3-18-2005

Prayer circle friends,

whew!  I'm back from Australia (2 and a half weeks). Sorry so slow getting
back to ya 'll.....  Got back on Wednesday, and immediately got hit with jet
lag, trying to catch things up, and then getting sick today. Was fasting and
praying about some things too and I'm sure that didn't help either.....

No I didn't get bit by any rabid kangaroos though I did get to pet one at a
nature reserve. :-) Also a koala bear. Cute little critters.

Must be something about single white American cowboy males traveling alone
that makes
everyone outside the USA glance twice. Me and my bags were searched no less
than 5 times going and coming, with 3 of those times supposably "Random".
They told me I didn't fit a profile per se, but you could have fooled me.
Was actually almost funny, once I got done being seriously annoyed......

And then plane trouble on the trip home where mechanics were fixing one of
the engines on the plane as we sat waiting for nearly an hour on the taxiway
before takeoff..... (unnerving *sad chuckle*).

Saw many God fingerprints while I was there. Some downright miracles
too.....  And my single mom friend's cancer, which just 4 months ago the
doctors called "terminal", has stopped and begun to go away with all the
prayers of everyone. In fact, the tumors had regressed so much that they
didn't even do the surgery to remove them that was apparently planned
(though she did still have an operation for something else instead). The
biopsies of the margins returned clear, their physical size has shrunk
considerably, and her rather surprised doctor can't explain it - but we can
*big grin*.  But because of this other surgery that had been planned at the
same time, I was still able to help out around her place and with the 4
children while I was there, while she recovered. It was a good time, and I
brought back many good memories with me, and I think I may have left a part
of my heart there with her......

As for the future, human wisdom says I can't move there. Human wisdom also
says she can't move here. But God is a God of the impossible, so we'll
see...... She has become a very dear friend over the year and a half that I
have known her.

So I am back. And looking for a full time job in Boise. I cannot build this
ranch by myself. And the debts left over from my previous marriage and
divorce HAVE to be paid. If God is going to build this ranch, He will do it
in a way that I cannot claim the glory for myself. I have prayed many times
that He builds it in a way that PROVES to the whole world that He is behind
it. He has consistently put food on my table while I have been here. He has
consistently provided for my basic needs. He has consistently moved the
ranch forward, first with leaps and bounds, then at a baby's crawl, then at
a walking pace. But I have come to the conclusion (with much prayer), that I
could work my heart out to build this place, and it still won't happen if no
one else and God do not help. So I need to put it back in His hands, and
find a "real" job to pay of debts that I feel dishonor His position in my
life
because of the bondage they place me under. I am still living here, working
on the place in my spare time and evenings, and will continue to coordinate
stuff with anyone that wants to help, but I think now is the time for God to
raise up other people to come, and time for me to quit beating my head
against brick walls.... I want this to be a GOD place, not a Tim place.

So you might thank God for me for such a wonderful trip to Australia to see
and help my friend, then also pray that God moves this ranch forward in a
miraculous way, and that He helps me clear my debts so I can move on with
life also, whether here at the ranch or elsewhere.....

Pray also that God gives me the right words to say in the general newsletter
that I will be writing in the next day or two.

Thankyou all for your prayers and continued support... It has been truly
wonderful. God is honored.

In Him.

-Tim

Tim Benedict
Thorn Creek Conference Center
21 Yellowpine Lane
Boise, ID 83716
208-392-6723
tbenedict@bigskytel.net