives. You either run and hide, or you stand and face the Bully.

Now I hold out to you the present situation of Daniel Chapter One and the ministry to Jesus Elohim Messiah. In 27 years my wife and I have served the Lord, Yahweh, all over the world. In this time we have not lived and traveled as most do. We didn't stay in fancy hotels and had all our needs cared for. Rather, we lived with families or in the streets. We have never taken from anyone, have never harmed anyone, and have led people to the Lord, baptized, and ministered to them. We have served in a healing ministry that has delivered people from spiritual captivities and many illnesses.

The present tyranny and oppression we are fighting is from the hands of our own U.S. government. The BULLY is our Government. Through lies and coercion the FTC has chased us and pursued us, leaving us to choose to run and hide or to stand and fight. Since that fateful day in the schoolyard when I was told the reality -- that the time had come and that the bully was going to be there and I would be alone-- I stood my ground and faced the Bully and didn't back down.