Romania - Day 8

On Wednesday we got up then we ate breakfast. We had a taxi drive us to the church. The taxi driver did not know where the church we wanted was, so he drove us to all of the churches in the town and asked if they were the church. Finally he found the right church. The church was not completely finished. We got to climb up to the 4th story, where here were no walls. Then we left to go to Mediash. We stopped at a Medieval town on the way. This is a picture of a pistol with a bayonet in a museum there: In it was a cathedral where Martin Luther preached. All of the boys bought knifes there. When we got to Mediash we ate lunch at a mission house. The church there met in a community center. First David Brown did an introduction, and he accidentally called Stephen Horn, Justice Horn. Then Dan Horn spoke on Ephesians 5:21-33:
Daddy was supposed to speak for 20 minutes but he spoke for 42. Then Mr. Breagy spoke on psalm 127:Then Max Parish spoke on courtship:
One of the men came up and said that everyone in the room was angry at Daddy and said that he was more angry because they would not admit it. After the meeting we stayed at a family's house for the night.

Romania - Day 7

On Tuesday all we had to do was drive to a church, have a meeting, and then go to bed. But it was a long day because we had about a 6 hour drive and it was over the mountains. We are not going to go back to Emmanuel University the entire trip so we had to pack up our stuff. After we packed, we got in the car and drove. David fell asleep and snored in the back. For lunch, we stopped at a gas station and got sandwiches and drinks. The drive over the mountains was really nice. Here are some pictures:








When we got there, we were a little late. We drove to a hotel, where we met the pastor of the church. He led us to a church, which was interesting. It had two floors. The bottom one had a big room for church, and a kitchen. The upper floor was not finished, but the plan is to have a big room for church, with big glass windows that overlook the city. It was really nice. We had dinner in the kitchen. We had soup, vegetables, bread, meat and potatoes. It was good. These were the first vegetables besides cucumbers and tomatoes that we had.

Then we had to do the conference. We did what was going to become the norm. Mr. Brown did a short introduction, then Daddy did a speech on Ephesians 5 about how the father is a prophet, priest and king of his house. The Mr. Breagy did a talk on Psalm 127. I almost fell asleep during this speech because I was really tired. Then Mr. Brown finished up with a speech on not conforming to the world, and the history of the philosophy of age-separated discipleship. Then there was a time for questions. Here are some pictures:






After the meeting, we went to a lady's apartment to sleep. We got a entire apartment to ourselves. She and her mother-in-law stayed downstairs in another apartment. Stephen, Daddy and I shared a bed. It was nice of her to let us stay in her house.

Romania - Day 6

On Monday the day was pretty free. We slept until about 10:00. The men went to a meeting about what they should talk about. The boys stayed in there room and played with paper airplanes. Then we ran around in the field in front of the university for a little bit. Then we ate lunch with Sebastian, Marius, and Cornielius, a student who rode around with us. At 3:30 we left for the church we had gone to last night. We got there about 5:30 and the conference started at 6:30. I was videotaping some of the time and watching the timer some of the time.
First David did an Introduction. Then Daddy spoke on Ephesians 5:

Then Mr. Breagy spoke on psalm 127:




Then Max Parish spoke about relationships (courtship). Then Mr. Brown spoke on Romans 12:




Then we had Pizza for dinner.

Romania - Day 5

On Sunday, Mr. Brown, Mr. Breagy and Daddy each went to a different church. The church that Daddy, Stephen and I went to was in Pistis. It was called Pistis church. It was only about five minutes away from Holy Trinity Church. We got up, and got in a car with the Breagys. We drove to the church the Breagys were going to, droped them off, and then the one we were going to. When we got there, they put us in the pastor's office, because they were doing congregation only prayer. Here is how most churches in Romania do their service:
  1. They have 1 hour of prayer.
  2. They have another hour of singing and praying.
  3. They have an hour long sermon.

When Daddy preached, the church we went to was doing a church mission trip that afternoon, so the sermon was only 45 minutes. Our translator's name was Gabriel. He used to be a professional translator, and is a student at the Emanuel University. He was a really good translator and he was really quick. He was the best translator we had, except for one that we had later, which I will talk about then. Daddy preached on Ephesians 5, about how the relationship of a husband and wife reflects the relationship between Christ and the church. He also spoke on how a father is a prophet, priest and king in his household from that passage. I liked the sermon. He had never done that sermon before.

At that church, there was a band of horns and trumpets, etc., but they did not play when the church sang. They played their own concert during church. When we were done with church, we drove back to Holy Trinity Church. When Mr. Brown was done, (we had to wait because our service finished about 15 minutes earlier) we went to a house to eat lunch. The group split up for lunch. We ate with the brother of the man who we ate lunch with the previous day. Here is a picture of us with his family:







The meal was very good. We first had soup, which is always the first course in Romania. So far, we have had it as the first course in every meal except breakfast and McDonald's. Then we had mashed-potatoes and chicken. The rest of the group went to the family's house we had eaten with the day before. We had to leave by 1:30 to drive to Arad to go to a church service. It was a 3 hour drive. David Brown, my brother, Titus a Romanian boy, and I sat in the back of the van. We had fun. When we first got in the car, Stephen Horn, David, the boy we ate with, his father, Titus and me were all in the back. But after five minutes some of them got in another van.

When we got there, we dived right into church. There was singing and praying, and then Mr. Brown preached on Psalm 127. I do not remember much of it, because it was so hot in that building I fell asleep. When the church service finished, we ran out of the building, and got in the car and drove to another church. Here is a picture of Mr. Brown preaching.





(left to right Scott Brown, the pastor of the next church)


The next church was really big. First they sang, and prayed. Then Mr. Brown preached on Psalm 127 again. It was very similar to what we had just heard. The next night we were going to do a conference at that church. I did not like this church because it was so big, and it was like another church we used to go to. After church, we had pizza at the church. Then we drove back to Emmanuel. The drive was 1 1/2 - 2 hours long. Here is the church:
I could not understand any of the church service except the preaching, because it was in Romanian. The pastor at the last church translated for both of the evening services. He was really good, even better then Gabriel. He would even imitate the tone of voice and hand motions.

Romania - Day 4

On Saturday, we were all tired when we got up. We had to get up at about 8:00 o'clock. We ate breakfast and then we had to leave. We went to the Holy Trinity Batist Church of Alejd to do a short conference. First, Daddy did a talk on Deuteronomy 6:
Afterwards Mr. Brown spoke on home schooling:

Then there was a time for Q&A. Then, Marius asked the boys to come up and answer some questions. All of the boys spoke except Stephen Horn. After the Q&A we went to someones house to eat lunch. There were 3 courses. Then we went back to the church. Mr. Breagy did a talk on Psalm 127:Then, Max Parish did a talk on courtship:Then there was a Q&A. Then Mr. Brown did a talk. Then we left for the University. We stopped at a McDonalds for dinner. When we got home, we called Mommy on Skype.

Romania - Day 3

On Friday we woke up at 10:00 in the morning because we had got back very late the night before. Then we got showered and ate some breakfast, and went to a store called Selgros. It is kind of like Costco. We changed our money, and then bought some stuff. Here is a picture of the store:




Then we went back to our room and then we went down and meet the Browns and Max Parish for lunch. They had just flown in that day. Sebastian, who is the administrator of Emmanuel Collage also came. Two other people came. Marius Cruchero, who is the pastor of a church in Romania came. First we had soup, then pasta and bread. Here is a picture of us after the lunch:Here is Stephen in front of the building we slept in:Then we went to the place in the building where you could get on the Internet. We talked to Mommy on Skype. Here is Stephen talking: We went to a conference that afternoon in Holy Trinity Baptist in Alejd. First Daddy spoke on how marriage reflects the relationship between Christ and his church for 15 minutes. It was a pretty good speech. Then Mr. Breagy spoke for 15 minutes on the sufficiency of scripture. Then Max Parish, David, Me, Stephen Breagy, and Stephen Horn spoke for about 5 minutes. I spoke on sons going to work with their fathers. Then Mr. Brown gave an introduction to the conference that we were going to do on Saturday. Then we went back to our rooms, and went to sleep.

Romania - Day 2

On Day 2, first, we landed in Paris in the morning. We were all tired because the time was different in Paris then in America. When we landed in Paris, our luggage was supposed to go to Budapest, but it came out on the luggage return. The person at the desk in Philadelphia said it would, but we went to the luggage return anyway. For a while we looked around the airport for the place to check our bags, but we couldn't find it. We were going to rent a car to go to a meeting with Daddy's customer, but there was long lines at the places where we could and by the time Daddy got to the end of the line all of the cars were gone. We went to get a taxi but we had to wait along time to get a taxi because there were only 5-seaters with a driver. Finally we found a mini-van to take us. It took along time to get there because we had to drop someone off in the middle of Paris. This is a picture of the Arch de Triumph in Paris: Daddy thought that the meeting went badly, because he couldn't convince him not to come to North Carolina. On the way back to the airport, it was much quicker. Daddy didn't have any euros, so he had to get some to pay the driver. After we ate dinner, we found where to check our bags. We had to go through security to get on the plane. On the way from Paris to Budapest, Stephen Horn & Breagy were sleeping. Stephen Horn spilled apple juice on his seat. Stephen Breagy was asleep when the waiter came. His Dad ordered him water and put it on his tray, but then the water fell on his lap and woke him up. We flew over some beautiful mountains. We took some pictures. Here is one of them:

When we got to Budapest, it was in the late afternoon but if felt really late because of the time change. It was a three hour drive to Emanuel University, where we were staying. We were all tired. We tried to Skype Mommy but we could not get on line.

Romania - Day 1

Right now Daddy, Stephen and I (Joshua) are on a plane. We are traveling to Romania. We are going there with two of the Breagys, Mr. Brown and his son, Mr. Parrish and Mr. Dohm.We are going there so we can talk to the people in Romania about Family Integrated Churches, Homeschooling, and Entreprenurship. Emmanuel University asked us to come.

We and the Breagys are flying today, the Browns tomorrow, and then Mr. Dohm a few days before we leave. We will be gone ten days. Today, first we are flying to Philedelphia from RDU, then to Paris, then finally to Romania. We are going to get the Pennsylvania today at 5:00, Paris at 8:30 a.m, and then we are leaving Paris in the afternoon so we can get to Romania tomorrow night.

We will try to do a blog post for each day, but we might not be able to.

What I want to Remember about the Jamestown Quadricentennial - Part 2

At this anniversary Jamestown, we went to the Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration: A Celebration of God's Providential History. It happened June 11 (Monday) through June 16 (Saturday). It was put on by Doug Phillips, and his organization Vision Forum. Vision Forum is a company that is trying to teach people more about God. They believe in family integrated churches, instead of Sunday School. They are trying to restore Biblical roles of men and women. In my family there is me, Joshua Horn, my sister Rachel and brother Stephen. My parents are Dan and Kendra. We live at this time in Person County in northern North Carolina and we left for Jamestown after church on Sunday. We go to church at Hope Baptist, and we meet in Mr. Scott Brown's house (also called a barn because that is what it looks like.) Mr. Brown is the head of an organization that was started by Vision Forum, The National Center for Family Integrated Churches. The Browns left for Jamestown, and then we went to our good friends the Breagy's house because we had to give them some stuff that they left at the Brown's barn. Then we stayed there and talked to them, and then they left and we left to. We ate dinner with them at Pizza Hut. The drive was about three hours. We stayed at some condos which my Grandparents let us use for a week. Then we went to sleep and got up early the next morning to go to the opening ceremonies. There was a reenactment of the first landing and they gave some of the speakers an opportunity to give some of the things that they were going to talk about in the week. The reenactment had three boats in it filled with people. The boats came and then the people landed and planted the flag and cross. After this, we went to a Faith and Freedom mini tour. When you signed up for the week, you got to choose 3 tours that went to either Williamsburg Jamestown and Yorktown. Our mini tour that day was to the battlefield of Yorktown. Our speaker was Mr. Bill Potter He is one of my favorite speakers. On Faith & Freedom Tours he is the one that speaks about military strategy. He talked about the strategy of Yorktown and the Providence of God thought that event. One very interesting story is about that when Cornwallis tried to cross over the river to escape from the American and French troops, a storm came up and scattered their boats that they were going to cross it! This is a good example of God's Providence. That night we went to the opening speeches at the Hampton Roads Convention Center. My favorite talk from that was Dr. Paul Jehle about how God used different men to make to founding of Jamestown possible. Mr Phillips taught us this Revolutionary song Chester.


Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And slav'ry clank her galling chains.
We fear them not; we trust in God,
New England's God forever reigns.

Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton, too,
With Prescott and Cornwallis joined,
Together plot our overthrow,
In one infernal league combined.

When God inspired us for the fight
Their ranks were broke; their lines were forced
Their ships were shattered in our sight
Or swiftly driven from our shore.

The foe comes on with haughty stride,
Our troops advance with martial noise;
Their veterans flee before our youth,
And generals yield to beardless boys.

What grateful off'ring shall we bring?
What shall we render to this Lord?
Loud Hallelujah let us sing,
And praise His Name on ev'ry chord!

The next day, Tuesday, we drove to the Williamsburg Lodge (a hotel and conference center in Colonial Williamsburg) to hear a speech on the providence at Jamestown by Steve McDowell. I would have enjoyed it more if there had not been so much repetition. After that we drove to the Marriott to hear a talk from Dr. Paul Jehle about how God used many different events in 1607 to work together to found Jamestown. It was called "Kingdom Seeds at America's Birth: 1607 The Birth of the Nation " It was very interesting. Then we drove to Yorktown again for a tour with Dan Ford and Michael Billings. We meant to go to Williamsburg with Dan Ford and Michael Billings on that day, but they messed up our tickets. Michael Billings told a story about how the Americans had just defeated the British in a battle, and then they were being chased. The Americans wanted to escape from the British with their prisoners, cannons, etc. The Americans crossed over a river, and when the British got to it, it started raining so they could not cross because it was flooded. Then the Americans came to another river, and after they crossed, it miraculously rose without any known reason so that the British could not cross again. This happened again when they came to the next river! This is a fascinating story of God's Providence to save the Americans.


That night there were two talks, the first was by Marshal Foster. It was on the Bible and how it influenced the colonists. The bible was very important in Jamestown. The reason Jamestown was founded was because of the Geneva Bible (the first Bible printed for the common man) because it gave them the vision to come and evangelize the Indians and to take dominion over the entire world. The Geneva Bible was also very important because it was the first bible cheap enough for the common man to buy. After Mr. Foster gave this speech, a John Smith reenactor came. We did not like him very well because he did not know very much. Everyone but me wanted to leave before he finished, but we did not leave. When he finished we went back to our hotel to get some sleep.


On Wednesday, the first thing that we did was to go to the Marriott to listen to a talk by Mr. Doug Phillips about the battles of the world views in Jamestown. It was called "Europeans and Indians at Jamestown: Demythologizing the Story " He talked about how people now talk about how the settlers stole the Indians' land, and how that is wrong. Here are two things that he said. First, there were only 100,000 to at the absolute most 1,000,000 Indians at the time of Jamestown. Second, the Indians had no idea of property rights, so that they couldn't really be stolen from because they didn't think that they owned it. So they would sell it for a few coins, and then get angry because the English said that they could not have it back. After that, we heard Mr Potter on "Warfare!: The Powhatan vs. The Englishman " He showed that the English did not have a huge advantage over the Indians in battle, once they were not scared of the noise the guns made. This was a very interesting speech After that I went to a speech by Col. John Eidsmoe "The Indian View of Law and Justice" I had heard most of it from the History of the World Conference. He explained that the Indians did have a system of law. Then we went to our third, and last Faith and Freedom tour. It was to Jamestown, with Paul Jehle. Some of our friends from North Carolina, the Damings, were there with us. We went around the Jamestown Island, and saw the Tricentennial pillar, the John Smith statue, and one very special thing was that Mr. Jehle took us to see where they were doing archaeological digging. They talked to us about what they found. I enjoyed that Faith and Freedom Tour allot.


When you purchased the passes, you got three tethered balloon ride tickets. We decided to use them the next day, Thursday. We had to get up early because the rest of the day (except in the late afternoon) there was to much wind to fly. There was a fairly big line. Mommy stayed home to sleep, but they let Daddy go up in the balloon with us, even though we only had three tickets. It was kind of scary because the flames were noisy and it went high. After that we ate breakfast. Then we drove to Fort Pocahontas to go on a boat tour of the historic James river. Fort Pocahontas was part of the estate of John Tyler. When President Tyler was very old, he had a son. And when that son was old he had a son, named Harrison Tyler, who is alive to this very day! It is amazing that there is someone alive at this time who's grandfather knew Thomas Jefferson. Of course, Harrison Tyler never met his grandfather, and his father died when he was young. Mr. Tyler bought back Fort Pocahontas from some bankrupt condo-builders. He was very kind to let Vision Forum use his land for the Quadricenntenial. He was the Grand Marshal. The boat tour was neat, but we could not hear much of what the tour guide said, because it was so windy. There was a good view of Jamestown Island. The tour was about two hours long. After we finished the boat tour, we returned to our condo. We bought some groceries, and then went swimming in the pool. That was really fun. That evening we were supposed to go on the Vip Dinner Cruse. It left from the Yorktown Pier. Four families from our church were going. We boarded the ship, and sat with our friends from church (The Breagys and the Damings). The children sat at one table and the adults at another. We had a great time. One neat thing that happened, was that we were riding down the river, near the Coast Guard Station, and a coast guard patrol boat came out and starting showing off and driving around our ship. That was very neat. We left the ship, and they gave each family a Jefferson cup with "Jamestown Quadricentennial 1607 – 2007" on it. They dinner cruse was really neat. There were several speakers on the boat. They were Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum, Marshal Foster, who published the Geneva Bible, Dr. Liliback, who I had never heard before and who spoke on George Washington and Charlie Zahm. Charlie Zahm is a Celtic and American singer. He sings Scottish and Early American songs. We first heard him on the Faith and Freedom Tour to Pennsylvania. I enjoyed him very much.


The next day, Friday, was the first day that the entire day was at Fort Pocahontas We were planing to get there in time for the children's parade, but when we got there, it took an hour to park! We got there just in time for the first speech. Mr. Phillips opened, and then Mr. Harrison Tyler, the Grand Marshal, explained the history of the fort. It was a small Civil War fort that was used in combat once. It was built to protect ships traveling on the James river, on which it was built. It was garrisoned by some USCT (United States Colored Troops) troops under Brigadier General Edward Wild. The USCT were not used for battle, because they did not think that they could fight well. They were attacked on May 24, 1864 by Calvary troops under General Fitzhugh Lee. The Confederates were beaten off with the lost of 100 men killed, wounded or captured. The Union's lost was only 20. This was important because it was the first battle where the USTC proved that they could fight. When he was done, the speakers spoke on the four pillars of Jamestown. Here they are: Gospel Evangelism by Doug Phillips, Christian Worship by Dr. Paul Jehle, Bible Based Common Law by Col. John Eidsmoe, Christian Representative Government by Dr. Joe Morcraft. After these speeches were given, we ate the lunch that we brought It was chicken salad on crescent rolls. Then we went to go see the Revolutionary War rein actors that were there, but Daddy got 'stuck' at the old books table! I bought two old G. A. Henty books. Then Mommy took me to see the reenactor Then we went back to the big tent and Mr. Morecraft gave a speech about the importance of laying memorial stones to what God has done. Then we went down to the dedication of the Jamestown Children's Memorial. This was the only monument built in 2007. Children across America gave $1 or more donations to build this monument. All the children who gave had their names placed in a time capsule, to be opened in 2107. My name was placed in the time capsule. My sister Rachel's was also, and my brother Stephen gave to it, but they had a mistake and his name did not get in. Mr. Harrison Tyler placed the cover on the time capsule of the monument. After the monument laying time we ate dinner and came back to the tent for the evening celebration. The first message was by Jonathan Falwell, the son of Jerry Falwell, who was going to speak, but he died. So he came and gave his father's message. He talked about the Providence of God. Then Dr. Peter Liliback gave a talk on George Washington. He said that he was not a Deist and believed in the Providence of God. After that was a reenactment of Patrick Henry's speech, but Mommy was tired so we left before it. It took a lot of time to leave because there were so many people. We got home and went to bed.


The next day we got up early to get to the children's parade in time. We were really early, there was almost no one else there. So we went down to the children's monument, because there were so many people we did not get to see it at the dedication the day before. We looked at it and read all the words. Then we went over to where the children's parade was going to start. There were three groups: the soldiers, the ladies and the flag bearers. I was a flag bearer. I carried the North Carolina flag. I was also in the front row. Stephen was a solider and Rachel was a lady. I liked being in the parade. The leader went 1, 2, 3 and then everyone with HUZZAH. We huzzahed more then any of the other groups. It was really fun. Then we went into the big tent again. The first speech was by Marshal Foster on Providence and Perseverance at Jamestown. Then two reenactors of Presidents which had spoken at previous Jamestown Celebrations came and spoke to us. They were Presidents John Tyler and Theodore Roosevelt. John Tyler gave some of his 3 hour speech. Theodore Roosevelt gave a look at the life of Roosevelt. That was the end of the morning, so we went to go eat lunch. When I finished, I went to go help David Brown, one of the young men at our church. He had a table with drinks. Me, my brother Stephen, one of my friends Stephen Breagy and Anthony and Nathaniel Daming (who all go to our church) helped while David took a break. The next speech was by Paul Jehle, but I had already heard it earlier in the week, so I continued to help. Then was the conclusion of the Jamestown 400: Our National Treasure Hunt. I was part of it, but I could not keep up to the end. I am planning on writing another letter on it later. I wanted to see who the winner was. One hundred people came to Jamestown for the hunt for the gold. They traveled around in Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown looking for clues, and each day a few were eliminated. Then finally there were only three people left. They came early on Saturday morning, and each had to answer historical questions. The person that got it right got to choose on of three places to dig. Each got a box with a key in it. Then they got to try it on the box for the treasure. We had met some of the Thomas family who won at one of the conferences that Daddy taught at. I ran down from the drink stand to hear the end of the hunt. It was really exciting. The person next to us was selling hot dogs and snow cones. David bought a sone-cone for all of us, and then the person gave us a free hot dog later. We sold out of water really early, so we kept sending the people who wanted water to the funnel cake place, who still had water. Somewhere around this time Mrs. Morecraft read a poem that she had written for the Quadrcennenial. It was very long, and I did not listen to it. After that there was a break, and then some of the people went back to an auction of artifacts in the tent. Daddy bought several things, and one was a very old map of America. Some people who came brought about 10 pieces of PVC pipe, covered in insulation and then wrapped in duck tape. The made swords that did not hurt to be hit with. They organized sword-fighting matches. Everyone that wanted to play were organized into three groups. Then each group was given two swords, and were divided into two lines, going from smallest to largest. Two of your people were sent out at a time, and then when they were killed, they gave switched swords with the person who killed them, and then gave the sword to the person next in line from their team. I did it once. I was on the same team as Nathaniel Daming. When I got out, I did not kill anyone. One person hit me on the head, (which they were not supposed to do) so they were thrown out and I stayed. Then someone came up to me and I hit them in the leg and they hit me in the right arm. So I had to use my left arm. If you got both legs or arms cut of, or it you were hit in the body, you were dead. I kept fighting, until my partner ran across the field right past two of the enemies. I followed him, because it was better to work together, and then one of our enemies swung at my friend, and then came back and hit me. So that meant that I was dead. I had alot of fun. Then the time came for the grand celebration. I came into the tent for this. There were speeches by Mr. Phillips and Mr. Bodkin (who was a filmmaker who lived in New Zealand) about our vision for the next 100 years. Mr Phillips was really horse after all that talking. Then came a play that was about the Marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. After that they finished off the evening with fireworks. I really liked the fireworks. Daddy stood around and talked for a while, and then we went over to where the shuttle picked up the dads so they could go get the cars. The problem was that they could not drive the shuttles while the fireworks were going on, so there was a HUGE line of people waiting to get their cars. After a really long wait, we finally got in our car. In the morning we got up to go to the church service at Fort Pocahontas. Doug Phillips led singing, and then Mr Jehle preached on Ephesians 3:14-21. We really liked the sermon. People liked it so much, that enough people requested that it be put on CD that they put it in the recording.

I enjoyed the Quadricenntenial very much. I think it is very important that we remember and honor those who have come before. I want to tell my children the great stories of God's Providential history. I want to tell them the Providential stories in my own life. That is why I am writing this letter. I want to remind myself of how me and my family celebrated the Quadricenntenial.

What I want to Remember about the Jamestown Quadricentennial - Part 1

Today is June 29, 2007. Me and my family returned a few weeks ago from the Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration: A Celebration of God's Providential History but on by Vision Forum. I am writing this letter to remind myself why we need to remember historical anniversaries, and what I want to tell my children and grandchildren in 2057, the next great anniversary of Jamestown. I have three things to say: first, why we should remember Jamestown, or any history. Second, some important things to remember about Jamestown's history and third, what we did in Jamestown at this year's celebration. I hope to inspire my children to remember history, and I want to tell the stories of my childhood.


History is God's story. We can learn very much about God just by studying history. We can learn about his Providence, and how he uses men and events to work his purposes. It is very important to remember what God has done in history. We need to be a grateful people, who are grateful for what God does in the past. We also need to learn from our forefather's mistakes, and do better than them. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 32:7 "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee." I think that is important to rember our history.

There are the "Five Freedom Pillars of Jamestown" spoke on at the Jamestown Quadricenntenial:

  1. Gospel Evangelism

    The settlers came to Jamestown to evangelize the Indians. Here is what the forgotten visionary of the Jamestown settlement, Richard Hakluyt said:

    Wee shall by planting there enlarge the glory of the gospel, and from England plante sincere religion, and provide a safe and a sure place to receave people from all partes of the worlds that are forced to flee for the truth of Gods worde.”

    The 1606 charter that allowed them to come over to the New World said this:

    "We greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherence of so noble a Work, which may, by the Provience of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, propogating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government... "

    Even though in 2007 the modern "historians" of Jamestown say that they came here for money, that was secondary to evangelizing the Indians. Richard Hakluyt also said that the other plantations did not succeed because they were not planted for a godly purpose. It is important that this was their reason to come here.

  2. Christian Worship

    In the Jamestown colony they conducted Christian Worship to the God of the Bible. Their first pastor was Reverend Robert Hunt. John Smith called him "our honest, religious and courageous divine. " One of the first building that they built was a church. Before they had a church they conducted services under a sail. That shows how important Christian worship was to them. Many of the Jamestown settlers, including Capt. John Smith, were Puritans, those who wished to purify the church of it's ungodly practices.

  3. Bible-Based Common Law

    Jamestown was the foundation of the Biblical common law in America. Biblical common law is the law that we get from the Bible. These are things like "Thou shalt not murder", "He who does not work should not eat" and lots of other things. They believed in the Biblical Common law at Jamestown. They go this idea from the Puritains, and ultimately from the Bible.

  4. Republican Representative Government

    In 1619 the Jamestown settlers made the first representative government in North America. There was a governor appointed by the King, and one house representing the Virgina Company, and a another house elected by the people in America. At this time, England was moving away from Republican Government. The Jamestown settlers made a republican government because they were Puritans. The Puritans believed in restraining the absolute power of a few men. England did this, but they strayed from it. The Puritans got their ideas from the reading the Bible.

There are also many very important men to remember from the history of Jamestown.

  • Richard Hakluyt

    Richard Hakluyt was the visionary for the Jamestown colony. It started when he was a young man and he went to his cousin's house. His cousin (also named Richard Hakluyt) was a collected of old books and maps. He showed Richard a map and then explained to him about the maps and what they showed. Then he shared this verse from the Bible with him:

    "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. " Psalm 107:23-24

    Richard Hakluyt saw that God was displayed in the world. He decided to learn about God through geography.

    He helped with the settlements of both Roanoke and Jamestown. One of the main ways that he helped was to write books to encourage people to come to the New World.

  • Edmund Sandys

    This man was the politician for the Jamestown Colony. He was very influential in government, and obtained the charter for Virgina. God used him in government in many ways. As Dr. Jelhe talked about at the Quadricenntenial Celebration, it is surprising that the King would allow such a godly man in politics, but by God's Providence he did.

  • Captain John Smith

    Captain John Smith was the most important leader of the colony. When they first were coming over on the ship, the leaders became angry with Smith and locked him up in chains. They had been given a sealed box with the names of the members of the governing council of Jamestown to be opened when they arrived. When they landed, they opened it up and found that John Smith's name was on the list, so they had to let him out of the chains. The council elected the president, and then after several presidents either died or where thrown of the council, John Smith was elected president. When he was President, he made everyone, even the gentlemen work. His policy was that "he who does not work shall not eat". He saved the colony from destruction. He had to leave the colony rather early, because he was injured by a gunpowder accident . Simth was very important in Indian realtions. He was kind,yet firm to the Indians. He was the only one in the colony respected by the Indians. They would not attack him.

    Another thing Smith did was to write books. One of the most interesting was his autobiography. His early life was very adventurous. He traveled the world looking for adventure. He had some very exciting stories, including killing three Turks one after another in single handed combat. His epitaph tells some of his great deeds.

      "Sometime Governour of Virginia
      and Admiral of New England
      who departed this life the 21st of June 1631
      Here lyes one conquered, that hath conquered Kings,
      Subdu’d large Territories, and done Things
      Which to the world impossible would seem
      But that the Truth is held in more esteem.
      Shall I report his former service done
      In honour of his God and Christendom?
      How that he did divide from Pagans three
      Their heads and lives, Types of his Chivalry?
      Or shall I talk of his Adventures Since,
      Done in Virginia, that large Continent:
      How that he subdu’d Kings unto his yoke,
      And made those heathen flee, as wind doth smoke:
      And made their land, being of so large a Station
      An habitation for our Christian Nation
      Our god is glorify’d, their Want supply’d
      Which else for Necessaries must have dy’d.
      But what avils his Conquests, now he lyes
      Interr’d in earth, a Prey to Worms and Flyes?
      O may his soul in sweet Elysium sleep,
      Until the Keeper that all Souls doth keep,
      Return to Judgement, and that after thence,
      With angels he may his Recompense."

    Some people, reading Smith's writings think that he made them up. Many things he says we are not able to verify. But we can find no historical error in the things that we can research, even things that at the time when Smith was writting them could not have researched. So his writings were true in points that he could have made up. I think that he did not make them up.

    In Smith's writings, as Mr. Morecraft talked about at the conference, we learn that Smith was a Puritan. He talked very much about the Providence of God in his writings, and how God saved him and the colony from destruction.

  • Reverend Robert Hunt

    Robert Hunt was the first pastor of the colony. He was sent over by Richard Hakluyt because he could not come in person. When the ship first set sail, they were stuck on the coast of England for weeks within sight of Hunt's home. Hunt was also very sick. The unbelievers on the boat mocked him, but he stood firm and came to the New World. He did not live very long, and died in the spring of 1608.

    Smith was very impressed with him. He called him "our honest, religious and courageous divine." All of the colony praised this man. Smith says again, "Our factions were oft qualified, and our wants and greater extremities so comforted that they seemed easie in comparison of what we endured after his memorable death...."

  • John Rolfe

    John Rolfe was one of the common men of the colony. What he is most famous for is that he trained Pocahontas to be a Christian, and then married her. After that he became very wealthy as a tobacco farmer, and went with his wife to England. There she was treated like a queen, and when her and Rolfe were going to return to Virgina, she fell sick and died. But before she died, she had a son named Thomas.

    Another thing that Rolfe did actually saved the colony from destruction After Smith left, the colony ran out of supplies. Several ships came, but they had been wrecked, and did not have any supplies. So they decided to take the colony home to England. As they sailed out of the harbor, the colonists wanted to burn the small town. But John Rolfe convinced them not to destroy the place. And then as they sailed out of the harbor, they decided to spend the night before going out into the open sea. But then in the morning they saw a fleet commanded by Lord Delaware. They returned to the town and were repopulated with the new settlers, and were given supplies, enough for all to eat for an entire year. If John Rolfe had not saved the houses, life would have been much harder. If they had not decided to spend the night, Lord Delaware would have found the colony abandoned. This shows the Providence of God very well.