The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer,, Quill Publisher/Owner
What would it mean to you to save a person's soul?
How much would you give to bring a person to Christ?
William Wood, 56 of Gladstone, looked me straight in the eye with conviction and said, "I would give everything! :I would give EVERYTHING to see one person go to heaven!"
William is returning to Russia January 5th and is asking for our support in helping spread the gospel to the ends of the earth, and in helping the very poorest and neediest people.
To William, who spent four years in northern Russia, traveling into the arctic Tundra, Russia is the ends of the earth. Villages were originally started by prisons that were built there and once a prisoner was out, they were required to stay in the area.
As you travel toward the Tundra, trees become shorter and shorter until there are none and all that is there is a crust of ice and snow. You can't tell where the sky stops and the snow starts, he said.
In the -38 degree weather, he had frostbite the outside of his ears. He talked of the ritual of throwing newborn babies out in the snow for several hours after they are born.
If they didn't live, it was felt they wouldn't survive the Tundra anyway. William had a picture of a new baby who had been laying in the snow for over two hours.
He would help where-ever he could always sharing the gospel story of Jesus. He would purchase $30 worth of firewood and spit it for them. He would fix the roofs of log homes, and help repair grids on cook stoves. Some were in teepees made of reindeer hide. They would last 90 years he was told. The hide is also used for clothing. William had a pair of reindeer fur boots that were lined with wool. His feet were always warm partly because of the dry snow. They would never last in the moisture of our climate or around water.
For entertainment, the children enjoyed being pulled around in carts by the reindeer and going to "the hill" and sliding down on a piece of cardboard.
Sitting in the Quill office Friday, William hung his head as he described his life before he met Jesus in the Gladstone Methodist church after his failed suicide.
He was a hard worker and had all that money could buy him, but it wasn't enough. Alcohol, women, drugs gave him a high, but continually let him down.
In his school days he didn't have the looks, wasn't athletic, wasn't a good student but was continually passed to the next grade.
"Today, I probably would have been put in a special classe and gotten special help," but I was made fun of and I hated school and couldn't wait to get out."
At 16, William dropped out of school to work and finally ended up with a good job at Case Company in Burlington, Iowa living in the Biggsville/Gladstone area. He served in Vietnam and returned to Case making good money, but had no real direction.
His lifestyle went from bad to worse and people would see him falling out of his car drunk.
"I really never had been truly in love before. Then I met one girl who was the love of my life. When she moved out, I had no reason to live. It led to living on alcohol and meeting girls in bars. I 'd do anything to be with them. One girl said the only way I could be with her was to shoot the drugs, so I did and the first time, I was addicted."
The addiction got so bad William had to carry a syringe to work. He would shoot it every 3 hours. His arms were so tough he would break needles. He had grown a long beard and long hair, rode a big old motor cycle. People were afraid of him. He was extra strong. Once he drove to Ft. Madison during work because he was out of drugs and needed a fix.
"I shot it a soon as I got it," he said.
William had totaled out two cars, even attempted suicide, but he was afraid his dad would walk in and see the blood and it would give him another heart attack.
"Then, I got a big fear that I would kill a little kid driving home."
"One Sunday I walked into the Gladstone Church looking for God. I heard about God when I was little, but I didn't know the person on the cross.
"I bought a Bible and read all about Jesus and found out Jesus was God.
"They said when Jesus was born He was the Savior of the world. I didn't understand so I read more. I found he came to earth in the form of a baby to die for us sinners. I could understand Jesus dying for nice people, but not for people like me.
"Then in 3 days, He rose from the dead and for 40 days He performed many miracles. Then He went to be with his father in heaven
"What really changed my whole life was the suffering of what Jesus went through. In verse Luke 22:44---- "And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
"I asked myself, 'Is it possible for us to sweat blood?' I did some research and found there is a medical term, for this and that it is possible. It is due to severe stress.
"I thought that I had more stress than anyone in the world, but I didn't sweat blood. Jesus did.
"My next question was - 'Why was he sweating blood?' I found out that this was just before they came to arrest him to be judged, tortured and executed to death.
"Jesus being God knew exactly how he was going to die. It said they plucked out his beard that they mocked him:made fun of him: slapped him:spit on him:placed a crown of thorns on his head: and they beat on it, so it would even go deeper!
"They stripped him naked, and whipped him beyond recognition. Many people died just from this scourging. However Jesus lived long enough to carry his cross to the hill Golgotha where they nailed his hands and his feet to the cross.
"And I wondered why they bent the knees before they would nail his feet to the cross. The reason for this is because when you hang on the cross for a long time you can breath in but you can not exhale unless you stand. So in order for him to exhale and continue breathing, he would have to have stood on the spikes that were driven through his feet.
"Due to exhaustion, and loss of blood from the scourging, Jesus only lived for a few hours on the cross until he died. They didn't break his legs like the others, because they knew he was dead. Instead, to be absolutely sure, they shoved a spear up into his rib cage and blood and water spurt out from his side. I believe the spear went into Jesus's heart.
"This type of torture and death is a very slow, agonizing, painful way to suffer and die - the worst form of death at that time. In fact - no Roman citizen was allowed to be crucified."
William realized all of this was to take the sins of the world upon Himself - "For the wages of sin is death"- Romans 6:23.
"Jesus took our debt that we owe for sin, and placed it upon Himself. The debt was paid in full. God says that this is a free gift. But with any gift, we need to accept it.
"The Bible says that if we repent, believe and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and put our trust in Him to save us, HE WILL!
"Not only is the penalty of sin death, but also it is a spiritual separation from God.
"The Bible says that when we die we go to one of two places....heaven or hell. God loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son to suffer and die this way for us.
William looked up and said, "After I realized that Jesus died for someone as evil as I was, I got on my knees in my kitchen in 1991, and I prayed for forgiveness and trusted Him as my Lord and Savior. The result from this prayer? :the first thing I noticed is that I didn't want to say bad words any more. Then, within a short time I had quit smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs.
"I knew it was my sins that had hurt Jesus and it was his love that saved me. I had no desire to sin or hurt him anymore.
"From this time on, I listened to Moody Bible radio on WDLM who constantly preaches the word of God. This helped reaffirm what I had read and it helped me grow further.
"One day they were talking about this certain Christian book in Russia and they couldn't put it on the shelves fast enough. It was being purchased that fast. I was curious about this book the Russians wanted so badly:MORE THAN A CARPENTER by Josh McDowell.
"It was all about Jesus, so I purchased it and it helped me understand even more. I started buying it and giving them out left and right. I wanted to do more, so I started sending money to the Josh McDowell Ministry, because I got so much good from the book.
William received information asking him to participate in Mission To Russia 92 for a 10 or 11 day mission trip, but the only time he could vacation from Case was during July when they closed down.
"I looked again and it was in July."
It was $3,000 for the flight, food, lodging, Bibles, Christian literature, and food for the orphanages and prisons, and William didn't have the money. However, within 3 months, he had saved enough. He learned he needed a passport that may take 3 months, but it came in time. He didn't receive his tickets until a week before. Only then was he sure he was going.
"Talk about an adrenalin rush. I only had a week to get things together while still working daily at Case. Next thing I knew I was in Russia."
The very 1st day in Moscow they passed out "More Than A Carpenter" along with the Gospel of John - two books in one.
"We wore backpacks plus our arms were full, and they had taught us only 2 words--"It's free" and "It's a Gift!"
"In less than six minutes every piece of literature was gone with still a swarm of people around me. I motioned them to the next person, and I even had a fear from them, because there was so many people at the Metro and Train Station."
In 10 minutes, 35 people had passed out 2500 books.
"I wondered what will they do with these books? Will they find it's Christian and throw it on the ground?
"The most amazing thing:everywhere I looked, they were reading the books. In America, they would toss them on the ground.
William recalled how he had quit school and didn't like to read, but this book he couldn't put down. It was the first book he had ever read. The Russians were reading like that.
I could not wait to get back to the hotel and get on my knees and to thank God for allowing me to be part of his prophesies. In I Acts: 8Ð "And you will be my witnesses ......to the end of the earth." To me Russia was the end of the earth and I was humbled. Somebody like I was, and God would let me do this. It was all planned- he led me step by step. This is not a chance: it was God. Then I became addicted to Russia because of seeing the desperate need of the people."
William said he had seen the holy spirit working for the very first time in his life. I had felt God's work in his own life, but said, "I had never seen it work like this before."
While in Russia, William not only saw the spiritual need but also great physical needs in orphanages, prisons, hospitals, schools, private homes. It seemed to be everywhere.
Moscow, approximately 40 miles in diameter with 14 million people in high rise apartment buildings had great needs. At dark, at every single dumpster - several would be going through them, looking for something to wear, something to eat, something to sell, or something to use, like pieces of wood to make something in their flat.
In the orphanages, the greatest needs were clothing, shoes and pencils- theirs are all stubs, he said. We were invited to eat the same food they would eat.:cabbage soup and bread.
In prison they only get one meal a day. Many are thin.
The big people came out of the Soviet Union times, when everyone had to work, and everyone had food, but there was no freedom of religion.
"You were shot to death if they found a Bible in your home. You could be shot if you didn't have a picture of Lenin in your home. If they overheard you or if your neighbor turned you in for saying you didn't like someone in charge in the government, you would be put in prison or shot. There was no crime because they just shot you or put you in prison."
William said Stalin and Lenin were their gods. It was the communist way, whether you believed it or not. 30 million people were put to death by Stalin's orders.
Russia has 400 million people today estimated. Today most of the prisons are located in northern Russia
After going 9 times with Josh McDowell on 10 day mission trips, William retired from Case.
"I sold my home, my car, my possessions and I went to Russia to live for four years-January 1, 1998 to November 2001. I spent half that time in northern Russia working with the blind and elderly invalids, handicapped, orphans, the poor, some who just got out of prison and helping or visiting at some schools.
"I was providing clothing for orphanages, food and clothing for prisoners, repairing heating systems for schools, some remodeling replacing floors. For the blind I had replaced a roof on their log homes and repaired their wood stove to heat their home and cook on. I bought firewood and delivered it and then split it for them.
"Everyone is asking why? why? why?- when they all wanted to escape.
"Living in northern Russia is not living, it's surviving. There's only 1 railroad, and 1 road and it's a nightmare. One time I went 27 hours north by train, and 37 hours by car and I ached inside from the beating I took on the roads."
"During Stalin's reign, every town in the north was a prison, and most every town has a prison today. This is how the town developed.
"No one would go to live in northern Russia because of the severe cold. There's permanent frost under the ground. In early November, it was minus 38 when I was there- I almost froze. I had to use a torch to warm the oil to start the car.
If you own a vehicle there, they think you're in government or someone corrupt. The people walk and have the right away on roads. They own the middle of it, it seems. There's a lot of swamp, no sidewalks
"They have open markets to buy food, but even a block away from the center of town is a log homeÐnot like ours but trees, layered with moss in between them. The roof is made of rolled roofing and wooden boards. They can only burn wood, there is no running water, and they have outside toilets. It's horrible inside.
The stove is made like a coffin with a metal grid on top and it's filled with wood to heat and cook.
"The town I was in did have one hotel. However, it had no hot water, shower or bath, and sleeping quarters were two big rooms. All men in one and women in the other. The beds were filthy.
"In September, children do not go to school. They go out into the fields with people of the community to pick up potatoes, put them in a wagon, and a horse pulls them into a storage area. They do not get paid for this, and only the very poorest get potatoes.
"We ask ourselves why they do it? If they do not, the potatoes rot in the field.
"The fields all belong to the state and they do not have the equipment to pick up all the potatoes to take them to storage. The people do this, so they will have potatoes that they can buy in the winter time, and it helps keep the price of the potatoes down so they can afford them.
"There are two main food items in northern Russia: bread and potatoes. They also supplement items with mushrooms that grow wild in the forest for a 3-month season. However, several people get lost and die every year because the forest is so large and there's only one road. There are bears and animals there.
"Another item they will get is swamp berry. You get down on your knees and above the water are berries you can pick.
William did go into the forest mushrooming with the governor of the district. He was in charge of an area about half the size of Illinois.
"The governor is a good friend," William said. "His pay is only $100 a month and he has no vehicle.
He apologized for that, and William drove mushrooming.
William said, "I was first thought of as an American Spy. They watched me every single day."
After he started helping the most needy of people, he gained their trust and their friendship.
"I had need to get supplies to help people so I had bought a new vehicle - you'd say it looks like a bread truck. I hauled bricks for fireplaces, lumber, nails, paint supplies, etc. I got a list of the most needy people from the "Governor" and he got me a lady social worker, and she went with me.
"One lady complained about rats, big holes in the floor and the roof. Some were elderly with no on to help."
One family asked him to take a body to the morgue, then back to home, and then to the grave site in his van.
William said he first worked with Dr. Bill Becknell who had become a missionary doctor.
"He was a family doctor who had his own jet business. His last wife left him and then he got saved. He went to Africa for 5 years to serve as a missionary doctor and felt God's call to Russia. On his own, he went to the airport with only 12 pieces of luggage, and without knowing anyone in Moscow.
"He was the one who invited me to help in the ministry in Russia. His Agape Medical Missions was established from his flat in Moscow 8 years ago, and he is now working on a building in northern Russia. It needed repairs to provide living quarters for himself and other doctors and for others to stay while they reached out to the many very remote villages in the surrounding area.
"Dr Bill tries to get American Doctors to come and join him with his Russian staff to buy medicine and go to remote places. When he gets enough money to buy medicine, he travels to villages all over Russia.
William rents a flat in Russian where a boy lives who he is supporting and sending through medical school. He and his mother came from Saudi Arabia to visit and her husband will not acknowledge them and let them back into the country. So she has been raising this brilliant boy without money or work because she is considered a foreigner.
William's small flat has also became storage for some of Dr. Bill's medical supplies.
Dr. Bill has taken this boy on medical trips and has helped him so much, he's a straight A student.
William said, "We are all evangelists, but my desire is to also help with humanitarian needs.
"I'm not a doctor, or a nurse, but I want to help the neediest of people.
After he went with doctor Bill to help fix his building, demolishing the insides, installing showers and toilets, he witnessed the huge needs of the people. He knew he could do the most by helping them.
He helped pick up the worst heaps of trash around a children's hospital wondering why God sent him to Russia to do that. After the third day he noticed the children came outside for a while each afternoon but had no place to play. He went where they were and began building them a sandbox. Before he could build the top, children were in the sand playing. He continued working on the playground and the head of the hospital and others gained respect for him.
He became involved helping a family who had a very solemn 7 year old girl who he had finally made laugh. She became attached to him. He found her step dad was an ex-prisoner with a violent temper and they also had a baby. His story is horrifying as he worked to help them and buy them food in hopes of changing the man. The little girl hugged him and cried a long long time when he had to leave.
He was asked if he would speak to a an English class by a teacher. He agreed if could tell them about Jesus. In Russia you can talk about religion in schools. He thought he would never be invited back, but he was and the second time, William said, "He was helping me saying, 'You mean this gift is free to all of us?'"
A girl and boy Nastya and Andrew, who had missed school when William talked, heard about it and called him one night asking if they could met with him and learn English. They made arrangements for a 9 p.m. meeting each night after he was through working on Dr. Bill's building.
William said, his worst day was Christmas Day but turned out to be his best day.
He was in his flat, had given away all his money, and Dr. Bill was in the United States raising money.
He couldn't get funds, because there was no one to trust to bring it. The banks could not be trusted so there was no choice but to return home. He hated to leave the people that needed him so desperately. He was so depressed.
"I had lived there a long time and had people at 9:30 at night needing this or wanting that. The orphanage wanted shoes for this child and that child. People in church wanted to work for me to have something to eat.
"I was 27 hours north of Moscow by train with no more money, and Dr. Bill was in America and there was no way of getting money, no one to trust to bring it. I was hungry and had only 1-1/2 rubles. I looked many times, but it was all I had. I needed 6 rubles to buy bread. I was down.
Nastya came that day and said, 'Oh, I know about God. I pray to him when I want something.'
"I told her, 'I think you have God up here (in your head), but not Jesus here (in you heart).
"I gave her the 4-laws booklet from campus crusades and asked her to please read it and think about it. She promised she would."
William said one thing about Russians, they won't say they'll do something and then go home and not do it. They will tell you to your face that they will do it or they won't do it.
"She took it home Christmas night and read it though. Then she prayed to receive Christ on Christmas. Two days later, I saw her and she had a great big smile like a glow.
"I have something to tell you," she said to me. "I already know,' I replied. She then said with her little nose in the air, "Well, maybe you do, and maybe you don't .' And I replied, No Nastya, I already know."
"Well,' she said, "I took your booklet home - I read it -I thought about it - and then I prayed. You know, It was something I needed to do.'
"I replied, 'It is something we ALL need to do, Nastya.'"
As Nastya's English became better, she became William's translator.
Her final test at school was equivalent to a senior in high school. They both prayed about this test for out of the whole district, only the three top honors could go to any University free.
After her test Nastya was one of the three and got to go to St. Petersburg.
She is still there and wrote William two months ago that she needs to get his advice and counsel, and wrote about the difficulty of finding Christian young men. She wrote, "Russia doesn't need your money, they need your words."
William said he had returned to the United States very depressed, because he didn't want to be in Moscow under Dr. Bill after he had seen the effects of God's work to the most needy.
"I wanted to be giving humanitarian aid where no one else would go, and where I was most beneficial to God.
He came home because he had given away everything but enough money to buy a ticket home.
Friends let him stay in their home while they went south for the winter.
" I knew I needed to be in church, so then I went, and I joined the Sunday School class. They wanted me to talk in church about Russia."
William knew he couldn't tell what happen in Russia his four years there in a twenty-minute session.
"If you really want me to talk about Russia, then I will if you give me three Sundays, an hour a piece."
William said they all agreed so he started telling his story to them.
"They asked me, 'What is your desire?' and I said, 'My heart is Russia. I want to go back. I have no funds, and I can't make it on my pension.'
William's pension is enough to take care of himself and to help the young boy he is helping through med-school, but to reach the most needy he needs a dependable vehicle to travel four hours to get supplies, and he needs a building he can lock them in to keep them safe. These two items would cost about $10,000.
"There happen to be guy at Sunday School I had never met before and he gave me an envelope. I had often gotten $10 or $20 in an envelope and I took it home.
"Later, after I had eaten, I happen to think of that envelope and opened it up. It was a $10,000 check! I couldn't get on my knees quick enough. I knew that was the jump start, and that God had me doing something big."
William had no idea where God would be using him, but he was ready to go.
Dan Ashton visited Sunday School and was so deeply touched by his testimony he wanted to be involved. He volunteered to set up a nonprofit organization and to acquire a tax number so donations could be a tax write-off for people contributing. He then needed a board of directors and they were selected.
"This is for accountability," William said, "to prove I am not buying steak and lobster and taking jet rides."
As for the name of his ministry, William did not want them to use his name because he only wants God to be lifted up. But he was outvoted by the board who felt they needed to send a clear picture to people of who they were supporting into the mission field. They established William Woods Missions To Russia (WWMR).
William is committed to Russia for five years or he says: "Until I die, or until Jesus comes," he said.
The board needs monthly pledges and have received $1 a month, $5 month, $10 a month from individuals.
"The monthly support is what keeps you there," he said. "Our pledge is 100 percent to mission work -to help the poor-handicapped-invalids-orphans-those in prison. ...the most needy..... that is what I feel God wants us to work with."
"Although there will be a regular newsletter, none of the donations will go toward that or any kind of paperwork.
"I will take care of myself, with my Case pension, plus I will use some of my own funds for mission work."
"In order to be efficient, I have to live there. In order to gain their trust, I must live there. When I live like them, eat what they do, go through the hard conditions they do, they can see the gospel in action."
William turned to me and asked "What would you give to see one person go to heaven. What would you give?"
"I'll give everything."
"Sometimes, when you are young, you think it's happiness to get presents. But, when you are older, it gives you joy to give to others or to help others.
"I have a joy, because I get to give all the time.
"I did the drugs, the alcohol. I worked at Case and had all the tools, vehicles, new appliances, everything I wanted, but it really did not make me happy.
"Howard Hughes, the richest person in the world, over dosed on drugs. Was he happy? "Elvis Presley, the most successful and popular singer, was he happy? No, he died of an overdose of drugs. "Bill Gates, now the richest man in the world. Is he happy? No, he's furious becomes someone's trying to take something he's developed.
"You don't find happiness in wealth.
"What do I need? First I need your prayers - this is a spiritual battle.
"I need a laptop computer. It doesn't have to be new, but I will need one to get my stories back to America to be accountable for what people give, and to get my money.
"I need your precious donated funds to help these most needy people
"I need your invitations to speak at clubs-churches - businesses - even private homes - anyway we can spread the news of this needed ministry.
"School supplies, children's scissors, million of black Bic ink pins, small tablets, water paints, erasers, colored pencils, crayons, etc.
"Mens medium to large jogging suits for prisoners
"In June I want people to come to Russia to help.
"Stanley hand saw."
He never goes anywhere unless he shares the gospel.
"I believe there is not any one person that I helped, that I did not pray. First, I introduced myself. I tell them this is not coming from the government. This wood (or whatever I give) is coming from Christians in America from many churches.
A load of fire wood costs about $20-30 American dollars... then it needs to be split.
Their average pension is 300 ruble per month equivalent to $9 a month.
"You can see how many months it would take to buy firewood to heat their homes, and cook on, and to boil the water so they can sponge bathe.
Once, William gave $50 worth of grids to the director of the school for their stove. She had reacted like our children would on Christmas morning, he said.
"She invited me in for a little tea. I sat down and told her about Jesus. 'It is so simple. I 've never heard this.' she said."
William gave her a booklet and told her she didn't need a priest. She could do this personally.
"I think she did it personally. She asked me to go back and speak to the school children. She opened the door, but I didn't have time.
William says he always works with a Russian evangelist or missionary because he wants people to be fed once they learn about Christ.
This thanksgivings, we in the United States are enjoying an abundance of blessings. William realizes that people have families and committments, but asks only for a small portion of support to help him continue is mission work in Russia.
In charge of finances and arrangements for William speaking to groups is Steve Law of Gladstone at phone 309-627-2778.
Bound for Russian in January, William Wood of Gladstone, stands on top of one of 4 Twomey Co. grain elevator bins which hold 1.1 million bushels of grain. In the background are several of their 14 buildings at Gladstone and one of their 25 busy semis. Thirty-three million bushels can be stored at Gladstone - the major portion of their 46 million bushel company. Part of Twomey's job is to get the grain to the river. From there, the buyer must pick it up and transport it to markets in the states and around the world. Twomey's employ 75 full time and many more during harvest and doing spring work.
At Twomey Co.'s River Terminal near Gladstone, William Wood is seated along side a Mississippi River barge as it is being filled up above by Dan Lafary with the abundance of corn produced in the Henderson County area. Each day 300,000 bushels have been dumped into 6 barges using Twomey semi's, a total of 420 semi loads, according to Johnnie Twomey of Roseville. Twomey's, a family owned facility, is the largest grain storage facility in one place in the U.S. with 46 million bushels of storage capacity. They own 25 semi's, employ 75 full-time workers, plus seasonal help. Twomey's are working extra hours to meet the early December 15th river closing due to repairs of Lock 24 near St. Louis.
Wood of Gladstone, hopes out of our abundance, we might give to help support his mission work in Russia where he works helping the neediest.