A Warning for Our Country

I do not often post messages like this but after listening to this message I heard what God is telling us in our country. Listen with an open mind and heart to hear what God is telling you.

Pond Cabin

This is a photo of the cabin we are preparing to build down by our pond for our guest to stay in. It will have electricity but no running water. The shower and rest room facilities are in our barn just 300 feet away.

The cabin will cost about $4,000 to build and furnish.

Restoration Farm Story

I have been asked by a FaceBook friend to share how Kat and I got to owning a farm. I believe I have shared either pieces of the story or the story but I will post the journey today.

In 2004 I began taking the Vineyard Leadership Institute (VLI) courses. After two years of hard work I graduated and God placed on my heart a dream. As I pursued that dream nothing happened and with every move toward it doors shut and no new ones opened. Finally (maybe the thing I should have done first), I asked God to show me what He wanted me to do with my training and to show it to me through my wife, Kat.

At this time I began teaching Bruce Wilkinson's book, "The Dream Giver" with people who wanted to explore their dream.  One weekend as we were traveling to Fort Collins, CO to attend a "Naturally, Supernatural" conference we were listening to the tapes and I asked Kat what her dream was. I was fully expecting God to confirm the dream I had through her. As she began to speak I could not believe what she was saying. It had nothing at all to do with what I felt God wanted me to do, in fact it was way far away from what I thought. So I kind of put it on the shelf and forgot about it.

About three years ago Kat and I met with a couple of friends and used the book to explore their dream. In the process of helping them with their dream we caught it. We got on fire to purchase some land build a chemical free farm.  Part of our dream was to provide a place for fallen or wounded pastors and missionaries. That part of the dream really was part of the dream I had at the end of VLI.

We began to make plans on how we would fund the farm and what we would grow and raise. We attended classes and read all types of books by people who had already achieved what we planned to do. We shared our dream with others and either got encouragement or discouragement. Those who encouraged us we kept talking to and those who told us we either did not have enough experience or knowledge we quit hanging with.

As we put together our plan we began doing a land search. Our focus was within a 60 mile radius of Kansas City, MO. We had 3 reasons for this: 1) our daughter and grandkids lived in that area, 2) we attended the Overland Park Vineyard and 3) we felt that was the market for our products. With each search we found property that inched us a little farther out of that area and we could not find any property that looked promising. It was as if God turned off the opportunity to say close to KC.

I was the one doing the web searches and on one search I found a piece of property that looked really good.

I had almost everything we wanted, a modest house, a balance between open and treed acreage and a pond but the location was 130 miles from KC. We decided to take a look and fell in love with it. We placed an offer on the property and it was accepted. We applied for a loan and while waiting for approval our house in Louisburg, KS sold. We knew our loan would be approved because we had excellent credit, no debt and more than enough of a down payment. We were so confident Kat gave notice at work and I transferred to the area.

Then the bank we applied with called and informed us that despite all of the good things we were being denied because we did not live in the area. Funny thing is that property was bought by someone else with cash.

Kat and I went out to eat and discussed what our next move would be. All I say is I felt God led us to the area where that property was and we already had plans to move so why not move. The next weekend we traveled to the area, purchased a small RV trailer and rented a space at an RV camp (Havaspace). We moved just as we planned and exactly 2 months after moving down to the Lake of the Ozarks we moved onto our farm Restoration Farm. There is more to the story but the bottom line is: "When God has moved your blessing to another town it is a good idea to follow it."

Nothing ever goes exactly as planned and we have had to make changes to our dream as we journeyed but one thing we have not done is get discouraged. We believed that God gave us the farm dream so we planned and we moved forward in faith.

Sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of lack or sometimes out of waiting for it to happen we miss the opportunity to achieve our dream. We are thankful that we did not just wait for it to happen or let the lack of experience or  our fears stop us from moving forward.

Kat and I could be doing what we are doing on a farm near KC but our blessings would have been here in the Ozarks.

Restoration Farm and Danny Daniels Visit

This past weekend we had the honor of hosting Danny Daniels as he performed in our area. 

  Danny met with the Discovery Group on Friday evening and talked about the "Heart of Worship." He also  

  sang several songs for us.

  On Saturday he performed at the Apple Festival in Versailles, MO and it rained the whole time.

  Danny privately with a group of individuals on Saturday evening.

  Sunday morning he lead worship at Lake Hills Community Church in Greenview, MO. After lunch he 

  performed for about 30 minutes.

  Monday evening he performed and did the teaching at a Celebrate Recovery group in Versailles.

While here Danny asked me what programs I had to help restore fallen, wounded or burned out pastors. I want to share an outline of the programs I have for Pastors, Individuals and Couples.

Day 1 - Step 1 - Seek the Holy Spirit for revealing the Core Problem.

Day 2 - Step 2 - Seek the Holy Spirit for Forgiveness.

Day 3 - Step 3 - Seek the Holy Spirit for Healing.

Day 3 - Step 4 - Seek the Holy Spirit for Restoration.

Of course for each these steps I will use God's word to reinforce whatever I share. I do not have a canned program since each person's problems are different. I want to invite the Holy Spirit to come and do His work and not rely on my smartness or talents. I believe if I do this God will faithfully show up and do the revealing, the forgiving, the healing and the restoring.

Yes, I plan to use the same program for each group.

For more information about Restoration Farm email, text or call me at 573 789 1224.

Larry Clark

Restoration Farm

Restoration Farm Update 9 2 2013

Restoration Farm will have a booth at the 2013 Olde Tyme Apple Festival in Versailless, MO. Our booth number 466 will be located on the northeast corner of Newton and Jasper. 

We will be selling:
Goat Milk Soap
Stained Glass Apples
Restoration Farm Photos
Danny Daniels Music CDs
Hand made items from SEED
and more unusual stuff

Danny Daniels, an internationally known song writer and singer will be visiting Restoration Farm October 4th thru the 6th. Following is the schedule I have booked for him. 

Friday, October 4^th – 7pm

Discovery Group

13269 Glencreek Drive

Stover, MO

Saturday, October 5^th

Main Stage & Booth 466

Apple Festival in Versailles, MO

Sunday, October 6^th

10am Lake Hills Community Church

Eagle Plaza Mall on Hwy 5 in Greenview, MO
(next to Dollar General)

Lunch after services with Danny performing and sharing after lunch.

Monday, October 7^th

Celebrate Recovery Group

1^st Assembly of God

Versailles, MO

For more information call or text Larry Clark at 573 789 1224. You can also email Larry at lnclark950@gmail.com.

Here are a few of the photographs I will have for sale at our booth.

Finally, we have vegetables growing, lots and lots of tomatoes. Red ones, Green ones, Yellow ones, Orange ones and even Purple ones. All taste delicious.

We have been playing around with micro greens and finding them packing a lot of flavor. 

One of my projects in August was to build a fence around the Herb garden. Here is a photo of the project. It is made of pallets and cost was about $50.

Projects at Restoration Farm

One of the things that Kat and I want to do is have a nice Herb garden. Recently I began adding beds to the area by the barn that we will be using. As I placed the first bed that we were adding our dog, Kingdom, went over to it and dug a hole in the bed material and laid down. I knew then that I needed to place a fence around the Herb garden to keep him out. 

I wanted the fence to have some character and not be just a run of the mill fence. The photos and movie are what I came up with.

 What we did was take some pallets we purchased for a $1 a piece and built the fence.










                                     
The results was an inexpensive but yet attractive fence.

 Here are the beds we built which for now we will use to grow some greens and carrots.

 I have three gates that I need to install to complete the project. I am thinking that they will be old iron bed frames painted in bright colors.

One other project I worked on at the same time was a platform for our goats.

Restoration Farm Sunsets & other Pics

Update of what is Happening at Restoration Farm

Spring has been cool and wet which means many including us have not gotten our gardens prepared much less planted. What we have been able to do is plant pear,apple and peach trees along with cherry, elderberry, blue berry and black berry bushes.

We had our first official visitor last week and we believe she had a good retreat. Rachel attends IHOP University which is operated by International House of Prayer (IHOP).

Kat and I are discovering that the dream sometimes shifts and we have to be flexible enough to shift with it. It is the same with our involvement with Kingdom building. Jesus is the Light of the World and the Lord of the Open Door. It is our job to reflect Him and to walk through the doors He opens. Sometimes those doors do not appear as what we originally visualized. 

So with this post we want to encourage you to keep your eyes and ears open for those doors Jesus is opening for you. And remember your dream will sometimes shift slightly when that door opens. It is up to us to walk through the door when He opens it.

You Are Uniquely Made for Ministry

Kat and I are attending the Tri-Con Conference of the Free-Methodist Church which is a conference for three different districts of the country. 

I am attending the break-out sessions on Urban Ministry and I want to share a few things that we talked about.

In order to do ministry inner-city, or any other area really, one must be Called and have a Passion for that area.

The speaker shared that often urban areas have more needs and are less connected. Kat and I moved from the Kansas City area a year ago and I would agree with that statement completely. Now that we are in the Ozarks I would have to say there are areas in rural areas that are just as needy and unconnected as in the city.

Another thing we covered was the Great Commission sends us into all areas and that includes the inner-city and the Great Commandment tells us to go in love.

Whatever or wherever God is calling you always keep in mind you are uniquely fashioned to do what God has called you to do and for the place He has called you to.

In the discussion part of the session we came up with the following:

1. We need to get out of our comfort zone and go where the people in need are.

2. We need to use our uniqueness to serve others.

3. We need to share our lives with others and build a relationship with them before we share the gospel with them.

4. People need to hear of the Hope that is found in Jesus.

5. Before we begin we need to pray, wait for God to speak and once He speaks not wait any longer to take action.

6. Expect God to work through us.

In thinking about number 5 it has been my experience that sometimes we lay our plans before God and then wait but we end up waiting and waiting and waiting. We wait for God to do what we should be doing and so we end up waiting as our prayer is being answered in the life of someone else because they prayed, waited and when they felt God's movement they took action. They took action even though not all of the plan was in place or the funding was not there.

Considering number 6 God cannot work through us without us taking some form of action. 

Look at the two photos above. I took the first one about five minutes after I took the lower one. I could have missed the colors of the second photo if I had not waited for the sun to move a little lower in the sky. After taking the photo I have posted first I turned and walked up the hill anticipating even more and this is the shot I as rewarded with. If I had not planned, waited and moved I would have only gotten the shot I placed in the middle.

I encourage you to search your heart looking for the dream that God has placed there and then use the passion it builds in you to go out and serve others in the way only you are uniquely fitted for.