News

By Nancy Kilpatrick

Are you a chess player or have your chess mates grown up with families of their own, like mine have? Chess is only a fond memory. As I was watching the news this past week, I was impressed with the thought that our nation is like this chess board with two players: on one side is the Democrats; on other side is the Republicans. I heard in my spirit that dreadful challenge: CHECKMATE!!
In this scenario, we are all players in this game of chess. You’re either on one side or the other, and in our world today it’s either the Good side or the Evil side because we are in a battle for the soul of a nation. Our Founding Fathers, put their life on the line to develop a free nation with a Constitution that would preserve our freedoms for all future generations. Most of us have family members down through the years that have been part of our military to protect our freedoms; many paying the ultimate sacrifice for us.
The goal of the game is to protect the king; the ‘king’ in this scenario is our Constitution and our American way of life. Every board piece moves in different ways, they each have their own moves to make. But when the king becomes vulnerable, the opposing team calls “checkmate.” You have one opportunity to find a move to save the king.
While listening to Michelle Bachman a month ago, she said that while Washington will not tell you this and our media will not divulge this truth: everything that needs to happen to consider a country under a “coup” has already happened to America, starting with the fraud of our election. We are being governed by a coup. We have a group of people on the left that are determined to transform our nation and they do that by ignoring, bypassing our Constitution and Amendments. They have challenged our side with “checkmate.”
We have one more opportunity to protect our ‘king.’ Our government is to be run by We, the people. We, the people doesn’t mean our Senate and our House of Representatives. It means We, the citizens, the legal voters of this country. If our Senate and House do not keep their word and protect our ‘king’ it is our responsibility to vote them out. It’s imperative that we be united as one to do this.
First: keep our nation in prayer. Secondly, be registered to vote and go to the polls. Thirdly, stay informed: go to GOP meetings, Common Sense Campaign meetings, school board meetings. This is a battle for our children and the soul of our Nation.
One of our Founding Fathers made the statement that if Washington is not being run the way we want, it’s because we tolerate it. And to change it, we must demand that they get it right, and you do that at the polls.

By Donna Marable

More than one-third of abortions in the United States occur through the “abortion pill”, and although there has been a decline in abortions over the last decade, chemical abortions are on the rise. Now with Covid-19, argument for the need to have abortion pills mailed directly to the home has also increased. The pain a woman endures and the dangers she places herself in by having a medical abortion alone at home is unthinkable.
The abortion pill comes in two parts. The first pill blocks the effects of progesterone, a hormone necessary for pregnancy to thrive. The second pill completes an abortion. Imagine women taking the first pill and immediately regretting their decision. They have about 72 hours to change their minds and for a chance to save their babies. No woman should ever feel forced to finish an abortion she regrets. Within that 72-hour window a woman can reverse the effects of the abortion pill with a 64% -68% success rate of saving her baby. Since 2018, Heartbeat International has been giving women a last chance to choose life through their Abortion Pill Reversal hotline that connects women with a local medical provider who starts the APR process. Statistics show that more than 1,000 lives have been saved through this Network.
One thing a world pandemic has taught us is that life is precious. Yet whose life we value seems to be determined by whether they are living inside a womb or outside. As we have witnessed the great lengths mankind will go to save their own lives, we have also seen the plotting and scheming to violently and forcefully destroy life in the womb. Covid has not only opened a new door in history to government-controlled mandates and restrictions to personal liberties, but it has also ushered in one of the darkest chapters in unrestricted access to abortion – now made available through online purchasing – abortion in a bottle mailed directly to the home! In spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling requiring a woman to pick up abortion pills in person, the FDA has approved abortion by telemedicine during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Women’s Care Medical Center is fighting this war on the frontlines, intervening sometimes in the last hour before death. WCMC, headquartered in Robertsdale, is now an APR provider in Baldwin County, Alabama, and surrounding areas. In their 30+ year history, they have never made referrals for abortions. As a member of the National APR Network, WCMC may be contacted by a woman after taking the first pill and changing her mind. Under the proper care of a licensed provider she will be started on the proper medication to reverse the effects of the first pill and will also be cared for spiritually. In 2 out of 3 cases the baby’s life is saved, and it has not caused any harm to any mother. Many incredible stories exist of women who have changed their minds in that last hour, and their baby is snatched back from the brink of death.
To get involved with this ministry, please consider participation in Walk for Life March 26, 2022.
Check www.friendsofwcmc.org after the first of the year for more detailed information. The Center continues to fight evil on new fronts, knowing this fight cannot be won except by the greatest weapon, the power of prayer, and your help is needed!

By Staff Reporter

The tough subjects of depression and suicide are difficult to discuss and address. Billy and Tamela Fronabarger have a heart for the mission of helping people who are struggling in these areas. They travelled with their young children from Illinois in 2016 for the specific purpose of planting a church on the Gulf Coast. They had successfully started a church in Illinois, but soon after starting to lay groundwork in the new location, they both faced many trials and tribulations, both personally and physically. By the spring of 2018 Billy describes himself as “broken”. It was that fall when Billy experienced a revelation realizing that in general the church (which is “the people”) was not effectively offering hope to those in need of help. When asking the question: “What is your church doing to offer help in the areas of depression and suicide”, most would answer, “Oh, I think our Pastor does a great job”. The Bible promises if we believe and trust the Lord, He equips his people to go out and preach The Good News. (Mark 16:15-18; Mark 13:11; John 16:13). This is what birthed The Cove, A Ministry of Hope.
The Cove Ministry offers: a Listening Ear (James 1:19), an Encouraging Word (Ephesians 4:29), an Enduring Friendship (Proverbs 17:17) and a Lasting Hope (Hebrews 6:19). They are not professionals, but people who know what it is like to struggle with depression. They are available to talk anytime if a caller is having a hard day. They believe and profess the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the central message that offers hope to those in need. They know that suffering is part of the Christian life and believe God gives us to one another to walk together through the dark times. The Ministry is the epitome of people truly caring about individuals. They strive to build friendships and become a trustworthy connection point between others and Christ, hopefully making more disciples.
The Fronabargers desire “to see churches minister to people more effectively and serve in partnership as liaisons to the community to create more awareness”. The Cove Ministry would love to come into churches to speak during worship times to share their story, and especially to create awareness in this crucial, often ignored area of life.

By Fran Gardner Mora / Pearls & Presence

Four hundred years ago, a small group of just over 100 people sailed across the ocean from England and reached the northeastern shore of this country. They came with the intention of establishing a community that would allow them to worship God without all the trappings of politics or the worldly influence that threatened to pollute the purity of their beliefs. They left their old lives behind, knowing that there would be even more risks and sacrifices encountered as they pursued their dream. Arriving in autumn, they faced the challenge of surviving the winter with very little preparation and scarce provisions. Because of cold, sickness, and hunger, only half of them lived to greet the spring. But they pushed forward and called upon the name of the LORD.
Our Father, the faithful Waymaker, helped them to forge a life-saving alliance with the resident native tribe – despite the disappointments of prior engagements with white settlers. So, two distinctly different peoples worked in unity for the betterment of all. The pilgrims learned to hunt, fish, and plant crops that could survive in the unfamiliar environment; and the native dwellers gained protection from the attacks of other tribes. They were friends who trusted and relied on each other, even though they didn’t share the same God, culture, or life experiences. When the pilgrims prepared a three-day feast to give thanks to God for all that He had provided, they invited their Native American brothers to partake and be present before the LORD. As they gathered together, they not only enjoyed the bountiful harvest, they celebrated the beauty of fulfilled hope.
In this season of giving thanks to God and counting our blessings, believers must challenge themselves to resist the temptation to embrace ideology that strives to encourage separation and strife between people. We must guard our hearts against destructive rhetoric and sensationalism, and we must ground ourselves in the sensibility of God. The end game is not merely toleration and respect; the end game is, and has always been, love.
The best way to show our appreciation for the goodness of God is to reflect Jesus to those around us – and the only way we can do that is to draw near to those who need to see Him. We must be purposeful in extending a hand in partnership so that we can be fruitful ambassadors of Christ.

By LeeAnn Witzigman

One of my favorite hours of the week is Tuesday morning prayer at my church. The sanctuary is empty and quiet, and the stillness magnifies the voice of my Father in His house. In August, I shared a word that resonated with my pastor, and she asked if I would speak it at the women’s conference a few weeks later. On that night, I stood before the royalty of Heaven and was completely overtaken by the Holy Spirit as I saw a prophecy being fulfilled right before my eyes. Every word of the vision I’d received was unfolding in front of me and it was a moment I could never forget. I live for the collision of God’s heart for the future and the exact second when it becomes our present reality.
I was reminded of this glorious moment when I thought about Mary holding Jesus for the first time. How overwhelming it must have been to behold every fulfilled prophecy about the coming Messiah. To feel Him breathing in His tranquil slumber and know it’s the breath of God. The wonder and privilege she had to look right into His eyes and call Him by His holy name. The kisses of a peasant girl soaking into the spirit of the Prince of Peace. The lullaby she hummed in His ear on his first night being recorded deep inside Him to be played again during His last night. And the capacity of her growing heart filling at a rapid pace, full of the splendor of these sacred moments she’d spend the rest of her life pondering.
How I wish I was there on that night in Bethlehem.
But I wasn’t. I’m here. And much like Mary, I’m living out the fulfilled prophecies of my time and trusting God that there are millions more I have yet to witness with Him. Every time we delicately steward the word of God and partner with what He has spoken over our lives, we position ourselves to have a moment like Mary did …where a window of Heaven opens right where we are, and we see Jesus face to face.

By Jeff SutherlandThe allies and the Germans signed an armistice (truce) agreement on November 11, 1918. Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 in the US to honor all US veterans who fought in all wars.
There have been many wars since then and in total since the beginning of World War I there have been 433,128 American soldiers killed. Honoring those who fought and died for our country and our freedoms is a great idea but not the best.
Since the bombing of Pearl Harbor Our US military has been considered the world’s strongest and best equipped. There may have been some points where this may not have been completely true but most of us believe it, despite how it may be portrayed at times in our media.
Honor should be given to those who fought, were injured and especially those who died fighting for us, for our freedoms, for our ideals, for our sovereignty as a country. Yet there are those who would deny agreement on our freedoms and ideals.
Directly after 9/11 there was a massive growth of love of our country. Flags were flying proudly everywhere. Churches were full, people were looking for something to hold onto yet in months the churches emptied out and the flags taken down.
Now there are those who stomp on our flags and our freedoms while rejecting the idea that there should be honor at all. In fact, many have bought into the idea that our founding fathers lied about everything and that honor, our constitution and our military mean nothing good.
Many times, in the Bible the people of Israel fought foes much larger, stronger, and better equipped than they were and won. They also went into battle against much smaller and weaker foes and lost.
What was the difference then between winning and losing? The great military? No. The bigger army? No. The greater chariots, shields and swords? No.
Reading Judges 6-8 we find the opposite to be true. God told Gideon, you have too many men in his army. He started with 32,000 but God whittled his number down to 300. Why? So, no one would think the victory was because of their strength and might. When they won, they knew God won the battle for them.
Is it a terrible thing to have a big strong army? Is it a dreadful thing to own a gun to protect yourself, your family, or your neighbors? No, not at all. What is wrong is when we start to think that gun, that bomb, that new stealth aircraft or that large army of well-trained marines are what wins the battle.
We all face battles almost everyday but when we begin to have faith in ourselves or faith in anything other than the Lord of Lords, our battle is lost. Honor our veterans. Thank everyone of them for their service. Show them that you care for all they have done but don’t put them above the One who was there fighting in the trenches with them, the One true God.

By Vitor Seiber

Emotions of all kinds have run high since the beginning of COVID in 2020 and as we are coming to the end of 2021, things have become worse. We find ourselves navigating through all kinds of negativity that seems to flood the environment around us. To fight these things in my personal life, I like to believe that each morning I equip myself with the armor of God, but who hasn’t arrived at work and suddenly realized you forgot to put your belt of salvation on before leaving the house?
As I approach the end of 2021, tensions at work continue to increase as usual. And with each day that passes, I find myself slipping further and further into my own understanding of the world. First, I am focusing on our poor leadership, then the department’s failure to meet our annual goals, and slowly these thoughts have manifested into doubt over my life decisions and where I am heading. It’s alarming to see how quickly our negative thoughts gain momentum; like a runaway train! If you’ve ever had a similar chain of thought, then we’ve experienced a form of suffering together.
When we are in distress it’s important to vent, and in my case, I chose to vent with my wonderful wife. During our discussion, she shared with me the word of the day, Romans 5:3-4 “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”. Initially, I heard the word, but I was too stubborn to receive it. I’ve read this verse so many times before. “I need a better verse than this one, trust me,” I told God. I’m just supposed to be happy in my struggles? How does that make sense?
The following day the Holy Spirit brought me to Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. Suddenly it all hit me like a ton of bricks. In a split second, I found myself interpreting the Word from a new perspective. Hope is the product of suffering, i.e., one cannot know how to hope without experiencing hardship; and the absence of hope restricts the assurance of faith.
Following my thoughts further, I began to think of the potter and the clay but soon realized the trade is too delicate to relate to how I was feeling that week. My thoughts then turned to a blacksmith tempering steel, which led me to write the following:
“Rejoice in times of struggle; like the anvil to iron, our characters are being forged under fire”
The prefix “re” in the word “rejoice” is a Latin term used to indicate repetition. As much as we want to believe all this hard work on earth ends in life without suffering, it doesn’t. We must repeatedly find joy when faced with trials; without it, we would never know what to hope for. Imagine where we would be if the Apostle Paul never found joy during his imprisonment?
And just like that, all negativity and doubt were quenched in an instant!

By Linda Center

This time of year is the season of Holidays. With Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day right around the corner it is easy to get lost in excessive busyness.
Perhaps you are worried about staying calm through the upcoming holidays with meal preparation, shopping, gatherings, traveling, or the other hundred things that need attention.
When we get overly busy, we feel like we are out of control. All we want is for it to stop. But how? Balance is the key! We desperately need order and peace, not only during the holidays but every day.
Recently, I overheard a preacher describe BUSY as Buried Under Satan’s Yoke. It is easy to get buried under things of the world—not necessarily evil things, but distractions from spending time with God and family. I don’t know about you, but whenever I find myself too busy, I feel like that person under Satan’s yoke. I lose my focus on what is important until I start practicing balance again.
I learned the balancing lesson the hard way. Unreasonable tasks caused me such anxiety that I would lash out at my loved ones. It also took its toll on my health. After years of an overly packed schedule, I realized that my lifestyle needed to change. Now I limit the busyness of my days by cutting back on activities and I am learning to say no more often.
The Bible warns us how easily we can be swayed off-track without even realizing the direction we are headed. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Changing a busy lifestyle takes self-control and awareness to improve. How we choose to live matters. Let us be mindful that blessed are the balanced.
lindasondancer@gmail.com
251-228-165

By Esther Milne

Sinésio Dutra Veiga is from Brazil and still lives in his birthplace of Rio de Janeiro. As a young man he graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with a degree in Accounting and then worked in this profession for almost 40 years. Just recently he entered into retirement and instead of looking at numbers all day, he has dedicated himself to the Arts. He has been exploring his creative talents by learning to play piano, singing in choirs and also learning how to draw.
Before the Coronavirus pandemic Sinésio studied painting on canvas at the Brazilian Society of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro. Once the country went into lockdown he switched to online classes but it wasn’t long until he contracted the coronavirus and was forced to stop all his creative activities. His case was so severe that he was hospitalized for the entire month of March and intubated for 5 days. After being so sick with COVID-19, he says that his recovery can only be explained by a miracle. Sinésio has been able to go back to drawing and currently he loves drawing faces from photographs. Every day he thanks God for his health and for all the blessings that he receives from being involved in the Arts.

By Esther Milne

Papa Vince, based in Gulf Shores, AL. is a celebration of all things Sicilian. At the heart of this small business is a desire to bring back traditional Italian family values of love, food and spending time together around the table making memories.
Since 2012 owners Stefano and Vitina Feo have been partnering with Italian family members to bring a selection of Sicilian gourmet foods to the US. market. From their signature Extra Virgin Olive Oil to artisan crafted pastas and sauce, vinegar and even whole bean coffee, every product promises to deliver the delicious flavors of Italy combined with nature’s own nutrition.
The story of Papa Vince begins in Sicily in 1935 when a young apprentice name Vince started to learn the art of olive oil production while working at the estate of a noble family. He learned that the quality of the olive oil depended on the care given to the trees and the soil in the olive grove. Not all olive oil was created equal and Papa Vince wanted to take this ‘liquid gold’ and make it available to everyone, not just the wealthy.
The Feos caught the dream and worked hard at local and national festivals offering free samples to everyone who visited their booth. Gaining loyal clients who were giving 5 Star reviews, the Feos next branched out on Amazon to gain a bigger share of the market. It is not a task for the faint of heart, to sell clean crafted products next to those that are produced by the commercial giants.
Papa Vince seeks out the discerning consumer who is looking for foods produced without artificial additives, flavorings, chemicals or enhancers, which will boost instead of harm your health. There have been many testimonials from clients who have seen improvements in their health since consuming the Extra Virgin Olive Oil on a regular basis.
To find out more, check out the website at: papavince.com where you’ll find the complete catalog of products along with a variety of recipes based around the Mediterranean diet.
You can visit the Papa Vince store front at: 3757 Gulf Shores Park Way in Gulf Shores or contact Vitina at: 251-269-6000, she would love to hear from you.