Laubach & Gardener, The culture and Context.

 

Frank Laubach, the Apostle of the Illiterate, was born in 1884 in Benton, Pennsylvania. Grew up around religious teachings, with his father being from the Disciples of Christ, and his mother with deep Baptist roots, combined with his inherent fascination for the Methodist church across the street from his home allowed for his life to be consistently exposed to religious teachings. From a young age, he always knew he wanted to do missionary work, and at 45 he made one of the largest contributions to his mission of "Literacy Education, and Spiritual Reformation." This being building a connection with the Moro Muslim people of the Philippines. Going and creating not only the first Morano language dictionary but also raising literacy rates through his "Each One Teach One" Program, in which chiefs and those who were literate had to teach those who were not, in which the students would then go on and continue to teach others, creating a beautiful cycle of literacy education. 

His second contribution was brought forth from his discovery and creation of "living every moment with Jesus" by bringing in his "Game of Minutes" where one keeps god in their mind a second of every minute. 

Gerald Gardner, attributed to being the Father of Modern Wicca, was born in 1884 to an upper-middle-class family in Blundellsands, Lancashire. Born with asthma, he was unable to participate in the multiple across-the-world trips his family took part in, usually being left to the care of his nursemaid. Of whom has mixed reception of their personality. Around 1900, Com the Nursemaid married a Tea plantation owner, and took Gerald with them, his family approving with the hope of teaching Gerald the way of the Tea Trade. In 1907, Gardner moved away on his own back to Britain for a few months, spending time with another side of his family, whom his parents readily avoided due to conflicting religious interests. It was during this time Gerald's interest in the Paranormal began to blossom, as the Patriarch openly talked about witches and fae, even claiming to have some fairies living in his garden. In 1939, Gerald became a member of the Rosicrucian order, and grew fond of a few of the minor members, stating that "I would have gone through hell and high water for them." 

in 1947, Gerald was introduced to Alistar Crowly, and was quickly initiated, Alistair had Gerald rapidly rise up to the rank of O.T.O, which allowed him to indoctrinate others on Crowly's behalf. but after Crowly's death in 1948, Gerald stepped down from his position, and focused on touring and educating himself on other esoteric religions. Somewhere before or after this little series of events, Gerald went on to preach about Wicca, inviting the public press to write about it, which led to many negative writings such as "Devil Worshipping Witches in London!" However, Gerald was never dismayed by the publicity and continued to encourage it.