Clean Pure Water

I have fond memories as a young boy of riding horseback two days a week checking on the welfare of about 300 sheep and approximately 50 cattle. I was about 12 years old. I rode in the heat of the day and the highlight of that experience was stopping at a cool  water spring to quench my thirst.  I assumed that every child always had access to pure water.

I  know now that is not true. Many other small boys in  the world today are taking care of cattle and sheep  and they get thirsty too. Unlike me they have to drink water from  contaminated pools because they do not have access to clean water. Eighty- percent of all childhood diseases come from drinking  contaminated water. Some of these diseases are fatal.

Healing Hands International is working to change that. They are drilling water wells all over the world in order to provide clean water for all children.  In the USA God has blessed us with the financial resources to ensure that every child has access to clean water. How will we respond to these children?

My spouse and I have decided to partner with Healing Hands International in Nashville, TN. We are going to drill  a water well in memory of my mother Pauline Ringener Martin. She would be so pleased if she were alive. Many of my brothers and sisters at our place of worship have also helped provide clean water. Working together over the past two years we have helped drill 11 water wells which will provide clean water for approximately 36,000 people. With the drilling of every well comes the opportunity to tell people about the ever lasting eternal water that comes through Jesus Christ. (John 4: 13-14)

TO GOD BE THE GLORY !

Billy

"A Story That needs to be Told"

I just recently returned from Cambodia where I spent five weeks teaching English using the Bible. While I was there I met a sweet 42 year old Cambodian lady. She has a story that needs to be told. When she was a teenager during the Khmer Rouge years her mother was killed and she was raised by her father and later, his new wife.  In April 2011she was working as a house keeper at a massage shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She worked directly across the street from the BEST Center where I taught English. A small church with a membership of approximately 45 people meets at the BEST Center every Sunday between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM. The church was having a party in April 2011 to celebrate the Khmer New Year. She saw the crowd and she ask her boss what was going on? Her boss told her it was nothing just some church group having  a party. She got excited and told her boss she had to go to the party. She ran across the street and "butted in line"in front of people waiting to sign in. In a very loud voice she said. I love Jesus! Can I come to your party? I will come to church I promise. She caused such a commotion that the Director of the Center agreed to let her come to the party. It turns out that she had attended another church and she told them she wanted to be baptized. They told her she would have to wait until they took a group to the coast. She said she could not wait and for two months she had been praying for God to show her a church where she could get baptized. She told her boss that she was going to become a Christian. Her boss told her that if she became a Christian he would fire her. Her boss was a man of his word. He fired her when she became a Christian. At this point she had no job, no money, and no place to live. She found a house with a small mat in a room where she could pay to sleep. She was just like Jesus. She had no place to call home. Jesus said "the foxes have holes and the birds have nests but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head."

She found another job working seven days a week as a night security guard. They would not let her off to go to church. She begged them to let her attend church. Finally they grew tired of her constant requests so they agreed to let her attend church every other week. This would not do so she quit her job and found another job as a house keeper working for a couple seven days a week. The lady of the household agreed to let her attend church services but she would not let her off to attend any other church activities. So every Sunday afternoon she rides her bike for 30 minutes to a parking lot at a hospital. The Director of the BEST Center picks her up in a van and takes her to  church services. When she gets home the man of the house where she works makes fun of her for attending church. He is usually drunk and he often tells her she cannot go to church anymore. She tells him that if she cannot go to church to worship her God she will quit. The next morning the man's wife tells her how sorry she is for the way her husband acted and she begs her not to quit.
 How many people in America do you know that would go through everything she goes through just to attend church? "God please forgive me when I take for granted my time of worship. Please forgive me for letting the things of this world distract me during worship."

This sweet lady has no idea that she could serve as a role model for all Christians.

Thank you Lord for her example of faith.

Billy

"Social Media"

Social Media as a means to communicate is all new to me. When I was recently using the Bible to teach English in Cambodia my students kept asking me if I was on Face book. They all wanted my e-mail address. So I ask myself , Do I really want to join the Face book crowd? Do I want to spend hour after hour following all my friends every move. Sorry, not really. Do I have a thousand or more people waiting with baited breath to discover what I am doing. Not a chance! In thinking about it I might have one person who cares what I have planned for the day and I am married to her. To be honest she just wants to know whether I am going to be at home interfering with her plans for the day.
Well since I am not a prime candidate for Face book, What about a blog?  I think a blog might just work for me because it will be good therapy for me to write down my thoughts.  Who knows maybe some of my friends or family might occasionally get bored and want to read what I have been thinking about. As for my new friends in Cambodia, I would love for you to e-mail me and tell me what is happening in your life but I am sorry you will not find me on Face book.

Gee Man

                                                         "The Battle Goes On"

I just recently returned from the battlefield in Cambodia where I served on the front line  with many other volunteers. The war in Cambodia is a "spiritual war" but it is as real as the war in Vietnam where I served in 1969. God's voluntary army is a army made up of like minded believers who serve on the front line in Cambodia to fight against the evil forces of Satan. Satan has taken many captives and we must fight to set them free. Satan has convinced many that they have no hope and that life is meaningless. His propaganda has blinded them so they cannot see the truth but there are many others who have not given up and they are desperate for help. They need someone to tell them the good news about the Son of God who wants to rescue them from their world of darkness.

The BEST Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is a hospital for those who have been wounded by Satan. It is a secure and safe place where people can be encouraged and taught how to fight against the evil forces of Satan. Many Christians in Cambodia are being persecuted. Some loose their jobs while others loose their families when they become Christians.

 In America things seem to be much different. There is not as much persecution because many have already surrendered to Satan. Why should Satan waste his time on people who no longer are fighting in the battle? They are content to enjoy the comforts of this world oblivious to the fact that the battle between good and evil is still being fought.

I am emotionally spent. I have nothing left to give but with God's help I will renew my strength and join the fight in Cambodia again next year.

TO GOD BELONGS THE VICTORY!

Billy