STEVE'S BIO

By Steve Van Nattan

 

This is a bio of no particular color really. It us simply where the Lord Jesus Christ,
in his sovereign will, has lead me along. Perhaps it will help you to understand
the context of the yarns in this section.

 

 

Birth-  1943-- Where? City of the Angels-- Los Angeles, California-- I could never be a California governor--
I was not born in Austria.

The following transpired between 1943 and the present.

-- Oklahoma and Arkansas when my Dad was a pastor and student at John Brown University
              I was "born again" during this time of my life.
-- Back to Los Angeles--  School at 79th Street School
-- Mojave Desert where my Dad pastored
-- Deputation and Travel to live in Africa-- My parents were missionaries
-- Lived in Tanganyika when at "home" and Kijabe, Kenya at school--  Rift Valley Academy
-- Furlough with my parents-- lived in South Gate, California--  School at South Gate High
-- Tanzania when at "home" and Rift Valley Academy at school
-- Spent a year after high school with parents in Tanzania
-- Biola College (now university)-- BA in Christian Ed.
-- Moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan--  Married and worked at Brown Paper Co
-- US Army--  Fort Knox, Kentucky the whole time-- "Chair born" Chaplain's Assistant
-- Taught at Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music--  Rented from Denny Den Hollander.
-- Deputation and travel to Ethiopia as missionaries first term--  Lived at Decamhare (Boys
              school), Eritrea, --Debre Birhan and Langano, Ethiopia--  Youth Camp development
-- Short furlough to raise funds for youth camp at Langano
-- Lived at Lake Langano, and finally had to leave Ethiopia  due to Marxist coup
-- To Kenya as missionaries-- At Nairobi and finally Eldoret
              Headmaster of Hope Bible Institute
-- Religion (Dini) classes taught in Secondary School--  Teacher training in night school
-- Returned to Michigan, and later to Yermo, California to pastor Yermo Bible Church
              Also, restored cars and school teaching.
-- Delton, Michigan to pastor Interlakes Baptist Church
-- To Grant, Michigan to pastor Grace Bible Church--  Took up piano tuning during this era--
             Periodic member of the the Hilltop Cafe Committee of 45-- Frank Hall presiding.
-- To Whetstone, Arizona to be near my parents and pastor Independent Bible Church--  present 
            This Journal, Balaam's Ass Speaks originated during this era.
-- Most recently, our family moved to the green hills of Eastern Tennessee where orange and white
            are the colors of choice. This is due to the fame of the E. Tennessee University Volunteers.
            I kid you not-- A fully decked out Ford '68 pick up, in orange and white, to include orange and white
            tuck and roll and airbrushed pictures of the coach and quarter back, is the most sacred icon
            of this part of the world. Alabama is hated for no other reason than that they have defeated
            the Vols too often.
-- This is where I have my Web business selling piano parts and tools to Do-It-Yourselfers.
CHECK IT OUT :-)

SIDE NOTES:  During my parents' missionary era and that of my wife and I, we traveled to South Africa, England, all of East Africa, the Netherlands, nearly every state of the USA, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Canada, and Mexico.  My wife could add France, Italy, Germany, the Congo, and most everywhere I have been.  I have lived with people in Africa who were from Somalia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Goa, The Seychelles, New Zealand, The UK, Australia, Arab lands, Egypt, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, The Lebanon, South Africa, The Republic of Texas, and other countries.  I am also quite proud to tell you that I have visited Putney, Kentucky and I learned to say "Putney" right.  I had to, or the folks I preached to would not have given me the offering.  

I have never flown in a UFO, but I have flown in a Viscount which landed on cobblestones at Bengazzi. I have never seen Yannis or Greys, but I had to listen, for three hours, to an alleged Baptist preacher who claimed he was being asked by the US Government to be a missionary to Yannis inside the earth. I was, of course, left a bit skeptical, but life sure ain't boring folks. "The rest of the story" will hopefully work its way out in the various yarns told below :-)

OFFER:  May I invite any of my past friends to contribute to this page of yarns?  You must have been there when I was there so I can be sure there are no tricks on this page.  There are a number of yarns which I cannot recall properly, such as the luxury flight of Lyle Jacobson to Catalina Island.  By this point in time, the Feds would probably overlook the FAA infractions-- Please send the story Lyle.  Norm Goss, would you like to tell about your tour of the oil fields in the old Comet?  Splendid opportunity to terrify my readers!  It would be very interesting to hear an account from another culprit :-)

 

 

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