Fellow Patriots,
Welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter (PENL) Edition #88. Thanks for stopping by to spend a few minutes with us. Ms. Lucy and I hope you are healthy and safe through this week and enjoy a blessed weekend with your family. This is the last PENL before Christmas next week so we want to wish you a very blessed and joyous Christmas wherever you spend it. Hopefully with family. We are in East TN and headed for West Virginia and Virginia for most of the holiday season to be with family in multiple homes. Yes, Santa does know that West Virginia and Virginia remain two separate states. You did know this, right?
At the hour of this PENL being posted I will be in Crossville, TN to visit Festus, Ms. Festus, and the Crossville Patriots during my trip home to East TN. This group is growing and adding more Patriots which allows for more options and information sharing amongst the group. It is great to spend time with like minded Patriots over a good meal and fellowship. It is equally important to make good use of the time together. I believe all groups who take time to share together should also have some level of agenda for things to discuss and learn from while together. Maybe even assign some "due-outs" to work on in between meetings to share at the next rally. Utilize the great minds and skills to the fullest extent possible.
Over the next two weeks I hope to cross paths with other Patriots in NC, VA, and TN, as time permits with holiday schedules. We all must be up to speed with possible changes that could occur in the first 100 days of a new administration if it occurs. Covid-19 lockdowns and how will it impact your way of life? Possible taxing of your firearms and magazines? Higher income taxes? Possible changes to home schooling laws. What are changes taking place in your home state? Stay alert!!!
One of the HFS regional Patriot groups met for lunch in the NC/GA region to discuss preparedness and bond. I look forward to hearing how things went. Thanks for taking the time to meet together. My hope is other regional groups will do the same in the near future. HFS goal is to plant the seeds of preparedness and then regional groups use the seeds to continue expanding and growing together. Blessings to all.
If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional information offered through HFS. https://www.hopeforsurvival.com/post/guest-and-newcomers-information-page
Holiday Gift? The holidays are quickly approaching. A copy of Hope for Survival, How Food, Water, Shelter and Security Could Save Your Life would make a great gift to friends and loved ones. If you would like to purchase a copy you can do so on this website. If you would like multiple copies please email me at Preparedness101@protonmail.com. Your purchase would be greatly appreciated. Hope for Survival will make another large donation to the local food ministry during the Christmas Food Drive to help support the feeding of those in need. Your book purchases funds that donation. Thanks for your help in this worthy cause.
Operations Greater Good - HFS has launched "Operation Greater Good" and it can be found at the bottom of the main page of the HFS website below videos. You may remember back to a Thursday Zoom Rally in September when the Page family appeared as special guest to share their missionary story in Southern Africa where they have lived for nearly 15 years. Ms. Lucy and I support the Page family and HFS decided to launch a support campaign for two specific projects. The Water Well Project for Zimbabwe and Mozambique and the Bible School Project. Several HFS Patriots who contacted me about supporting the Page's and their mission can do so at the link included in the HFS website page. Each project has it's own link to support. HFS is not involved in any transactions between the Word of Life project and the Patriot supporter. Remember, click the link, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Operation Greater Good information. (I'm sorry it took me so long to get this built in to the webpage. I'm a one man circus and some acts take me longer than others.) Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com) Look for this page as you scroll to the bottom.
Thursday Zoom Rallies – Yes, we started back at full speed for our weekly Zoom rallies with Rally #35 just taking place on Thursday. I must say, what a great group of Patriots. It is such a blessings and completely uplifting to spend the evening in a virtual room full of Americans who love their country. This group has doubled in size since inception about 35 weeks ago. Thanks to all who attend and support this weekly gathering.
With the holidays rapidly approaching we started with light topics and holiday treats before discussing some heavier news and information taking place this week. We covered NOAH water filtration systems, "Left of Bang" applications to your life fully, and then a few holiday treats before going in to chatter that matters. Thanks for the support and time to attend this weeks meeting.
If you would like to attend a weekly Thursday evening Zoom rally drop me an email to get added to the mailing list. I don't post the link or passcode in the open for OPSEC reasons.
There will not be a weekly zoom rally the week of Christmas and the week of New Years Eve is still pending. If we schedule a zoom rally the week of New Years Eve I will post it and email you the time and date. World and National events will drive this decision.
I am hoping to post an article on Communications at the team level soon. The Zoom group worked and discussed communications in several Zoom meetings to provide some worthy choices to consider. I just haven't had time to put the information on paper to post.
Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:
Facebook – Hope for Survival
YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival
MeWe: - //mewe.com/p/hopeforsurvival2
Parler – Preparedness101@Preparedness101
Connect and give me a shout. Share with family and friends.
Moving along …
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
Ding, Ding, Ding...."Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay.) When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope."
Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...
Thoughts for the week –
Christmas - I often enjoy reflecting back over the years and thinking about family and events from the past. Things may have contributed to the person I think I am today. I would like to think a few of these times and events influenced my life. Or, something that occurred in my life that left a positive mark on me. Do you do the same?
My very first memory of Christmas didn't scar me for life but I do remember it vividly. My parents divorced at an early age for me and somewhere around 3 or 4 my dad decided to hire a buddy to dress as Santa to drop by our home on Christmas eve. The door bell rang and when the door was opened we heard a hearty "ho-ho-ho" roar from the pot belly Santa. I immediately ran from the doorway and hid in a bedroom closet. I didn't want anything to do with this strange looking man.
In later years I mostly remember Christmas at my grandparents home. It was always festive and my grandmother always put forth a major effort to make things warm and enjoyable. I didn't realize until later years how much work was required. I often reflect back to the weekends prior to Christmas when I would spend Saturday nights at their home. My grandmother would make her own Christmas tree decorations. My grandparents died over 20 years ago but memories of time with them remains large and alive in my life. Her homemade ornaments still live and hang on Christmas trees of my cousins. My grandmother was a great communicator and would rest on the floor and talk to her grandchildren like adults. I remember her playing Christmas albums on her floor model stereo. Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. She would tell me stories about each voice echoing from the music box. She would often tell me things that she followed up the story by saying "my words may not make sense today but someday in your life I hope you will remember them and use them as hope and encouragement in your life." Little did she know. Today when I talk to my cousins, who would visit from Washington DC and Baltimore, we discuss the past times at my grandmother home. They also share the words of wisdom from our grandmother. We call her stories "Nanny's life education around the Christmas tree." My grandparents grew up very poor in the coal fields of southern WV. They lived the early years of their life in the dirty cold camps before moving on in life. As things grew better for them they remembered their foundation and as finances improved they returned their blessings to others. Each year my grandparents provided numerous gifts during Christmas to each grandchild but its the words of wisdom I remember most.
Through the 20 years in the military Christmas brought many new ways to spend the holidays. I had never worked on Christmas day before the military. The mission was always first. Working a 12 hour shift so others could be with their family. It was also different being apart from family. My first Christmas spent overseas was in Saudi Arabia. Wow. What a difference. Christmas and Christianity was not recognized or acceptable in the Saudi Kingdom. So, we had to celebrate covertly. Within the walls of the complex where the US troops stayed the Saudis had hundreds of cameras monitored by the Arabs. So, we could celebrate in our private rooms. It was different.
In the later years I spent the Christmas holidays in Guam, England, Sarajevo, and Italy that I remember. The military always put forth special effort to ensure we had some form of a Christmas meal and holiday as much as possible. In some locations it was nearly impossible but they tried. Guam always held a Christmas parade televised live on the island television network. Of course this meant bringing troops from the local Air Force and Naval base to participate. Guam is a tropical island so the temp would be near 80 for the parade. It was entertaining to see Santa with a suntan.
One of the most memorable Christmas events during my military years was in San Vito, Italy. This was a rear staging area where we lived and then flew forward to support events in Kosovo, Bosnia and the Baltic region. Though these periods presented a lot of stress and limited rest, we had the opportunity to support a local orphanage for about 100 Italian children. The orphanage provided a large room and Italian Santa and we organized the rest of the event. Games, food, presents and labor was our task. It was awesome. We spent the day with these young children and the excitement and appreciation was beyond words. I had never really been part of this large of an event for children. It was a blessing for sure. I had supported and participated in charity type events in Africa previously but it was mainly food, water and labor to improve living conditions for everyone. The funny part of the program to support the orphanage was the Italian Santa. The only thing I understood from his joyous message was "Ho, Ho, Ho."
So in post military life giving on my own was important. Ms. Lucy and I are thankful to give time and resources when the opportunity is before us. I believe it is more driven by faith than anything as we age. I can't explain the difference from the earlier years but our faith to do good for mankind is important. We support numerous international opportunities as witnessed by the Operation Greater Good mentioned earlier in the newsletter. Even though we have many needs in our own country, we are blessed people in most regards when you consider things we witnessed abroad. Children should not have to drink dirty water. They should not go to bed with hungry stomachs. Right? With the wealth of available resources in the world today, no one should go without. Do you realize over 1 billion people in the world today drinks tainted water? Seeing children wading through raw sewage on their own public sidewalks is not acceptable. Many of these countries can fix the problem but corrupt elected officials keep the money to live in a kingdom and let their people suffer. Many of these same countries receive American funding off the backs of the US tax payers. Think about that one. We provide aid to corrupt nations to prevent them from turning to our adversaries...so we are told.
The world around us is very different from the life we enjoy in America. I realize many of our people only see the shortcomings through the electric lie box telling selected stories from around the world. People begging for support yet many of the funds never makes it to the people in dire need. The US spend millions in aid to North Korea for the people yet the corrupt North Korean government let the food rot in train cars and never distributed it to their starving people. International inspectors noted these occurrences multiple times and nothing was done to stop it. On the other side of the world the US Government punished and withheld aid to African countries refusing to recognize and put in place laws to promote the rights of LGBTQ individuals. Yet, nothing was said about the persecution of Christians. Why? The US participates and contributes hundreds of millions of dollars with Saudi Arabia. US Troops are stationed in this country and not allowed to practice their non-Muslim faith yet we still interact with this kingdom. The US enforces laws within the United States against racism and unlawful practices against minorities yet fully participates with the Kingdom that still practices slavery to black skinned humans. I could go on but I won't because this is about Christmas and happy thoughts.
So as we approach Christmas, I like to remember and remind others "remember the reason for the season." I could write about our nations great history and people who made it happen here on earth. Moving mountains to make highways. Building historic bridges and tunnels that are now vacation destinations. Faces on mountains of our great leaders is noteworthy. Amazing work of mankind to build dams. Have you ever visited Hoover Dam? It is amazing and especially considering the available technology and equipment during that period of history. Science, Space, Industry, farming and production to feed the masses. All great and notable accomplishments for mankind.
As a person of faith who seems to focus more on faith as I have aged, the thing that really stands out to me in my own life is the strength and impact of the church during many of the great years in America. It is not mentioned much but during WW II and the Great Depression it was the church people who fed so many unemployed starving citizens in America. We hear mention of the church and it's people yet we don't narrow that focus down further to Jesus Christ. Think about the history of America and all the great people who made things happen. We witnessed the great building of our Industry, Music, Sports, Hollywood, putting man on the moon, building things beyond imagination. We can find the names of the founders in these fields of expertise. The polio vaccination. Or, the big screen in Hollywood with the likes of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, or Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in 1947. Or when Lew Alcindor, Wilt Chamberlin and Bill Russell all broke on to the professional basketball scene. How about Jim Brown and O.J. Simpson? Or we can talk about the Soul movement out of Detroit. All these fetes presented names many marvel in society.
Another name who has greater accomplishments is the name Jesus Christ. He was mighty, miraculous, and marvelous as well. Tell me a single earthly idle to accomplish His feats and impact as many people? We tend to be distracted by the "awe" of earthly people and accomplishments, or buildings, or voices. Yet, outside faith circles we hear little to nothing about His great accomplishments and how His word has transformed the lives of millions over time. People will take their last paycheck and fly to Vegas hoping to hit it big, on broken faith, yet will not take five minutes to hear how they can be forgiven of their past deeds and gain eternal life. Figure that one out. Man is broken and untrustworthy in most cases. If you don't agree just look around to the situation in America today. The moral decay in the world and our nation continues at a rapid pace.
Jesus Christ provides the words and gift of "awe" that we so willingly and blindly place in man. Would you get in a taxi if the driver was blind? Why not? If you are living your life with faith in mankind why not trust the blind driver? Right? Through HIs work and words, it is possible to be transformed in faith and have "awe" in His miracles. He is the great counselor if people would only have faith and invest their heart and soul in trusting HIm. I will leave you with these three things to consider that our pastor shared on Sunday. 1. Jesus gives advice you can trust. So often I hear people who are spiritual on most accounts who will tell me they don't attend a church because of reasons that are people driven. They leave a church and never go back. I ask "are you blaming God for this problem" and I get a strange look. If you aren't blaming God then why did you leave the church or not find another church. People are sinful and not perfect. We just do our best to live a rightful and clean life. 2. Jesus gives advice personally through individual spirit and prayer. 3. Jesus gives us the church and church family. Not all are perfect and it often requires attending a few churches to find the right fit. Personally, I like to listen to a few sermons from the Pastor and if I feel as if he is preaching directly to me, this is probably a good fit for me. This is a priority to me.
So for me, Bravo Echo, this is how Christmas has transpired through my life and as age took control, I'm thankful the priorities also fell in to place. What is your story? I would love to hear it sometime.
Ms. Lucy and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and blessed New Year. Stay safe and healthy as you pass through this period of time. If you are alone and feel down and out, don't let it get you depressed. As a former pastor used to tell his flock, "people, you need to spend more time looking up than looking down." You can also email me and I will write you back. You are not alone, k? Remember, having hope is essential in all way do.
Next ...
Giving - We all are different in our personal life and some things that may be important to one can differ in others. I think my desire to give started through my grandparents early on and was reinforced through my military career. So through earthly influence and personal faith, giving back to others has been an important part of life. This is equally true for Ms. Lucy as well. We choose to give year round and with special emphasis during the holiday season. It is especially important during this year when so many families suffered through Covid-19 impacts through loss of jobs and family businesses closing for good. One can give time, funds, and/or both. All are important around your community. I know many write a check or go online and contribute to global charities while others take their family to the local food bank to drop off food or give time serving others. We see the Red Cross bell ringers outside many local establishments collecting money to contribute to the Red Cross. I know HFS has a couple folks who volunteer to the Red Cross and other worthy organizations year round.
One of my favorite things to do is go hang out in a local grocery story or box store and pretend to shop. I watch for a family shopping with a buggy full of food. More often than not I find a grandmother with a few young kids hanging around the buggy while the grandmother cautiously adds food to the buggy. If you listen closely you will hear her comment certain things can't be added because of available funds to pay for the items added. I make sure I am behind this family in the check out lane and when the time is right, I step forward and tell the cashier "I will pay for this families bill." I know everyone can't do this because of their own available funds. We aren't wealthy on any account. We choose to live a frugal life style which allows us to help others in need. I don't normally talk about these choices because it is between me and the Man above. I believe we all should do one good deed per day or week that is between us and our Lord.
A year or so ago I was in a local Kroger store and followed the plan above to help another family. The grandmother had three young children under the age of probably six or seven. I remember this day vividly because when I reached over and paid the bill one of the young children turned to me and calmly said to me "Jesus is going to bless you." Thank you, sir."
Another way is you can go to your local utility company and contribute to a fund to help pay heating bills that are behind and near being terminated. The number of elderly who must choose between food, heat, and medication is staggering. Winter is hear and no person should have to be cold by choose in order to pay for medicine or food. Historically in America, we take care of our own. Strangers helping one another is not a new concept.
One thing we can do is go to a store and hang around the lay away area and pay off one or more lay away bills to help a young family give Christmas to their children. With so many single parents in America today, there is no shortage of families needing help.
Maybe volunteer to drive a van for seniors that takes them to medical appointments or grocery stores. Or, put a group of motivated individuals together and go stand outside a nursing or retirement home and sing Christmas carols from afar. Because of Covid-19 restrictions many of these elderly will not have any visitation during the holidays.
When we have our grandchildren at our home for Christmas, Ms. Lucy puts together "Care" baskets for our first responders. She explains the meaning and why it is important to recognize others who are serving our community away on the holiday at hand. These care baskets contain about 20 lbs of snacks and goodies along with cards with scriptures containing a message of hope and faith for those serving the people. This is a great teaching tool and also enjoyable to deliver with the kids. We hope the instilled message is respect, giving, serving and thanks.
Many local organizations are looking for volunteers to serve a few hours to help during seasonal fund raisers that's key for their overall survival through the year. One such organization here in Huntsville is the annual Galaxy of Lights. This supports the local Huntsville Botanical Garden (hsvbg.org) Botanical Gardens. Families load up in their autos and pay a fee to drive through and enjoy many Christmas light displays while listening to programmed Christmas music through their vehicle radio. Ms. Lucy and I volunteered to work the ticket and traffic control last evening to support our local church life group who volunteered to fill all the positions for the evening. During breaks we could go inside from the cold and have hot soup and warm beverages. It is a great service to the local park and an evening of fellowship with friends. Yes, Covid-19 restrictions remained in place. We volunteered about five hours of time and during evening over 600 cars passed through the park. We have worked this event a couple times now and always enjoy it. Maybe you have such an organization in your area to consider helping. Funny note. It was in the mid to low 30s and folks kept complaining of how cold they felt. I dug out cold weather gear from my Bug-Out-Bag for the evening and shazam, never felt cold at all. If you can keep your feet and head warm you will probably stay warm overall.
There are numerous ways we can give back to our communities. Some are already organized and others you can do on your own. It is such a blessing to reach out to others to lift their spirits and let them know we care. Remember, "We the people."
Okay, lets move along to the news…
Preparedness News –
1. From - Survival and Knowledge for Uncertain Times - Alternatives To Grocery Stores: Shop Direct from Manufacturers - Survival and Knowledge For Uncertain Times (samanthabiggers.com) - Some may blow by this article however I find great interest in what the author is saying. Why? As Covid-19 rips across our nation and so many Ma and Pa stores go out of business, having alternative locations identified for purchasing is needed. Especially when direct and cutting out the middle man.
2. From Rhonda Owen - Preppers Will - Tips For Raising Meat Goats For Your Homestead (prepperswill.com) - I hear echo's of "yuck" when I mention goats. About 35 years ago while in Saudi Arabia for several months I learned to like goat milk and cheese. I then learned to enjoy goat meat. Imagine if your life changed and you had nothing but what a goat could offer. Would you say "yuck" then? Think about it.
3. From Amanda Furbeck - The Homesteading Hippy - Urban Permaculture – The Ultimate Guide * The Homesteading Hippy - Here you go urban living preparers. We talked about permaculture a few months ago in a zoom rally. Check this out.
4. From Heidi - Homestead Survival - 6 Tips for Surviving a Winter Power Outage - Homestead Survival Site - One should always ensure their home and vehicles are prepped and prepared for winter. Ensure you double check your daily ready bag and bug-out-bags also. Don't get caught stranded on the side of country road with no cell phone signal or a ready bag still loaded with your summer resources. Stay out of the box and left of bang. The "boom" or centerline could be losing your power and having no back up heat source. Or, a broken down car. Or, a personal threat to your body or family. Or....or.....or. A threat does not always come as a gun or explosive. It is the threat that can hurt you or your family.
5. From Charles Yor - Survival Sullivan - Team Tactics for Preppers: On-Foot Movement and Procedures | Survival Sullivan - I was watching a video from a prepper who proudly placed it on social media to share with like minded preparers. My first thought was I hope I am a few states over from this guy as he covertly walked through the woods sounding like a herd of elephants. I'm not knocking this person. I'm simply saying, if you don't practice it, you won't be good at it. Pretty simple strategy.
Other News –
1. From John Whitehead - The Rutherford Institute - The Rutherford Institute :: Big Brother in Disguise: The Rise of a New, Technological World Order | By John W. Whitehead | - Robots and Covid-19 passports. Crazy huh? Far fetched huh? Have you been to a major hospital in the past few years for surgery? Robotic surgery? Looks like a Star Wars contraption hanging from the ceiling. The command center where the human drives the robotic arms is the next room over and it looks like the Air Traffic Control tower. Robotic dogs used in major cities. Eye scanner and facial recognition to detect your mood and determine if you are about to go on a crime spree before you even know it. Predictive programming. It is here, like it or not. .
2. From Michael Snyder - Economic Collapse - 48% Of U.S. Small Businesses Fear That They May Be Forced To "Shut Down Permanently" Soon (theeconomiccollapseblog.com) - Most folks are not paying attention to this fact. The market is up. Covid-19 has shut down hundreds of thousands of jobs and more will come in wave 2 of the virus lockdowns. What is your plan?
3. From Justin Paget - RT - Smart home suddenly became ‘stupid’: Google Home users left in dark as outage creates smart light blackout — RT World News - With passing days and months, more and more citizens are growing lazier with the implementation of smart technology controlling their home. Door bells, cameras, locks, ovens, and the ice box. Now add lights to the mix. "Alexa...turn off bulb 2" Then the grid goes down and Alexa is inoperative. Imagine that.
4. From Vince Coyer - American Thinker - The Fraudulent 2020 Election Is History Unfolding before Our Eyes - American Thinker - Imagine you are at home in your living room and the packers and movers show up and start packing up your possessions without you hiring them to do so. You have no say in it nor do you know where to go to stop it. Your life is being turned upside down and will be forever impacted. Now, imagine this on a national scale to millions of citizens. Our nation is being changed at blinding speed and we watch each day feeling helpless.
Drum roll...........
That's all my Patriot brothers and sisters. Stay alert and strong.
Thanks much for your time to read the PENL and hanging with us at Hope for Survival. We all have different desires in news and what we read at different points in our day. Hopefully HFS has provided information to stimulate your thinking and the realities around us. It is important for you to keep your feet and minds grounded as the world continues towards an unknown destination.
Keep the faith and continue doing great things for yourself and others. Be kind and do a good deed for a stranger this week. I don't know how much you monitor your local news or regional. Suicides are on the rise and the holiday season will contribute to this national problem. Think of those around you and share a smile or a meal if you can.
Keep the emails flowing. Bring new friends and help spread the word on Preparedness. Visit the HFS YouTube page and check out the numerous preparedness videos. Subscribe and hit like. It’s a minimal price to pay for free information. I appreciate you sharing the great things you are doing with your plans and progress moving you forward. Keep charging ahead.
Prayers - Please keep our great nation, our elected leaders, military and first responders in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray for our leadership to find answers and guidance to the problems facing our great nation as we continue to resolve our election. May peace be cast upon us and protect us each day while searching for honesty in the election results. I pray for each, and every one of our Patriots. Please keep a sister Patriot in Alabama in your prayers as she recovers from her major surgery. May she recover quickly and be back on her feet soon. We also pray for unspoken request. We also pray for our Patriot sister who lost her mother this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. May we all be protected from the growing evils surrounding and attacking our families daily. May we pray for all the blessings and things in life to be thankful about and continued hope for revival around the world. Thank you Jesus for an answered prayer for one of our Patriot sisters disability approval on the first attempt. Thank you for this answered prayer. We must continually pray for the unsaved, our family and friends who live each day without the protection for eternal life and salvation. Amen.
Keep charging and have a safe week. Don’t allow the events around us to create fear in your life. Build your own self-reliance and focus on hope. We are a blessed nation and we must continue to be great people.
Blessings,
Bravo Echo Out,
