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See Below: Massacre on the Broken Highway

New Letters: January 14th to April 16th

Beginning with an e-mailed letter on April 28th, twenty two letters were received from young people in the far off land of Caperston. Twenty one were from a young man named Mattpaul and the last, received on December 10th, from his best friend, Huchfee.

Much has been happening in Caperston involving the teachings of a "prophet" named Chi-hay-su and the imprisonment of the writer of the first 21 letters, Mattpaul. The book, The Chest of Visions, records each of these letters, telling the story of Caperston, while reflecting on the way of life of its inhabitants. Now the story continues.

January Letters

On January 14th Huchfee reported that the situation in Caperston is of developing chaos. Three days ago Mattpaul's father called him in and stated that he did not know whom he can trust. On the same day Huchfee reports that Pontos plans to give Zester a new position - to supervise the palace guard and the police force of Caperston. Zester will now report directly to Pontos himself. Later in the month Jonas reported that Chihaysu had just left for the desert. It is an area that no one from Caperston has gone. He took water, a sleeping blanket and some books.

Lastly, Laura from New York, in the letter published on January 30th, asks Huchfee for the name of Mattpaul's father. He is such an important man in Caperston yet all the letters simply refer to him as "my friend's father".

Click January Letters for the entirety of the correspondence received and published in January 2014.


February Letters

In February, letters were received describing the meeting of Princess Cle-as of Romas with Chihaysu. She makes him a threefold proposition - see letter of February 10th. In addition, in the letter of Feb.26th it is revealed that Mattpaul's father is named Pav-ed and he has requested that the Ruler of Caperston, Pontos, appoint Huchfee to be the official "Youth Representative" in place of Zester, who was promoted to the position of overseer of the police.

Click February Letters for the entirety of the correspondence received and published in February 2014.


March Letters

In March, letters were received describing concerns. "Marcus visited the Mountain Village where he was raised and reports that the youth are becoming increasingly agitated." In addition,Chihaysu appointed a new follower, Annad, to watch over the funds that he and his followers have received as donations. Lastly, Michaeling led Caperston youth in a candle ceremony stating "When you pray, light your candle then speak with God. Let us see how bright the prayers to God will make this room."

Click March Letters for the entirety of the correspondence received and published in February 2014.

April 7th

Hi all,

Laura has been sharing with you so it is now my turn. I have had no more dreams or visions of heaven but I feel in my heart the presence of Kevin's friendship. I also remember wishing to be in Caperston and be a follower of Chihaysu but I now realize there is work to be done here on earth. I will return to the soup kitchen in New York City with the youth group for the first time since Kevin's death.

For now my heart is in two worlds.

Alex

Massacre on the Broken Highway

April 7th

Alex and Laura,

You will not believe what is now happening in Caperston. There was a rumor that the Mountain Youth were going to march around Lake Gael and Jonas went to investigate along with myself. There were fifty or sixty of the Mountain Youth - both young men and young women. They were carrying the signs asking for justice for Mattpaul and got halfway around the lake when soldiers, sent by the Ruler and under the command of our old classmate Zester, met them. The soldiers had long, metal spears and made a line across the road where the youth were walking. There were thirty soldiers but they were all men and heavily armed. The Mountain Youth had no weapons.

Zester stepped forward and told the youth that the Ruler Pontos was not interested in talking to them and they should return home. He said you do not belong in the village of the Valley People and you are not respected enough to gain an audience with Pontos. The youth shouted back, "We want the Ruler. We want the Ruler." One of the leaders stepped towards Zester, "If we cannot go to his home, tell him to come here. We want to speak to him not you". Zester was getting angry and replied, "You will talk to me and my message is clear - go home, now, where you belong - every one of you." The Mountain Youth responded, raising their voices, 'Pontos, yes; Zester, no; Pontos, yes; Zester, no."

Now Zester was furious. He pulled out a long knife and stated, "You will leave now or risk the consequences". The response became louder, "Pontos, yes; Zester, no." Suddenly and without warning Zester called out, "Charge", leading the attack. The Mountain Youth had no weapons and began to run but the soldiers did not stop. The soldiers caught those who were not fast runners and began spearing them. We were told that ten youth were wounded and fifteen were killed. Seven of those killed were girls and Zester was seen stabbing two of the girls. When Pontos heard of the massacre, he asked Pav-ed to see him. He told Pav-ed he was not feeling well and asked Pav-ed to speak with Zester to find out what happened.

Pav-ed spoke to Zester who attempted to blame the Mountain Youth for instigating the attack with their words. Pav-ed responded, "Words are just words. The soldiers should have simply blocked the road and the Mountain Youth would have no choice but to leave".

If the Mountain Youth were angry before, now they are ready to explode. They said they will make wooden spears with sharp points and the next time they march to Pontos' home, they will come in secret, in the middle of the night through an uninhabited area known as Stone Woods (see figure in book on page 26). There is a new banner up in a Mountain Village with on large word on it, written in red. It is the word "Revenge". Chihaysu is asking us to pray for peace. He is sending Marcus and Jonas to speak with them.

Please pray with us.

Huchfee


April 9th

Dear earth friends,

I usually don't title my letters but today I want to. This letter is called "New Pathway 'cross Broken Highway".

Marcus reported that he and four other Mountain Youth met with Chihaysu after the attack on the Mountain Youth led by Zester. The Mountain Youth cannot be more angrier and want revenge - now. Chihaysu stated that something must happen now but not revenge. He stated that the Mountain Youth can build a memorial in the middle of the road where their friends were killed. It should be a big enough memorial that it will prohibit any easy access on the road by Zester and his soldiers again. The blockage can be built soon and later memorial stones with each deceased youth's name engraved on a stone can be added .

One of the youth stated that there were some large boulders that can be easily rolled into and across the road so that there will be no easy access to the Mountain villages again. Another youth asked, "How do we get to the Valley village when we have to without the highway?" Chihaysu replied: "You do not want to travel on this Highway, broken by the murder of Mountain Youth again. Rather there is a pathway that leads to Lake Gale. I take it all the time. It is quiet, peaceful and I feel the presence of God when I walk down that pathway to Lake Gale. Walk to the old highway. Just a few steps beyond it is a path. Cross the highway then turn right and follow the path. It takes you to Lake Gale. Make a left at the lake and walk around it. You will see a small opening ahead. It has some flat stones to sit and rest on."

He continued, "After resting you will see another path, this one much shorter than the one you just traveled that will take you to the street that faces the House of the Dead. Across from there is the market you have been used to making purchases at. Until we come up with a name for the path let's simply call it "Pathway 'cross Broken Highway".

Marcus asked if any youth from the valley would join the Mountain Youth and several of us agreed. Work on the Memorial begins tomorrow. I must add this. One of our Valley Youth responded to what we heard by stating: "We believe in hope ... the past is gone. All there is ... is future". He is one of our quieter youth by the name of Lukus. He could not have stated our beliefs better.

Huchfee

April 11th

Dear all,

Seven of we Valley Youth joined ten Mountain Youth and it did take long to roll thirty large boulders across the highway. A tree limb was placed if the center propped up by three of the stones . On it was a sign ... "We remember". Marcus told us that already work is being done on the memorial stones. When we were done and ready to leave, Chihaysu appeared. He congratulated us for our accomplishment then said, "It is more than a new physical path we have been directed to today. Everyone will face a broken highway or two sometime in life. When these times come we must all seek a new pathway - a simple answer based on the guidance of God's Spirit."

Huchfee

April 16th

Hi Huchfee,

I went to the Soup Kitchen in New York City for the first time since Kevin's death. There were many children there and Laura and I were asked to take them aside to share some Bible stories while their parents stood on a line, waiting for food. It was a nice day with almost 400 people on the line.

Laura and I took the children to a nearby park. Laura knows the Bible stories much better than I and told them of the family of Joseph. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him to slave traders. Many years past and there was a famine in their land. They had to walk for many days to another country and beg for food. It was a large country like Romas is to your own country. The brothers asked for food and had no idea that the official they were speaking to was their brother whom they had sold into slavery a generation before. The brother forgave them and gave them food and the family was once again together. The children loved the story and I saw one boy, resting on a crutch, holding a comic book. I asked him what his injury was and he said,"My ankle. It's not too bad. Pastor at the Soup Kitchen gave me this crutch." I asked him about the comic book and he showed me. It was called, "Forbidden universe". I told him that I did not know of the forbidden universe but I knew of a wonderful other universe, the universe of Caperston. I started telling him your story and he was very interested. Then his mother came and, after listening to me finish, she asked "Where is this place called Caperston?" I relied, "in another universe".

His mother responded, "My son already imagines too many things. Did you see his comic book? I don't want you filling his head with fantasies from another world. There are too many problems right here." She then called her son, "Matthew Paul, we have to find a place to sleep tonight." She looked at Laura and myself and said, "Yes, we are homeless."

We will pray for you in Caperston. Please pray for Matthew Paul and his mother on earth.

Alex


The story continues ... click May Letters for the entirety of the correspondence received and published in May 2014.


Read the entire story and comics at New Pathway Across Broken Highway


Join the Correspondence!

If you would like to write to Huchfee of Caperston and/or to Alex of New York, it is simple. Write your thoughts in an e-mail to Timferguson@christianyouthgroup.org and your thoughts will be published in this story and probably responded to by Huchfee and/or by Alex.


New Book Review from Goodreads


Jun 16, 2013 ... Lee Ashford for Readers' Favorite rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The Chest of Visions: Secrets of Caperston" by Tim Ferguson is a well-reasoned, well-written, and intelligently conceived allegory for use as a Christian Youth Group Study Guide. It is bound to be considered quite "awesome" by the Youth Groups which use it, just as it is bound to be considered controversial or even blasphemous by older generations, which often comprise church leadership.

"The Chest of Visions" is crafted as a totally new concept for involving today's youth in Bible study. Borrowing from the contemporary popularity of Science Fiction and Fantasy fiction novels, comics and movies, the author has devised a correspondence across parallel universes between several teen-aged individuals on two different planets in two different universes.

If read in its entirety, and considered prayerfully, "Chest of Visions" should be acknowledged as a significant step forward in Youth Group Study Guides.
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May 3, 2017 by Mark and Frank D'Andrea, rating of 5 of 5 stars

The Chest of Visions, Secrets of Caperston, is a delightful fantasy of parallel spiritual universes; stories told from the warm-hearted perspective of youthful characters trying to navigate through life's great questions of what is the "most right thing to do" in the face of traditional mores, the meaning of life, and what is Heaven.

Mr Ferguson uses contemporary the medium internet correspondence viz a viz an even more contemporary - even futuristic - notion of a kind of "worm-hole" connection to an alternate universe where we find the people of Caperston living ironically similar spiritual experiences in relatively current time, to our historical biblical experiences on Earth.

More importantly, the young men and women of both Caperston and Earth encounter parallel life changing challenges, the nature of which cause them to search their souls and each other, to find the Way.

Mr Ferguson's Chest of Visions is an excellent story of what is and what can be for all of us � but especially for young people - trying to find their way through life. His simple language in expressing rather weighty spiritual matters, like what is God and why do bad things happen to good people, is an ageless subject, The Chest of Visions, Secrets of Caperston, gives the matter a fresh perspective.

Mr. Ferguson has penned a thoroughly wonderful tale on the road to seeking the Light. This is a must read for anyone leading youth ministry. I highly recommend it.

For more information on "The Chest of Visions",

please click: Click: Reviews Chest of Visions