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Preparing for
the End Times
By Aaron Olson
Psalms 112:7, 9-10 NCV… “They won’t be afraid of bad news; their hearts
are steady because they trust the Lord. They give freely to the poor.
The things they do are right and will continue forever. They will be
given great honor. The wicked will see this and become angry; they will
grind their teeth in anger and then disappear. The wishes of the wicked
will come to nothing.”
My
wife gave me the idea of writing a preppers column from a Christian’s
point of view. I will cover a whole slew of topics from prepping, to
self-reliance skills, to revelations in the news and my interpretation
of that news.
I'm not here to have an argument on the ideas of the rapture
timeframes. My wife and I have differing views, and there are probably
times she thinks I'm off my rocker, but that’s ok. She sees my
point more often than not.
Now if you’re new to prepping, or it is a new concept to you, you are
probably going to feel overwhelmed. Slow down and calm down. The most
important aspect to prepping is spiritual preparation. Knowing and
trusting in God to HELP you make decisions and guide you. God won't do
it for you. You can't be a couch potato and expect God to provide
miracles that you'll always have food, water, etc. You can't be a
joyful giver to those in need of help if you have nothing to give.
Reference, 2 Corinthians 9 verse 6-7. God is also a God who multiplies;
look to the story of Jesus and the disciples feeding the 5000 with only
a few fish and a few loaves of bread. God can and has multiplied for
those who are joyful givers.
So what do we stock up on? Water is the most important thing. You can
only go 3 days without water before serious organ damage occurs. So
keep water on hand; FEMA and other agencies say 1 gallon per person per
day. However, that’s just drinking water. When you add in cooking and
hygiene, it’s probably closer to 2 gallons. Having water on hand
is great, but having a way to replenish that stock pile is a must. So
having access to a stream or pond is essential, and if that’s not an
option, build a rain barrel system like I did. 1-2 inches of rain will
fill both my barrels, leaving me with roughly 100 gallons of water.
This can be used to water your garden or for drinking. Regardless of
where you get your water, it needs to be filtered and boiled to remove
particles and kill bacteria, viruses, and other organisms before you
drink it.
Next is food. The food shops typically have about 3 days worth of food
on hand in the store. So if you want to avoid the mobs of people
fighting over a loaf of bread, start stocking your pantry now. Remember
your goal is to stock enough for yourself and enough to give out.
Canned foods are good since they last a long time. But rice, beans, and
oatmeal are more important. All of them have long shelf lives and are
filling. Rice and oatmeal can be used as additives to ground meat to
help make the meat go further, like bread crumbs or crackers in meat
loaf. Learning to garden is also important; getting together with
neighbors and doing a community garden, assuming there is enough space
is a good idea. I will get more into this topic along, with hunting and
trapping, in a later column.
I'm not saying every one needs to know everything about survival;
that’s the point of communities. Some people are going to have more
knowledge than other people, and pick up on things quicker than others.
Now obviously, my 90-year-old grandma probably isn't going to go track,
trap, or hunt animals. But she can probably make simple repairs to
clothing, such as holes in work jeans or socks, which causes heat loss
in the winter. Those unable to do hard labor may also be able to do
things like food preservation, smoking meat, drying or canning.
In closing, get right with God first. If you don't, everything else
will be pointless. Knowledge will leave you, food will run out and the
water will become undrinkable, but God will be with you and help you
forever.
God bless and stay vigilant.
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