I have to Laugh when people ask, " .....

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”  Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he (Peter) would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!” John 21: 18-19.

I love it when I get to talk to people about our goat project at Narrow Gate Farm and Dairy.  One of the first questions they always ask is, “Did you grow up on a farm?”  I have to laugh just a little, because my childhood and business career was as far from farming as you can get.  God has such a sense of humor, because he took a spit polished, suit wear’n city boy and thrust me and my family right in the big middle of starting a dairy goat farm in a developing Asian country.  Our farm is to be a model for bi-vocational ministers, missionaries, and to train pastors about self-sustainable ministry.   This kind of ministry and life-style is nothing like I would have ever expected for my life and family 10 years ago.  Now I cannot even imagine doing anything else. When Jesus said, “Follow ME”, he meant for us to do anything and go anywhere for Him… Even if that means doing something that is not what you planned or is even what you “THINK” you are prepared for.  Every time I say, “I can’t do that!”  Pattie loves to remind me that, “God does not call the Prepared, but rather He prepares the Called!”  “Follow Me,” is what he says to do, and here we are.

The past couple weeks since we returned, have been extremely busy for us at the farm. I think the biggest challenge we face right now is pasture development.  This “rainy season” has been the driest in years, and when we returned, we immediately noticed that forage production levels were not near what we had seen in the past two years.  Meaning, we have seen noticeable drops in livestock weight and production, and our pastures are way over cut and not producing.  Praise the Lord, since the end of July we have had rain nearly every day with good sunlight in the afternoons.  We fertilized our pasture, we are getting our pastures back into a regular cutting schedule and we are starting to see fast and massive recover in some areas. 

I also want to update you on Phii NatThanNi.  She has worked for us in a bi-vocational capacity for about 18 months processing and bottling milk while also serving in a local church and orphan girls home.  She agreed to be my assistant 4 months ago and oversee all farm operations while I was away in the States.  We spoke last week in detail, and she has accepted our invitation to stay on permanently now as our Farm Manager.  This is exciting for me on multiple levels:  1. She is not a farmer, but a servant and graduate of Bible College with no farm experience. (She has made an amazing transition to this role)  2.  She has become a true Shepherd of our stocks and our staff, and 3. Having her serve in this role is going to allow me time to develop other areas of our ministry.   Over the past two years, I have had to focus a lot of my time and effort on developing the farm.  We still have a long way to go, but with Phi NatThaNi taking care of day to day business, I can focus on Curriculum Development for Agri-Business and Bible Training, Intern Development, and Ministry Growth.  Phii NatThanNi is following the call of Jesus to do something she never anticipated and she, her family, and our farm are being blessed in so many ways by her willingness to obey. 

Please pray for Narrow Gate Farm and Dairy as we all transition and grow into our new roles and responsibilities.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
Pray for God to recruit new interns for Narrow Gate Asia programs.
Pray for provision of replacement vehicles for personal and ministry use.
Pray for God to call individuals to join NGA in our monthly financial support team.
Pray that Narrow Gate Farm and Dairy will be used to expand God’s Kingdom along the Thai/Myanmar border.
 

Thank you, and God Bless.

In His Grip

Harry, Pattie, Hattie, Emma, Harry V, and Nellie.

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Narrow Gate Asia
P.O. Box 260275
Plano, TX 75075 USA

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