TROUBLES ARE ON THE HORIZON
By Chris Wickland
Staggering worldwide debt, inflation, war in Ukraine, Covid, 14 years of printing money (‘quantitative easing’) and poor crop yields from around the world show us that economic depression is underway.
husband Chris and church members on
the church’s smallholding
With this in mind, many are choosing to prepare in advance. Here are the practical ideas I promised in my last article:
1. You cannot do this alone! Team up with a handful of like-minded believers who can put time and money into a communal pot.
The first and most important thing to consider here is that it is not wise to prepare by yourself only.
If you can team up with a handful of like-minded believers who can put time and money into a communal pot, you are in a much stronger position to weather the coming storm. Members of a small community can bring skill sets that are available to all within the group.
2. Pray!
God may reveal one thing to one person and something else to another.
Each individual and group will have to spend some time in prayer about God wants them to do in preparation.
God may reveal one thing to one person and something else to another.
You need to pray and trust your gut instinct on what needs to be done. Also try to get some confirmation on what you feel, as the Scriptures state: “Every word will be established by two or three witnesses”.
3. God first!
Don’t make the mistake that so many make; keep your relationship with our blessed Saviour the main thing. Do not get side-tracked with secondary issues.
4. Practical things
This food will not be just for you but also for others in need as well
Make sure you have enough food to ride out a few months if needed. Remember this food will not be just for you, but also for others in need as well.
- Buy dry food such as rice, pasta, freeze-dried vegetables, tins etc. Make sure purchased food has a long expiry date.
- Have a good supply of toiletries such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and sanitary towels.
- Have a medicine box full of basics, including plasters, bandages, paracetamol, children’s medicines, creams and sterilising lotions.
- Purchase a wood-burning stove if you can; you can cook on some of them and have warmth if there are power outages.
- Instead of storing hundreds of gallons of water, try to buy a Berkey water filter unit (available from Amazon). They are expensive but can purify river water and make it safe to drink.
- Try to invest in some basic mini solar panel solutions to enable you to keep your mobile devices charged. Communication will be very important so you will need to have your phone charged and ready.
There is so much more I could say, but this is a start. Try to buy a couple of books on prepping and watch some YouTube videos on the subject, which you may find helpful.
May God richly bless you as you seek him for his guidance.
Chris Wickland is Senior Pastor of Living Word Church Network, one of HEART’s Partner Churches (see back page). The network has around 200 members in four churches around Fareham, Hampshire.
Chris and his wife Tracey have five children.
A recent prophetic message from Chris Wickland features with other prophecies on p15-16. Previous articles by Chris Wickland are a prophecy about the future of the UK Church and government (Feb/Mar 2022), how his church started cultivating an acre of farmland (Apr/May 2022), ‘A Joseph generation’ (June/July 2022) and ‘Economic collapse – a practical response’ (Aug/Sept 2022).
PAULINE THE PREPPER
her converted coal shed, now a
walk-in storage cupboard
Previous articles in HEART inspired subscriber Pauline Quintanilla to think seriously about storing food.
And thanks to a parttime carpenter who is also an evangelist, her old coal shed has been turned into a neat, walk-in larder.
Pauline got the idea initially from her desire to help others during prophesied hard times in the near future. She believes that the Holy Spirit showed her that her old coal store would be perfect to fulfil this vision.
It took Matt Holman, her carpenter friend, about three days to convert the coal store. He told HEART: “It was very messy work; I kept coming home looking like I’d been working in a coal mine. But it was a great joy to be a part of this wonderful project and see the dramatic conversion.”
As well as being a part-time carpenter and wood craftsman, Matt Holman is a part-time prophetic minister. He founded Hearyourway ministries and is the UK ministry associate of Canon Andrew White (the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’).
Since she has had her food store, Pauline has heard stories about people storing supplies for hard times ahead. She says, “My decision to convert the coal shed was a good one.”
Energy blackouts, potential rationing and more political turmoil mean we should get prepared! Think ‘EFF’…
By J L Fuller
Things are ramping up here politically and with both a change in Prime Minister and the passing of the Queen, we could be in for very tumultuous times over the coming months.
The UK government has recently put out an ominous £250,000,000 call for tenders for ‘Operation Ration Packs 2023’. This includes 24-hour ration’s and also ‘cold climate rations’ and ‘emergency survival rations’, with the contract length proposed until 2030!
Couple that with the astronomical energy bill rises and proposed energy rations/planned blackouts, and it seems we could be heading into pretty austere times.
As a friend of mine says, “Be prepared, not scared”.
We can still trust the Lord AND prepare practically for lean times ahead – it’s probably good and prudent to do so and there are many biblical precedents for this, such as in Proverbs and Genesis, with the story of Joseph.
Being prepared internally (spirit, heart, and mind) is a higher priority than being prepared externally (practical provision) but both are of vital importance.
For physical provision prep, think ‘EFF’ – Energy (and warmth), Food (and water), Finances (and precious metals, physical assets).
Here are some tips for preparing now on three fronts:
Energy and warmth
If you have the funds, it would be a very good idea to get a solar-powered generator and if so, I’d act soon as the demand is increasing greatly; supply could soon be short and prices increased. Make sure it’s 1000Wh or higher to power enough items at home.
Stock up on basic candles, matches, oil lanterns, rechargeable lights, woollen blankets and warm clothes. It’s also worth getting an alcohol or wood-burning stove to cook with and generate heat for your home too, if needs be.
Food and water
I highly recommend getting a good water filter. The Big Berkey and Osmio Zero are my preferred filters and will give you clean, pure water. Also you can use water butt water with a Berkey.
Stock up on basic candles, matches, oil lanterns, rechargeable lights, woollen blankets and warm clothes.
Have a few 25 litre jerry cans filled with water at home too, for emergency, as well as a Life Straw personal filter. Do have at least three months of non-perishable and high nutrition foods stored. A good rule of thumb is “store what you eat and eat what you store.”
Finances, precious metals and physical assets
The ‘evolution’ towards digital currency is being pushed heavily by the ‘powers that be’ and this could possibly involve a large-scale banking collapse, or bank funds tied to digital passports and social credit.
It is a good idea to draw out at least £500 in cash and store it at home. If you have any significant funds in your bank, it may be very precarious at this point in time, so consider buying precious metals and other physical assets – eg a camper, land, property and other prepping items.
For example, Silver Britannia one-ounce coins are good to have because at around £30 each, you can use them to barter and purchase things with, if necessary.
The best-selling book, ‘Romans 13 and Covid 19’, by J L Fuller, is available on Amazon. Specific items with best-price links, and many more essentials and recommendations for food, prep and survival items are listed on the comprehensive ‘Emergency Prep Resources Database’, which you can access here: https://bit.ly/emergencyprepdatabase
J L Fuller also holds free monthly ‘Prep and Connect’ Zoom meetings to train people, where these matters are discussed. To join and/or access the recordings, register here: https://bit.ly/prepandconnecttraining