From The Foothills, Vol. 1 No. 3 June thru Sept, 2006

2006-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

A lot of water has passed down the arroyo since we last communicated. I will cover some of the highlights of the last four months. We both want to express our deep gratitude both to the entire clan of Merritts and especially to Margaret Merritt. When you are 84 and agree to let someone move in with you and are faced with all that change……it can be a struggle to have familiar ways and patterns broken up by those who don’t know those ways. The children of Margaret have been very patient with our ignorance in so many areas.

The month of June saw us having lots of visitors. In the early part of the month we had an opportunity to meet up with former missionaries that we known in Kisumu, Kenya. When you are in a foreign land and culture, the people who are from your own land and culture, (being few in number) can assume an important part in your life. The Stamper’s and the McAninch’s and ourselves met in Albuquerque, NM for a one day “old home” meeting and spent an enjoyable time reminiscing about our common shared experiences in Kisumu, Kenya.

Later in the month we had Bill and Jill Thomason from Flint, Michigan, one of the Elders with our sending church visit us in Pinon. They stopped by on their way to the Red River Encampment. We were able to share the incredible vision of the White Sands National Park with them. Their visit was encouraging and uplifting.

At the end of the month, Jane Murray, the daughter of Margaret and Jane’s daughter Jodi and 3 children spent several days at the ranch. Jodi and the 3 children spent their sleeping time at the “Elijah House”, a small house reserved for visitors. It gets its name from 1 Kings 17:19&23.

The second week in July saw a VBS organized by Mike and Amy Joy and 4 teens from Main Street Church of Christ in Roswell, NM, held at the Pinon church building. It was well attended by the community children and adults also. It was held on Sun, Mon, Tues, evenings. The theme was the book of Colossians, emphasizing Christ as the center of our lives.

The 29th of July found us in Searcy, Arkansas, attending Caleb’s graduation from Harding University. From there we moved down to St. George Island in Florida to witness the marriage of Caleb Bell and Lindsey Istre on the 5th of August. The newly married couple are now in residence in Jonesboro, Arkansas where Lindsey is pursuing her Master’s in math with hopes of teaching math at Harding. Caleb is continuing to seek employment in Internet Web related areas while working for the San Francisco Bread Co. Jared Oriadha, the director for the Ring Road Orphan School in Kisumu, Kenya, was in the States at that time and was able to attend the wedding in Florida. His presence was a big surprise to Caleb.

While we were gone from New Mexico the Lord sent rain……lots of it. Pinon creek, which is a dry arroyo most of the year, ran with such force that the earthen creek bed is now a stone creek bed. After over 3 inches in a couple of hours and after five years of drought, the land was not ready to soak up rain. A six hundred square mile rain basin funneled down to Pinon draw and swept away everything in its path. Even the nine foot depth marker near the ranch house was gone, as well as all the fences that stretched across all the water gaps. The logs and trees, some dead, some uprooted, became the batter rams that scoured the arroyos and plugged up the culverts, some as high as 12 feet. The results of plugged culverts under roads has caused roads to wash out. The creek bed near the ranch house is one of the few that allows the water to run over the road. It has survived two big rains and several medium size ones that have happened since the first big rain. Beverly was in the ranch house on my birthday (Aug 21) and I was working in Pinon doing some construction work when she heard a sound that she said sounded like heavy construction machinery moving. It was the second big rain coming down the draw. I was not able to cross until about 8:30 that night. Even now I believe I should have waited longer but became desirous of reaching home. I crossed against the current and it almost stopped the ¾ ton pickup I was driving. It was about 1½ to 2 foot deep and was running fairly fast. I think I will be a little more conservative next time. Of course, the change in the land is incredible!! A dry dusty parched land has been transformed into oceans of wavy grass. The cows are fat now and in need of little attention other than having to find out whose pasture they are in because of the fences having been down. Fence repairing has taken a lot of time and just now things are getting close to the way they were. The Mule Deer and the Elk are showing massive racks as they feed well.

August saw an official invitation to preach for the church at Pinon given. We accepted with joy as one of the perks is being able to have our own house to live in (The Parsonage). J On Sept 10th, 2006 after returning from Africa in June of 2005, we were able to finally live in a residence that wasn’t occupied with or by another family. One year and 3 months of living out of boxes and suitcases is really something. We have learned some lessons about what you need and what you don’t need that will help us in the future. Of course, we had not been able to unpack most of the boxes that we had brought from Kenya and Michigan and Illinois. Unpacking was like Christmas in September. The many gifts that so many of you lovingly gave have now been set out to be used. We already have had our first visitors for supper and are looking forward to more this week. We know that we will not have as many guests that we had in Kenya. Pinon is a place you have to choose to come to, not a place where some pass through. But we would like to issue you an invitation to bless our lives by visiting us. We have a spare bedroom now and an extra inflatable bed and Beverly is a dynamite cook. My loss of 13 pounds since coming here is not because of her food, but the ranch work which can be hard at times. Tomorrow we may try and brand the last of the calves if they haven’t gotten too fat from all the wonderful grass.

I have rambled on and will stop now and say that we look forward to hearing from you at your convenience. Our new address and phone number are as follows:

Dan & Bev Bell
P.O. Box 112
Pinon, New Mexico
88344

Parcel address is: 4546 Owen Prather Highway
In place of the box number.

Home Phone: 1-505-687-4493
Cell Phone: 1-217-891-4878 Bev, Dan 4879. Out of service here in Pinon but in service when traveling.
Email: danbell46@yahoo.com

The Lord’s Mercies be with you,

Dan & Bev

Churches, Outlaws, Saloons, Branding, Cemeteries.

2006-07-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

From The Foothills, Vol 1 No. 2 May, 2006

New Mexico is a land that at first glance might seem to be a land where one place looks a lot like the next place. It is dry everywhere. It is hot everywhere. But even in that there are differences that may not be readily apparent. Where we are in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains, the hot days cool down to allow us to wake to cool mornings.

Churches here seem to be sort of different in that they wear names that they hope will proclaim their differences. But if the truth be told, the differences in sheep are very minor. But of course the Chief Shepherd knows intimately His sheep. One way in which even many different churches seem to be going is that many small congregations are drying up as the rural way of life doesn't seem to have much to attract youth to its ways.

Outlaws are well known in this country. I was told of two men who became outlaws in their county. They moved to this one. The Sheriff in their original county let it be known if they returned he would nab them. They worked and lived the rest of their lives here in this area and as it turned out they became producing and respected members of the community before they were returned to the New Mexico soil.

Saloons are the appropriate name for those hole in the wall watering places for thirsty cowboys. As I have listened to the stories of life in the earlier days and the constant struggle it was to just survive and the hard physical labor of working on the land, I know the those saloons were perhaps the Advil and Excedrin of that time.

Branding calves is an experience that not many will share in these days. But it is still a necessary work for those who run cattle on the land. When that red hot branding iron gets close the hair on the leather, it explodes in flame. The bawling of the calf is not far behind. Once the hair is singed, the brand is burned into the leather. When you think of how tough leather is, you can understand why such a process is required. When you have a calf in the chute, you also take the opportunity to dehorn it as horns are dangerous to both man and beast. If you have a bull calf and don't need another breeder, then a small rubber band takes care of that in a relatively painless manner.

Please continue to pray for both Bev and I as we learn about the land and the people who live on it. Sharing Jesus in these days can only come through the establishment of relationships. Those are not always an easy thing to establish when your neighbors are spread out over a large area. But times like this morning where the community came together at the local cemetery to clean and spruce it up and then share a pot luck meal are times that allow you to develop those important links that will lead to the defeat of the Robber of Souls. May God in His grace and mercy give all of us opportunities to touch and heal.

DAN & BEV BELL
P.O. Box 97, Pinon, NM. 88344
Cingular cell: 1-217-891-4879 Dan & 78 Bev
Landline: 1-505-687-3580

From the Foothills

From The Foothills, Vol. 1 No. 3 June thru Sept, 2006

Churches, Outlaws, Saloons, Branding, Cemeteries.