Our journey began about four years ago when we contacted a realtor about the possibility of selling our home and moving to the country.
At first we began looking at listings in the outlying areas near Nebraska, USA, but the Lord was silent and there was no conviction as to where to move. We knew Ellen White’s counsel to God’s remnant people about getting out of the cities. As she states in Adventist Home p. 141.4
“Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions: for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one. We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the cities into rural districts, where the houses are not crowded closely together, and where you will be free from the interference of enemies.”
So we began praying that the Lord would guide us when to sell our house and where to go. Born and raised in a large city, we had no idea how to begin this process.
After the loss of my job in October 2019, I thought it was an ideal time to start going through things and purging. Don’t we all have stuff just sitting around collecting dust? My mom used to say that if you haven’t used something in a year to get rid of it. It is much easier to say, but much harder to actually do. Isn’t it amazing how we cling to material things such as knickknacks, pictures, clothing, books, etc?
As we began this process, we asked the Lord to show us what to keep and what to toss. When you don’t know exactly where you are going and what you will need, this is a difficult process. Evaluating our stuff, we decided that we would downsize to fit everything into a two-bedroom house/apartment. We used our spare bedroom in the basement to begin packing items into tubs and labeling them. There were items we would set aside as something we wanted to keep, and then a week later were convicted that we really didn’t need them. As the weeks rolled by, the Goodwill received many of our giveaways and larger items were sold on FaceBook Marketplace. What a witness this was to our friends who saw our concentrated efforts to downsize. Each time they would come over there was less and less in our house. They were amazed at our determination to obey the will of God. It even spurred some of them into action to begin cleaning out their own homes.
Then in July, 2021, while attending the Red River Wellness & Training Center Camp Meeting, it was mentioned that they were looking for a Human Resources Manager. I spoke with the director and told him I had 16+ years of HR experience. This began the application process, and I was hired on as staff to do remote work for them. Since our son worked as Farm Manager there, we began to look more intently at the possibility of eastern Kentucky as place to relocate.
Another issue to consider was my husband’s job. He works IT for a company in Omaha and their culture is no remote work. When the pandemic hit, he was able to work remotely for five months but was then made to return to the office. They announced in December that they were instituting a mask mandate. Before this, he was required to only wear a mask when he got up from his desk. Now it would be for eight hours a day. This was the proverbial last straw as he was adamantly opposed to obeying the mandate. But when he informed his company that he would no longer be coming to the office, they made provision for him to work remotely. A miracle! We began setting in motion what needed to be done for us to move. This was definitely a faith journey for us. We likened our call as to the one given Abram in Genesis 12:1 NKJV:
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”
We contacted our realtor again. She was surprised to hear from us after such a long lapse of time. It proved to be an incredibly good time to sell, and she quoted us a listing price that was much higher than we would have gotten four years earlier. So, we put our house up for sale on January 3rd. In less than 48 hours, it was sold to a cash buyer. It was a whirlwind as things were happening so fast. The buyer also wanted a quick close. The final papers were signed less than three weeks later on January 24th. We ordered our POD, packed our little trailer full of tubs to live out of for a few weeks, and said goodbye to the city we had lived for the past 40 years. Where were we going? We didn’t know for sure.
Red River Wellness & Training Center was willing to let us stay temporarily (for three weeks as they are limited with housing) until we found a place. Time was tight. But we trusted that the Lord already had a plan for our lives as we obeyed His command. Did I mention that our journey was in the dead of winter? With single digit temperatures, we drove over 800 miles. God was so good providing clear roads and safe travels.
With the housing market skyrocketing and the impossibility of us finding country property in the area at this time, we decided the best action to take would be to rent. In all the small towns near Red River, we found only one possibility – a two bedroom townhouse in Winchester. There was absolutely nothing else available. We found out later that the realtors in the area were buying up all the rental properties and turning them into AirB&Bs. Rumors of building a “Gatlinburg-type” resort in the area prompted this action. We signed the lease on the townhouse and moved in three weeks to the date of arriving at Red River. And everything we brought with us fit perfectly in this space. God’s hand was in this and we knew it!
In W.D. Frazee’s book, “Coming Events & Crisis at the Close, p. 42” he states:
Everyone will know when the National Sunday Law is passed. It will be a sign that our nation’s apostasy is complete, the cup of iniquity is full, and the angel of mercy is about to take her flight. It is a sign to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains.”
To our critics, we realize that this place is only temporary and that we have not yet come to our country destination. Our move took us to a smaller city. Winchester is fifty times smaller than Omaha. We do know that God will continue to guide us to our country home and then to our heavenly home. As we continue to move closer to accomplishing this, we will continue to pray that He will show us the time and the place.
The reason we share our story with you is to encourage anyone who had been convicted to obey God’s command to leave the cities. We are running out of time and one should act on even small advances towards this goal. In Christian Experience & Teachings of Ellen G. White, p. 57, she writes:
“While we were praying, the power of God came upon me as I had never felt it before. I seemed to be surrounded with light, and to be rising higher and higher from the earth. I turned to look for the advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, “Look again, and look a little higher.” At this, I raised my eyes, and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the advent people were traveling to the city which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path, which an angel told me was the “midnight cry.” [See Matthew 25:6.] This light shone all along the path, and gave light for their feet, so that they might not stumble. If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the advent band, and they shouted “Alleluia!” Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below.”
Jesus has been giving us light to our path. We are keeping our eyes fixed on Him. He encourages us along the way even when we grow weary. Those who will cling to their earthly possessions and deny the commands of God will be lost. Join us on this journey of faith – a long and often difficult journey; but it is a journey that takes us into the very arms of Jesus and closer to our heavenly home!
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Karen Phillips is happily married to her husband, John, and they are enjoying their new home in eastern Kentucky, USA. She enjoys spending time with their four children and three grandchildren. Along with additional staff, they operate an international ministry called HeReturns. Her passion is to serve the Lord in any capacity and to be a conduit to save lost and suffering souls.
