PRECIOUS TESTIMONIES MINISTRY UPDATE:  WINTER 2011-2012

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus our Lord.  This may be one of the most important Precious Testimonies ministry updates we have ever sent out, and here is why:

If we have published your testimony on the Precious Testimonies website, and you don’t have a copy of it for safe keeping, we would encourage you to copy it ASAP off the website and store it for safe keeping. 

Furthermore, if there are any writings on the website that you would like available to read down the road, we encourage you to make a copy of those as well and tuck them away where you can retrieve them at a later time if you so desire.

Cyber-terrorism is ever on the increase.   We live in the times where we can have our website taken down in a blink of an eye, and nothing could be done about it, other than God executing a miracle in restoring it again.  But by the grace of God, it hasn’t already happened more than once (and that lasted only for a few hours, praise God). 

Precious Testimonies has been under major demonic attack for weeks now.  We aren’t going to mention specifics, because it can potentially only give ammunition to the enemy to try to hinder the ministry even more.   If you’ve ever doubted the importance of praying for the ministry – praying that God will enable us to efficiently keep the Precious Testimonies site up and running and the ability to edit content when necessary, and add new content when we feel to add it … please be ASSURED your prayers are critically important!

In conjunction with maintaining the technical side of the ministry (mainly seemingly never-ending computer related problems) … is our request that we are so appreciative of those that specifically pray for Kathleen and I to be able to keep up with the administrative demands of the ministry as well. 

Both of us are growing older like you, and we both are having to deal with increased health issues that hinder our ability to operate in the ministry at top efficiency.   Both of us battle sleep issues, among other health concerns, so getting sufficient sleep would be tops on our prayer requests.   I battle back issues that stems back to my time in the military and have only worsened over the years.  I’ve battled paralysis in both feet and legs the last few years because of the back issues, and back pain is the greatest hindrance to my getting sleep.  Kathleen simply battles insomnia.  Yes – we read and listen to what the medical professionals – nutritionists - have to say, and we’re received bouts of breakthrough from it from time to time, but yet as time goes by, we seem to be losing ground overall in getting quality sleep.  Many saints we personally know are incessantly attacked in like manner.  Satan knows that when Christians don’t get quality sleep, they are less efficient when they are available to do ministry.

A simple solution to many of our ministry-related challenges would be to simply PAY someone qualified to do what we do in the ministry.  But with little finances to work with, usually barely enough just to keep the website up and functioning at time, (which mostly comes out of our own limited personal financial resources), hiring others has never been an option.  We are praying that God will give us some volunteers to help carry the load, so that too is an ongoing prayer request we make – assuming God wants this ministry to continue to function on the Internet as we move ever closer to the return of Christ.

We realize God’s work can and will go forth without websites like Precious Testimonies.  It isn’t like God NEEDS what we’ve been fortunate to be able to offer to the world through the website and the videos.  And if He so allows the website to one day go blank with no way to restore it … then maybe that will be God’s time for us to devote more time and energy to prison ministry, and/or perhaps other ministry we enjoy doing from time to time, like passing out evangelistic seed (Real Life Stories testimonies books, tracts, CD’s and like resources, and the one-on-one ministry that often accompanies it). 

Having said the above, it would certainly personally be heart-breaking for me to learn that so many of the anointed testimonies and certain spiritual writings that God has enabled us to publish on the website would simply vanish from the Internet if our website should permanently get taken out.  Hence, my appeal that testifiers make a back-up copy for such a potential happening, AND … submit their testimonies to be published on OTHER Christian sites that publish testimonies.  The more Christian websites that has a person’s testimony on them, the harder it would be for the enemy to take down every website.   

In junction with the above, my on-going prayer is that God will keep raising up OTHER Christians to create and maintain testimony websites like we are doing.  I don’t believe God has too many Christians doing that already.  So perhaps God would ask YOU to essentially duplicate what God has enabled Kathleen and I to do with the Internet, using both text and video to help reach lost souls?

The times are changing quickly.  Doors are going to start closing as Christian repression continues to make great strides forward, but soul winning will never be stopped.  Many of us might have full-time prison ministries as things progress, but where there are people, one can pray and witness.  The Internet offers a wonderful opportunity to reach the masses, but without on-going warfare of God’s people to keep Christian broadcasts on the Internet like Precious Testimonies … Satan will have the ability to put them out of commission.  He’s going to gain his influence on the human race – not be diminished.  He’s coming to rule down here folks, (until God puts an end to him) … not just be content to operate covertly just behind the scenes.  Basic to spiritual warfare:  Christian are not to fear what Satan can do to them … but they are not to be ignorant (hence denial) of his devices either.   God gave weapons for Christians to use.  My take is that fewer and fewer Christians care to use them because they are already so battle worn by demonic attacks upon them personally they have lost their will to fight anymore.

As I write this, I marvel at the level of demonic deception/influence taking place in the political and financial arena.   Saints – if there has ever been a time to stay walking in the Spirit to rightly discern what is going on in the world … its importance can’t be stressed enough.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update, and thank you so much for your ongoing prayers and encouragement.  We’re in this battle together being used of the Lord in helping to reach lost souls for the Lord and nurture them up to maturity in Christ, so everything you are doing to help reach lost souls and helping disciple them is TOPS on God’s list of importance on behalf of the Church and the human race who stumbles in demonic spiritual darkness.

Until next time …

Blessed To Be A Blessing,

Norm Rasmussen (And Kathleen, my precious wife and helpmate in Christ)

Director