Chapter 1

An Unplanned Rendez-vous at Blum's

The train rumbled in a south-easterly direction into the open Polish countryside as one by one unfamiliar names greeted my eyes. We were late leaving Warsaw and I soon learned that timetables didn't mean too much - the train left when it was full and not before. Otwock, Łaskarzew, Debin - names I couldn't even pronounce properly. A plump rosy-cheeked peasant woman sitting opposite me helped: "Washkarzhev", she croaked, as my tongue fumbled with Łaskarzew. "But it isn't written like that!" I protested. She didn't understand.

It was all very unfamiliar and at odd moments I began to miss home. This wasn't the most luxurious train and I suppose it was not one often used by tourists, though tourist I was strictly-speaking not. I was on an adventure to see if I could find happiness in a polygamous family.

"Torba na podkladke higienczna!", the long white bag shouted at me in the cramped toilet. What the heck does that mean? There was Russian scribbled underneath it too but that was no more than hieroglyphics to me. How I wished I had learned some more languages at High School! Apart from Spanish I knew nothing. Wait, there was some German on the back too: "Hygiene-beutel für Damenbinden", snapped the words at me. Well, I'd figured out it had something to do with hygiene - perhaps it was a sick bag? I thought to myself: "Right on! "Damenbinden" - it's a real bind for dames!" It took me a while to figure it out - I'm a slow Missourian, you know. I kept it as a momento and showed it to Kasia when I arrived at Lublin.

"What does 'Prosze nie rzucac do ustepu' mean?" I asked shyly, pronouncing it all wrong, showing her the bag.

Kasia had giggled uncontrollably. "It means, 'Don't throw in the WC!'" and creased up with laughter again. Luckily, I saw the funny side of it too and we both had a good laugh. It was the first time we had met and it did wonders to break the ice. I should have guessed it was a bag for women's sanitary pads. But in a foreign land where everything is different you sometimes miss the obvious. I was to learn that lesson in my exploration of plural marriage too. Why do we always make things more complicated than they actually are?

I was told not to worry about the language before I left home.

"Just learn a few words of courtesy," Stan had told me. "Most of the young speak English today and we are all fluent in English at home. If you know some German and Russian that'll help too."

German and Russian - fat chance of that! I never did get much further than 'Tak' (Yes), 'Nie' (No), 'Proszę' (Please), and 'Dziękuję' (Thank you) as there wasn't much need for it. In Raj (pronounced 'rye'), the Królewiec home, English was the first language because of the multi-racial composition of Stan's family. There was a constant stream of visitors from the West, and when English wasn't being spoken, all I ever heard were Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and German.

I was by then pretty worn out. I had flown from Kansas City to New York, and then New York to London. One night in a hôtel in London and from there a flight to Warsaw. Another night in an Orbis hôtel and then the final leg of my journey by train to Lublin. The jet lag was already slowly catching up on me and it was only my excitement and nervousness that kept me fully awake.

My name is Hélène Holtz, of German and French stock on my grandparents' side with some Anglo-Saxon. How I wish I had learned these two languages now as both were spoken by the older generation. I was raised a strict Baptist and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I was sixteen. As an only child I pretty much had the run of the house to myself and was a studious type. My two great loves were English literature and the Bible.

One day in the fall of 1998 I was sitting in Blum's Restaurant in San Francisco minding my own business, my nose in a book of Tennyson, and wanting to be left alone, when two women and a man came up to me and asked if they could share the table. The restaurant was full and I was sitting at a table for four so there's wasn't much I could say.

"Sure," I said reluctantly, and they sat down.

That was the end of Tennyson for the day. The trio ordered.

I pretended to read on but was curious about these invaders of my privacy. I peeked over the top of the book. All three were very absorbed in one another and somehow seemed "different". The women kept looking at him adoringly as he whispered words to each in turn.

"In San Francisco anything goes," I thought to myself and wondered what wierdos I was sharing my table with. "Probably bisexuals or some other deviants," I thought to myself.

The man said grace in a European accent and I cocked my ears.

"Christians!" I nearly blurted out. I began to feel a twinge of guilt for having been so judgmental.

"Excuse me," I said after he was done, only then noticing that all three were holding hands, "but are you guys believers?"

The man looked up a little nervously.

"Uh, yes," he replied, and then smiled at me, with a sparkle in his eye. I could tell at once. You get to know those who are born again and those who aren't after a while. It's in the eyes. And I could see it in all three of them. There was a pause.

"Hi," I said, "I'm Hélène Holtz", from Kansas City, Missouri" and held out my hand.

"Björn," replied the tall, stocky blonde-haired man in a musical accent. "From Jönköping in Sweden". He glanced at the two women as though giving them a cue.

"Sonja," said the blonde on his right, extending her hand, "from Kristiansand in Norway", and gripped me tightly. Her white teeth almost dazzled me, a typical Nordic type.

The other woman, who was much shorter than Sonja, seemed much more shy. She was dark haired and was as dainty as a flower.

"Misha," she said hesitantly in a very thick accent, "from Klaipéda in Lithuania".

"Wow," I replied, "what brings you guys all the way out here to California?"

"The sun!" laughed Sonja, who was as brown as an Asiatic, which somehow made her golden hair look rather ridiculous. Even Misha smiled though it didn't look as though she'd been in the sun very much at all. But her olive complexion was attractive on it own.

"Misha's the indoor type," said Björn, "and always has her head in books," as he glanced approvingly at her. "Sonja's an outdoor type, and likes to hike around in nature."

"Misha's a graduate of Kaunas University," said Sonja proudly, "and has a doctorate in Theology. Me, I'm a doctor of fresh air!"

All three laughed, the shyness wearing off Misha quickly. The two women seemed to have a rapport and familiarity. I felt strangely attracted to them. But who were they?

"Seriously, guys, you didn't just come to California for the sea air, did you? It's a long way from home. Are you sight-seeing, or what?"

I felt a little rude for my directness but I was determined to find out more about this trio. They said they were Christians, but what kind? There are so many cults and weirdos out there that you can't take a chance.

Björn broke the short silence. "We're on our way home to Sweden but wanted to see San Francisco before leaving America. We've actually been to a Bible Conference further north, in a place called Eureka, about a hundred kilometers from the Oregon border."

"'Fraid I don't know the place," I replied, "I'm only visiting here too - spending the summer here with Christian friends before going back to college in Kansas City."

I paused.

"So which part of the Body¹ are you guys from?"

"We're Patriarchal Christians," said Sonja, and added as if for emphasis: "We believe the Bible to be the whole Word of God, every part of it."

"So do I," I said, "right on! But what's a Patriarchal Christian?"

I didn't betray my suspicion that this was some weird cult or another. But I wanted to make it easier for them - maybe I could witness to them if they were out of the way.

"And have you guys been born again?"

Misha butted in. "I was born a Catholic - Lithuania's a Catholic country, as you may know."

I didn't. In fact, I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't even know where Lithuania was, and wasn't about to let on my ignorance. Americans don't know much Geography. But I think she sensed my ignorance.

"Oh, Lithuania, it's on the Polish border."

I knew where Poland was. That much we Americans knew.

"Ours is the most northern Catholic country in Europe. To the east it's all Eastern Orthodox, and to the north all Protestant."

I felt better hearing the magic word "Protestant" - that was my territory.

"But Klaipéda used to be a part of Protestant Germany and I was curious to know more about these heretics...."

"Uh oh, we've got a real Papist here", I thought to myself. "Better watch out." But I didn't have time to get a word in because once going, Misha was hard to stop.

"As part of my theology course we had to learn Latin and Greek, and had the option of learning Hebrew or German. Since I specialised in New Testament hermeneutics² I decided to learn German - it seemed much easier than Hebrew!"

I began to feel small. I always fancied myself as an "academic" by American standards but this lady was in a league of her own.

"Anyway, during the course of learning German and reading the works of the German Reformers - my thesis was on the influence of the Reformation in Lithuania and Poland...we were a united country at one time - I came across Luther's commentary on Paul's letter to the Romans. My life was never the same after that. Something deep within me was touched and much that I had come to believe about Catholicism crumbled."

"Were your parents devout Catholics?" I asked.

"Mother was, and still is, but father was a communist, although he paid lip service to the Catholic Church for unity's sake in the home. Mother was devastated when she learned of my conversion. I went over the border to Riga in Latvia to be baptised in the Lutheran Church. It was the happiest day of my life."

"So, did you receive Christ as your Lord and Saviour at that time?" I asked as a good Baptist. "And have you been baptized by immersion?"

Misha was non plussed by my cheek.

"Hélène," she answered patiently and politely, "I discovered at that moment that we are saved by grace in Christ alone. I discovered that the Church was not the Catholic institution but a living organism. Yes, I received Christ as my Lord and Saviour, but I was not baptized in the way you speak. Lutherans, you know, dip in water."

I felt as though I was on my own ground at last and could teach, in my pride, this theology graduate a thing or two about the Bible.

"The Bible says you must be baptized by immersion," I quibbled, "and that any other form of baptism is displeasing to God."

Misha continued to be unperturbed by my arrogance. "Hélène, Lithuania wasn't, and isn't, the United States. Evangelical Churches - I'm assuming you're from a Baptist or a Pentecostal background - are few and far between."

I felt small again. This lady wasn't going to be budged by my know-it-all cockiness.

"Our spiritual journey takes place in stages. We don't get to hear or know all the truth all at once. Christianity - and especially the Protestant churches - are all divided over hundreds of different issues. I soon learned that there were many Protestant Churches. At first I assumed that there were only Lutherans, Reformed and Calvinists. In the end I discovered there were hundreds of sects."

"Uh oh," I thought, "she is a cultist." I was more careful.

Misha continued: "My Lutheran experience was just the first part of my journey. I graduated from Kaunas University and began work as a teacher in what you would call a High School, in Klaipéda. We were recently liberated from Communism and had gained our independence from the Soviet Union so religion once more entered the school curriculum. So I got to teach. But since all religious education was Catholic, I was in a dilemma. Here I was, a Lutheran, teaching Catholic doctrine."

She paused, and I could see the anxiety on her face as she relived what must have been a tough time for her.

"Here I was, saved, a Lutheran, in a Catholic country. There was a Lutheran Church near where we lived - I was still living at home - and attended that on Sunday. But although Klaipéda is a large town, word of it got back to my school. I was brought before the Principal and asked about my beliefs. I admitted I was a Lutheran and got the sack. I was devastated."

I saw the tears in her eyes . Björn put his arm around her.

"I got a job in the Lithuanian Lutheran Alliance as a secretary. The pay was small but as I was living at home and had few overheads it was OK.

"A couple of months later I was invited to attend an Evangelical Congress in Warsaw and went more out of curiosity than anything else and for the first time met other evangelical Christians, including Pentecostals, Baptists, Mennonites and others, not only from Poland but from Germany, England and other Western countries. I had a fantastic time. I met a man from Germany called Helmut Trachenberg, a former Baptist Pastor in Leipzig, who had become a Patriarchal Christian. That's how I got involved in the Patriarchal Movement and met up with Stanisław Królewiec in Poland, who began this whole Movement. It was through him that I met Björn and we became married last year."

I admitted to myself I was becoming interested but still didn't know what "Patriarchal Christianity" was.

"And how about you, Sonja?" I asked. "How did you get involved? Have you known Björn and Misha long?"

Sonja hesitated and began to speak with Björn in Norwegian. Björn smiled at her and I could see that Sonja was reassured. There was definitely something fishy going on and I wasn't sure what I had let myself into. But what was the harm in listening? I'm told I'm a chatter box and needed to learn to listen to people more carefully before judging them.

Sonja started to speak: "I was born into a Pentecostal family in Kristiansand, in what we call the "Bible Belt..."

"Like our Bible Belt, huh?" I asked, glad to hear Sonja came a from a background similar to my own, although I still entertained that Baptist prejudice that Pentecostals are backslidden Baptists! She was at least a Protestant...

"Yeah, like your Southern Bible Belt. But I got sucked up into materialism like all the kids round me. Norway is very secular. But I was still a believer, in a way. I can't say I was ever born again - I spoke in tongues and that was supposed to be the evidence of the new birth, but I learned how to do that by copying the others. In the end I convinced myself that I must be born again because everyone else was doing the same thing and there were miracles taking place around."

"You saw miracles??" I asked, really interested now.

"Oh yes. At least a couple of times. There was a visiting evangelist who is well known in Norway called Pettersen who cured a lady of cancer and another of crippling pain. It happened during special healing meetings in Kristiansand."

"Are they still healed?" I asked a little sceptically.

"Oh yes, they're both in the best of health and strong Christians. It was experiences like these that strengthened my faith and kept me from falling away completely."

"But how could you have had any doubts after having seen such healings?" I'd never seen such things.

Sonja continued: "You don't understand, our culture is very materialistic, and the Christian youth, especially the Pentecostals, aren't that much different from the unbelievers in their way of living. Norway is not as plural a country as the States - we are under enormous pressure to be a certain way. We're a young country anxious to prove ourselves to the world. And so we have an image we want to project - and if you're not a part of that image, you're practically an outsider. And I didn't want to be an outsider!"

I could see why. Sonja was a Scandinavian beauty alright.

"But I couldn't deny what I had experienced. Even though I had been faking my new birth, I really wanted it nonetheless. There was one lady in our congregation I admired a lot. She was only a little older than me, married with two children, and was so happy. I felt left out. I wanted what she had. Yet at the same time I saw all the hypocrisy around me. I could see others were faking the gifts in order to "conform", just as I felt under pressure to conform to the expectations of the secular society. I didn't know what to do. I kept on attending Church but doing what all the other girls of my age were doing outside of church. I knew I was a hypocrite. I was trapped and didn't know what way to turn".

Her honesty bit deep into me and little doubts I had had about my own faith and had buried began to surface. But I didn't want to lose face and maintained an aura of dignity and self-assurance.

"So what happened next?" I asked.

"Well," Sonja said, "I moved to Oslo. I had no university training like Misha and quit school when I was 18 with my High School certificates. I got a job working as a cleaner in one of the large hospitals in the capital but I didn't like it. I attended a large Pentecostal Church in the city centre with a membership of several thousand but it was even worse than the one in Kristiansand. So I started hunting around the churches, going to a radical charismatic church for a while. But I sensed that something was seriously wrong - it was all so fake, mostly working people up emotionally. They even had classes to teach you how to speak in tongues. I was shocked - here was my own fake spirituality being openly taught. When I saw people falling to the floor and hissing like snakes I knew something was seriously wrong. I had to get out."

I sympathised with her for this was the typical picture of charismatics which we as Baptists had been fed, especially since the Toronto business. I began to feel comfortable around Sonja - she was more my "type".

"Anyway, I went around the city looking for other churches. I had just about had my fill of the charismatics. I found a Baptist Church and attended there a while."

I felt better and better the more she spoke. "So she became a Baptist", I thought smugly to myself.

"The people were really nice and I felt I could relax a bit more. But I missed the cutting edge of the spiritual life that I had known as a Pentecostal..."

I stiffened. "What a cheek!", I said to myself.

"I don't know how many groups I visited. There are lots in a capital city like Oslo, and some of them were very strange. I even visited the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh Day Adventists just to get a better idea of what was going on in Christendom."

"Uh oh," I thought to myself, "she was attracted to the cults after all..."

I kick myself at my narrow-minded prejudice now but that's how I felt then - self-assured and smug in my own little religious corner.

"I then came across a little church called the New Covenant Christian Fellowship³ and I at once felt at home. The people were, above everything else, centred in the Bible and they made no bones about it. They were deep, and when I say deep, I mean really deep. They frightened me because I saw by looking at them how shallow and superficial I was. I saw Christian discipleship for the first time in my life and real committment. They were also a prophetic people and had insights into the Scriptures which I had never seen anywhere before. I would have joined them there and then but fate took me to Sweden where I met Björn and Misha."

She turned to Björn and smiled. I saw in her face more than just friendship. Could it be that these three were POLYGAMISTS? I dared not ask. Perhaps, I thought, they had become Mormons or Muslims, but they didn't sound like either. Besides, Muslims don't believe in Christ.

"I moved to Jönköping," Sonja said, "because I woke up one morning and heard a voice deep within me say, 'Go to Jönköping!' I had an idea that Jönköping was in Sweden but I wasn't sure as my geography wasn't so good."

I smiled. I knew just how she felt.

"But I found an atlas, and there was Jönköping on the southern end of lake Vättern in southern Sweden. But where would I go to in Jönköping? I didn't know anybody there.

"When I had a weekend free I packed a bag and took a train there. I thought I must be mad, going to a place I knew nothing about all because of a voice in my head. Where would I stay? What would I do? Little did I know that this would be my first real experience in listening to the voice of the Lord. I would just have to go and trust in Him to lead and direct me."

My admiration for Sonja began to grow. I had always wanted to be led like that but had always been taught to look for "open doors" when dealing with difficult questions. I had never heard voices in my head and had been warned of how demons can manipulate people in this way. Yet there were Baptists I knew of who had had supernatural experiences and even witnessed dramatic healings. I had to give Sonja a fair hearing even though I was sceptical.

"Anyway, I arrived in Jönköping late on a Friday evening and checked myself into a youth hostel. I was tired and was about to fall asleep when I heard that voice again, saying: "Sonja, go to the Rådhus (Town Hall) in Kyrkogatan at 10:00 tomorrow and wait outside the main entrance." I sat upright not knowing what to say or do. I just believed. So I thanked the Lord for bringing me to Jönköping and asked Him to bless and protect me."

"You asked in Jesus' Name, didn't you?" I cheekily said, wanting to assure myself that this woman was being led by the Lord and not by some deceptive spirit.

"Oh yes," said Sonja, not at all offended. "I always test the spirits and always pray to Jesus".

She winked at me, instantly discerning where I was coming from, and I was a little embarrassed.

"Anyway, I did what I had been told. I found the town hall with no difficulty at all and stood by the entrance as I had been told. I prayed to the Lord, asking: 'What do I do now, Lord?' and I just felt that I had to wait. I was a bit early, keen not to miss this appointment, and had a half hour wait. The clock on the town hall struck and I looked about. People were walking about as usual and nothing looked especially unusual. Then I saw a couple - a really tall blonde Swede and a tiny dark-haired woman. The contrast in height was so great that you couldn't not notice them."

Misha giggled.

"Moreover, they were walking up and down the street, and I noticed that they were handing out leaflets to passers-by. I felt something within me push me to go to them. 'I'll go and get a leaflet and come back here,' I thought to myself. So I cautiously went right past them knowing I would probably be offered a pamphlet. I was, and I took it. I was so excited that as soon as it was in my hand I ran off, forgetting that I was trying not to be conspicuous. The tall Swede turned around and wondered what was happening."

Björn smiled. "True, I was a little startled. Most people were taking the leaflets and then screwing them up and throwing them into litter bins a bit further up the street or just dropping them on the sidewalk. That's normal in Scandinavia, so I was a bit surpised when this young woman grabbed the leaflet out of my hand and ran off...."

Sonja butted in.

"Hey, this is my story!"

Björn and Misha laughed. I let my guard down and smiled too.

"OK," said Björn, "you go on. I guess I'll get my word in at the end sometime!"

Misha giggled and so did I. I found myself being drawn to these people like a magnet and I couldn't help it.They were so open and transparent. I felt safe with them even though we had only been together half an hour and were virtual strangers. Yet I've experienced this deep fellowship with other Christians before, even with strangers. The brotherhood of Christ seems to know no boundaries.

"Anyway, I ran down to the end of the street towards the lake and when I was sure the couple couldn't see me, I opened the leaflet. It was an invitation to a meeting to be held that Saturday evening by a group called Det Nya Förbund or "The New Covenant". I couldn't believe my eyes. The New Covenant Christian Fellowship (Den Nye Pakts Kristne Fellesskap) was the group I was about to join in Norway and here was another group with practically the same name."

"I rushed back to find the couple but they had gone. I searched the street and the neighbouring streets. I was too late."

"That's right," Björn butted in, "Sonja had actually taken our last leaflet. So having given them out, we went back home for our family devotions."

Misha picked up the thread: "We gave out over two hundred leaflets but only Sonja came along to the evening meeting in our home. We had, of course, prayed to the Lord to lead us to the right people. Evangelism isn't easy in Scandinavia because it's so secular. People are just too materialistic. It's like the prophet says, there are only one or two true believers in each city."

I'd never heard of that. "Which prophet?" I asked, thinking it was some cultic leader she was talking about.

Misha took out a well worn Bible from her bag. "Here in Jeremiah 3, verse 14: 'I will choose you -- one from a town and two from a clan -- and bring you to Zion'. And the next verse says: "And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding".

Sonja picked up the story. "Well, I went along to the address on the leaflet and I arrived on the dot. It was in a small apartment and I was the only one there apart from Björn and Misha. We talked for about five hours, I was so engrossed. They knew their Bibles like no one else I had met and they brought a vitality and an enthusiasm for God's Word that was refleshing for my parched soul. I don't know how to describe what happened - I was just burning from head to toe, my heart was full of love, and my mind had a hundred questions, each of which they answered without hesitating. Everything they said made sense. It was all Biblical and I couldn't deny any of it."

I was getting excited myself now. "What did they teach you??" I urged her to tell more.

"Well, I discovered that they were New Covenant Christians just like the group in Oslo. That was the first big surprise, but they had a different more specialised ministry. Björn and Misha were a part of a movement led by Stanisław Królewiec in Poland whose purpose is the complete restoration of Patriarchal Christianity..."

There it was again, that mysterious word "patriarchal" which I still didn't understand but which sounded like some male chauvanist club. But I held my peace. I knew that once I got my fists out it would be hard for me to put them down again. I must first listen and learn.

The waiter came and served the three - I had already eaten and was drinking my coffee when they came in at sat at my table. Whilst Björn and Misha hungrily downed one of Blum's best, poor Sonja's food got cold. Nothing was going to interrupt her story, save for a brief nibble when one of the others interjected.

"Björn and Misha drove me back to my hostel and invited me back the following day. I couldn't refuse. My mind was in a whirl the whole night and I did not sleep too well. It was just all too exciting."

I was by this point coming to the boil. "What was so exciting?", I thought to myself, "and why won't they tell me?"

Sonja went on to tell me the history of Christianity over the centuries and how our western version and become progressively paganised. Björn and Misha had taught her about the original Hebrew Gospel before it became Hellenised⁴. She traced the gradual restoration of Hebrew Christianity through the Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, and Messianic Jews, and described how it had finally come to fruition in the New Covenant Christian movement. They weren't cultists, as I originally thought, but accepted, along with evangelicals, that the Body of Christ is to be found across the whole spectrum of denominations, and principally those derived from Protestantism. In short, I learned that what these people were doing was taking Martin Luther's reformation to its logical conclusion whilst clipping away all the pagan European additions.

Björn took over from Sonja so she could finish her lunch. "You see, Hélène, the Lord is moving rapidly in these last days to gather a remnant people who are willing to follow Him in everything, including ideas and practices that have been forgotten and persecuted for centuries. The Catholics tried to suppress the Reformation militarily because it threatened their whole raison d'être - they were fighting for their life as an institution, because the institution and its traditions had been added to the simplicity of Christ's Gospel. But Luther never completed the work - there were important political considerations and he compromised in many areas, as did the other Reformers. God has been restoring His Gospel gradually through different parts of the Body but now He is reaping His harvest. And that harvest is souls willing to obey Him in all things."

I simply couldn't argue with him. He knew his Bible and history impeccably. Misha was the theologian of the family and kept interjecting with tidbids of Greek and other languages. And even Sonja, who had not been as well educated, seemed to have an amazing Bible knowledge. I was impressed.

"We're Patriarchal Christians....", Björn said.

There was that word again. I knew that Patriarchal meant male leadership by now and not male chauvanism and that these people were simply imitating the patriarchs of old, including the apostles. I had never thought of Paul as a "patriarch" but Misha was quick to point out to me that he called himself this.

"You're polygamists, aren't you?" I asked, finnally plucking the courage to say that unpalitable word.

They all smiled without the slightest bit of embarrassment and then went into a long explanation of what patriarchal marriage was, and how the Lord had called them together as man and wives. It seemed so "unnatural" to me and I couldn't help but feel revulsion at first. And yet when I looked at the three and the spirit of love and unity that emmanated from them, I could only marvel. These guys had something that obviously worked, but it wasn't for me.

Björn paid his check and it was time for us all to leave. I drunk the last dregs of coffee in my cup, forgotten and left to go cold hours before. They were taking a flight out of San Francisco that evening and had to get packed. We exchanged addresses, hugged each other. But before we parted, Misha pressed a book into my hand. It was by the founding father of Christian polygamy, Stanisław Królewiec, called Patriarchal Destiny. It was to become as worn as Misha's pocket Bible.

I didn't think I would ever see them again. I had, unbeknown to me, started on a new journey of discovery that was to change my life forever.

¹ A Christian term meaning denomination or Church.

² The science of scripture interpretation.

³ The pre-cursor of the modern New Covenant Church of God or B'rit Chadashah Assembly of Yahweh.

⁴ Modified according to the customs and practices of Greek pagan culture.