By Larry Reinhold

Over 100 degrees in the first week of September! That is much too hot. We had a very good year, however. The Lord blessed us with plenty of moisture early on and the grass grew very well. Lately, we have dried out and with much of the country on fire or ready to burn, we are very cautious as well.

What a tremendous year! We had a younger staff this year, but they really pitched in and did a fine job, and boy did they have to. We had our biggest season ever in the 21 year history of Rainbow Bible Ranch, with 428 kids attending camp this summer. They were from all over the country with the states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas, Wyoming, California, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, North Dakota, Virginia, Louisiana, New Mexico and Washington being represented. The exciting news is that there were at least 69 decisions for Christ! Along with that, we saw a strong rally among the young people for missions, as they made it known that they would go wherever God would send them. We were excited and counted it a privilege to partner up with so many fine families.

Speaking of missions, I have the distinct honor of being one of the conference speakers at the annual Missions Conference of Steer Inc. in Bismarck, ND. The Reinhold family has been associated with this fine organization for nearly 15 years. Steer Inc. unites donors and ag producers to generate money for missions. There are currently 78 Member Mission Societies involved. There are 984 Farmers/Ranchers involved from 31 states and $576,000.00 was sent to missions in fiscal year ‘99-00. You may call for more information on Steer Inc. or the conference by dialing (701)258-4911.

Since I last visited with you, I have not only preached at camp but at Opal, Wall, Hereford, Fairpoint, Rapid City Christian High School, The Annual Threshing Bee on the Alkali Divide and at Cowboy Church for the Black Hills Mounted Shooters in Deadwood.

I also spoke at a funeral for a young man by the name of Roger Paul. Roger was from Maurine and his family has been good friends for years. Roger died in a drowning incident. Needless to say, many memories were stirred up and I must say that God had to do the speaking for me. I was very encouraged by the family and Roger’s dad, David, presented me with a challenge to share with the audience at the service. The challenge is a biblical one that merits all to take note of. It is found in Ecclesiastes 11. It states in verse four that one that focuses too much on the surrounding condition and waits until everything is perfect will never plant a seed.

“...You do not know the path of the wind…..so you cannot understand the work of God.” Verse 6 is good advice to all. “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”