Debi Pearl talks about her newest book on ‘The Balancing Act’

Sara Sue Learns To Yell & Tell is finally available for sale! This is the second book in my Yell and Tell series for children. On March 1st, 2nd and 3rd we’ve scheduled a BIG promotion for sales on Amazon. If you don’t already have your copy, you’ll want to get yours on one of those three days.

You may be wondering why would I write a book for children about how to avoid sexual predators? Am I trying to rob children of their innocence or encourage parents to fear? No. I want children to have the opportunity to be children and enjoy their childhoods. If we are going to let them grow without becoming victims, we need to understand the dangers that are out there and be prepared to deal with them.

Predators are a fact of life in today’s society.

My chickens are a good example of this. I wanted to raise free-ranging hens, but where I live, that can be a problem. There are lots of wild critters that would love to have a free-ranging chicken dinner. I wanted live chickens, not a crime scene littered with feathers! To have success raising chickens, I had to understand the predators that would snatch them.

Mike built a wonderful chicken house to provide them with a safe and cozy roosting spot. During the day, the hens are free to roam and enjoy the sunshine. When the sun begins to set, the hens find their way back to their wonderful chicken house where I shut them in for the night. I’ve learned that chicken thieves don’t want to be bothered with alert chickens or protective owners. Sure enough, at least once a week, we find where something has tried to break through the fence to the chicken pen, but nothing can get into Mike’s well-built chicken coop. My hens and I aren’t afraid because we are prepared. The result is that I have a wonderfully productive flock.

That’s how parents and children should be – prepared and unavailable to predators. Then we can all sleep better!

It is stunning to realize the number of children that are molested in this country. Even worse is knowing that molestation of children almost always occurs on an ongoing basis. This means that children are abused for years and no one ever knows it! The type of person that would do this is often a close family member or trusted friend. Pornography, seductively dressed women, and suggestive images only seem to feed this predatory behavior. According to researchers, on a given Friday night, every third rape that occurs is perpetrated on a child under 12 years old. This means that predators are becoming aroused and then acting it out on children. The prostitution of children is a business which is growing faster than illegal drug sales!

I tell you all of this because I think that we are in a very different world than the one I knew growing up as a child. Things that were shocking and unacceptable are now common. Predators have become cunning and they look for gullible children that are easily led, knowing that adults are easily distracted. That’s why it is so important for us to prepare our children to know how to respond when that man who hides so well from adults approaches and demonstrates his interest in a child.

Parents need not be fearful, but they do need to be alert, guarded and informed so that their children will not be vulnerable. Evil doers should be afraid to touch a child of a believer because those little ones should have a reputation for YELLING AND TELLING and telling again and again until someone listens and puts a stop to their perversion.

Children who are prepared are usually spared. You won’t be caught by surprise if you are aware of the danger. Parents need to think and make wise decisions — not just live in fear. Have a realistic view of today’s world and teach your children how to not look like easy prey.

That’s why I wrote Sara Sue Learns To Yell & Tell. It’s just one more tool to help parents prepare their children to know what to do if someone approaches them.

Don’t miss your chance to enjoy BIG savings with my latest book about a little girl with an important message: Sara Sue Learns To Yell And Tell! Sara Sue has a message to tell other little girls. Follow her and her little sister Pearlie through the pages as they learn ways to steer clear of danger and raise a ruckus when they see certain behaviors. It’s a great way for mamas and little ones to begin talking about ways to stay safe and always YELL AND TELL!

March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd purchase your copy from Amazon.com and get coupon codes for all sorts of discounts and offers.

While 2010 is coming to a close, lots of exciting projects are finishing up and new ones are beginning.

The second in the Yell and Tell book series, Sarah Sue Learns To Yell And Tell, is finished! My goal is to complete four Yell and Tell books, including one in Spanish.

It broke my heart to write this book in a child’s voice, to speak for the young victims. Of the reported sexual assaults on children, half of them are committed by a friend of the family. Forty percent of child sexual assaults are committed by a family member such as an uncle or grandfather. Only ten percent of child molesters are actual strangers. According to statistics, 1 out of 4 little girls is molested. This means that one fourth of the female population face adulthood — marriage and parenthood — having known what it is to be sexually molested.

Sarah Sue is the main character of this book. She teaches her little sister, Pearlie, seven clues to use and be prepared because, “Those prepared are usually spared!” In simple language children are given ways to know how to make good choices and recognize when a predator is using them.

Sarah Sue Learns To Yell And Tell is scheduled for release in January. The reader response to advance copies is really encouraging. Children love the book, and parents are telling us that their kids are asking good questions that open up opportunities for them to discuss the subject with their little ones.

That reminds me! Captain Steve Pearl has been kind enough to do some YouTube videos for NGJ Ministries on safety for women and children. He’s also finished recording some DVDs to teach children how to protect themselves that will be available soon. This is important information as slavery is on the rise in the United States. More people today are enslaved by human traffickers than when slavery was legal in this country! That’s difficult to comprehend, but it’s true! Parents will want to keep a look out for more information on Captain Steve’s safety DVDs for children.

The animé movie of the book Good & Evil is making good progress. The audio was recorded around the end of October. Jerit has been investing over 70 hours of his time some weeks! We heard that one of the voice actors spent time between takes reading through the book and going through the Bible to verify that the stories were actually in there. Even as he worked on the project, God was working on his heart!

For those who enjoy Mike’s Bible teaching, get ready! For many weeks he has been working some long hours to produce an updated study on Revelation. He is planning on having several DVDs as well as a study guide packaged and available soon. Watch for it!

With the New Year, Mike and I plan on traveling, doing interviews and taking classes to learn to use a Bible program. So 2011 promises to be filled with lots more exciting adventures! Thank you for your prayers!

Thanksgiving is past, but I wanted take a little time in my blog to share a few of the blessings for which I am very thankful.

CHILDREN WITH TENDER HEARTS

Lots of families with children came through after the devastating floods of 2010. Recently, one of those children sent $40 for our meeting house to be cleaned up after seeing the mess made by the flood. He sold his video game to meet the need. Three more envelopes with cash money in it came from other kids. One little girl sent part of her inheritance. They are more tenderhearted than many adults and burdened for a lost and dying world.

HANDS TO HELP

Our house is making progress. . . slowly! A couple from Kentucky came and worked with Mike on the electricity for a full week in early November. That was a real blessing! Mike is 65 now and still going strong with the help of faithful prayer warriors.

For now, we are living in the apartment for at least another year or two until the house is completed. My daddy lives in our old house where he receives round the clock care. Talitha helps me so much with that and SO MUCH MORE!

WHO’S TALITHA??

Talitha is my angel!

We had a LOT of visitors over this past summer – and they are STILL coming, but we discontinued the big meals when fall arrived. Mike invited people to make the trip and visit the Church at Cane Creek on Sundays. By the third week of visitors, I was SWAMPED trying to organize food and get everyone fed. Everyone was chipping in, but I was overwhelmed. One of those Sundays, I was rushing back up to the office on the 4-wheeler to get some supplies when my angel appeared!

About 5 years before this, we were at a seminar in Arkansas. A young girl with long blond hair came over to our table. We started to talk. I just KNEW that God wanted her to work with me. I asked her how old she was because she didn’t look more than 14 years old or so. She was 22! I took her name and number home with me and LOST IT!! Ugh!

As I rattled along on the 4 wheeler, I looked towards my herb garden. This same young girl with long blond hair was walking among the herbs. I stopped the machine and said “I know you!” I remembered her from that seminar. It was Talitha! Talitha had found me. She said she was now 27 and could come to work.

Talitha is a delight. She is so young looking that she doesn’t appear to be an adult. You may have seen her in some of our YouTube videos.

She came in and cooked for us throughout the summer. She took over the shopping, cooking and serving of the multitudes that showed up. She really held things together, especially after the flood hit! There was LOTS of cleanup in addition to the shopping and cooking.

Every day she helps me care for Daddy Bill. She teaches the young children school. She is a PRECIOUS human being! EVERYBODY needs a Talitha! She will make some man an EXCELLENT help meet. Of course, he will have to be pretty special too!

Meanwhile, God continues to bless and answer the prayers of many in ways too numerous to tell in this small space. Thank you for praying about the many projects at critical stages. I’ll write more on those later.

During our meeting in Kentucky, our car’s transmission died. This meant that we didn’t have any means to travel to a place to eat between meetings. In addition to this, it rained one day, which meant that we had to walk in wet weather to get from place to place.

Larry and Cheri Yoder were so kind to minister to us in a way we didn’t realize we would need. This dear couple loaded up their RV and brought hot meals to feed us two delicious dinners! We had taken an ice chest of sparse snacks, but we didn’t even need that. The Yoders drove their RV up to the meeting place so that Mike didn’t have to take more than 20 steps to get a meal without getting wet from the rain. We were warmly received and cared for by this hospitable couple! This turned out to be even better than if we had been able to drive our car, because the Yoders gave us the flexibility to speak to a few people who hung around after each session, get our meals and be ready to start when the next session began.

They gave so much more than a cup of water to a prophet! And they did it so humbly.

Our car was towed back to a local mechanic. He sent it to a transmission place. After checking it out, we were told there wasn’t anything wrong with it at all. We’ve been driving it ever since without difficulty.

So many people were praying that the devil hit the only thing he could hit, and even that recovered!

Over three days, October 25-27, Mike spoke to a roomful of plain people, many of whom have been put into the ban (shunned) for gathering to study the Bible.

In the Amish perspective, the first obligation is to faithfully adhere to the rules of the community known as the Ordnung. Acceptance of an outside belief can be seen as a corrupting influence that can spread throughout the group and cause others to be “led astray.” When individuals refuse to turn away from an offending belief they are placed in “the ban.”

Most of those put into the ban had been placed there within the past year, one family as recently as the previous week. In one community in Lancaster County, 100 families have been put into the ban. A family was placed into the ban because they were unwilling to cut off children that had been placed into the ban for their faith. Others, had been banned because they were caught reading the Bible to discover what dangerous things had caused so many to be separated. Over and over we heard stories of families placing dark quilts over their windows so they would not be discovered studying the Bible by lamplight in the evenings.

We were able to develop ties and encourage each other. Mike told the group that, “When God begins a movement among a people, He always raises a man to lead, and gives him a vision. I am not that man. The man will be of your people. He will know you and will understand where you are coming from. Pray for that man and the message God has to deliver through him.”

Pray for these people as God moves and the work that lies ahead.

A week before we were due to attend a 3 day conference in October, Mike was working on our house. A 2×4 board caught on the saw blade, and pushed a splintered piece of wood backwards, piercing his right arm! The board hit the bone & fanned out exiting the arm in two places. His bone wasn’t broken! Once he got over initial pain, it didn’t even hurt.

With the adventures we’ve had lately, the Doctor at the local hospital asked Mike what he did to himself THIS time. Then, everyone pulled out their camera phones and started taking pictures. The local hospital wasn’t set up for this kind of injury, so they just stabilized the limb and sent Mike to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Upon arrival, the medical staff there was also impressed and took pictures of their own. Mike just smiled.

Knowing we had the ministry with the Amish folk coming up, we immediately contacted people to pray. Five days later, we were on our way to the meeting place on the Indiana and Kentucky border. Upon arrival, our car’s transmission died!

During the meetings, Mike was writing on the board with that hand and worked through a schedule that had him teaching for more than 15 hours over 2 ½ days. He never had a headache or throat problem and his arm never hurt. He didn’t want to be bothered with fiddling for his reading glasses because he had so much to say in so little time. We knew people were praying because Mike’s mind was so sharp and clear, he was able to recall and quote chapter after chapter of Scripture. He didn’t NEED glasses to read!

And that was just the BEGINNING of the many things God did! We both felt like were at the right place at the right time with the right message for the right people. It was VERY powerful and VERY moving to see God do something among this people. We knew we would not be part of the exciting future, but we were thrilled to be able to catch a glimpse of what is to come.

Thank you so much for praying!

You may have noticed in our latest issue Mike’s article for parents that discover their child has been exposed to sexual activity (WHEN THE WORST HAPPENS, June 2010). We’ve also made available for free an audio download called SEX EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN. This is because we sometimes get heartbreaking letters. The most heartbreaking ones have to do with children.

Yard chickens develop a natural pecking order. Mama hens brood and raise little chicks. Roosters protect the hens and vie for position. At least, that’s how it used to be.

Today, if you go to the feed store and get little chicks, you’ll find that brooding and natural mothering tendencies have been bred out of them. This is because corporate chicken farms need to have everything streamlined. This means that eggs are hatched in a hatchery and baby chicks are never taught to scratch for bugs by a mama hen.

If you place these distant descendants of yard chickens into an actual yard, they will be defenseless. The hens weren’t taught how to be mamas, so they don’t know how to teach the chicks. The roosters never learned from example either, so they bully rather than protect. These birds won’t know what to do when a hawk’s shadow flitters across the grass. In the chaos of that chicken yard, they’d all be easy pickings for the first predator to show up. Of course, the chicks would be the first to go.

So, what do you do when the chicks are in danger? You call to them. You cluck a warning. You show them where to hide and how to run to help. Chicks need to know that there are bad guys and they need to know how to stay safe.

That’s why I’ve been working, working, working to complete another children’s book called YELL AND TELL. I don’t know when it will be complete, but I’ll REALLY appreciate your prayers as things move forward. Keep watching my blog and No Greater Joy Magazine, and I’ll update you on the progress!

WHEW! It’s been so BUSY around here!

I’m excited to tell you that Preparing To Be A Help Meet is on its way to the printer FINALLY!!

This has REALLY been a team effort with so many being willing to share their heart stories. Even the single guys that have reviewed the book say they love it because it helps them identify the traits they want to look for in a GREAT future wife. My editor tells me that it rivals Created To Be His Help Meet and may even be better. It’s a book that has something for everyone, whether single or married.

This book was written to with a lot of flexibility. It will be good for individual study or in a study group setting. There are even plans to start a chat forum online for people that want to discuss points of the book across the world wide web! So MANY things are coming together so quickly. We are aiming towards the middle of April for a release date … That’s only 4 or 5 weeks away! If you want to be SURE to get a copy, you can pre-order one from No Greater Joy.

Me? Well I’m going to take a B-R-E-A-K!! … That’s right. As of Wednesday, I’m officially off duty for a couple of months. I’ve had my nose to the grindstone these last four months, and I’m worn out! So I plan to dig in my herb garden. I LOVE my garden. If you want to find me, you’ll need some work clothes and gloves because I’ll just put you to work!

I’m planning on just sitting in the sunshine with my daddy, playing with my grandchildren and fishing with Mike … and maybe not in that order. All I know is I’m getting away from the office for a while and doing a great big cannonball dive back into the stuff that makes life so much fun here on Cane Creek.

Update

The official website for Preparing To Be A Help Meet is live! Join in the conversation, learn more about the book, ask questions, and more! Take me there now »

As this new year begins, I’m excited about our newest project, Preparing To Be A Help Meet, a book for single young women. It has truly been a labor of love because young women were willing to send me their love stories to help illustrate each lesson. We’ve had so many willing to share that it isn’t possible to include all of them in this single book. I say book, but it’s really a study guide and book all in one volume that can be used for group study or individually.

During this process, I’ve been reminded all over again that the calling of a help meet is that which requires heavenly resources. So often old habits and stinking thinking gets in the way of what God has created us to be. We must daily choose the better part. It’s really convicting to review the Scripture again as this newest book is prepared for printing.

Just as Daniel chastened himself and prayed for understanding (Daniel 10), as the Church labored through the night in prayer when Peter was in prison (Acts 12), there are times when we must clear the way with prayer. Prayer and angels go hand in hand. There are barriers that are crushed when God’s people pray.

As you remember us in prayer, pray for physical stamina, wisdom, clarity of purpose and efficiency in the many tasks at hand. Ask God to send His messengers to hand-deliver the very things that are required. We SO value your prayers! I’m convinced that the earnest prayers of faithful believers will make all of the difference in how quickly and how well we are able to reach our goals…

So, pray as you see the need, and we will rejoice with you to see God’s supply.

Mike had just finished working on the next issue of No Greater Joy. I was looking forward to things settling down.

Now maybe I could focus on finishing a couple of writing projects. Maybe I wouldn’t have such a difficult time collecting my thoughts…

Tuesday morning, December 1, 2009 we received news that Mike’s mother had died during the night. This meant that we had to notify family quickly because the burial would be within 24 hours. Mike went back to the building site where he had been working on our house. He needed some time to do some hard labor.

I busied myself with the many details that now filled the day. The weather promised rain. Before I got too far along, we were in for yet another surprise. Mike fell from the scaffolding. His wrist was badly hurt.

A trip to the emergency room revealed that the wrist was broken. We were sent to another specialist where Mike received the news that he would need surgery. They scheduled the pre-operative work-up for the next day — the same day as the funeral.

Wednesday morning dawned rainy. I didn’t think many would attend, but we had EXTRA people on hand for the burial and remembrance. Mike didn’t have anything prepared to say, but he didn’t have to speak. Mike’s younger brother, Steven sang and played the guitar then began sharing sweet and often hilarious stories of their mom during their growing up years. Then Mike and his sisters began to share their favorite memories. Everyone joined in with their own recollections, jokes, pranks, funny stories and remembered the testimony of how she was saved. We sang and we laughed and we rejoiced for the gift of a life that touched so many. It wasn’t a long service but it was a precious time.

We had to leave an hour after starting in order to take Mike for the blood and heart tests required before his surgery the next day (Thursday). As we made our way to the hospital, Mike told me that this was the way all funerals should be. I wholeheartedly agree!