Our Ministry in the Desert.

As a member and founder of The Fishermen Ministry my goal as well as everybody at Grace Ranch, is to share the Love and Grace of Jesus Christ to all that come here. Through our various programs that we have here at Grace Ranch, we have the opportunity to work with many different types of people. But the one ministry that we have not talked about on the other pages on this website, is our 'Desert Ministry'.

One of the first things that I noticed when we came out here were how many people there were in the desert who are in need of help. I met one young family that lived off the rattlesnakes and rabbits that they could catch. They were using a piece of PVC pipe with a fork taped to the end of it. I had never even heard, let alone thought, of anything like that in this country. I mean, I have seen a lot of things in this country in my travels, but that one took the 'cake'.

There is no electricity or water out here. You have to make your own electricity and haul your own water from Fabens. That can be a twenty to sixty mile trip both ways. No phones to use to call for help with. People have to depend on neighbors to 'drop by' and check on them. There are people living out here who have made their 'homes' out of wooden pallets and anything else they could put together. Old travel trailers and house trailers. One man that I met had dug a hole in the ground and drove his van into it and covered it up with dirt so he could stay cool in the summer.

There are people from all walks of life out here, but they all seem to have one thing in common: They feel 'left out' and 'shunned' from society with not much hope if any for tomorrow. The young family that I had mentioned before had left their small house to go to work and when they got home, everything they had, was stolen. Even the toilet was taken! Their generator that they used to pump water from their tank and charge their batteries to use for light, was also stolen, even their batteries were taken. They had no heat at all because their heater was stolen and for light they were using candles. How could we, as Christians and having the blessings that we have, let that be? How could we say, "God Loves you", and just walk off? The weather was starting to get cold at night, in the teens, how could we say, be warm and not give them heat? Well, we couldn't! Ann, my wife, met them walking towards Fabens on her way to town one day. Their truck had broken down and had to walk. When she found them, they had twelve more miles to go!

Another interesting thing about the people out here is that they are not 'looking' for handouts. We 'hired' this young man to help out with the horses two or three times a week and give them rides to town to get food. We have an 'open table' policy here that simply stated means, if your here at supper time, your welcome to join in. On Thanksgiving this year we had fifteen people 'drop' in. It was a real blessing to us and we all had a great time.

I have met a number of 'fallen' ministers that live out here. They seem to have one thing in common. Somewhere along the line, they put their trust in people or their church and were disappointed. Through their contact with us, two of them have begun to 'find' their faith and are finding the hope in Jesus Christ that they had 'misplaced' along the way.

The list goes on and on. There are so many people out here that need help, but just preaching the Gospel to them without showing them God's Love through His people would be just empty words to them. Besides, they've heard it all before. What they haven't heard was the Gospel backed up by action.

If we are going to help these people and continue to serve Jesus Christ in the ministry of this ranch, then we NEED your help! That's all there is to it. Simple! We just can't do it all by ourselves.

I know that there are hundreds, even thousands maybe, of ministries out here on the web crying for help and seeking to get some of your money. You might think that we are just another one of those ministries. Well, maybe we are, and then, maybe we're not. God knows. You are invited to come see for yourself what we are doing here. Will you help? If so, contact Steve Atherton, The Fishermen Ministry in Vermont or myself, Richard Eutsler, Grace Ranch and help support this ministry. God will bless you, we will thank you and somebody will have some food or heat or even some water hauled out to them. Whatever is needed, but without the money to do these things, all we can do is say, I will pray for you. I will pray for them, but I would rather DO something AND pray for them. How about you?

For More Information Contact:

Steven H. Atherton
The Fishermen Ministry
P.O. Box 360
Northfield Falls, VT 05664
(802) 485-7577
Email

Or

Richard D. Eutsler, Sr.
Grace Ranch
P.O. Box 2661
Fabens, TX 79838
(915) 988-2456
Email

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