Tomato Season.

Special Kay just walked into my office with a two-pound tomato. Jason and I pretty well eat only tomatoes sandwiches. We are not even tempted with anything else. Our tomatoes are out of this world, as a matter of fact, you'd say they taste like the came from a valley called Eden.

This may be my last entry until mid August. We leave for Sacramento on Tuesday and then I go from there to Germany till the 14th.

All is well. The weather is hot, in the 90's. It hasn't rained as much as it was lately, but it threatens to every day. My wife comes in tomorrow with two of our grandchildren. Miracle or miracles, by God's grace I managed to ship Janet's container yesterday. This is one thing she will not need to deal with while here. The last time she visited, we gave her no rest. I think this time will be stress free, except of course that she is married to me. That's enough stress for anyone . . . I guess.

Jason is here from Africa. He's been helping Ignacio on the farm. They are plowing with bad equipment. Finally, we borrowed a plow from Sunrise next door. They don't have the best equipment either, so we are managing to break it every time we take it out. Jason feels that our inexperience is contributing to our little streak of bad luck here. No doubt.

Our young cancer patient isn't doing well. The prognosis says he will die within a month, perhaps two. He wants to be baptized. I will begin Bible studies with him tonight. Obviously, I don't intend to focus on doctrine and prophecy. He needs to be ready to meet his Maker. Not a bad idea for all of us. Get ready, get ready, get ready.

Listen dear ones, the end has come. If we can't read the signs, we are blind. I'm actually amazed that we are in no greater trouble or distress over it. The Lord is merciful, but it looks to me like everything will deteriorate and will not get better.

Our farm is producing an amazing amount of food. Our last farmer's market netted $1,200. The farm team is working their hearts out.

Finally, our roofers are here today. I hope they stay for a while. Yesterday, we talked to a couple of people, husband and wife, about demolishing seven of our trailers. They came down from $1,500 to $1,000. That is good, but we are a little unsure about hiring them. Pray for us.

Love to all.

All in a Week's Living

I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow--Friday. I'll spend the weekend at an Oak Haven convention in Michigan. I get to speak and to sit on their board. It's always a good time.

Thought I would write before I left.

The week has been hot with evening storms. Last night, I spent a half hour with our 17 year old lifestyle guest. He is fighting sarcoma fourth stage. My heart goes out to David, but he doesn't seem to pity himself. We talked of spiritual things and he thought he might lose the battle with cancer for his relative's sake. Already, the man who brought him to us four months ago has become much more religious. This man has since married David's cousin. This cousin became very angry with God when David's mother died of cancer ten years ago. She seems to be softening considerably. David is delighted to have a part in it. It seems to be worth the whole ordeal. Impressive!

There is still a boy in the great sufferer. He bought a small remote control helicopter and proceeded to demonstrate how well he can fly it in his room.

We are all grasping at straws to find a treatment that would bring healing to him. Personally, I am looking for a direct miracle. I deeply long for David to live and I am petitioning heaven for that miracle. Please pray with me. (Last week I met a lady who had come to EVI with cancer. What I remember about her was that her husband hovered over her and wouldn't let anything the least bit stressful come her way. He gave you the impression that he would break your arm if she suffered anything untoward. Anyway, they came to donate some equipment they had bought to fight cancer. The dear lady, that I thought was going to die, has been cancer free for two years. What do you think he thinks of us now? He's as docile as a day-old puppy.)

I'm working also on the papers to send my wife's container to Africa. We are close to seeing it gone, but the closer we come to the departure date, the more obstacles the Devil throws in our path. We are shipping a tractor. Customs demand that we show the original title for the tractor. The problem is, Colorado does not issue titles for tractors. We can't produce one out of thin air. That's the kind of hurtles we face.

I am one sermon short for the ASI National Convention and the German camp meeting. The idea is that I need five sermons in all and I have four to date. Not to worry, I have hundreds of sermons. It's a matter of choosing one that fits the occasion. Stress!

My Vice-president was scheduled to leave tomorrow for Hungary. Come to find out, the airline changed her ticket without telling her. She, according to the airline, was meant to fly from NY to Budapest today, but needed to leave Denver tomorrow. How do you do that? They re-scheduled her for Monday and upgraded her to first class. Good deal. That should happen to me sometime.

Yuli and Michelle are planning to leave for DayStar and Monument Valley tomorrow morning. We've had a blast. I'll miss them. Yuli preached to the EVI staff this morning. Very good sermon. Maybe he's missed his calling. Maybe he should take a vow of poverty and become an itinerant preacher like uncle Frank. (Preaching doesn't pay much.)

Blessings to all.

Ramblings of a Tired Preacher

The ASI meetings are beginning to weigh heavy on my heart. I'm trying to pray more. Now I know that whatever I say doesn't amount to anything except the Lord takes what I say to the hearts of the people. Sometimes I wish I was more confident about what I am going to share, but then again, that might leave me, well, too confident. I rarely come to the place where I think I've got a cracker-jack sermon. Sometimes, I am totally disgusted with my own efforts. It's amazing that the Lord can bless me at any time. But, He does.

Usually, when I am ask to speak in a place where I am more or less intimidated, I don't do so well. I do well when I am perfectly relaxed. (Lord, leave me in my comfort zone.) Do you guys ever feel like that?

The talk of the week is the weather at EVI. Every day starts sunny and hot. By midday the clouds begin to gather. By evening we can expect a weather watch and a damaging storm. We've never seen so much rain here. Everything is beautifully green, but the hail that accompanies every third storm or so is frightful.

In two weeks my lover will be back. I'll be home one day from a board meeting and convention at Oak Haven, and then we will have four days to prepare for the ASI Convention. (Then, I leave for Germany from Sacramento, can you believe it?) It's cause enough for divorce. Good thing she still loves me . . . I think.

My wife has been suffering from dizziness at night, in bed. She says that when she turns her head in bed, she gets nauseous. She wants me to ask the doctors about it. My guess is she suffers from vertigo. I've had that experience before. There is a little bone in the ear area that when displaced disturbs the equilibrium. She needs to roll hard on the floor till the little bone goes back into place. (Serious! Why are you laughing?)

Denis Priebe will be preaching at EVI this weekend.

Yuli and Michelle Petov, from London, are here and doing well. Yuli is working full days on the farm. No doubt, he is well appreciated by the farm crew and for sure by me.

All is well. The whole world is falling apart and I am snug in the Lord. It seems unfair, but I suppose everyone could enjoy what I enjoy. Hope you are.

So says the preacher to his tribe.

Lots to do

All the Maranatha workers are gone. They did a great job. What a blessing that my Vice-president has such good contacts. We hope to do it again before too long. We want to get started on our new Lifestyle Center. If you have a million dollars or part thereof, please send it our way.

All the windows are replaced at my house and the siding and the house is newly painted. It looks grand. Now, all I have to do is clean up an inch of dust on everything. Never mind, it's worth it. When the Maranatha guys took my cement back steps out, they found two snakes and tons of eggs. (I believe I wrote about that.) Well, my big snake is back and just hanging around the house. he's huge, about six feet long and beautiful colors. It's a bull snake, good for keeping the mice population down and for killing rattlers. So, I keep him/her as a pet. He/she gets in the way sometimes--under foot.

I'm spending the holiday weekend cleaning my shack and if I can, I'll work on the yard a little too.

Julie and I spent nearly two hours on Skype yesterday. We had a long intimate conversation--very close.

We have a young cancer patient at EVI. David is only 17. As a matter of fact, his birthday was on Sabbath. He's been with us for three sessions already and we are determined to keep him until he is healthy enough to go home. It's a slow heartbreaking process. He has fourth-stage sarcoma. In essence, he should be dying soon, but our protocol is helping him to not deteriorate. I pray for him all the time. Please pray with me. I believe God would be glorified if he should be healed.

Our little Michelle Fournier Petrova should be here with her family in two days. I hope they contact me about their arrival, otherwise I don't know when to go fetch them at the airport.

This week, all of EVI will spend two days doing a work bee on the farm. Then, I promised my wife I would start working on shipping her container. Lord, there is a lot to do.

Blessings to all,