ON THE ANSWER IS ON THE WAY...

VBC 2001

In 2001 Esther and I purchased the campground with its 12 acres of property plus a small piece on the lake giving us access to the lake.  All that was here at the time was the A frame chalet that was built in 1962. There were two outhouse toilets off in the woods and only a hand pump for a 50’ well in front of the chalet.

At the time when we bought the place, the Town of Brownsburg began to insist that we bring the place up to code which included drilling a proper water well and installing a commercial septic system. We drilled the well (360’) and then proceeded with the septic system. The Town required professional plans drawn up by an Engineer. The first set of plans were unbelievable! It was a commercial system that would have cost us in excess of $50,000. Holiday Inn style! And the weeping bed would have covered most of the open area on the grounds. We were shocked! I pleaded with the engineer to size the system down to something affordable.  Even then, with the plans, ground prep and installation, it still cost us $30,000. This system operates with a pumping station containing two pumps controlled by a computerized relay unit. The money to pay for this system required a great deal of sacrifice! We are thankful for those who believe in this project and helped contribute to the cause. We had paid for the majority of the system, $25,000., with our own personal savings and outside contributions.

This story centers around one of those contributions.

We were down to the last $5,000. that needed to be paid. The contractor that installed the system was wanting his money. He was very patient! We had been earnestly praying, asking God what to do.

During this time we met a Pastor from Quebec who was attending the same conference we were attending. One morning this Pastor, while in conversation with my wife, asked Esther how we were doing. My wife began to explain the situation with our septic system at the campground. The Pastor said, “You should know that we were just getting ready to send you an offering that we have of $5,000.!” She explained that it is money that is going to be released very soon and it has been designated for your campground. My wife was ecstatic!

And then the Pastor explained where the money was coming from.

The Pastor told her about a lady in their church who had been saving money. She was setting money aside specifically for her future wedding day. Not long ago she came to this Pastor and said that God definitely spoke to her and specifically said that she was to give $5,000. to the Roaches and their campground. It was the money that she had been saving for her wedding! Strangely, just a short time after she made that commitment, she was driving her car and hit a patch of black ice and lost control of her vehicle and was involved in a head-on collision. She died in that car accident!

I’m sure you can understand why this campground is so close to our hearts today! We feel incredibly honored that this precious lady had given that money to Victory Bible Camp!! We honor her for investing in the lives of people who benefit spiritually from VBC!

We do not understand how God works at times but we have to trust His divine providence and take comfort in the scripture that says, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

So, don’t despair when it seems like you have prayed and prayed about something, and the answer is not surfacing. I can tell you with calm assurance that the answer IS on its way. God is faithful, and He is working behind the scenes on our behalf. He is for us – not against us. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says the LORD; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (MKJV)

To the family of this dear lady, we say thank-you and may the God of all comfort be your portion today!  Jesus said, “Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven:” Luke 6:23 Most certainly this lady is receiving her reward for being so faithful!!   SRR

ON BEING A GREAT HUNTER...

My Grandfather Bell was an avid hunter. He loved to go deer hunting in the fall of the year. I remember him saying year after year, “I got my deer!” My Dad also would go deer hunting on occasion. I can’t remember hearing him ever saying “I got my deer!” Since there were hunters in my family, it would only seem right that I, too, should be a great hunter! One would think so.

It was 1987 and I decided to get my deer license. I borrowed a 30-06 Rifle from one of the men in the church in Springfield. Early one morning I took the gun, jumped in the car, and headed for the bush. I was going deer hunting...alone...and for the first time in my life! I was 28 years old.

I found an old woods road somewhere near Keswick Ridge and drove for about two kilometers and just as I rounded a corner there on the road in front of me were two beautiful, full sized deer! Suddenly, everything went silent! All I could hear was my heart pounding like a bass drum in my head. I stopped the car and slowly turned the ignition off. They didn’t move. They just stood there looking at me. I reached slowly for the door handle, pulling then turning it and the window went down. I then reached for the proper handle and opened the door very slowly. My hands were sweating! I eased out of the driver’s seat. They still didn’t move. They just stood there looking at me.

I made my way around to the back of the car and inserted the key slowly into the trunk lock. I very quietly lifted the trunk lid and reached in for the gun that was wrapped in a blanket. I fumbled trying to get the clip of bullets out of my front pocket and into the bottom slot of the gun. I peeked around the side of the trunk lid and the two deer still hadn’t moved. I heard one of them whisper to the other, “What’s he doing?” The pretty one whispered back, “I’m not sure.”

I was finally ready! I gained my composure, straightened my tie, and like an actor ready to step out onto the stage for his grand performance, I boldly, yet quietly stepped from behind the car and raised the gun in James Bond 007 fashion, and pointed in the direction of the two deer. They had both vanished into thin air!!

I closed the trunk lid and walked to the front of the car and peered down through the trees and there they were! Looking right at me again. I slowly raised the rifle and locked the sights on the front shoulder of the bigger one. Now everything went into slow motion as I pulled the trigger. It seemed like eternity pulling my finger back until there was this massive explosion and sharp pain in my shoulder! I saw fire shoot from the end of the rifle and the bullet hit its mark and the deer crumpled to the ground and didn’t move!

The next few minutes seemed like hours as I walked over to the deer and then back to the car. I walked back to the deer and then back to the car. Once again I walked over to the deer and then back to the car. I actually did this about six times. All the while, I was muttering to myself, asking questions. “What do I do now? I’ve never shot a deer before! Why in the world have I done this? Nobody ever told me what happens after you shoot a deer. What am I supposed to do now?”

Just then I remembered grandfather saying something about a deer needing to be bled. So I walked towards the car thinking, “I need a knife. Did anyone bring a knife?” The voice in my head replied, “No! Nobody brought a knife!” So I said to myself, “I have to bleed that deer!” I walked back over to the deer and grabbed the front legs and pulled it around so its head was tilted down a little slope and I pointed the gun at its throat and shot it again using the bullet as a knife! It worked and it bled! Just then I envisioned a tomb stone beside the deer’s head that simply said, BAMBI. Underneath was the inscription, “What have I ever done...to deserve even ONE...of the bullets you’ve shot?” Strangely enough I could hear a tune in my head as I read these words! I felt like a very bad boy!!

So while BAMBI is bleeding, I shamefully walked back to the car realizing that I needed to carry this animal home. My next task was to find a piece of rope to tie the body to my car. I go around to the trunk and reached into my pocket for my keys. No keys! Then I remembered that I had laid them down on the floor of the trunk when I got the rifle out. And I had closed the trunk! I spent the next 34 minutes destroying my back seat trying to find an opening. I finally found (created) a 6” hole and with a stick went fishing for a set of keys in the dark. Miraculously I caught them! When I finally opened the trunk there wasn’t even a hint of rope anywhere to be found. All I had were two old fan belts. I reasoned, “I can make them work!” I wrestled the deer to the car and was able to get the beast up onto the front hood. I hooked the left front leg with the fan belt and slipped it over the driver’s side windshield wiper. I then hooked the left hind leg with the other fan belt to the passenger’s side windshield wiper. I thought, “What a great idea! I should publish that in “The Professional Hunter’s Great Idea Book!”

I packed the gun and turned the car around. As I drove along I noticed the deer’s belly began to swell! I thought, “That’s strange! Has anyone got a Rolaid?” Turns out the heat from the car motor was now roasting my deer! I could smell hair burning and just the slight hint of deer steak on the grill! It dawned on me that I hadn’t yet dressed the deer meaning that all the innards were still inward!

So, I stopped at the first house I came to. As I drove into the driveway there were two men standing next to the house talking. They both paused their conversation glancing at me and then at the deer and then back at me as I drove closer. One of them leaned over to the other and said something and then they both began to laugh hysterically! I felt a wee bit conspicuous!

When I got out of the car I asked them if they had a knife I could borrow. At first one of the men said, “NO!” The other said, “I’ll give you a knife, but you’re not gutting that thing around here!” I said, “What do I do?” He replied, “Well you really should let the air out of that deer’s belly!” So I took his butcher knife and thrust it into its belly!

Now folks, I thought the smell of burning hair was bad enough, but WHOA! Now I had one superior mess all over the hood and windshield of my car! I continued driving home with the windows up and no fan on! As I drove along, people I met would pull over to the side of the road and point their finger at us saying, LOOK! LOOK, KIDS! and then EEEEEWW! 

On the way home I met one of the men from the church. He stopped and asked what I was doing. Before I could answer...he said, “Don’t bother trying to explain, Pastor....let’s just get this thing gutted!” Needless to say the meat was ruined! When I drove into the yard with the deer on my car, Esther came out onto the front deck and I said, "I shot my deer!" She said, "No you didn't!" I said, "Yes I did!" She said, "No you didn't!...Who shot it really?"


Upon my honor, I have never shot another deer since that day and most likely never will, ever again! If you ever want me to go hunting with you, I’ll just bring the fan belts!

As for a spiritual application to this story....there is none! All I could remotely come up with is when the Lord spoke to Peter and said, “Arise, kill and eat!” Acts 11:7 As far as I'm concerned, that's simply not enough information!    Have a blessed day!    SRR

PS: When we all get to heaven, please promise me you will never breathe a word of this story to my Grampy Bell!

ON PAYING ATTENTION TO THE WARNING SIGNS...

It was in the fall of 2005 when my wife and I were building our home here in Brownsburg. We had come over to the chalet for lunch and after we finished eating we were going to head back over to the house to do more work. I said to Esther, “Come jump on the four wheeler and I’ll take you over with me.” She said, “No, I need to walk that lunch off!” I said, “Okay! See you there!”

Earlier that morning I had been at the campground cleaning around the yard and noticed that the red plastic cafeteria tray, hanging on the cable that stretched across the driveway, was broken. I had hung the tray there to insure that no one would accidentally drive through the cable. I had removed the broken tray from the cable that morning intending to replace it with a new one. I didn’t get back to it and the cable remained across the driveway without the warning sign!

As I started the four wheeler, I throttled it and took off lickidy-split out the driveway not seeing the cable across my pathway stretching from tree to tree. I recall the violent snap against the fairing/wind shield, ripping it right off the four wheeler and then the ½” steel cable hitting my throat with such force that it violently threw my whole body backward, slamming the back of my neck against the high part of the attached passenger seat. I thought for a moment that I had broken my neck! Because of the momentum, the ATV continued to move forward and I was now pinned to the rear seat with the cable pressing extremely hard against my throat! Immediately the forward force of the ATV literally ripped the ½” eyehook right out of the tree! It all happened in a flash! I am convinced that, had the eyehook not pulled from the tree it would have surely broken my neck! I was in shock when I finally realized what had happened! The Hand of God was on me that day and I’m so thankful Esther had decided to walk instead of ride!

I sat there on the steps of the chalet for awhile, spitting up blood from my throat. I was glad the cable hit me above my “Adam’s Apple” rather than below! Had it hit below, it would have undoubtedly shattered my larynx. 

As Esther realized something was wrong, she came running back to where I was and when she saw what had happened, she began to pray for me in Jesus’ Name. I suffered a severe sore throat for a few days but everything seemed to be okay. Today we mark it down as another “miracle” that saved me that day.

Sometimes it’s the little warnings that prove to be so important. Had the red caution sign been placed back onto the cable, I would have seen it, and avoided the near catastrophe.  All through life there are caution signs that require our undivided attention. If the signs are not maintained and kept in good order, it can cause much havoc. Often it’s the little signs that are most important and it’s so imperative that we pay attention to them. God has built into each one of us subtle warning signs, that if heeded  will save us a lot of harm and heartache. Throughout the Bible, God warned people many times of impending danger. Some listened, others didn’t. It will do us all well to pay attention and watch!

Mark 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.