Prayer Breakfast
0700 at BJ’s Restaurant
Hamilton, Montana
O Father, of grace, who at this time didst give Jesus Christ
to be our Savior: We beseech thee to overcome our darkness with his light, our
selfishness with his love, our indolence and cowardice with his steadfast
devotion, that we may live ever as in thy presence, and perform faithfully our
appointed tasks, and finally come to everlasting life; in Jesus Christ’s name
we pray. Amen.
From “The
Book of Worship”
1. Opening - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
2. Breakfast is served
3. Morning Psalm: 93
4. Breakfast Reading: John 1:35-42
5. Breakfast Discussion Topics:
News around the valley
Walk for
Jesus Christ
7:00
am, 4 April, 2015
Lolo
to Angler’s Roost Bridge
Discuss last
week’s article featuring Public Health Nurse Department Emergency Preparedness
Neoma Greenfield.
Community Aid
through Christian Churches; Help the local community with Family Disaster
Preparedness and to provide mutual aid to local governments.
Action
Plan
1)
What is in the kits?
(See
last week’s agenda)
2)
5 Steps to Disaster Preparedness
a)
FAMILY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN 5 STEPS
1. DISCUSS the
disasters most likely to happen in your area and their impact on your family’s
safety. Hazards in Montana include home fires, severe winter weather and
storms, earthquakes, flooding, and hazardous materials threats.
2. TRAIN all
family members. Take first aid classes. Learn to use a fire extinguisher and
how to shut off utilities. Do not take the chance that the only person who
knows first aid or how to turn off the natural gas will be at home when needed.
3. ASSEMBLE your
disaster supplies into a personal 72 hour emergency preparedness kit. This
would include food, water, clothing and medications to last you at least 72
hours. You need enough supplies for each family member.
4. IDENTIFY in
and out of state emergency contact names
and numbers and provide copies to each family member. Post a copy near your
phone and put copies in your 72 hour disaster supplies kit. When local phone
service is out, family members can use their out-of-state-contact to relay
messages.
5. MAINTAIN your
readiness. Review your disaster preparedness plan with your family at least
once a year. Identify what new training, equipment or supplies you may need.
Conduct fire evacuations and earthquake “drop, cover and hold” drills
3)
Training Day Schedule
a)
Pastor’s Introduction
b)
Pastor’s Opening Prayer
c)
CVB - Mission Statement & Explanation Training
d)
Crowd breaks down into Round Robin Training into rooms
e)
Introduction Table Discussions
f)
Soup and Bread eat at their table of interest
g)
CVB - Closing Remarks
h)
Pastor’s Closing Prayer
4)
Pick first venues:
a)
Darby Foursquare Church
b)
Corvallis United Methodist Church
c)
Bitterroot Valley Church of the Nazarene
5)
Pick topics and speakers
a)
Kits and Sets
b)
Communications
c)
Emergency Planning
6)
Churches of Correspondence
5. 52 Weeks to Preparedness by Tess
Pennington
1)
Week 50 of 52: Bartering and the Community
One of my favorite chapters in Patriots was when the main
characters were invited to a community market where they bartered with other
like-minded individuals for supplies. Personally speaking, that chapter
expressed hope – hope that our civilization would not crumble, hope that a
community would flourish, that business exchanges would still carry on and
ultimately, it was the beginning of a community coming together. If a long-term
emergency causes an end to our existing monetary system and an end to the exchange
based on fiat currency that our world currently operates in, people will resort
back to bartering for skills and services in order to make transactions.
Living in a bartering environment means one must possess
certain goods or skills that others find value in. As Brandon Smith writes on
the subject:
“If you wish to survive after the destruction of the
mainstream system that has babied us for so long,” he says, “you must be able
to either make a necessary product, repair a necessary product, or teach a
necessary skill. A limited few have the capital required to stockpile enough
barter goods or gold and silver to live indefinitely. The American Tradesman
must return in full force, not only for the sake of self-preservation, but also
for the sake of our heritage at large.”
Check out Brandon’s excellent article on the barter system
here. So what items or services would be ideal or deemed valuable for bartering
in a long-term emergency? Ideally, for bartering in a short-term emergency, you
want to consider the basic survival items that may seem to quickly disappear or
items many did not plan for. A list of the top 100 items to disappear first can
be viewed here.
Goods
Barter items can be purchased at the dollar store, the flea
market or at liquidation houses. Many who are investing in bartering items
purchase the smaller quantities of certain items. For example, if someone
wanted to stock up on soda for a bartering situation, they would stock up on
the cans and not the liter versions of the product. This helps you sell more
products. Yard sales are also great places to purchase “trash to treasure”
finds. Items that you can acquire and store inexpensively may one day be more
valuable than gold. For an in-depth list of items to invest in for a bartering system,
click here.
Don’t forget about the items that you can produce yourself.
This goes hand-in-hand with the barter of skills. Stock up on the supplies you
need to create the following items for a long-term flow of “income”.
Fresh produce
Ammunition (see *caution below)
Home canned items
Preserved meats (jerky, ham, etc.)
Warm knitted or crocheted items (mittens, hats, scarves)
Yarn spun from animal fibers
Homemade candy
Homemade soap
Homemade candles
Wooden or clay bowls and plates
Herbal remedies
*Caution: Exercise great discretion when bartering with
weapons and ammunition. It is entirely
possible that those items could be used against you to take your supplies. These are items to be bartered only with
someone you trust implicitly or as an absolute last resort.
Skills
If the grid goes down or the economy collapses in a
long-term way, gone are the days of making your living doing IT work or ringing
through purchases at the grocery store. You will need to become not only
self-sufficient, but a provider of goods or services. Consider what abilities
and knowledge you possess that can be shared with others. And further consider
acquiring new skills that could be used as a bartering exchange during a
long-term emergency. To see a detailed list of suggested skills for a bartering
situation, click here.
Precious Metals
Precious metals are the only form of currency that has stood
the test of time. Keep in mind, that if you plan to use precious metals to
barter with, it may be difficult to make small trades with. To circumvent this
issue, invest in a supply of pre-1965 US silver coins:
These will be useful as cash, due to their known bullion
content, and low, easy-to-use value, when the paper money crashes in purchasing
power. A dime is now worth about $3 and may be worth $30 or more after the
crash.
Silver is less likely to be confiscated by the government
(not worth the political and physical effort). FDR did it for gold in 1933.
While you may be able to easily utilize gold and silver as a
mechanism of exchange at the onset of a crisis to buy much needed supplies
during a currency meltdown and use it to exchange for land or equipment during
a recovery period, you may be faced with a period of time when no one will be
interested in your PM’s. Selco of SHTF School points out that gold is not the
silver bullet that provides complete insulation from TEOTWAWKI. When all hell
breaks loose, as it did in the Balkans in the 1990′s, and a war is being fought
right outside of your front window, gold and silver may not get you very far,
as people are more concerned with the immediate need of getting out of harm’s
way than they are with anything else. To learn more about money and wealth
preservation during times of uncertainty, click here.
If you plan on purchasing larger quantities or diverse
investments of precious metals, there are many different ways to acquire gold
and silver. Here are a few of the safest:
• Purchase the pieces from mints or exchanges
• Purchase old pieces of jewelry or coins from yard sales,
estate sales, thrift stores and Craigslist
• Purchase from reputable sellers on EBay
Mints and exchanges offer a sure thing. These businesses are
built on trust and integrity. If you are investing a large sum of money into
precious metals, gather details about the types of coins you are buying,
especially if you’re buying gold. Acquire a coin caliper and/or testing kit to
ensure you’re getting what is being advertised. To learn more on how to
properly test and inspect precious metals before accepting them, click here.
To conclude, if studying preparedness has taught me one
thing, it’s that we can’t go it alone. Psychologically speaking, we are social
creatures and naturally prone to gravitate toward others. Bartering will not
only serve as a way of trading goods and services, but will also serve as a way
to bring the community together, to grow closer and start putting the pieces
our community back together.
Preps to Buy:
This list is provides some suggestions. For a more in depth
list, click on the links provided in the article.
Matches and lighters
Seeds
Canning jars, lids and rings
First aid items
Tools
Water Filtration Supplies
Sewing supplies
Vitamins
Salt
Feminine Hygiene Supplies
Vitamins
Fishing Supplies
Fuel (e.g., gasoline, propane, kerosene, etc.)
Sweeteners such as honey, sugar and syrup
Coffee/Tea
Carbonated beverages
Liquor
Cigarettes/tobacco
Small packages of food (e.g., bags of beans/rice, etc)
Livestock
Cooking oil
Firewood
Farm supplies (e.g., pesticides, fertilizer, etc.)
Weapons, Ammo*
Batteries
Warm clothing
Hats/Gloves/Mitten (think about these the next time you are
at the dollar store)
Soap/shampoo
Hand sanitizer
Dental care items (e.g., toothbrushes/toothpaste/floss)
Action Items:
Research which items will be most valuable in an emergency.
Make a point to research, take a class or practice one set
of skills per month.
Stock up on necessary items for bartering.
6. Closing - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
Upcoming Events:
5 Jan 2015 –
0700 – Push Back with Prayer Breakfast
12 Jan 2015 –
0700 – Push Back with Prayer Breakfast
17 Jan 2015 –
1000 – 72 Hour Kit Clinic
19 Jan 2015 –
0700 – Push Back with Prayer Breakfast
24 Jan 2015 –
1000 – 72 Hour Kit Clinic
26 Jan 2015 –
0700 – Push Back with Prayer Breakfast
4 Apr 2015 –
0645 – March for Jesus Christ
Follow
the Fellowship of Christian Veterans:
On
the Web: http://cvbitterroot.blogspot.com/
On
Twitter: @Walk_April_4_15
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/military.bitterroot
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