Back a few years ago DIAMOND STAR RESEARCH could see the trend beginning to shift as more and more people became convinced to grow their own food and/or obtain food from organic farms or farmers’ markets.  As conditions worsen on the economic, political and religious scene and as earth changes increase, people are not only turning to gardening but to a survival lifestyle in light of what is come and is now occurring.

If we are to opt out of the One World Anti Christ system, then we need a real workable solution  to solve the problems we now face on many levels. We need to change our lifestyle to what could be referred to as the Amish survival solution. Here it must be understood that we don’t mean to adopt the religion or the customs of the Amish per se, but to adopt a similar lifestyle that is more akin to that of our Christian forebears. With that in mind, we need to find and adopt a practicalway to survive in this One World maize of our modern technocratic era.

No one knows for sure what is in store for us on the horizon. The individual who realizes and is aware of potential disasters or dangers in the making will take responsibility for himself and his family. Not only does he expect the unexpected but also he prepares for it. This means carrying out preparedness activities that facilitates a proactive, self­ sustaining lifestyle and a high-level of readiness for circumstances beyond our control. One has to be prepared to face potential problems of decreasing supplies of commodities with confidence and certainty.

The only way to achieve such a level of preparedness  is to decide now to take control of your own destiny. Although we cannot control life-changing events, we can make plans as to what we would do during and after such life-changing events. We can organize our lives and adopt a preparedness plan of action that will ensure that our families will be able to eat and sustain a relatively stress-free  rebound  period after a disaster.If you have prepared your family’s self-sufficiency and security with  both  emergency  and  long-term  provisions,  you  can  turn  life­ threatening events into manageable problems.

Concerning family preparedness, James T. Stevens states, “Family preparedness is a practice of being aware and alert to the possible and probable reality of a disaster happening to you.” (MAKING THE BEST OF BASICS by James T. Stevens, p 2). Though many more people are waking up to preparedness most are not aware of how and just what to plan for.

Past generations and even the Amish of today prepared for the un­foreseen and unexpected but modem technology  has softened society. Elsewhere in this work we point out that this was by design. Technological advancements and modem convenience have lulled society into a false sense  of security  – believing  we can  have anything  we  want, anytime  we want and  anywhere  we want it. As Mr. Stevens  states, “Control of our personal and family self-sufficiency{which in reality is our real security) has been replaced by the ease of obtaining credit, buy­ now/pay later plans, and ready availability in the stores of practically everything we want, regardless of our ability to meet the payments. We take for granted the availability of public services such as water, sewer, electricity, natural gas, telephone lines, and cable TV. Then there are the many privately  owned resources  such as 24-hour  supermarkets, convenience stores, automated banking machines, debit  cards, telemerchandising and drop-ship businesses which have addicted most of us to a high- technology, hand-to-mouth lifestyle.

“Additionally,  as we survey our society and the requirements  of daily living we can see more reasons why preparing for self-reliance and security  takes  a back seat for  most of us. Our nation’s  families  are stretched  thin  financially,  emotionally,  and  in  terms  of  time.  As companies downsize, employees are asked to work more overtime.Communication technology, with all of its advantages, also keeps people ‘on call’ 24 hours a day.We are a mobile society- families move across town and across country seeking better opportunities. More and more women and  men  have  the  responsibility  of  parenting  children  alone  while maintaining a job to provide money to reduce overwhelming  financial obligations.”{Ibid, pp 4 & 5).

Unfortunately  there is a tremendous  amount  of interference, distractions and “daily concerns” that prevent the establishment of a family self-sufficiency  program by the majority of people. Yet there is more information today than ever before to guide today’s family towards self­ sufficiency. There are countless books, pamphlets, brochures, videos, websites, and computer software programs from various preparedness organizations that have taken the guess-work out of preparing and self-sufficient living.(See Appendix).

The following guidelines have been taken from James Stevens’ research. (These are general guidelines. As to what and how to prepare will be covered in greater detail later in this chapter).
1.   Preparednessis knowing how to:
* Ascertain  potential  disasters,  whether  natural,  man-caused  or personal,to which         one’s family is vulnerable,and
*Eliminate or minimize risks -and therefore the negative effects – of any disasters to           the degree possible.
2.   In-home  storage  is  how  you  can  minimize  the  negative impact of:
the unexpected by having stored in your own home adequate resources of water, food, fuel, medical supplies and medications, clothing, money, transportation, bedding – anything you need to be self­ sufficient during an emergency or an extended period of time.

Furthermore, a great deal can be learned from Amish communities who, to a certain extent, already practice trades, crafts, etc. in a self­ sufficient manner. Certain “hands-on”  opportunities  are also possible within such Amish communities.Certain practical Amish trades -wood­ working, blacksmithing,  agricultural  trades and methods of growing, etc. , can be learned from those who already practice them in their way of life.

Keep in mind, we do not know the time or how such unforeseen and unexpected  events  will befall us nor do we know  when apocalyptic events  prophesied  to happen will occur. Our advice  is: Don’t go by calendar years but by the “signs on earth and in Heaven.” As of recent years the signs are definately increasing and intensifying. So it pays to be aware and prepare. So, as has been said, don’t be scared- be prepared.

Heaven at Necedah, has asked us to prepare for what is coming and to become self-sustaining as much as possible to prepare spiritually as well as on a physical, practical level. ”All of you should try to be self­ supporting, self-sustaining in everything you try to do.11y to bring in an industry of some kind to help some of your young men and women to find employment so that you can become an established area of people that loves God, that believes in God, that blesses and runs their employment, their factories or whatever it is, with prayer and the word of God spoken, instead  of  satanic  cuss  words  and  foulmouthed  pornography and destruction of man’s soul and the youth. Is that understood? If you can get thus established as Our Holy Mother has spoken many times, to make this here a little bit of Heaven, and that means to branch out, to obtain property and let yourselves grow. Do not wait too long so your youth disappears.Bring them here.  “You have a good source of water here. If this was started in any other place, when ‘La Salette’ strikes, you will still have water, where other parts of the country that have to now go down 150, 200, 300 feet before they find good water; they will have no water, even going down a thousand feet. We don’t know when God the Father will punish the earth for all the black sins and the desfnlction of human lives that God created, and they willfully destroy. When the punishment will come, one does not know until it happens. But we have asked you here to prepare, to save dry foods and commodities, and put them in good sealed containers.  We have insfnlcted you.Sodosonow.“(March 25,1977).

This message was given over 30 years ago. Have we failed to heed these instructions? (In some ways we have).Is it a case of”too little, too late,” as Heaven  has said? Heaven  is ever so merciful and it would appear there is still some time left – but that time is becoming  more limited as the days pass- for us to wake up and get busy.

Thus we can see there is a great need for Christians to come together to  form  groups  or  refuges  or  what  we  could  call  Christ-centered communities.  In such communities perpetual adoration and rosaries said before the Blessed Sacrament can be very powerful to unite and give these communities spiritual strength. Our Holy Mother will guide these communities as long as they remain true to the Faith and fulfill Her request. As we have already noted, She has asked for self-sustaining communities   built  and  modeled   after  Christian  Catholic  religious orders, particularly those of St. Benedict. At Necedah, a lay order of St. Benedict has been asked for.This is very significant considering the fact that two of the promises given to St. Benedict concerning his Order are: “It will last until the end of the world, and that it shall render great service to the Church in the final battle.’

On the other end of the scale, the practical end (where of course St. Benedict’s Order would be of great help providing a systematic way of accomplishing it), one must physically prepare for what is to come. Practical and common sense things need to be taken into account. Just what kind of calamities and disasters are we preparing for?  There are a number of different scenarios to prepare for. During the tribulation a number of dangers will be made manifest in various ways according to the  time   frame   or   the   geographical   area   that   it  occurs.   Basic preparedness will be needed for the following likely threats: 1.) Earthquake; 2.) Flooding; 3.) Severe winter storm; 4.) Tornado; 5.) Hurricane; 6.) Volcanic eruption; 7.) Economic  collapse; 8.) Nuclear accident  or  attack;  9.)  Biological  warfare;  10.)  Civil  unrest,  riots, trucker’s strike or earth changes, etc. 11.) Toxic food supply; 12.) Food shortages (world reserves currently less than 30 days).

An organization  known  as the Survival  Center has for 20 years researched and gained extensive knowledge, and has combined experiences in all areas of survival. They state that if any of the above disasters struck today, you could be without electricity for possibly weeks.If you live in the city this means you could be without water, light and heat for an indefinite period of time.

“Never assume it can’t happen here. Only two generations ago most families put up food for a long winter and lived close to the land with readily available water from a hand pumped well. These families survived the Great Depression and were untouched by natural weather problems.

“We have become so used to modem conveniences and dependency on government agencies  for water, power and our livelihood that we have completely forgotten how to survive even the simplest of power outages. It would not take a terribly violent earthquake to disrupt the power within a large metropolitan area for an extended period of time, as has already been demonstrated.

“Preparation for any kind of emergency is just good common sense and another form of insurance.Most people have medical, dental, fire, theft, homeowners and automobile insurance, yet they lack the basic insurance of essential survival, food and water.There is no government agency that is going to provide you with the essential food and water necessary  in the event of a natural or economic  disaster. A truly comprehensive   insurance  plan  would  include  storing  food,  water, outdoor survival gear and medical supplies.

“Because basic survival has never been taught in the public school system most people are ignorant and confused about what the necessary survival needs are.” (BASIC PREPAREDNESS by The Survival. Center, Inc., pp. 4 & 5}. Furthermore, the Survival Center recommends four basic areas of preparation: 1.) Food; 2.}Water; 3.) Medical and4.) Shelter.

FOOD. A minimum of one year and preferably two or more year’s supply of food, stored properly and on hand for any emergency  will sustain you and your family,regardless of what happens with the world’s political,economic or weather situation.

WATER. A clean source of water is absolutely essential to survival. If at all possible you should have your own well that has the option for hand pumping operation. If this is not possible, you should store at least several hundred gallons of purified water for an emergency predicament along with portable water filters.

MEDICAL. There are basic medical and sanitation supplies that should be kept readily available to handle any health or medical emergency. You should be familiar with an emergency medical kit and how to use it. Keep at least one comprehensive kit at home. There are also simple things that one can do and learn to help keep the body detoxified  and maintained in optimum health. One should be familiar with the safe use of herbs and by-gone old- fashioned proven remedies. The medical-drug  system today is built on a false premise. Health  is maintained by following God’s natural laws, treating it in such a manner that it is allowed to heal itself.

SHELTER. If at all possible the first prerequisite to having a stable survival situation is to have property or some place to go outside of the city. It will be very difficult to survive in the cities during any kind of natural,  political   or  economic   disaster.   To  avoid  the  panic  and desperation  that  will  ensue  in  the  cities  after  such  disasters,  it  is important to have an alternative  shelter located in a rural area. Better still; permanently move to the rural areas, preferably with like minded family members or friends, to avoid the chaos that will prevail in the cities.

Basically what all this means is going back to the land and living as our grandparents did. It means returning to a life without dependency on electricity or oil, or gas, living with natural environment and reaping the benefits of nature.To be fully self-sufficient isto create a situation where one is sovereign. Sovereignty equates freedom or dominion over one’s own lifestyle without the restrictive anti-Christian controls of the New World Order. Coming together in small groups and like-minded communities will be beneficial for all. (If that is not an option for you, that should not prevent you from doing something on your own).

The important thing is to start and to keep going. Nothing is more powerful  than an idea whose time has come; and the time has most certainly come.This is about more than just mere “surviving”.It is about building a spiritual community that is also practical and self- sustaining and prepared for just about any type of emergency or disaster situation.

One must realize the need for a balanced perspective as to how to prepare both spiritually and physically for what is to come. There have been some misconceptions about survival as well as what could be called “fanaticism” involved. One must approach the subject with a serious and commonsense attitude. The subject should be well researched and properly studied. We will be covering this subject further in the future. In the meantime begin to take steps to prepare now.