Jesus & Company, Part 1

By Don Tipton and Sondra Tipton

Jesus & Company, Part 1 by Don and Sondra Tipton recounts the extraordinary story of how God gave the Tipton's a vision to get a ship, fill it with the supplies, and sail around the world, giving goods to people in need. With only a desire to please God and faith in the Bible, Don and Sondra Tipton began caring for the poor with their unique idea of using ships, manned by volunteers from all over the world, to deliver the leftover goods of wealthy nations to the needy. This is a story about ordinary people who experience daily miracles and the amazing story of the four and a half turbulent but remarkable early years as the Lord overcame every obstacle and brought the vision to pass. The book tells of Spirit’s maiden voyages to Central America and her historic third voyage to the Soviet Union, arriving in port only a few hours before an unexpected event that shook the world. Here are just a few of the many comments the book has received from readers:
“This book will change your outlook on faith!”
“It is an incredible modern-day example of faith in action. If you've been inspired by George Mueller, then this book will inspire you also. See how a couple turns $38 into a ministry with millions of dollars’ worth of ships providing food and medical supplies around the world. Read about how the Gospel changes lives. I shed a few tears reading this incredible story of God-inspired faith.”
“Proof that truth is far more exciting than fiction. If you've been looking for a follow-up to Grisham's The Firm, this is the book for you. It'll provide the laughs, tears, and white-knuckle thrills that'll make you read all night. The important difference is, of course, that this is non-fiction, and the true author of this story is God Himself. It's an incredibly rewarding book to read, and it might just change your life. Highly recommended as a gift to anyone who might need a strong uplifting of the spirit.”
“An incredible story that will build your faith in God to do mighty things when you obey what He asks of you and always, always done in the name of Jesus!”
“The book was awesome, touching and a testimony of faith, trusting and serving God and depending on Him for our every need.”
“I just finished reading the book “Jesus and Company Part 1” and I tell you with you testimony I was just amazed at God’s faithfulness, favor, mercy, love and kindness and by the endurance of Don, Sondra and the many volunteers that worked with them. It has really encouraged me to be strong, courageous and committed to the dreams and the purposes that God has for my life. It is a guide that will help me as a leader in my church, community and abroad. Thank you for sharing this powerful book with me. It truly has changed my life.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Tipton
• Release date: May 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9780964530706

Don Tipton

Don and Sondra Tipton are the Founders and Directors of Friend Ships Unlimited.Friend Ships is a Christian humanitarian aid organization that has sailed ships throughout the world delivering relief supplies, carrying out disaster relief and conducting medical missions in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. The organization and its team work in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods and in the course of wars, famines and extreme poverty. The organization has been in service since 1983.

Book preview

Jesus

& COMPANY,

PART 1

He raises the poor from the

dust and lifts the needy from the

ash heap; he seats them with princes

and has them inherit a throne

of honor. "For the foundations of

the earth are the LORD's;

on them he has set the world.

- 1 Samuel 2:8

Jesus

& COMPANY,

PART 1

Don and Sondra Tipton

VIA VERDE PUBLISHING

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.

Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Jesus & Company, Part 1

Editor – Dorothy Miller

Editing by Chuck Dean

Copy Editing by Donna Goodrich

Typesetting by Jan Carroll

©1996 VIA VERDE PUBLISHING. 2014 Revised edition

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be copied or reprinted without the express permission of Friend Ships Publishing, with the exception of a review of this book whereby brief passages may be quoted by the reviewer with proper credit line. Write for permission to the address below.

ISBN: 0-9645307-0-8

Published by:

Via Verde Publishing

43500 Cactus Valley Road

Hemet, CA 92544

Printed in the United States

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the precious memory of Doug Ford and Vinicio Alvarez, two men who gave their lives in service to the Lord.

Spirit ship Chaplain Doug Ford and Spirit ship Chief Steward Vinicio Alvarez died of cerebral malaria contracted deep in Africa during a ship’s mission. Doug Ford died on Good Friday and was buried at sea on Easter Sunday. He is survived by his loving family, his wife Carla, son Justin, and daughter Melissa. Vinicio died on the Atlantic coast of South America two weeks later.

Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. In their young lives, these two loving men laid down their lives for their friends, for their neighbors, and for those they did not even know and they were never to meet, as they touched thousands, spreading the good news of the gospel and providing physical help to people in nations throughout the world.

The work of Friend Ships will forever include the memory of these two men and the foundation they laid for the work of the ministry as they gave their all for the cause of Christ.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

Publisher Preface

Foreword

Chapter 1-Into Soviet Waters

Chapter 2-A Change in Direction

Chapter 3-Visions and Dreams

Chapter 4-A Ship Bound for God’s Glory

Chapter 5-Just a Cheeseburger

Chapter 6-With Gratitude

Chapter 7-Double Gratitude

Chapter 8-A Tug in the Right Direction

Chapter 9-Thirty-Day Miracle

Chapter 10-Texas Loosey’s

Chapter 11-God’s Storehouse/Free Food—We Deliver

Chapter 12-Somebody Up There Likes Me

Chapter 13-Miracles on 190th Street

Chapter 14-Fear Not

Chapter 15-Just Waiting for Us

Chapter 16-From Jesus with Love

Chapter 17-Hearts for Russia

Chapter 18-Final Days of the Soviet Empire

Chapter 19-Go Ugly Early

Epilogue

PREFACE

We come not as ministers, theologians, or experts of any kind. We come as witnesses, testifying to the reality of God’s book of words and to the love and faithfulness of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

This book is about ordinary people in unusual circumstances with an extraordinary God. It is a record of miracles that occur daily, not miracles to merely get us started or occasionally scattered here and there, but miracles occurring each day—keeping mighty ships at sea and providing food to hungry masses around the world.

PREFACE TO THE

SECOND EDITION

Jesus & Company Part 1 was originally published in 1996, eleven years after the start of Friend Ships international ministry. It was written to share the wonderful, uplifting stories of how the Lord brought Friend Ships into existence and hopefully to inspire Christians to follow His call, knowing that He is with us and for us always.

We have been pleased with the fruit Jesus & Company Part 1 has borne so far. Over the years, we’ve received numerous reports of the motivation this story has brought to believers who yearn to step out and serve Him. Readers tell us that they pass copies from one to another in order to share the encouragement with their friends.

By now, we have been around long enough that the children of crew members (now adults) who spent a great deal of their youth traveling onboard the Spirit ship have called to tell us that they cherish their journeys as a precious memory. They say the time aboard the ship shaped their way of life.

Some leaders we met in the initial days of Friend Ships counseled us that although the Lord may launch a ministry in supernatural ways, once we were mature, we would have to put our feet on the ground and do things more traditionally. We have yet to get those feet on the ground or start to operate in a traditional sense and hope Friend Ships never will in our lifetime or the next generation to come! It has been almost thirty years since that day in early October that God kicked this whole wild ride into gear by giving us the Spirit ship. We are here as witnesses to tell you that every single day, from then until now, the Lord Jesus has been with us and for us! Every single day, He has provided a large group of awesome crew, all working hard to labor six and sometimes seven days a week, for only the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God. Every single day, He has provided food for three good meals, shelter, electricity, and meaningful work to fill our hands. And every single day, He has worked in each of our lives to grow and mature us, to overflow our hearts with joy, peace, and hope as we labored for good cause alongside our brothers and sisters.

God meets our needs, sometimes naturally and sometimes supernaturally, whatever the situation requires, but it is always Him leading and guiding our course. As you read the pages of this book, please see in them the fuel for acting on what the Lord has put in your heart, the encouragement to spend your life doing on His behalf, and the inspiration to fulfill the purpose for which you were born. Gain from these stories the courage to know that whatever your needs are, He is great enough to fill them, He wants to do so, and He will, when your heart is set on pleasing Him. See in these chapters that if we are faithful (even when we make mistakes), tenacious (even when we fail), steadfast (even when our knees are weak), and willing to trust Him (even with no hope in sight), our steps will be ordered by the Lord and our days made sure.

Thank you for embarking on this journey. We bring you Jesus & Company Part 1.

PUBLISHER PREFACE

The Holy Bible begins and ends with displays of God’s supernatural power. Scripture pages resound with records of God’s mighty works, both in the earth and in the lives of His people. Most Christians read, and thoroughly believe, in the biblical miracles. They also know that Jesus Christ is the "same yesterday, today, and forever, yet few expect to see God’s supernatural intervention today in their own lives. Most say God can do the impossible" yet never personally choose the risk of taking the Lord at His Word.

When God created people, He asked for their trust, but since that time, only a few—a very few—have stepped out in faith and put the Lord’s promises to the test. God has never failed them.

George Mueller of the nineteenth century became known as that person of faith. Now, one hundred years later, the book Jesus & Company recounts the story of two more such people. This volunteer couple, the Tipton’s, dare daily to walk in faith and believe in God’s miraculous ability and desire to provide for His children.

Because of space, they record in this book only a small fraction of the wonderful stories, miraculous answers to prayer, and names of the committed volunteers who have joined them in this faith ministry. As God provides time and resources, we hope to publish more volumes to the praise and honor of our wonderful Lord.

Readers cannot dismiss this book as a wonderful account of a holy man and woman. No, indeed! This is the record of many ordinary Christians from all walks of life who are daring to set aside temporal goals and comforts in order to serve their living and powerful Lord. When reading these pages, it is not enough just to marvel over God’s strength and tender concern. We must each ask ourselves, Have I gone far enough yet with God?

FOREWORD

Don Tipton is without a doubt one of the most amazing men I have ever met. His grasp of the awesomeness of God is unbelievable.

If any man has removed the word can’t from his every action and thought, it is Don Tipton. Godly, selflesshelpful, caring, and intelligent, along with the greatest faith I have ever seen, describes this marvelous man.

This book will lift you to plateaus of faith and trust you have not yet comprehended. It is a must read for anyone willing to do the impossible for God.

—Tommy Barnett

CHAPTER 1

INTO SOVIET WATERS

A day and a half outside of Soviet waters, gunboats appeared on the horizon, observing us, and then dropping back to starboard. It was August 1991; the atmosphere was tense and eerie. The gunboats remained several hundred yards away while a patrol boat appeared on our stern. We studied the occupants with our binoculars, discovering that they also had their binoculars turned on us. Suddenly, another military ship appeared off our bow. To our surprise, a large cruiser loomed dead ahead, then nosed out of sight. Throughout the afternoon, it kept disappearing, then reappearing.

As the day wore on, military ships surrounded us—one to port, one to starboard, one astern, and the cruiser across our bow. One of our crew members joked, We haven’t heard the news in weeks. There could have been a military coup here, and we wouldn’t even know it had happened!

Our ship’s agent in Germany had promised to telex our estimated time of arrival to the USSR maritime authority, but we had no confirmation that contact had actually been made.

Proper maritime protocol is to display the flag of the country in whose waters you are sailing so as we entered Soviet waters and approached the port of Riga, we raised the red flag of the USSR with its yellow hammer and sickle. Because these waters had been Latvian before that nation was taken over by communism, we raised the burgundy-and-white striped Latvian flag beneath the hammer and sickle. Our American stars and stripes continued to wave proudly from the stern.

Our written sailing directions told us which radio channel to use in order to communicate with the Soviets. We tried repeatedly but got no response.

Finally, an operator came back and commanded us to switch to a new channel. Excitedly we complied.

A voice in English, but heavy with a Slavic accent, crackled through the airwaves: Identify yourself!

Our chief mate responded, "Motor vessel Spirit.

The Slavic voice asked him to repeat it.

The mate spelled out the vessel’s name in the phonetics alphabet: "Motor vessel Spirit—Sierra, Papa, India, Romeo, India, Tango. There was a long silence and then came the request again. Motor vessel Spirit, repeat, Spirit."

How many people? How much cargo? the voice demanded.

We responded, "We are the mercy vessel Spirit, an American flagship carrying food, clothing, and medicine to bless your people in need."

The radio fell silent.

On Sunday, August 18, we made our final approach into Riga. We were the first American ship to sail into this Baltic harbor for sixteen years. Riga’s port was known as a stronghold of military strength that housed a large reserve of navy vessels. We sailed quietly past a nuclear submarine base as our gunboat escorts continued to tail us. Finally, a Soviet tug came alongside the ship and escorted us into port.

We berthed the Spirit and tied off our lines. Glaring at us as we lowered the gangway that spans from the ship to the dock, KGB guards took position at the base of the plank. Others took stations at our bow and stern. Some stood watch in dockside towers that loomed above the ship. When I focused our video camera in the direction of the gangway guards, they shook their heads and made fists at me.

One remaining gunboat which had followed us into the harbor dropped anchor a few hundred yards away. We could still see military personnel on deck observing us with binoculars. As night fell, they bathed us with powerful searchlights, scanning the ship from one end to the other, a routine they continued throughout every night.

In the morning, we had a prayer meeting followed by breakfast and then prepared for our first day of cargo operations in the ominous Soviet Union. Because all arrangements for the mission had been made with the Gorbachov government well in advance of our arrival, we were confident our unloading would transpire smoothly. We had received all necessary permission to discharge four thousand tons of humanitarian aid for church distribution throughout the USSR. The Soviets had also guaranteed us that all fees would be waived.

However, at 9:00 a.m., Boris Iofis, a lawyer who had been completing all our paperwork, arrived at the ship bearing grim news. Solemnly, he took me aside to tell me quietly that Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union, had been kidnapped or perhaps even killed. All international broadcasts and free television had been blacked out.

The streets of Riga soon filled with Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers. Riga’s port was sealed, the road to Leningrad barricaded, and all telecommunications cut off. Now, martial law ruled. Members of the elite killer forces, the dreaded Black Beret patrolled the streets, suppressing any possible Latvian rebellion. Laws of the Baltic States and all other republics were nullified, and their parliaments were disbanded—only Soviet law was in effect.

Yes, as hard as it was to believe, the Soviet Union was in the midst of a full-blown, hard line communist coup d’état! Stunned, I excused myself from Boris and walked up to the ship’s bridge to try and sort out what to do. The world reeled because of what had just happened, and so did I.

Seventy-five men, women, and children, a multimillion-dollar vessel, and eight million dollars’ worth of cargo under my leadership were suddenly, and unexpectedly, tied up in a very hostile port. I had led these faithful and innocent volunteers to rebuild this old ship, load it up with supplies, and sail thousands of miles across two oceans to deliver the love of Jesus in the form of Bibles, food, clothing, and medical supplies to our Soviet brothers and sisters who were hungry and in need.

What have I done? I thought. I’ve brought unsuspecting people, who simply trusted in God’s mission, straight into the arms of a hardline communist takeover in the feared and ruthless USSR!

Standing there on the bridge, I began to remember the comfortable life my wife and I had lived just a few short years ago as owners of the Beverly Hills area Park West Polo Club and Hunt Club.

I thought, Lord, how on earth did we get here?

My life up to this point began to play back through my mind as I stood looking out at this hostile harbor, so far away from California.

CHAPTER 2

A CHANGE IN DIRECTION

Growing up in Newhall, California, my mother made sure that we regularly attended church. Then, at age thirteen, I invited Jesus Christ into my heart. It was a profound experience—one I’d never forget. Therefore throughout the years, I always considered myself a Christian. God faithfully watched over me, bringing His men in and out of my life. But it was a lukewarm, quasi-Christian existence, with a base of Jell-O, nothing firm in my commitment. The word unreal would best apply. Twenty-six years later, my major focus was operating a hunter-jumper horse ranch in Brentwood, California, and the ownership of an exclusive equestrian polo club in Pacific Palisades. By then, any real interest in Christ had mostly faded away. Jesus was no longer a part of my conscious life.

One summer day, a young woman named Sondra paid a visit to the polo club. That was the first time we met, and we were drawn to each other right away. As our friendship developed, I saw that Sondra was searching desperately for a relationship with God.