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Newsletter In PDF Format (printable)
A Time to be Thankful
It is always a good time to be thankful, however it is also good
to have a special time to set apart for our
expression of gratitude to God for the blessing that He bestows on
us.
We are thankful for:
1. A great Homecoming, about
320 people for dinner and some great
testimonies to God’s grace in the lives of Bethel alumni and their
families - giving glory to God as it should be given.
2. The memories that were refreshed in those who returned and the
joy of seeing old friends made during their stay at Bethel Colony.
What a blessing to see the joy of the Lord
in the folks that came.
Neh.8:10c
3. A great message by Rev. Dave Kistler
and the many that responded and came to the altar in
response to the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
We want to give God the glory for the whole
day!
Rom. 1:21&22
Homecoming is not only a time to be thankful and praise the Lord
for what He has done for us as individuals, but
to praise Him for what He does for Bethel. Although
we fell far short of our budget, all the
bills are paid and we now have a wonderful start on the new
dormitory. (see pictures on
New
Dormitory construction) As I write I can hear the
hammers banging away on the new dorm
about 40 feet across the yard from my upstairs office window. PTL!
God is faithful that promised!
Heb 10:23 To God be the glory - great things He is doing!
4. Now for one of the most wonderful thing that has ever happened.
2000 years ago a virgin named Mary gave
birth to a son. “And they shall call His name Immanuel
which is translated God with us for He shall save His people from
their sins.”
Matt. 1:21-23 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
Christmas is much more that a holiday. It
is a Holy Day - the day the propitiation (the
substitionary sacrifice) of the Lamb of God who came to dwell with
man and to reveal God in the flesh and in that flesh pay for the
sins of the flesh that troubles us so much. To then give His
life’s blood to pay the price of sin - death.
There is no remission for sin except by the
blood. You may say that is an Easter message. No, you can
not separate the birth from the death. All who are born will die
til the Lord comes again.
The Bethel men are grateful that God has
made a way to put the past behind them and for the opportunity for
a new start in a new kingdom with a new future and a new purpose.
Staff and students alike are thankful for
those who give and pray for us. We are not called to
this ministry alone but with partners. Every
time someone gets saved or is delivered, our partners are a part
of that man’s future. God bless you. May you and your loved
ones enjoy a wonderful Holy Season with thankful hearts.
To God be the glory,
Paul and Eldora Ritchie
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6&7
Prayer Requests
As you pray for us, we would like to pray for and with you
about your needs and concerns.
Please send your requests to us using the back page of this
letter.
1. Upon leaving Bethel many men will be looking for jobs
and some will need a place to live as well.
2. Pray for these men to keep their focus on the Lord and
His Word when they graduate and leave.
3. Pray for our staff as God is not finished with any of
us yet.
4. Pray for the funds that we need as a growing ministry.
5. Pray about the additional staff that we will need when we
open the new dormitory. We will need another staff minister of
like mind to counsel the additional men the new dorm will allow.
6. Pray for the many on the waiting list. As I write
there are 295 men on the active list - 39 of who have both tests
completed and could come today if we had an available bed.
7. Pray as we prepare for 20 more men in the 1st phase of
opening the new dorm. We will need to make adjustments to
accommodate the influx.
8. Always with our supplications let us be thankful as we
pray with expectations.
9. Come against the enemy with our faith which can quench the
fiery darts of the devil.
Eph. 6:16 He has come to kill, steal and
destroy.
John 10:10 But, we must take the authority of Jesus
against him.
Please stand with us in prayer, giving and faith as we enter
a new year that promises many trials; but He is faithful that
promised. Let us be strong and of good courage holding fast to the
exceeding great and precious promises.
Mr. Allen Shiflett
Building and Construction Supervisor
The following is the testimony of staff member, Allen Shiflett,
our Building and Construction Supervisor. He is overseeing the
building of the new dormitory and we felt it was fitting to share
his testimony with you.
When asked to write my testimony I was not sure where to begin or
what to say. I only pray it may help
someone realize that there is victory through Jesus Christ.
I’ve been in bondage to alcohol and drugs
from my teens all through my adult life. Through the years
I’ve tried different secular programs and
tried to quit on my own strength. Even after coming to
know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I would still struggle,
knowing I had not totally surrendered
myself to the Lord. I was being double-minded in all my
ways.
I stayed away from the Lord for 7 years and through a series of
events I came to the point where I knew
the Lord was my only hope. I returned to Bethel in
January, 2008, seeking to restore my relationship with the Lord.
After a couple of weeks the Holy Spirit
lead me through total repentance and forgiveness for the hurt I
caused my Lord. Through counseling and prayer I went
through a series of deliverances and the Lord truly blessed those
sessions. I am no longer consumed by
thoughts and desires that held me captive for so long.
I now walk by faith and am confident in my walk with the Lord
Jesus Christ. By God’s grace I’ll continue to renew my mind daily
with His Word and overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the
word of my testimony.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
A young man recently graduated from Bethel who made an impact on
many of the other students while he was in the program. In his own
words; “I came to Bethel a broken, bent down, empty shell
and was lost. I did not believe in God. All my life I had been
wandering around trying to find happiness.” The first time
I met him he told me he had “never been to church in my life”.
This young man gave his heart and life to Christ during our
recent Bible Conference under the Holy Spirit anointed teaching of
Rev. Dave Kistler and began to read God’s Word. He had an
insatiable thirst and hunger to know the Word of God
(the true sign of transformation in a person’s life) and says
he finally found the happiness he had been searching for in
Christ!
He walked around with a smile on his face no matter what and it
was obvious that a true change had taken place in his heart!
“I just can’t get enough of it! I just want to read and study
God’s Word all the time! It is so exciting! I have witnessed many
miracles since coming to Bethel in my own life and in the lives of
others.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your gifts and
your prayers on behalf of Bethel Colony.
These are testimonies to what your prayers and gifts are causing
to happen!
As you consider your end-of-the-year giving, I pray you will
consider making a donation to the life-changing ministry at
Bethel. As mentioned earlier in this letter, there are
somewhere around 300 names on our active waiting list. Each name
is a person, a man who is waiting to get
in Bethel so that he can get his life transformed by the power of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I just received an email about a
young man who was waiting to get the call to come to Bethel when
he was killed in a car accident.
The need is great and increases everyday. As you can see,
we are working diligently to complete the new dormitory so that we
can call more men to come to Bethel. These men depend on your
gifts and prayers.
Counseling
Corner
Reverend Don Loss
Habitual Repentance
In the past I have written articles on
The Disappearance of True Repentance,
Repentance Unto Salvation, and
Repentance and Cleansing. Those articles can be reviewed at
Archived Counseling
Corner by clicking on
newsletter. In this article I will be focusing on the practice of
repentance by the spirit of habitual
repentance.
In my experience the most prevalent reason for failure in a
believer’s life is the neglect of habitual repentance.
Habitual repentance relieves a person from his burden when he has
been destroyed by sin or when he is struggling with particular
temptations. Relief is always found at the
cross whether it is repentance unto salvation or habitual
repentance in a believer’s life. The person that is saved can
rejoice that his sins are no longer able to
bring him under condemnation (Romans
8:1) because of “being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans
3:24). But repentance does not stop here.
There is a continuous battle that will go on
in the believer “for the flesh lusts against the
Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to
one another” so that you do not do the things that you
wish. (Galatians
5:17) Paul speaks in Romans 7 of “sin” that dwells in us (Romans
7:17-20) and that “evil is present” within us (Romans
7:21). But on the other hand, as believers, we “delight
in the law of God according to the inward man. But we see another
law in our members, warring against the law of our minds and
bringing us into captivity to the law of sin which is in our
members.” (Romans
7:22-28)
The acknowledgment of this war must be
realized because we all find ourselves sinning at times as
believers. And, we must never give place to sin or take sin
lightly for it will always bring a believer into defeat or bondage
to the devil him self. “Be angry and do not sin
(letting anger take root), do not let the sun go down on
your wrath (leading to bitterness, resentment, rage and
unforgiveness) nor give place to the devil.” (Ephesians
4:26-27)
This angry mood can be disarmed by taking the anger to the Lord
and asking Him to forgive you in order that you may experience
immediate “forgiveness and cleansing for your sins.” (I
John 1:9) Confess your sin as sin,
repenting of the sin by turning away from it, forsaking it, giving
it no place to harbor in your soul. For “sin is at
the door and it’s desire is for you.” (Genesis
4:7) Also, “looking carefully lest anyone fall short of
the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause
trouble, and by this many become defiled.” (Hebrews
12:15)
Since you’ll be receiving this letter just before Christmas, you
might want to confess your neglect of keeping your soul cleansed
and forgiven by not taking your sins to the cross immediately,
“not letting the sun go down on your sins”, in order that you may
experience the marvelous, wonderful grace of
forgiveness for your sinful behaviors, attitudes, moods or some
other sin you need to take to the cross. (II
Cor. 7:1) It will be a wonderful Christmas present to your
loved ones. Then, make it a habit to keep
sin subdued by practicing the habit of repentance and your victory
will begin to manifest in your life.
May you have a very Blessed Christmas!
Rev. Don Loss
Director of Counseling
* If the
Counseling Corner has spoken to you we are now archiving by topic
title for your future reference. To get to the archived
counseling corners click on the Archived Counseling
Corner link at the top of page.
There is an air of excitement on “the hill” as we watch the new
dormitory going up! We have prayed and many of you have prayed
with us for a long time concerning the need for and the
realization of a new dormitory that will house 40 more men when
complete. According to Allen Shiflett, our Building and
Construction Supervisor, we should be able to occupy this new
dormitory by this time next year! Hallelujah!
At this time, the rough framing is complete on all 3 floors, the
trusses are set, the roof is dried in and the shingles are being
put on as I type.
 
During the first week of December the fire sprinkler system will
be roughed in. Two Bethel graduates are coming back to oversee the
current students as they rough in the electric and plumbing during
December and January. And, the windows will be installed in
December.
As soon as this is complete the framing, electrical and plumbing
inspection will be done and then we will begin the heating and
air, insulation and sheet rock, and then siding!
 
As you can see, the men in the program stay very busy with
construction as the weather permits and we are looking forward to
the finished product. Bethel’s policy is to work as we have the
money and we always use the current students for the labor.
However, we could not do it without your prayers and your gifts.
Thank you for partnering with us to build this much needed new
dormitory.
Thank you
We want to thank those of you who, in spite of the current
economic conditions, have continued to support us. The need is
even greater now than before. Often, in time of crisis, people
turn to alcohol and other drugs to deal with their loss or
situation.
Galatians 6:7 admonishes us that; “God
is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
Some are taking God seriously and continuing to sow seeds of faith
into this ministry. The righteous walk by
faith and not by sight.
II Corinthians 5:7 And, it is for sure, God will not be
mocked. God does not meet needs. He meets faith.
The world is full of needs God is not meeting. However, He is
looking for those who will continue to trust Him especially in
the hard times. This is the kind of faith that Daniel, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego stood on. God proved Himself faithful to
be their deliverer. Then there are those who, in hard times,
will turn back to the ways of the flesh and the world in an effort
to deal with their difficulties.
Each of us has a choice in how we will react under trials and
tribulation. The results then are no longer in our hands but
in the hands of the world’s ways or God’s ways. Thank you again
for your prayers and support.
Paul and Eldora Ritchie,
the Staff, & Students
Thanks for praying for us . . . Let us pray for you
Contact Us at
Bethelcolony@charter.net
With Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Bethel Colony of
Mercy is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, gifts to which are
deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax
purposes. Financial information about this organization and a copy
of it’s license is available from the State Solicitation Licensing
Branch at (919) 733-4510. The license is not an endorsement by the
State.
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