Bethany – Day 1

Bethany started becoming a reality today. Bob, Mike & Pansie, Raul & Janeth, Beto & Rebecca, Polo, Vicki & myself ran chainsaws, drug saplings and brush, and topped the good saplings – laying the firewood to the side and throwing the tops on a huge burn pile.

This pile is taller than me, and is 30′ in diameter. All in all, we cleared over half an acre of thick brush to begin the roadway back into the 3 1/2 acres that IS Bethany. The pile will dry out over the next few weeks and we will set fire to it and burn it. The plan is once a month to have a clearing day, and that way soon we will be ready for a bulldozer to come in and actually build the roadway.

Raul and Polo took care of the job of dragging the saplings to the pile area, then topping them and creating the pile.  It sure is nice to have young people who can take up the slack on us older folk. Here is Raul and Polo.

What a great day it was. We had a lunch of Pulled Pork, Beans, Queso dip, and many other goodies. It was a great beginning for Bethany!

Continue to pray for us as we continue to follow the Leading of the Holy Spirit in this great project he has called us to.

Mike-n-Vicki

Saturday

Major thinning of the woods on the 3.5 acres for Bethany begins on Saturday, the 30th of August. Pastor Raul and some of the Latin community who are excited about Bethany are coming up to help out.  Come join us if you want to sleep good on Saturday night!

Small saplings and brush will be cut and drug with a 4 wheeler to the large burn pile. Lunch will be served. The fellowship will be great!!!!

We have found many different plans on the internet for various cabins and cottages. But if you know some that we may not have run across, send me a link.

Also, be thinking about shoeboxes and pajamas. Christmas will be here sooner than you can imagine!

Blessings!

Bethany – The Vision

The Vision

Imagine if you will with me. Small cottages varying from 200 – 800 square feet spread apart on the hillside looking down towards the creek bottom. A drive winds from the main entrance behind the cottages. In front of the cottages is a path, which leads in several directions. Walk to the right and you will go around the property and down by the creek, then full circle back to the cottage area.

Take the path to the middle and you will end up at the Chapel. The Chapel building serves two purposes. Of course there is the central building where you can go and pray, and even hold small meetings with your Bethany neighbors. But also on the side is a small washroom where there will be a washer and dryer.

Take the path to the left and you will end up behind the main house, where there is a vegetable and flower garden, and the livestock area where there are chickens and pygmy goats. You will be welcome to help with the garden and livestock.

Various oaks, hickories, cedars and pines will shade you in the summer, and block the cold winds in the winter. A small creek crosses over the property in one portion. Along the path that winds by the creek at certain points there will be benches. Deer and turkey cross the property at leisure, and you may chance to see one.

The cottages will seem small at first, but once you warm up to them you will be amazed at how much room there truly is. 200 square feet with a loft is a wonderful space for a single person, or even a couple. A small front porch begs to be decorated with potted plants, and also for a rocking chair. A personal garden spot with a small raised bed cries out for tomatoes to be planted.

Who will stay at Bethany? That is a great question, but not one with a simple answer. There are many situations that would warrant the doors to be opened.

· A person with an illness that caused loss of job and subsequent loss of property who simply needs a temporary place to get a new start.

· A mission family who has given ALL to the ministry and then sent back home by a government turned sour against Christianity. This family might need a place to stay for a few months until they get a place of their own in the states, or else go to another country.

· An 18 year old young lady whose parents were suddenly killed in a car accident, and has family to take her in another state, but wants to finish the school year where she will graduate.

There are many scenarios that would cause a person to need Bethany.  Bethany is about Pure Charity. The kind of charity that helps people get back on their feet. Not the kind that encourages them to stay down, and become a burden on society.

We have all heard it said that “God helps those who help themselves”. In a sense that is true, but I have found that the God we serve is more along these lines. God will let you do all that you can do to bring about the things that you need, but then sometimes there are things that you cannot do. That is where God steps in and does the things that you cannot possibly do.

Just as it was in Jesus’ days here on earth. When the dead needed to be raised, the sick needed healing, and the demoniac needed delivering, Jesus stepped in and did what no one else could do for themselves. Kinsman Redeemer exists to be God’s hand in doing things that people who have been cast down cannot do for themselves.

Vicki and I pray that you catch the vision with us. We pray that you consider what part God would have you to play in all of this. We ask that you pray for this ministry. We ask that if God speaks to you, that you simply be obedient. God is ready to do mighty things.

Why the name Bethany?  Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in Bethany. Jesus stayed with them in their home on more than one occasion. Bethany is mentioned 4 times in the Gospels. Bethany is the only place where Jesus was not rejected. Bethany is where Lazarus was raised from the dead. Bethany is where Jesus spent the last 6 nights of his life, before being crucified.

Bethany is where Jesus is welcome. Bethany is where resurrection occurs. Bethany is where great lessons are taught and learned. Bethany is where the principles of the Kinsman Redeemer are alive.

Work begins on Bethany now. Contact us to see how you can help. There are many opportunities for you to get involved. If you can:

· Clear land

· Build things

· Wire things

· Coordinate things

· Purchase things

Then you will fit right in. The 1^st stage is of course clearing the land. Small underbrush must be cut down, piled up and burned. Larger trees will need to be uprooted with equipment and you may know someone who has that equipment. The land clearing begins now. Next will be drive and walkway building. You may know how to help with that. Then comes construction of the cottages and central building.

There are great opportunities that await you. Pray and ask God what He would have you to do.

Contact us:

No1likhim@yahoo.com

334 514 1727

Thanks! And God Bless!

Mike-n-Vicki

The Process

The process I am speaking of is the birth process. LTCM is in labor, pregnant with a vision that God has given us to help finish the fulfillment of our ministry verse – James 1:27. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. LTCM has for the past 3 years been “visiting” the fatherless. Working with orphans on 2 continents and 3 countries has been rewarding and we have been blessed beyond measure in spirit by being obedient to the call.

Now God has extended that call. Now, ministry to widows will be forthcoming. There are many types of widows. Widows by death of husband/wife, never having a husband/wife, and the list goes on. But in reality the meaning goes deeper. It extends to those who are in a position where they cannot help themselves out of life’s difficulties. So, the next phase of LTCM is being born.

The bible instructs us as believers to open our homes to those who are genuinely in need. As Vicki and I answer that call, we are preparing to add on to our house ( so to speak ) as we build the cottage system on our property. I’m sure that you received the email about Kinsman Redeemer, if you are on our email list. Click here if you are not.

In the process of this undertaking there are pains as the process moves from one state to another. What we need most right now is prayer. What God has called us to do cannot be done by my salary from my job. It is physically impossible. But that is a perfect place to be in, for when you are in a place where you can do nothing, that is where God can step in and show Himself strong!

The process of building Kinsman Redeemer will be long and costly in our eyes. But in God’s eyes it will be a mere snap of the fingers and it shall be done! Pray with us, and let’s watch God work His work as only He can do it!!!!

Much Love

Mike-n-Vicki

Back!

By now you ( if you are on our email list ) should have gotten a e-newsletter. If you are not on our email list, CLICK HERE to email me and I will add you.

What a wonderful trip, in so many ways. The best part was God handpicked who He wanted on this trip. By that, I mean that we had the team assembled and one by one, the team disentigrated. It got to the point where there were only 3 of us remaining. ( Reminds me of Gideon )

That’s when God did His work, and provided the people who were supposed to go on the trip. All in all here are the stats.  God Did:

• 41 pairs of shoes
• Hundreds of pounds of school supplies
• Hygiene items
• Powered wheelchair for a sister
• School uniforms
• Money for food, and other needed items
• Brought many smiles
• Brought much joy
• Renewed friendships
• Created new ones

It was truly wonderful.  Thanks to all who helped to send us, in any way that you did!

Mike-n-Vicki