Month: May 2019

The Feed Lot.

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Living Beyond the Feed Lot!

     For the last two months Craig and I have been staying in a quiet RV park that is close to where he has been working. God blessed us with a good site, with shade and water, He even made us get good sleep in our tent. We have been blessed with the peace of God here. But there is one thing that has got me thinking, we are less than a mile from a large dairy and feedlot. We drive by the feed lot every time we go to town. The bus gets covered in bugs just driving by, the smell is awful, the cows are in large dirt pens with pole roofs for shade and troughs to eat out of, and at night the methane gas fills the air so thick I’m not sure why all the cows haven’t died yet. Craig and I have come to call this “sad cow farming” as the cows can not be happy living in the dirt and never seeing grass.

 

     Growing up in Arkansas, I got to see dairies that had happy cows, they had lots of grass, people that cared for them and lots of room to graze. With this in mind as we drive by I would feel sad for the poor cows that are a product of our modern way of life and wander what would they do if they could get out? Then one day I saw that one had gotten out of the fence. I thought” He won’t be there very long there’s a fresh field of grass right across the street. “ So every time we would go to town I would look for the cow that was out and see if he had left the lot. And to my surprise he never left, in fact he seemed confused as to why his friends were on the other side. He would wander up one side and down the other. He would eat at the trough with all the other cows and he would sleep in the corner all sad and dejected.

     As I watched this play out I kept asking myself, “Why would the cow choose to stay? There is green grass right across the road.” My conclusion was that cows are herding animals and as such they have a strong bond to their “friends”, he would not leave, he had never been beyond the feed lot.

     God taught me a lesson with that cow. God didn’t create cows to live in feed lots, (It would be like saying God created us to live and enjoy concentration camps!) But the sinful world system has created them. We as humans are trapped in our own sinful reality, just as much a slave to the system as the cows in the lot, but God has made a way for us to be free, to leave the lot and to go to the green pastures He has prepared for us. How many of us as Christians have been freed from the feed lot of sin and still refuse to leave, not realizing that this is not the life God has saved us for?

Let us learn to live beyond the feed lot!

I John 5:18-21
     We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

 

Blessings from Deborah <>< kow that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Of snakes, and Prayers …

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Snakes, and Prayers…

     So at this point in where God has lead us in His ministry/work He has us working within the UXO field. We have nearly completed the first season. I have walked nearly 500 miles with my team, through the Barry M Goldwater Missile Range looking for UXO (Unexploded Ordinance). We as a team have found many items that are considered dangerous, and could / have damaged people had we not found them first. The BMG range is converting back to BLM, so it seems such an important thing, to be able to clear the land and call it safe. I cant get into what we have found, there are munitions there from WW2, and forward.           

     Our day works like this, we show up for work, drive in “buggies” out onto the range, and walk 8 to 10-ish miles or so looking for UXO.  So much more of what we find are things that may not blow up, but can bite you and you will die. In the the time since January, when I started walking with my team, we have seen between 2 and 10 venomous snakes a day. We were told that they would rattle, and only strike if threatened. Seemed reasonable to me, but thats not how it works. I am TERRIBLY afraid if snakes. I really have believed in the past that the only good one is a DEAD one. But in the time we have been walking through BMG, I have been praying (along with a few other Christians on our team) that we would not be harmed by snakes.

     I actually pray every five minutes or so as we walk, that NO ONE would be harmed by the snakes we encounter.

     The Snakes we have encountered ( every hour of every day ) have always seemed to be in suspended animation. People will stop, scream, jump, or whatever, but the snakes have not moved. I just recently found that there are CHRISTIANS, praying for exactly the same safety from dangers that I am praying for. GOD Is answering that prayer.

     Snake Bites, Unexploded Missiles, Artillery Rounds are always there, But God is bigger, and this is where He has placed us.  Should I be surprised?    No.   But I always am 🙂
God seems to be giving us a way forward as Missionaries

and Pastors to the folks that work in this UXO Field.

     I have been accepted to school at Texas A&M in the fall, for UXO work to continue. Deborah and I will have to build a bigger bus engine so we can pull a small trailer to have ample living space to bring a LOOM (A necessity). We definitely need your prayers to continue, and Gods provision to keep moving forward.   We are blessed Kids Indeed to be where we are and to be called to what we are doing. PLEASE PRAY!
Love in Christ,
Craig and Deborah ..

(PHOTO Credits from Diane Cunningham, a dear sister, and UXO Team Member)