Money. How much do we need?

 I don't remember where I found this graphic, but it is a generic one.  I have looked at some of the free options, maybe it was one of them.

The theme is money.  The main topic of surviving.

How much is enough?  I am always debating that issue.  I haven't decided what the amount would be for me.  I would need to pay for all that mandated insurance if I had money.  Even the State keeps a billing of what insurance they cover and plan to get from your estate when you die.

I used to think $5K a month would be enough, after taxes are paid.  As an old person, I am not sure that would be enough.  I am heading into the need for care options.  

I would like money to travel.  I will need a companion now.  Before, I could travel on my own.

I may end up having a heart attack and dying on the spot.  I haven't decided yet if that is a good way to go.  Maybe I need to die in my sleep.  The costs will all depend on what happens.

I haven't been able to save for my burial plans yet.  That has to be figured out.

I suppose everyone thinks being supported by the government is a free ride.  It isn't.  My medical coverage doesn't seem to cover eyeglasses or dental.  I'm trying to find out about care options for senior issues.  There must be some way to get these basic care needs.

What are your priorities?

• Shelter
• Food
• Utilities
• Phone
• Internet
• Clothing
• Transportation
• or what?

What would be your immediate needs amount?  

What if you don't have that much?  What would you do?

I'm trying to figure that out for this time of life.  Every video I see doesn't talk about the poor, those surviving by government benefits.  The talk about huge amounts, the "average" retirement payment.  For me, that would be a fortune.

I would like to know your story.  What you get as monthly income, how you prioritize your spending, what is the smallest amount you would need to survive?  

It's hard to know what the future will bring.  As a prepping person, you begin to think of all the disasters that can happen in your area, with the government, with your health.  We are a "rich" nation, and have been blessed with much.  We never think it might become different.

I am not sure what will happen to me if my income suddenly goes away.  I am supported by the government.  What the government has done to our nation is scary.

And I don't see them changing soon.

Finding a lot of memories today...

 

Today I have been sorting through my many saved records.  It has been another walk down memory lane.  

So many things to think about.  Dreams that didn't work out.  Failures.  Pain.  And God through it all.  People I knew through all those years are remembered in notes and photos.  Ministries I care/d about.  Information I kept for different reasons.

A lot of things don't matter anymore.  I am shredding everything that is too old to keep, or something I won't ever use in the future.  I have already filled 6 or 7 paper shopping bags, I think.  I didn't count so I can't be sure.  It will be a full container for pick-up this week!

Normally I would share my old ministry materials with local missions.  I'm not sure what to do anymore.  There seems to be hostility towards sharing things that are good if they are about GOD, even at Christian missions.  Oregon is a very active LGBT state.  The whole west coast maybe.  

Years ago, I discovered all the Bibles disappearing from the Salvation Army Thrift Stores.  I knew there was a problem back then.  I didn't know what it was, but I think it was the volunteer staff.  The Salvation Army is struggling to stay alive now.  I suspect there is activism we know nothing about and cannot fight.  The Sweet Cakes bakery was around here somewhere.  

Their community is very aggressive and deceptive and hidden.  I suppose it would be a hate crime if they were found out.

It is a very huge battlefield for Christians.  GOD is the only opposition they have.  It makes the war very focused on us.  I don't know what their logic is, or their rationalization for their actions, but it is like any sin -- we justify whatever we want to do.  

I have been finding reminders of many things I always hoped to do.  I am saving some of these reminders for the GOAL book I am putting together.

I am also going to be going through most (maybe all) of my Working Together records.

The goal is preparing for my death.  I am hoping to sort out the most important records for when I die.  

Who knows what GOD might provide for the end of my days.  :-)  I am always hoping for more.

This seems to be a month of change.  I am still working on my budget and food plan.  I need to get my decisions done.  It is quite a challenge.  

There is a channel on YouTube called The Biblical Nutritionist.  I have been watching a few of her videos that come across my feed.  This one I discovered today.  It is kind of scary to see a lot of the foods you eat in her lists.  I have been trying to go organic/non-GMO for years.  I just cannot afford it.  I am trying to check more labels, but I tend to forget when I am at the store.  I don't want to go completely meat and dairy free.  

Finding that acceptable place in the middle of all the food issues we face is very difficult, especially when you have to deal with poverty budgets.  At my age it doesn't matter as much, but there are many people who still have their lives ahead of them... depending on how fast the End Times reach the Antichrist.  

This is a link to the video I watched:  https://youtu.be/x31_u9cpnZQ?si=XLyLWAz8KfW7gJpi

Watch it an decide for yourself what you think.  Try to explore your food choices and financial options.  If you find any good answers, share them as comments so we can all find a better path.

May GOD help us to find our way through the world as it changes.

Made it through the week!

 

I am amazed I made it through this week.  It's been a long week.  Getting better has helped.  Now I am looking toward September.  I need to see where posting every weekday will lead.  Just trying changes your future.

I have been watching some survival videos.  I end up seeing a lot from foreign countries.  It is strange to think of people in places so far away from us doing these things in their own lives.

Christians are everywhere.  We may all need to know how to do these things in the future.  Knowing how is half the battle.  It allows you to think about what you can do in any situation you find yourself in.  In the forest, in the snow, in cities, and things like that.

I watched a lot of snow survival videos awhile back, from a channel called The Outdoor Boys.  I would never have known how to dig a shelter in the snow to survive.  The Bible warns us to pray our escape will not be in winter.  There's a reason for that.

In survival videos you need to have a certain number of tools with you.  The bug-out bag may be the best thing you have prepped if it has basic tools.  Think about having to dig out the snow with your bare hands, or the ground for any reason.  A hatchet is essential for collecting firewood and building materials.  I am not that prepared... yet.  :-)  I am wondering how I would survive if I'm on my own.  I am old.  I can't do the things these young healthy men (and some women) can do.  

I was hoping to have Working Together communities built already, to deal with the needs of the elderly and the fragile and the alone.  

I don't think there is a simple answer to what is coming.  Each of us has to find a path where we are, and back-ups for if we aren't together when the time comes.  We don't know what will happen first, what we might need.  Prepping for the Antichrist is a serious challenge.

August is over tomorrow.

I have to finish up all my records for August and get my September pages ready.

I will make it through to September without going to the store, but my cupboards are kind of bare.  I guess fresh produce and my favorite foods are what I miss most.  :-)  I end up getting ill when I have them again.  I'm not sure how to change that yet.  

It's going to be an expensive food month.

I saw a video of an Asian man making large amounts of mung sprouts.  He made it different than the jars I use.  I assume they sell it for their income.  We could never produce it the way he did, and sell it.  But it is edible.  I like mung bean sprouts but am not able to grow them as good as this man did.  

Sprouts are like fresh produce in winter.  I am trying to make them and eat them more.  French green lentils are really good as sprouts.  I also like alfalfa sprouts.  I would like to grow more of them all.  I would be able to eat them as my salad food, especially in winter.

Maybe this winter I can find a way to do that.

This is one example of changing my food choices and changing my food budget.  It makes me healthier and will hopefully help me to age better.

I don't know what GOD has planned for my future, how long I still have to live, but I am praying for health enough to keep going every day, every month, every year.

Because my choices are getting more limited, I have been going through my papers/records to downsize even more.  It is the strangest part of aging.  So many dreams have to be let go.  You have to figure out what you might be able to keep doing.  Lots of projects will be let go.  I won't need those supplies anymore.

It's good and it's bad.  I will be able to do more art and clays and resins, but not the bigger projects I hoped to get to.  I may be able to do baby quilts still, maybe some of my recycling projects that I have been waiting to get to.  

I just don't know where this will end up.  I am trying to get to that answer by the end of this year.  It is one of the goals I made in January.  Downsizing what I can't do will make more room for what I can.  It may be the best thing for me.

In the end, we can't take anything with us to heaven.  That helps me to keep it all in perspective.  

FAITH FRIDAY :: Preparing for Christian survival.

 I was just sending a reply to AFA about government legislation & LGBT issues...asking what the Christian Community really needs to focus on as Prophecy becomes reality.  It is always on my mind.  

How hard do we fight?  

Where do we put our tithing dollars?  

We have many ministries, including churches and global organizations, and the income we use to donate is getting harder to find.  People all over the world depend on US charity to exist.  Persecution will bring more need and less resources.  How do we prepare for that reality?

I have my thoughts.

This problem is why I started Working Together (WT) many many years ago.  The poverty GOD put into my life showed me the problems that were going to become important in the future.

• One big issue is the fact that non-profit status has become a tool of Satan to silence the church.  -  I like to point out that GOD took care of His church before non-profit status.
• Another big issue is that the government is struggling.  It wants more tax income.  One of the main tax-free groups are non-profits.  I suppose that government rule will reach the day when only church-related groups will be forced into tax-paying status, but until then they will have to eliminate all tax-free options just to include the church.

Many understand that the tithe is the first thing to go away in a financial crisis.  We just don't seem to do what GOD requires of us unless forced somehow.  The tithe is one act of faith that shows us what GOD is capable of doing and shows Him we trust Him to keep His Word.  This action is what provides for the church, for its ministers, for its congregations, for its poor.  I vaguely recall hearing sermons that said the church already doesn't tithe.  What will happen when global crises start happening?

As jobs go away just because we are Christians, what will the church of these unemployed people do to help them?  This won't be a small benevolence check, provided once.  I see the need for permanent systems to be created to meet the growing needs of persecuted people, people who never ask until they are desperate, people who look for GOD's provision in other places, people who struggle with their faith when there isn't anyone to be found who will help them.

We all think the "Body of Christ" is our back-up plan.  We believe GOD will use them to help us.  We look to our church as a final resource.  Unfortunately, none of these prove true when the hard time comes.  

I call it a "bottleneck" problem... and the church office is the bottleneck.  The people in the pews can't access the entire church with their needs because (I think) the staff desire all the resource access for their own programs and plans.  There is no established way for the people in the pews to reach the whole church, they have to go through the staff, and there is generally no mention of those things at regular services.

I have to admit I haven't been able to go to regular services for a number of years... things may have changed, but I doubt it, especially with the lockdowns.

I also know that some Christian crowdfunding platforms have tried to meet the needs of the people of faith.  Faith Launcher, which I tried, died and was sold to another platform, which is trying to act as a church fundraiser.  I don't have any information on how successful they have been.

I know that, in my poverty, benevolence funds had limits from $5 to $25, and programs like the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul had limits for different needs.  In times where persecution involves everyone in the church, the needs will be ongoing.  We are not ready to help each other in those kinds of times.

If everyone is poor, will we be ready to share?

My solutions were multiple but (alas!) I couldn't find the funds to get started.  Over so many years and hard times, different efforts, being too weak to ask or do at different times, being homeless and without the necessary resources to operate, looking for GOD's source, trying to find His Plan for WT.  It's a much bigger problem than anyone realizes.

I think the problem is we think GOD's approval is attached to our abundance.  I suppose that is a natural attitude.  We see the abundance of JOB, but not the faith and provision of the poor and ordinary faithful.  When someone like me asks, especially if I am a stranger, my poverty says to the church that GOD is not blessing me... I must be living in sin.  :-)

My point is that the people who have supported a church for entire lifetimes are expecting that church to help them when they have a need, someday.  I don't think the church will be able to meet those needs.

And that is why we have to change.

We have to prepare... somehow.

In creating a farm for food, we are expecting GOD to do miracles when the time comes and we depend on Him for our survival.

In creating businesses we are preparing jobs for our people.

In building up our Missions, we are creating an emergency process.

In organizing our properties for group needs, we are making places for others to live and work and remain a part of our community.  

No one knows what the future holds, but prophecy tells us the path to the Antichrist will not be good.  We can see our own nation becoming something we don't recognize as good, free, brave, or Christian anymore.

One of the things I use to compare the time it takes to prepare is the growth of a fruit tree ::  It can take ten years before it has the fruit you want to harvest to eat.

How long do we have to prepare?

FAITH :: Updates at my posting spaces today... Continued prayer for me and WT

I've been busy with updating my blogs and will be going to my Patreon page next.  I think most, if not all, of them are at my WT homepage for now.  That needs updating as well, but will have to wait until I know what GOD wants me to do.

I think the post at my WTI blog is the most important. I hope you will read it.

Working Together Inc: WTI :: Praying about the future of Working Together (working-together-inc.blogspot.com)

Others already updated are ::

Crafts Explored  ::  https://crafts-explored.blogspot.com

Food to Live  ::  https://food-to-live.blogspot.com

Making Prisons Better  ::  https://making-prisons-better.blogspot.com

Eventually I will get to ::

Shelter for All  ::  https://shelter-for-all.blogspot.com

Political Rehabilitation  ::  https://political-rehabilitation.blogspot.com

and my Patreon page  ::  https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan

I am working toward a goal of posting at each space a minimum of once a month, hopefully more.  I know the future will be better, hang with me as I seek GOD for help in these challenges.

This blog is for my personal path, but it is also linked to my efforts for myself, for Working Together, and for all things Christian.

In the times when I wonder what GOD is doing and why He doesn't provide what I know is necessary and for good purposes, I have to believe that what the Bible says is true, is true.  We just don't understand all the hidden details.

I could ramble on for hours about all the thoughts I have been having about our nation (USA) and the Body of Christ and the End Times and what lies ahead of us, but I won't. Not today. Today I am thinking about WT and funding and Christians surviving the attacks of the Enemy as the End Times get worse. 

The Bible says that when we are weak, GOD is strong.  

I think we have not seen the impact of "Free Will" on all of life... especially the growing darkness and persecutions we face as individuals and as believers.  We suffer because someone chooses to sin... others suffer when we choose to sin.  We see the effects of sin, but not where they started... I have been thinking about how LONG the process of change is and how slow the process of discovering its effects is. 

The last Presidential election was something that no one could ever have imagined happening in America, but it did.  Other things like that are growing.  People and denominations and news sources and things we have trusted are falling away from a foundation of godly character and integrity.  This is the process of evil growing.  The Bible tells us these things are coming.

I think the two final Witnesses will be Elijah and Enoch because they will be strong in the faith that will be required.  I don't know of ANY Christians in our time that would ever be able to stand like they did in the past, and will in the future.  We don't honor GOD like that.  I don't think I ever could.  

Faith that stands against the times it lives in is something I am searching for these days.  We have movies that affect our concept of GOD and Bible stories... I don't know that movies are a good base for faith, but they are easy to take in.  The Bible has been changed from one interpretation into a zillion study Bibles by popular preachers... all wanting to share their own version of what they believe the Bible says.  I don't know the original languages... I have to look at several versions and then pray for GOD to show me the Truth according to Him.  And then there is the fact that GOD doesn't tell us every little thing about His Plans.

Faith is something that isn't always clear.

I am trying to find a way to survive the changes we face on the way to the Antichrist... who will kill us when we refuse to take the Mark of the Beast.  I don't know if I can be that strong alone.  Finding ways to gather together is the only option I see... for life, for survival, for food, for helping each other, for fellowship and community.

What do you think?  Is there any other way to live in a world without money?

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

http://work2gather.us

Tuesday, 28 November 2017

The weather is very wet outside today... not much in the way of dry spots.  The kitty (cat) that lives here has been feeling bad since yesterday.  Not eating. Not moving around well.  Was throwing up yesterday, but today it just moans loudly, lays still (sitting in the rain for hours in the same spot!), and now is resting under my bed... I hope she is feeling better there.  I couldn't stand her just sitting in the rainy spot looking like she was in pain, so I brought her back in two or three times.  I'm keeping her in for now.  I tried feeding her the cat treats, which she loves, but she wouldn't have anything to do with them.

I got suddenly ill yesterday myself... thought I ate some bad food.  So far today, the food item I suspected hasn't made me ill again... so, I don't know what it was.  When I had my second son I discovered what bad dairy can do to you... in an instant!  It is not fun.  I have read that changing to a high-fiber diet suddenly can cause problems with your bowels, too.   I'm trying to get my diet under control now... planning my meals to get the food an old body like mine can take.  Becoming a senior citizen also changes your body's ability to process food.

We think we can do what we want to our bodies and they will still treat us well.  It's not true.  Our lifestyles, our food choices, the food that we are being provided (GMO's, etc.), they all contribute to our health or illnesses.  I suppose exercise and clean air should be in there somewhere... and clean water.

I happened to catch the end of an update report about Flint, Michigan, and their water systems.  The part I remember, and have saved in my memories, is the woman at the end who stated that the poor were not considered worthy of the government's concern, so they were left uninformed about the lead dangers for over a year (I think that was the time mentioned).  The poor, the elderly, the kids who have no one... these are the victims of so many government tragedies.  The Bible tells us that the rich will mistreat the poor... it seems to be in the nature of humanity without GOD.  Sometimes Christians hurt others when money is concerned, but not as often as those without GOD.

The local water system is beginning to have problems with pollution... germs, poisons, something that doesn't belong in it.  The call it Bull Run here, but it is a river that once ran clear.  Maybe it was the poisons that come from animal feces (poop)... I'm not sure.  You really can't control everything.  Once a water source is compromised, it is a "poisoned well" and will not be able to be "pristine" again.  Out water treatment plants (everywhere) are having lots of problems with the things that we get rid of... from makeup sources, medicines, trash...  I think fracking is going to be a huge problem one of these days...  we have no idea where all the water table go... if they all come from one deep source, etc. 

I have developed my own mantra about survival on planet earth... air, water, food... these are the three things we REQUIRE just to stay alive.  I read something about how long you can survive without them... you can see their importance by the order I put them in.  Pollution is more than a government issue, it is a survival issue... and it includes our oceans (water and food sources), and rivers.  Oregon has laws that say the water sources all belong to the government.  I have been trying to figure out how that will work out in a survival catastrophe. 

Hiking people have some great water purifiers for backpackers... I have wanted to try them but I can't afford them.  Someday, if I get them and try them out, I will probably blog on them, or maybe do a video by then!  :-)

I can see my senior years online...  even when I am fully homebound... even bedridden.  God willing, I will be active until He calls me home.

*
Yesterday I finally was able to buy a 6-cube shelf unit for my crafting supplies/organization.  I put it together and am in the process of deciding what to store in the cubes... each approximately one foot by one foot.  The dollar store has some cloth baskets, so I will be checking to see if they will fit.  It will add some storage options to the top shelf, too.  The middle cubes are hard to get to, so they have to hold things I won't need all the time... not sure what that could be.  I am glad to have the shelf, it changes the entire work table.

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My poor little wreath still doesn't smell like a forest, so it will be going to the yard debris pile and I will be looking for an evergreen tree that has a Christmas tree smell!  It is quite an awakening to find that every tree that looks like a Christmas tree doesn't smell like a Christmas tree!  :-)  Now I know how I want to construct the next one, so it will look much better.  I am trying to decide on the decorations I want after I get the wreath put together.

I'm turning 65 and this is my first wreath... there's always room to grow, right!  :-)  hahahahaha

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No word from Jeff Bezos...  yet.  :-)

I haven't checked anything today either... no email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  I tried to earlier, but the reception seems to be fickled here.  It's going to take me hours to go through my emails... yuk!

I also never got to the local county offices about the low-income housing issue.

*
Well... have to get going... lots to get done still.
I do hope your days are going well, and that your Christmas is beginning to make you smile.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May the GOD of all that exists bless some of us with its bounty, help us to share it with the needy, and make us all better people.
May our hearts be filled with goodness, kindness, joy, love, happiness, fun, patience, and time for those we love.
May our wallets survive the holidays.  :-)
May we find one good, achievable, goal for 2018.
May our life never stop becoming more than we are today.
May we meet in heaven one day.
Amen.

Monday, 23 October 2017

What a weekend!
My son and his wife were gone so I ended up parking myself in front of the TV, watching documentaries, and a few free movies... I guess you would call it binge watching.  I watched them on Saturday, then again on Sunday, and today (when I was trying to make a list of the ones I watched) I discovered some more and watched them!

I like documentaries.
I have a hard time with movies.

I watched one movie (CRASH) that was on race issues in Los Angeles, where I come from, and it was rated R...  I really regret seeing any of the parts that made it an R movie.  Some of the race issues were new to me. I hate to think of anything like that really happening.  It's hard to judge a movie when the situations seem so hard to believe.  I may be in denial, but I hope not.  Our police authorities are powerful over us as a people, we can hardly wage battles against them if they go bad.  It's a huge historical reality.  The Bible talks about what happens when evil is present in the leadership of our lives... it's not good.

Some other movies I decided to watch, for the first time ever, were ::  Earth to Echo, La La Land (another one about Los Angeles), and Remember the Titans (another film about race issues, but from the difficult days when the government first tried to change the southern school systems).

I guess the bussing issues of that time are a bit familiar to me.  One of my sons had to be bussed from a downtown Hollywood neighborhood to a better neighborhood in the Valley.  It was a difficult burden, not just a matter of getting on a bus and getting off a bus.  California (Los Angeles, again) isn't quite the same as the deep south, but Los Angeles is where the Watts riots happened... a big race conflict.

In the years of my struggles, I have come to see that surviving takes up all your time and energy... it's hard to keep up with all the events that happen... the history that is happening in our lifetimes.  In poverty there aren't too many options to change the status quo.  Every month was a struggle to survive.  Not much else mattered.

One of the documentaries I watched (all of them were on Netflix) was about happiness... it was even called HAPPY.  Other documentaries were on food issues (something on Kid's Menus and another on finding Israeli Cuisine), drugs (Heroin(e), Resistance), the environment (A Plastic Ocean), free speech according to the media (Nobody Speak), and one about photographers (Refugee).  That's all I can remember.  I may have watched more.

You really need to watch "A Plastic Ocean" and start thinking about the ecosystem we call Earth, your food supplies (I think they said the oceans provide 70% of our food supplies, more for some cultures), and how we can save what all of us depend on for life.  I think it was too long, but I was binging so that may not be a good review.  I remember thinking that 30-minutes would be enough to show to kids in their classrooms, maybe on TV, and would get a better audience for the topic.  Maybe a series of the many important topics they touched on... like chapters on a single disk.  I cried, more than once.

The film on kids was great for me to see.  It had a project for the kids to plan their food for the day based on the Food Plate they were learning... 10 foods they would eat in a day, with 6 being from the fruit and veggie group I think.  I thought that would be a great idea for me.  I have been seeing that the number of foods we need to eat are not that many, and the true portions are not as much as we are used to eating.  I thought this would be a great challenge for my own eating efforts.  I plan to try it ASAP... this week at some point.  This documentary had some other ideas I liked, but I can't think of them right now.  It's late, and I binged on so many documentaries.  (sorry....)

Another very important documentary to watch is the one called RESISTANCE.  It is about how our favorite medicines are rapidly evolving into new strains that are resistant to the diseases we depend on them killing.  It takes death to make us aware of this problem, and it isn't going away.  GMO foods are another perspective of this same issue... how are they affecting our bodies.  The chemicals in plastic (from the ocean film) are also another part of this same issue.  We are killing ourselves without realizing it.

The humanity of refugees are seen in the film on that topic.  It is hard to see why we fault people who are doing what we would... just wanting to be safe, wanting to protect their children, wanting to be with their families and loved ones.  The horrible poverty they are forced to live in, the death that is forced on them by neglect, the ability of people to rise above the horrors and keep going...these are the facts of their survival.

So... that is what I did this past weekend.
What about you?  What did you learn that you didn't know before?

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

22 August 2017

Another day is here!

I am still thinking about the eclipse... about solar energy... and how the need for more than one natural supply source is essential.  I have been focusing on solar, wind, and water options.  Somehow bringing all three into the same "translator" would make the energy availability work better.

During the pre-eclipse media, I checked on a story about its effects on a solar farm that had 6000 solar panels to serve 300 households a year.  I didn't get notes, but I remember those two numbers.  It meant that it takes about 20 solar panels per household to create a year of solar energy. 

I know it isn't that simple, because of how different we all live, and because of weather changes, problems like night-time, and natural interferences like a solar eclipse or even a solar flare, but the number is a guide for planning.  For some time, I have been trying to decide how many panels you need to create enough energy to accomplish a household's activities, as the only energy source and as part of a combination of sources. 

Tiny Houses seem to have about 6-10, depending on the needs of the resident.  The housing can range from less than 200 square feet to less than 1000 square feet, depending on whether they are mobile or built on a foundation.  Location is another important factor.

*
With the threat of an EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) attack at some time in the future, my planning goes in the directions of back-ups...

My understanding of EMP bombs is that they explode in the air and destroy all the electric power within their range, including batteries... that means phones, clocks, radios, watches, computers, security back-ups, cars, busses, and trains... and planes, plus a lot of things we depend on every day.  It will change life as we know it... for a long time.  (I found a link about this topic at http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05/12/electromagnetic-pulse-attack-on-hawaii-would-devastate-state.html -- a story about a US test bomb in 1962 !!!  I originally heard about it from a heritage.org post several years ago, then the topic went away. Now it seems to be returning to the media.)

I have been wondering how we can recover from a loss of grid electricity AND batteries!  The Hawaii story mentions that everything electric went away.  I think landline phones were also electricity based, but I am not sure... I would have been 9 years old in 1962.  As an adult, and looking at the way our lifestyles have become dependent on computer technology, I can't even begin to imagine the effects of this.  The solar eclipse made me think about dependent we are on the sun for the light to get through our days.  How will our energy connections survive in a crisis.

In looking for a way to back-up my life for whatever kind of crisis hits my area, combining solar panels with smaller wind generators and creating a water-based energy creator would help to solve these problems.  Methane energy via livestock refuse is also an option for ranching activities.  The only back-up I could think of for the EMP crisis was a gas generator, but I don't yet know if they use batteries or can be "hot-wired" into action if necessary.

Once you start down this path, you discover more related issues... like solar conversions using batteries as their storage path... does an EMP make batteries totally unusable, or will they recharge?

I have been working on these problems for awhile now.  I am sure I would be farther along if my budget would allow it.  It has become a project to do the best I can to prepare... food, water, shelter, back-ups... anything my current life will allow me to do.  Depending on GOD for the rest is where I stand in this life.

These are the issues I discovered in poverty, in trying to survive, in looking for ways to make life better, in trying to reach my goals, and in searching for the answers I needed... for myself, for my family, for other Christians, and for the rest of the world.  When everything goes away, the basics of living are all that matters.

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Well, maybe we can prepare for the future together... through Working Together.  That is why I created it.

Think about joining WT in December, when we will have our first annual social media membership drive.  I'm working on the details about costs and benefits now.  If I had more money, it would all be done already.  The plan is to take membership fees and create a way to help each other along the way.  If it works the way I hope it will, it will be a very great thing.

Until tomorrow, and another topic,

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

May GOD watch over us, those who love Him and do only good things for others, who care about suffering people and want to help strangers.  May we all notice the needs around us, share our wealth with those who have no one else, and help change the growing indifference and hate that seems to feed on our fears.  May our world become better because of us.  May our destinies become one, sharing this life and meeting in heaven one day.  May all those we love be with us.  Amen.

Money and Ministry

I happened on a link to a website that listed an article on the incomes of mega-pastors... it turned out to be one of those link from photo to photo presentations with no indication of how many times you would have to go to the next page.  After more than two hours of trying to reach the end of the story pages, a pop-up informed me I was looking at a series of 70 links.  I was at 29... and deeply frustrated.  It was a horrid website, with photos and ads surrounding the main topic that would be considered pornography, slander, and more.   This is what we have to deal with now...

I didn't recognize many of the names, some of which were big in other countries.  I don't know how many are on TBN, the only Christian TV station I know of, but the text of some indicated they had global outreaches and relatively small numbers of supporters for the size of their incomes.  Others had very large followings and millions in net worth.  Many of the incomes were guessed... only a few were verified, and some were from many years back.  The intent was to say that people in ministry need to live as paupers... the motive for this is so they won't have a spiritual outreach to the lives of others.  Ministries need money, too.

Some made money through their book efforts, which is a legitimate income source for anyone, but seems to be an easy target for the secular (unfriendly) media.  This form of income is used by secular personalities as well... it spreads their message and their "brand" -- and it allows either income for them, their ministries, or both.  Each situation seems to be different according to the people involved.

The issue of money and ministry has been around for a long time.  Finding the balance is hard.  How much of our efforts are for our own personal future, how much for GOD?  I had to pray for many years about this issue myself... trying to find what would be a fair and reasonable balance for my life needs and the purpose of Working Together.  I knew that a global ministry like I was planning would create enormous sums of money. 

For myself, I created a for-profit corporation that was wholly owned by me (until it could be handed off to the next caretaker or developed into a better governing format).  This meant that I could allow GOD to do what He wanted in the income area as the SEC only requires a corporation to disperse 10% of the profits to shareholders, and that was my income goal :: me 10%, GOD 90%... it worked out fine for me.  It was also ideal because the income GOD provided through this source could be used to fund other projects that are equally important, but may not be Christian in nature.  It was suppose to be my retirement plan.

The issue of wages came up repeatedly in this series of ministry attacks... it is a big concern, especially in the current war on executive salaries in business arenas.  It is also a money and ministry problem.  How much is enough?  What is fair?  If the ministry is doing well, shouldn't the main focus of the ministry (the pastor out front) be compensated for his work?  The issue with ministry wages is the needs of the work... the more you pay the employees, the less there is for the reason it exists.

This has been another prayer issue for me...  Working Together is an unusual ministry focus, so the guidelines I chose may not be the same ones other ministries would use.  The End Times will be a time of great needs, people will be trying to survive, and we don't know what they will need to survive from.  I chose to make the wages fairly equal for all employees.  I guess I haven't fully decided about the responsibility levels of trainee, staff, management, but the differences I am considering are nominal financially. 

For now, the plan is to pay everyone by the hour, the same wage no matter your position or responsibility, making us equal, like we are in the Body of Christ.  If you have private income, that is your income, Working Together is only concerned about the wages it pays to its employees for work done on behalf of the organization.  In time, as we build, staff benefits will include housing, food, medical, and other basic survival needs as part of the wage package.  It is a permanent commitment to Christian members, who will make up the bulk of our employee base.  I hope that we will be able to create these resources in each region of the world, becoming self-sufficient in each place we exist, to care for the members in that region.

Ministries that deal in global locations have more money issues than those existing only in the United States.  How do you translate the difference in living standard into a wage?  It has been one of my concerns for years.  Gospel for Asia and Voice of the Martyrs employees in their local regions are going to have different economic needs than its US employee base, but the level of lifestyle is still a big question.  Do we value our wages at minimum wage, a decent wage, or in comparison to middle or upper class workers in each location?  The difference can be huge.  For Working Together I have developed a percentage option for housing and for food costs... but I am trying to figure out the base amount to use. 

When I was reading the different salary amounts other ministries provide their "executives," I had mixed feelings.  The costs of their lifestyles, their ministry-related activities, are not always noted in these wage figures... and they are always gross wages/salaries, before tax deductions, and with no indication if medical or other benefits are included in the figures. 

In my life, I have broken the $10K level of income only once.  Current minimum wages for full-time (40 hours a week) can range from $15,080  a year at $7.25 to Oregon's current minimum wage of $9.75, which equals $20,280  a year in gross wages.  The push to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour would make the yearly gross income of that worker $31,200 -- approximately $2600/month.  All of these minimum wages are a lot less than the $100 to $550,000 a year some mega-pastors were reported as receiving for a base salary.

What is fair?

Do ministry employees work any less hard than secular counterparts in business?
Is their salary an indication of GOD's blessings on their life and work?
How do we value the experience of ministry workers to the organization's mission?

It isn't an easy question to answer.  Ministry workers are often like employees in social services, community organizations, and other non-profit works that serve people with needs  --  all of whom seem to be notoriously underpaid, but choosing to dedicate their lives to a purpose greater than their wages.  The difference between small and large organizations is another part of this wage conversation.

So far, Working Together has not been able to hire anyone, even me.  It has been a challenge just to keep existing.  Praying through these money issues has been important for me.  I am more worried about GOD's opinions than the media's... I want to be at peace with Him, His blessings are the important part of this business-ministry hybrid. 

With that said, I'm not sure why GOD hasn't blessed Working Together already.  :-)   It would have been easier to have had a nominal income as one of its employees, to have had the finances to grow, to have built the resources Christians will need for the future, but that is GOD's domain.  My purpose is to keep trying to reach the Body of Christ with the message that the may not be "saved" by the Rapture they are expecting... that we will need to prepare alternatives for support and fellowship in a combative and violent environment... that what we have always known is not what is coming.

I don't expect to live too much longer, but I hope to see GOD provide for the real needs of His people before I go.  In the meantime, I keep praying for the solutions to our problems so I will be ready for that day.  I don't need hundreds of thousands of dollars for myself, I just need enough for my survival needs, for now and for when I can't do anything to earn my support, shelter, food, transportation, and personal income for a few luxuries.  I suppose being poor all my life helps me to be satisfied at the minimum wage level...  it is harder to go down the ladder of "success" than it is to go up.

for Tuesday, 2 FEB 2016 :: My BIG prayer request

It is actually Wednesday, 3 FEB 2016, but I thought I better share a Facebook prayer I entered yesterday...  I hope you will also pray for GOD to provide these things for me.  [  I couldn't get the quote function to work, so here it is as an indented bulleted list  :-)  ]

Tuesday, 2 FEB 2016 I filled in a prayer request on a John Hagee post and wanted to print it out for myself... so I am posting it here. I hope this is within GOD's Plans for my life...  :-) ================= I am praying for a decent house (as large as possible) with internet access on as many acres as GOD will provide on a major bus route in the Eugene OR area...to be purchased privately with very flexible terms from a Christian person...and help to move... and money to get me through the first three years. -- This is a lifetime prayer, near the end of my life prayer, and urgently needed at this time of my life... by the end of March 2016. ================== If you know anyone with the godly urge to help, and the financial means... this prayer will help me to establish Working Together better.... (http://work2gather.us)

I suppose you can support these efforts with purchases
at my Etsy shop (http://etsy.com/shop/work2gather)
and with my fiverr gift gig (http://fiverr.com/work2gather)... 

I will be creating a partial membership link to PayPal for Working Together  (link above), which you can also choose... and which would be the best option for me.  Building WT is what all my efforts have been about anyway.  Membership is the key to getting everyone at the same placed.  I think I will be going back to my original TRIAL membership for $5/year, which will only be a quarterly newsletter (in print OR by email).  We can build from there.

I have another faith blog to write for today...  please share this prayer request, if you can.