An Open Letter to Charles Wheeling

    by Luis Munilla

 PART 2

Date of Publication 1994

VANCE FERRELL'S CRITIQUE OF DO MIRRORS EVER LIE? BY CHARLES WHEELING

Luis then passed out a copy of Vance Ferrell's critique of Charles November 93 Update cassette entitled, Do Mirrors Ever Lie?

All of the board members were familiar with Ferrell's critique. David Caine stated that we were losing our goals at Countdown Ministries. David Caine, Bill, and Luis stated that we have no business sending out any other materials, with ministry funds, except the Spirit of Prophecy books.

Luis stated that, Short of a miracle from God, this November 93 Update cassette, with its blatant attack and rejection of the Spirit of Prophecy, will be the end of this ministry.

Charles stated that the book distribution had been seized by a bunch of Feastkeepers. I answered that the feasts may be believed or disbelieved, but they do not tear down the pillars of our faith, nor do they attack the Spirit of Prophecy.

I also reminded Charles and the board that I have never used the funds of this ministry for any of my personal letters, or seminars, or postage, or to advertise the 7 feasts of the Lord and the 1994 Jubilee!

Charles stated that it was now the rumor that only Feastkeepers could take part in these trips abroad to distribute books.

I reminded Charles that when we went to Russia, India, or Mexico, not one person from the ministry desired to go, even though I personally encouraged them to go. Many times the excuse used was that it would be dangerous work for Americans to take part in.

I reminded Charles that he has not gone on one of these trips. I said the same thing to David, his brother. I also reminded Charles that, when the people were chosen to go to Germany, I was in France. When Charles faxed me the people that would go to Germany, which he chose, I immediately complained of three people whom I believed were very old for the work.

I suggested very strongly that they should not go, not because they were not Feastkeepers, but because they could not endure the walking and long hours that was required in France, and someone else would have to carry the burden. As it turned out, Charles decided that all three people should go on the trip, and they did. Of the people that went to Germany, there were more non-Feastkeepers than Feastkeepers.

At this point Charles presented, on an overhead projector, certain quotes regarding Ellen G. Whites writings, attempting to prove that she copied much of her writings. Much discussion followed.

THE NOTES PAYABLE

I reminded the board that six months ago we had entertained much discussion regarding whether or not we should pay outstanding notes payable, totaling more than $273,000, plus accrued interest. The board had agreed, at that time, to always keep a reserve of $300,000, in case these notes had to be paid back. A certain board member, who prior to this meeting had already resigned, insisted that the notes should be paid back since we could not use the money anyway. The money was earning 3% interest in the bank and we were paying the note holders 8%.

David Caine and Luis Munilla now insisted that, because of our precarious financial condition at this moment, the money should be paid back. If for any reason we use some of these reserved funds and did not have the moneys necessary to repay these loans, as board members we could be held legally liable.

Luis also reminded the board that two of these notes, totaling more than $85,000, had already expired in March, and it was our duty to pay these moneys back, since note holders had been contacted regarding extending the notes and they had not responded.

Charles stated that two of these notes were over 90 years old, and if the money was paid back, they would just reinvest the money with another ministry; and, if they died, another ministry would benefit instead of us. He insisted that we should not pay the money now until he could personally visit with them in California.

CHARLES REQUESTS A SIX-MONTHS SABBATICAL WITH PAY OR ELSE HE RESIGNS

Charles stated that he had some projects in mind that he wanted to accomplish before the end of the year; and, in December, he would like to request that the board grant him a six-month sabbatical with pay, otherwise he would resign.

Luis told Charles that we have now come to the end of the world, when we need to be working the hardest, and that he could not with a clear conscience, allow Charles to receive Gods money for six months  without working. No further action was entertained on this topic.

THE CRUCIAL MOTION

A motion was presented by Luis Munilla as follows:

That Charles Wheeling stop all prophet bashing, or speaking against Mrs. White in his seminars, or mailing out from this ministry anything against Mrs. White in the form of videos, cassette tapes, or literature.

This motion tendered would eventually be delivered upon for almost two hours. During this period, Judy Wheeling asked to resign or be taken off the board, three times. Three times Luis requested a vote be taken on the motion. On the third time, Bill seconded the motion, and Judy and Charles opposed it.

Just prior to the deciding vote being cast by David Caine, Charles stated that if the motion was voted on, he would resign and the ministry would end.

Luis stated that we could not now remain silent while Charles made these attacks against Mrs. White.

After another heated discussion, and immediately before David was to cast his vote, Charles rose to his feet, said he resigned, and left the room. At this point, David was again asked to cast the deciding vote on the motion, which he did in favor of the motion, at which time Judy left the room. A few minutes later, David Wheeling also left the room.

The three remaining board members had prayer, and sat down again to conclude the board meeting and vote to accept the resignation of Charles Wheeling, which we did. As we were about to consider the resignation of Judy Wheeling, which had been tendered three times, two employees burst into the room, followed by the others, and angrily accused the three board members of firing Charles. In addition, they demanded, by screaming at the top of their lungs, that an employee meeting should be called immediately.

Luis stated that it was 8:00 p.m., that it had been a long day, and that it would be best to have the employee meeting early Friday morning. At that point, one of the principal employees in the ministry, speaking personally to Luis demanded again, If an employee meeting is not called immediately, your house may be torched. Due to these circumstances, the board meeting turned into an employee meeting.

THE EMPLOYEE MEETING

For nearly half an hour before the employee meeting began, Luis, especially, and the other two board members were angrily and loudly accused of being fanatical Feastkeepers, even though one of the board members is not, and never has been a Feastkeeper.

We were accused of playing Holy Spirit by telling Charles what to speak on. We were accused of maliciously orchestrating a takeover of the ministry.

The words, I hate you, were addressed to Luis Munilla, and were heard loudly and angrily by at least two people. Luis was told loudly, angrily, and by many people at the same time, Why dont you leave the ministry; we do not want you here. Finally, 8:30, the meeting began.

Luis spoke for half an hour or more, and presented a recap of what had taken place at the board meeting—including the precarious financial condition, the comparative income statements and donors reports, and the suggestion of potentially laying off employees.

Throughout the board meeting and employee meeting, angry and loud remarks were made against Feastkeepers.

The following two references were not quoted at the meeting because I was clearly told, by one of the principal employees at the ministry, not to use any Spirit of Prophecy quotes; but I must use them here to clear this issue.

Mrs. White stated:

 The agencies of evil are combining their forces, and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.9 Testimonies, 11.

She also stated:

The heavenly messengers seen by Ezekiel, like a bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning, represent the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion.4 Bible Commentary, 1161.

Luis made it clear that the board members of this ministry had been chosen by Charles himself; and, that now since Charles and Judy had resigned, the legal board of this ministry was composed of Bill, David, and himself.

Luis stated, on behalf of Bill and himself, that when they came here many years ago, Charles did not attack Gods prophet. Back then, Charles did not reject the pillars of our faith. Luis reminded the employees of a vision Mrs. White had, entitled A Firm Platform, found on page 259 of Early Writings.

Mrs. White states:

I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation. Some with rejoicing immediately stepped upon it. Others commenced to find fault with the foundation. They wished improvements made, and then the platform would be more perfect, and the people much happier. Some stepped off the platform to examine it and declared it to be laid wrong. But I saw that nearly all stood firm upon the platform and exhorted those who had stepped off to cease their complaints; for God was the Master Builder, and they were fighting against Him. They recounted the wonderful work of God, which had led them to the firm platform, and, in unison, raised their eyes to heaven and with a loud voice glorified God. [Early Writings, 259].

Luis then asked the employees, Who has gotten off the platform, you or us? We still believe the same as we believed when we came. You, on the other hand, have totally rejected what you have believed for many years

I then answered some questions and exhausted, depressed, and discouraged, sat down. As soon as I sat down, another principal employee made the remark that the remaining board members were going to have a hard time running the ministry, since she had taken the mailing list and the accounting files out of the computer.

Charles then spoke for 45 minutes and presented his side of the story, which was again composed of arguments trying to prove that in fact Ellen G. White copied Great Controversy and many other books.

THE BALM OF GILEAD IS APPLIED

During Charles discourse, as I was sitting bewildered and exhausted in my seat, I asked the Lord: Father, what am I doing here? What do I do now? Immediately I heard (not audibly) that still small voice speaking to my heart and saying, Relax, and I will tell you what to do.

I was very clearly impressed by the Holy Spirit, that the remaining three board members were to go to the bank, early in the morning, and purchase six cashiers checks totaling more than $302,000 to pay off the note holders.

I was further impressed to purchase a seventh cashiers check in the amount of $60,000, from which to pay current bills that were outstanding and other miscellaneous expenses, including, but not limited to, printing and mailing a letter of apology on behalf to this ministry, for Charles blatant attacks against the Spirit of Prophecy.

After Charles finished speaking, I stated that we had voted on principle. That the action of most of the employees of this ministry against the Spirit of Prophecy was an insult to the Spirit of God, and that to attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to that of man was blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

I reminded the employees that, for eight months,  I had been asking them to stop speaking against the Spirit of Prophecy because Gods curse would rest upon the ministry; and, that now, in my opinion, the financial condition of the ministry was the result of our actions.

I further stated that, contrary to the assertions being made that this was a takeover of the ministry, the remaining board members had no intentions of running this ministry by force or by court order, even though, legally, we were empowered to do so.

Further I stated that, if Charles refused to resign and the employees of this ministry were going to withhold the tools necessary for the proper accomplishment of the duties of this ministry, then the remaining board members would have no other alternative but to resign, since we were prohibited, by the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, to seek redress in a court of law. At that point, prayer was offered and the meeting came to an end.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE $500,000 STOLEN

Pursuant to the Holy Spirits clear instructions, early the next morning David Caine, Bill Wiese, and I left promptly for the main office of our bank in Birmingham at 8:00 a.m. Birmingham is 45 minutes north from our local bank, which is just 7 minutes from the ministry. We purposely went to Birmingham to avoid cleaning our dirty laundry locally. Upon our arrival at the bank I requested approximately $362,000 in cashiers checks, and I waited and waited and waited.

Finally the teller returned and said, I'm sorry Sir, but you will have to see a bank official. The bank official said, to me, that there was a problem with the funds. I requested that she contact our local bank official in Jemison, and she stated that our local bank official was precisely whom she talked to.

I then requested that I speak to our local bank official. And, when I asked what the problem was, she said, Luis, there seems to be a problem at Countdown Ministries, and a hold has been requested on the funds. I then explained to her that there was a good possibility that we would resign from the board; and, before we did, we wanted to make sure that certain note holders were paid off, since, as board members, we were legally responsible.

Being an attorney and knowing my legal rights, I then stated to my local bank official that a personal request from an officer in a corporation is not sufficient to hold the funds in an account. I told her that since I was in the main branch in Birmingham, I would be most happy to visit their legal department, and present copies of the promissory notes owed, which we as a corporation have a right to pay. I suggested to her to please consult her legal staff and call me back in 10 minutes. Just a few minutes later she called back and the funds were released, and we went home!

THE ATTACKS TURN TO LUIS  WIFE AND CHILDREN

Arriving home, I found out that my wife and children had received unwelcome visitors. My children stated that a principal employee of the ministry,  with his wife, had come down our driveway very fast and beeping the horn. They got out of the car and proceeded to bang loudly and vigorously on our door.

My wife opened the door and stepped outside; and, there on the front lawn, I was loudly accused of being a thief, of orchestrating a takeover of the ministry, of playing the Holy Spirit, and thinking myself and my family so holy that, perhaps, we should be worshiped.

At this point, this individual physically and mockingly bowed down before my wife, on our front lawn, and pretended to worship her. He also used unchristian language repeatedly.

This sad incident was concluded by the statement: What Luis needs is some milk to clear his brains. Why don't you leave this place? We don't want you here!

IN A FIT OF ANGER THE TRUTH IS REVEALED

After things settled down at home, I proceeded to call the individual above mentioned. As soon as he heard my voice, he screamed, You thief, you crooked thief, to which I responded, if you want to talk, I will explain what I have done.

As I again reiterated that our intentions were to resign and not take over the ministry, and that what I had done was perfectly legal, I asked, By the way, how did you know that the money was not in the bank?

At this point, he again burst into a wild rage and loudly screamed over the phone, because you are a thief, a white trash thief. And, in order to protect ourselves from you, I went to the bank and was about to withdraw the money to place it in a separate account and keep you from messing with it, when I was told that you had already purchased cashiers checks.

In reply I could only say, Even though you have  falsely accused me all over the country of being a thief, you went to the bank to do the same thing I did, except that I beat you to it.

Only God knew what would happen, and I was successful because I followed perfectly the clear instructions of Gods Holy Spirit, given the night before! Later that morning, the wife of the same employee loudly accused me by stating to my face, in front of her husband, How could you, how could you, expose the internal affairs of this ministry, that has existed for years in this community, by going to the bank and causing this embarrassing situation?

I answered that I had driven 45 miles to Birmingham to prevent exposing our dirty laundry, and that I would have obtained the cashiers checks without any problem; that it was her husband who had gone to the local bank to hold the funds. She looked bewildered at him and did not say a word

Later that afternoon, I learned that an employee had gone to Bills front door and kicked it so hard, that it bent the aluminum and had to be repaired.

A FORCED RESIGNATION

Here we are one week later. All of the note holders and outstanding bills have been paid with cashiers checks and sent by certified mail. Gods business has been carried out decently and in order.

Charles Wheeling has refused to abide by the majority vote of the board of Inspiration Books East, Inc. The present board members do not desire to reject clear counsel from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, by exercising their legal right to seek redress in a court of law.

In view of these circumstances, the three remaining legal board members Bill Wiese, David Caine, and Luis Munilla have unanimously tendered their resignation as board members and officers of Inspiration Books East, Inc. on July 22, 1994.

Your Brother in Christ,  Luis Manilla

CONTINUE- PART 3