John Shrader

John in November of 2018

### Children

Enoch Shrader, Alatheia Shrader, Timothy Shrader, Nehemiah Shrader, Agape Shrader, Elijah Shrader, Charis Shrader, Sophia Shrader, Stephen Shrader, Isaiah Shrader, Caleb Shrader, Joseph Shrader, Daniel Shrader, Josiah Shrader

John Shrader is the oldest of Rick and Jodi Shrader's five children. He is married to Esther Shrader, and they have thirteen children, Enoch, Alatheia, Timothy, Nehemiah, Agape, Elijah, Charis, Sophia, Stephen, Isaiah, Caleb, Joseph, Daniel and Josiah

## Early Life

John Eric Shrader was born on June 29, 1977, to Rick Shrader and Jodi Muirhead. He was the couple's oldest child, and they went on to have four more children after him.

John's father was a Baptist pastor. It is assumed that this was a change from his father's extended family based on John's characterization of his paternal grandfather as a "drunken womanizer".

John was saved at five years old, and was baptized shortly after. As a young child, he was the church pianist. He felt the call to be a preacher at 10 years old. Along with his siblings, John was homeschooled. He also went on a number of missions while growing up, with locations including Mexico, Russia, Japan, and Peru. At some point in his young life he also attended a Christian boot camp.

## Family

### Marriage

John married Esther Keller on November 3, 2001.

### Fatherhood

While living in Katy, TX, he and his wife Esther had their first three children, Enoch (1/17/03), Alatheia (3/13/04), and Timothy (8/2/05).

While living in Brewster, WA, they welcomed their fourth child, Nehemiah (1/20/07).

While living in The Dalles, OR, the couple welcomed three more children, Agape (6/3/08), Elijah (9/28/10), and Charis (6/25/11). Another child, Sophia (3/6/13), was born while the family was traveling the US in a pop-up camper.

After moving to Zambia to serve on the mission field, John's wife Esther gave birth to Stephen (9/11/14), Isaiah (6/2/16), Caleb (1/2/18), Joseph (3/8/20), Daniel (10/13/22) and Josiah (1/17/24) in Zambia .

## Career

### Education

John pursued his undergraduate studies at a Baptist church school in Independence, MO, that operated under Tri-City Baptist Church. After that, he transferred to Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary in Newington, CT where he earned a Masters of Biblical Studies in 2001.

### Pastor Career

After earning his master's, John served as the associate pastor at Tri-County Baptist Church in Katy, TX, under his father for five years. He then served under Pastor Albert Fare at New Testament Baptist Church in Brewster, WA, for a year and a half before moving to a church plant in The Dalles, OR.

### Missionary Career

John felt called to serve overseas while preaching in Oregon. In 2011, the opportunity opened up to move to Zambia through TeamZambia lead by David Rea. He and his wife went on a survey trip in 2012, where they felt this was where God wanted their family to serve. John began his pre-missionary deputation in August of 2012, and he and his family moved to Zambia some time in 2013.

#### Controversy

A number of the former disciples from John's church in Zambia have recently started calling him out for being prideful and narcissistic.

In April of 2017, John posted on his Facebook that one of his disciples, Aracde Niyomwungere, had "turned against" him and started contacting others about him on Facebook. Shortly after, he began asking his Facebook friends to let him know if Arcade contacted them about him.

After a number of vague posts about things going against him, John posted the following on Facebook in August of 2017:

> "Well, today the situations got much worse. I can honestly say that this has been the worst two days (in country ministry related) in our entire time in Zambia. Esther and I have cried until there seem to be no more tears over what God is revealing in some.
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> We are also receiving threats and church members are as well. One brother's life has been threatened twice. Others threatened with beatings. It's hard to process actually.
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> I can honestly say that God is bringing me to the end of myself through all of this. That's my desire.
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> I'm thanking Him for this tonight.
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> I also tremble to see what may happen here.
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> "Be not deceived, God is not mocked..."
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> "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a Living God."
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> "Our God is a consuming fire"
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> Please pray that Esther and I continue resting in God's Grace, Peace, and Love. He is keeping our hearts and minds in a way I've never experienced before.
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> Bro. John for Esther and the family"
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Another former disciple, Handia Mwisho, regularly posts about him on social media.

> "God is truly revealing a lot about the "missionary" that led me to Christ, #JohnEstherShrader regarding his fire-red desperation to succeed in ministry that hinders him from being effective. Now my good friends that he was brainwashing to support him even when he is wrong, Roderick and Boyd, have finally seen how deceitful, manipulating and dishonest he is.
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> These two faithful young gentlemen have asked the missionary to step down as the pastor of their church (my former church) because he is evidently not right with God, but he is so drunk with pride that the thought of genuine humility and repentance seems ridiculous to him.
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> I also learned with disgust recently how he lied to the government of Zambia in order to get a visa for one of the two Burundian men he failed to train. As a die hard patriot of this lovely diversely cultured nation, this bothers me a great deal but that is not the the core issue here (despite the fact that it is an criminal offence according to the laws of our beloved nation.)" -Handia Mwisho in August of 2017
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In late 2017, John was the subject of investigation for illegal activities and problems regarding his visa. The specific accusations are unknown. On December 30, 2017, Handia Mwisho commented on this, saying:

> "I can't understand how someone would stand against their own brother in an attempt to win a place in a white man's heart as a "favorite" ;but at the same time I can sympathise.
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> When the only person sponsoring your education and other needs is a narcissistic fraud with an over inflated god-complex, I can see how one would do anything to maintain such a connection regardless of its manipulative aspects in a country where most people have little or nothing.
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> My prayer for Zambia is for every child, man, and woman to be emancipated from constant dependency on a particular type of race for our own sustainability. We are capable of greater things than mere dependency.
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> It infuriates me that someone can just waltz into our backyard, arrogantly declare how they want us to live, and we blindly comply even if it means going against fundamental principles of who we are as a nation.
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> Let us be careful to always wisely analyse the motives behind a person's actions, whether you're 16 years old or 30, especially if that person parades the name of the almighty for everything they do. Man is not God. Man should never be allowed to hold you hostage with financial support as the weapon.
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> God is man's provider. Not man."
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On December 31, 2017, John said that he had been found innocent:

> Immigration has established and acknowledged my innocence and the head Regional officer called the local officials and informed them I'm free to minister and not to be threatened with arrest! Praise the Lord. Thanks so much for your prayers.
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*profile photo credit*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20140829022439/http://shrader.teamzambia.com:80/about-us/
2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/john.shrader.125/posts/10209282207002414?sw\_fnr\_id=3441341081&fnr\_t=0
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9emI240T-0M
4. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/john.shrader.125/posts/10215563718796283
5. ↑ https://imgur.com/a/Vg7Gjrk
6. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/john.shrader.125/timeline/story?ut=32&wstart=-2051193600&wend=2147483647&hash=4831864324701&pagefilter=3&ustart=1
7. ↑ https://duggarconfessionsnark.tumblr.com/post/164489557014/im-getting-ready-to-take-an-indefinite-break-from
8. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/john.shrader.125/posts/10208755691759862
9. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/john.shrader.125/posts/10209576904329663
10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/kapolo.mwisho/posts/455194394867739
11. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/kapolo.mwisho/posts/512179382502573
12. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/john.shrader.125/posts/10210508800426483