In 1980, my young parents were approached by Leslie Olson, then the overseer of SD. He asked them if they would be willing to find a place to host convention. It was promised they would be helped financially as is the usual practice with maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc. They were to take care of their own expenses and maintain the place. They soon located a ranch that they could afford, with the help of my mother’s father. Together they invested, and the building began. By 1983, it was ready and they held the first Hermosa convention.
In 1985, Leslie was transferred to be overseer of Kansas, and all financial help ended, from then on until we lost the place in 2001. No explanation why. Meanwhile, the building continued, and the taxes, utilities, insurance, and maintenance increased. Dad farmed and ranched, which often barely sustained itself in those days. He hauled logs on top of this to try to stay afloat, until he nearly wrecked himself with fatigue. My earliest memories of him are of constantly waking him up to finish reading me a book, as he kept falling asleep upright in the chair. The poor man! I was too young to understand. He then found another job closer to home where he worked in addition to running his own business, but it didn’t pay as well.
The Reagan economical era put my mother’s father in financial trouble, and dad had to refinance to buy him out, putting him further in debt at a time when interest rates were some of the highest America’s ever seen. Still no financial help. No idea why. There where many eager helping hands among the friends for the physical labor of building projects, preps work, maintenance work during preps/convention, etc. With the willingness of the community sharing in that way, it’s hard to imagine there wasn’t financial sharing also. It just seemed to all stop with the workers. That’s a difficult thing to know or prove, back then or even now, when the whole thing runs on cash and secret accounts with no accountability or transparency. There has been a trained-in thought process in this fellowship that we do not talk openly about the “money stuff”. This has caused problems for many convention grounds owners, as well as allowing unchecked corruption to proliferate.
Somewhere in the late 80s or early 90s, Joe Hobbs was moved to SD. He had a reputation as a hothead who had left tracks everywhere he went. Somewhere along the line, talk turned to the idea of building a big building to replace the 3 tents that were erected every year. Dad refused since he clearly couldn’t afford the expenses on that too, which was very unpopular with the workers. I’m not sure if the building was Joe’s idea, but he was a big promoter of it. When Freddy Bryanton passed away, Joe was very much expecting to become the next overseer. But, Lyle Schober was brought in to be the overseer, and Joe ended up serving under Lyle, who was younger than him, for around 2 years. It was painfully obvious how hard that was on his ego, even though there were a fair number of brother workers older than him serving on the same staff. Joe was very difficult to be around those 2 years, and although this time may have been intended to help him “grow in grace,” in reality it seemed to escalate him toward the way he behaved later.
Eventually, Joe was appointed overseer around 1996, and he began to insist the building must happen. When dad told him he couldn’t afford it, he then wanted dad to sell the place to someone who could. And dad was willing to-for the last 7 years he was trying to sell it to someone who would continue convention. This was made impossible by the fact that as soon as he found someone interested, the workers jumped in the middle of it to facilitate the negotiations. At which point, anyone who saw the problem with this immediately withdrew from the situation. Richard Harbur came to SD around 1997, and he soon slid into the role of right hand man to Joe, very involved in all of these situations. Sometimes it was hard to determine where the enmity was coming from Richard, or Joe. Or, Both.
Dad took on all the work he could find, and was constantly scrambling to make ends meet. My older brother and I worked off the ranch and poured all we were able into trying to help sustain the place. In the timeframe from 1985 to 2001 the only assistance that came was when one of the friends anonymously mailed us a $100 bill. I think that was around 1993. It left a big impression on me, because it meant so much to us.
At some point, Joe became aware that dad was behind on the real estate taxes, and making payments on them. So, he and Richard began to spread the word that dad was “dishonest”, because “he didn’t pay his taxes.” Dad got caught back up on the taxes (still with no help), and then Joe insisted that as long as he was living on the place, there could not be convention there, because “he was dishonest.”
Many will remember this milestone, because that was the year Joe decided to try and hold convention at a Methodist Church camp near Rapid City. That year, our Sunday meeting elder, Clarence Foos, stepped in to help. He did some asking around, and found out from the church camp administration that Joe was going to pay them $30,000 for the use of the camp. Together, he and dad reached out to Barry Barclay. Barry made Joe restore convention for that year, and told him to “leave us alone.”
Joe then bought a junky old semi trailer and parked it on the grounds, spray painted “convention” on many items and locked them up in the semi-trailer. We saw a number of our tools get painted with “convention” and locked in that trailer. Joe made a big deal out of how this was necessary because of the “dishonesty.” A young brother worker who had grown up near us returned for a visit from the Ukraine, and I saw Joe talking to him very passionately about things for several days before convention. That young brother then used his time at the mic to tell us it was really different to be here this time, that some of us had “wasted”, and that there was a “meeting that had taken their own way.” This was one of the more blatant and public displays, but Clarence Foos and his family definitely got lumped in with the shaming, just for standing with us. They were also the “people on the ranch,” which Steve Blubaugh spoke of in his interview on David Alink’s YouTube channel, who helped him when he was abandoned. It was a powerful thing for me to listen to Steve’s interview and hear him choke up with gratitude, remembering after all these years.
After being told to “leave us alone,” things were better for nearly a year. By next prep time, the harassment was back in full swing. At some point, Clarence and my folks again sought Barry’s help, but he seemed to have amnesia regarding this issue. It seemed like the second time he didn’t want to “get involved” again. There was no further help or even communication from him. After all that has been learned today from victims of all kinds of abuse, we see now that this is a familiar pattern with Barry.
Lyle Schober did come and visit with mom and dad, and that was a horrible day. I don’t know if he came at the behest of Barry, or how that came to be. My parents had always trusted Lyle and thought him to be a kind understanding man who might bring some reason to the situation. Instead, he was there to tell them they needed to “move on asap” for the “good of the kingdom.” When mom told him they had been desperately seeking a way to do that, but God had not opened any doors yet, he said “Well, I don’t know where you get YOUR convictions.” They were absolutely crushed by the time he left.
In retrospect these things make more sense. Simply put, my parents were seeking to do the will of God, and he was willing and able to guide them. But, the workers felt they knew the will of God for them, and demanded that they do it now. And the two wills did not align.
Finally, Alinks were brought around to try to buy the place. Dad was rapidly running out of money and time with his mortgage, and had been willing to sell it to anyone who was interested. He had had an appraisal done, and was preparing to meet with Paul Alink, when Richard and Joe told him he had to sell it for around 60% of the appraisal value. They claimed the discount represented the value of buildings that had been donated, but the appraisal didn’t separate these, so it seemed more likely that the figure was predetermined somehow.
Dad met with Paul and showed him the appraisal document. He seemed surprised, since he had clearly been told a different number. It didn’t sound like it would be a problem, though. It sounded like he needed to sell something in order to make it work, but he seemed willing to do that. When they parted ways, I know my dad had the expectation that this would work out. However, Paul talked it over with the workers, and it was apparent that they shut down future communication, because that was the last time Dad was able to talk to him.
Richard Harbur then went to our appraiser, Bryce Nelson. Bryce was a trusting older gentleman, and Richard convinced him that he was there representing dad. He then asked Bryce to create a separate appraisal for a couple of convention buildings, and to assign them a value which was the same as the amount of the discount they wanted dad to take off the appraisal price. Richard then brought that document to our home, in a meeting I was present for.
I listened to him say, “It seems that you have been less than honest in your dealings with Paul Alink, and as such, you would be “defrauding a brother”, and “we can have no part in that.” He proceeded to quote a couple scriptures that speak of defrauding, and presented his fraudulently obtained document. Dad was quite surprised, and immediately asked him where and how he had obtained this. Richard sat in our living room and told us proudly what he had done. Dad informed him that he had very likely broken the law, and at the very least it was completely unethical. Richard left in a huff, and some time later informed us he had consulted with an attorney, who told him HE hadn’t broken the law, but it was quite likely Bryce Nelson had broken the law by trusting him….so much better.
It’s fairly apparent from Richard’s latest actions in Ecuador that he really hasn’t changed. And yes, I have read his side of the story of what happened there. I have personally heard Richard “raise his voice”, and I’m going to agree with Judy [Habner’s] assessment on that. I will also call attention to the fact that Scott Porter’s account has a lot of remorse in it, and he even says they knew the perpetrator should be in jail, and they told him so! Meanwhile, Richard’s account of events is solely focused on discrediting, slandering, and dismissing Chuck and Judy Habner, as well as justifying himself. There doesn’t seem to be any remorse.
So Paul Alink couldn’t buy it—he wouldn’t dare disobey the workers. He just waited. With all of this dragging on, dad ran out of time with the bank and just watched the place go into foreclosure. He wouldn’t file bankruptcy, because he felt that was dishonest. Paul Alink then bought it from the bank. I remember dad saying, “Well, at least they can’t accuse me of getting too much money for it!” Dad left behind all he had worked for for 21 years with about $6000 from the farm auction.
My folks stayed in SD after all of this, and at one point when they had relocated to the north end of the Black Hills, and found a little rental place, Joe [Hobbs] put himself in their field. They had to (and did) welcome him into their home at times after this.
When I was dating my wife, her family was approached at Mandan convention by a sister worker who wanted to warn them about me. She said, “I don’t know how much you know about the Hermosa grounds, but some really bad stuff happened there.” She added that “THIS family is on a different spiritual plane than THAT family.” It was all very strange to me, because I don’t even recall this particular sister being in our area much during the time this was all going on, and I know she was never involved in any discussions with our family. So these judgements must have been formed from what she had been told.
In June of 2023, my younger brother reached out to me, suddenly wanting to know more of this story and how it had happened. When I asked him why, he said that he had been asked by a friend in SD, who told him HER account of her and her father talking to Richard Harbur about it. Her father asked what happened, and Richard said that dad was “a really nice man, but a terrible money manager,” and that he “took to embezzling convention funds to get by”. So, they “had to remove him and put Alinks there in his place.”
As with many of these instances, there are plenty of people who remember Joe [Hobbs] very differently, and insisting he was a “good man” who “wouldn’t do that.” The same as with his brother, Ira. To them, I would like to recount one particular memory that comes to mind. Sharon Williams was a sweet, gentle sister worker who some in eastern SD will remember. She had known my dad’s parents from much earlier in CO, and often stayed with them in Tea, SD. She and grandma were quite close. One day she was staying with them, and getting ready to go meet Joe for lunch. He was overseer at the time. Grandma came downstairs to do some laundry, and found Sharon pacing and crying outside of the guest room. Naturally, grandma was very alarmed and wanted to know what was wrong. Sharon was eventually able to tell her, “It’s very hard to be in the work with such a mentally unwell man.”
There are many things which God has seen fit to reveal to all in the last year and a half, and many people are still desperately trying to not acknowledge them. For myself, it has been more focused on one realization: Many of the workers, and certainly the ones who have the say over the majority, have come to see their place as not just simply spreading the gospel message to any who would hear, but as exclusive interpreters of God’s communication and desires to others. This cannot be.
I am realizing now that I have always perceived it as though the majority of workers saw themselves as simply gospel messengers, with a few corrupted by the allure of power and place. I have known quite a few workers who lived out the example of humbly sharing the gospel, and as I now see almost all of those separating from the worker ministry, I realize they are actually the minority. Often, they are leaving because they are powerless to change the direction of these things, and not at peace being complicit in them. In some cases, they are less aware, and God is simply calling them out.
One thing has become extremely clear to me. It is vital to understand not only what WE mean by the words we say, we must be discerning of the meaning others are putting on those same words. This fellowship has been rife with instances of speaking the same words, but meaning very different things. When we pray as Jesus did, “Thy Kingdom come,” do we understand where and when the Kingdom of Heaven is? Or do we express how happy we are to be “a part of the Kingdom,” as though this group of people already IS the Kingdom?
Nolan Krisher
See also: Colton & Lowell Krisher’s Account