Lifeline True Holiness Mission
True Gospel to All the World

  

RECENT MINISTRY REPORT LETTER 

 April 2012
 
TO: Friends of Lifeline Missions and Faith City Christian Camp.
 
FROM: Bishop Dale Collins / Lifeline Missions and Faith City Christian Camp.
 
Christian greetings in Jesus Name! I trust that all is well with you and yours and that you are pressing on in the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. It is with great joy that I write this letter to each of you considering how close that I came to not being here to do so (more about that in my HEALTH REPORT). My long illness forced the postponement of last year’s camp but the work of the camp still marches on. We have come so far at the campground in these past few years that it amazes me. Much work has been done and only God knows how much money has been spent to bring the camp up to where it is today. We THANK YOU for all that each of you have done to help whether it was your prayers, giving, attending, or working at the camp. Your help has made our load lighter and we believe that God will bless your efforts as well as ours here in this life and in the life to come. From the debts of our heart our entire family wants to say thank you again. 
 
Most all of you know and have known that I suffered a major illness for most of last year and almost died. It is by the mercy and grace of God that I am still in the land of the living and pressing on in the work that God has called me to do. We are regrouping and picking up the pieces and trying to move forward. We are now offering some books for sale to increase people’s faith that we was working on when I got sick (SEE enclosed INFO SLIP) and we are trying to get it back together at the camp. It is past time to mow the camp and we will be working on this in the days and weeks to come. There will be some repairs that will have to be made as well as many things that were on our remodel list from years ago. From the beginning till now there have always been needs at the camp. That continues to be the case. People from all over sent in help while I was so sick and most of it was applied to the camp but from the day that I came home from the hospital till now there has not been enough funds come in to even make one payment. That being said, we are now six months behind on the camp payments plus needed repairs. The work to save and inspire young people to live for God is a great one and your help is needed. Some of you have helped and helped and God will bless you for it. Your help is needed again for the camp to go forward. Some of you have never helped and this would be a great time to be a blessing and get a great blessing. Many testimonies have come in over the years from people whose lives were touched at the camp. Thank you again for being a part of this great work.
 
 
 
Bishop Dale Collins
Faith City Christian Camp
 
From the desk of
Dale Collins
 
HEALTH REPORT
 
Christian greetings in Jesus Name! In this HEALTH REPORT I would like to give glory and honor to God who is my SAVIOUR and HEALER and a special thanks to all of those who prayed and fasted for me and my family during this long ordeal.
 
In May of 2011 a tornado swept thru our county causing great damage and loss of life. For three weeks we worked almost around the clock to help people with their roof needs and as many of you know I was out of shape and badly over weight. There were days that I worked around twenty hours a day several days in a row and I simply wore myself down. Over the past few years I had several attacks with extreme pain that would last around two to three days. I hung in there and prayed and prayed and prayed and God pulled me through it. This time I was just worn down to nothing and so was the entire family. I had not been to a doctor nor taken any medicine for over twenty five years. Jesus had always been my healer and He still is! None the less, because of the great pain (and other personal reasons) I, on my own asked my son to take me to the ER! I was in worse shape than I realized and they immediately slapped me on a stretcher and would not let me up. My heart rate and blood sugar was past stroke stage. I stayed a week in the Conway hospital and then was transferred to UAMS in Little Rock Arkansas where I was more in than out and all total stayed around five months. It was determined that I had Gall stones and that one of them had gotten over and blocked the tube to the pancreas and it had almost died. To make matters worse I developed several fluid pocket cysts on my gallbladder, pancreas, and liver. The skin on these was paper thin so they could not do any surgery for several months in which time I went through another round or two of Gall stones. They would not let me eat or drink anything for six months and one day. When I first arrived at the hospital they let me eat a few bites of food five or six times and then they stopped me. They did not want me to even have ice in my mouth because that would cause my brain to tell my pancreas to start to work. It is true that I almost died. I was told that I stopped breathing twice and was on a breathing machine for a few days. I had IVs and a feeding tube for months as they waited to do the surgery to remove my Gall bladder. I had pneumonia several times as well as other problems. Finally, the day came when the surgeon told me that we had a window of opportunity opened to us and that it was time to do the surgery. My dad said that it beat all that he had ever seen but that I quoted Scripture all the way down the hall into the operating room and that I came out the same way. Of course, I don’t remember it but it impressed him. Jesus Christ had mercy on me and let me live until we could get our faith together to see Him move and MOVE HE DID. It was a long year and we lost count of how many times that I was in the hospital, but the close to four hundred thousand dollars worth of medical bills remind us often. I was told from the start that given enough time, ninety percent of the time, the fluid pocket cyst dissolves on their own if the person does not eat. I had several of them with the largest of them being the size of a large grapefruit. While they gave me large amounts of pain medicine they did not to my knowledge give me anything for the fluid pocket cyst. At one point they checked me and they had gotten larger instead of smaller. It could have been different but God caused them to dissolve and go away without medication. It is a miracle without any doubt. I know that many have made remarks like, “it is just amazing what doctors can do these days” and such like. It is amazing what doctors can do these days BUT I would like to remind everyone what shape they sent me home in. They did the very best that they could do but I was sent home with a feeding tube, on a walker and had to have help to even walk thirty feet. I even had to have help dressing myself. It was a long journey through a deep dark valley but the Lord has surely brought me out on the other side. They told me that I would be taking a certain kind of medicine for the rest of my life. They also put me on blood pressure medicine and said that it would be for the rest of my life. They had a long list of foods I was not to eat or eat very little of. I had to have therapy to build up enough strength to get up and down out of my chair. They told me that I could try eating a few bites on THANKGIVING DAY 2011 and that we would see what happens. I told the doctors and the surgeon that I would listen and follow their instructions until that day but that was it. It is a miracle that after not eating for six months and one day (and losing 135 pounds) that I sat down at the table and had a plate of thanksgiving dinner with my family. I had several people tell me that I could not do it and that it would kill me. God took over from there and I flushed the medicine down the toilet and have been eating normal ever since. Just a plain undeniable miracle from God and the name of Jesus and faith in the name of Jesus. I have gained some of the weight back but I have also gained my strength back as well and I feel better than I have in many years. I am working harder than I have in years and have much to give glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. They told me that I had a very serious case of sleep apnea and I would like to report that it is gone as well. The other day I helped Matthew cut down four trees for a lady and haul them away. I have built a greenhouse and have close to four thousand plants in it.   I have a very large garden and continue to be blessed each day. Several people including ministers have told me that I was as good as dead unless the Lord moved for me. One man that attended church here at Mount Zion years ago told me later that after he came to visit me that he went home and took his suit to the cleaners to get ready for my funeral because this time, “Brother Dale ain’t gonna make it.” Well, because of the mercy of God and faith in God it was not so. Every day is a blessing just to be in the land of the living so I can still praise the Lord. How could I ever do anything except work for Him?
 
I want to also give my love and special thanks to my wonderful family who stood right by my side through it all. My wife is so special. She stayed with me in the hospital all of those months making sure they did not kill me except about five nights. At one point there was another Dale Collins just a few doors down so you can see how big a problem that could be. She slept on a couch and never complained. Each day one of the girls would make the trip down to the hospital and help their mother use the restroom and change her clothes. Sarah helped run the office a big part of the time and Sheryl made calls from hospital waiting room to help keep our business going. Our daughters rotated out coming each morning and each night to help me and take care of their mother for months. Our son Matthew stepped in and took over the roofing company and helped his mother make any decisions that had to be made. It is nothing short of miraculous how that God moved in our business during the months that I was sick, and He used Matthew not only to help hold the business together but to even expand it. Rebekah helped in many ways as well. My mother and father and their companions made many trips to UAMS during those many months. Only God knows the money that was spent on gas to make all of these trips. I was told at one point that it took about twenty five to thirty dollars of gas per trip and some of these folks came almost daily for months. Others came a couple of times a week but the fact is that it all added up. God bless all of you for it. Sarah helped me out at home taking care of everything that Sheryl and I had need of. She helped dress me, change out my feeding tubes and mix up the food and gave me my meds. There was simply too many people that came for me to name them all, but a few that stands out in my memory was Pastors Billy Murphy, Leon Cross, Ross Maxey, Keith Morris, David Pearrow, Randy Edwards, Rick McMahan, Bill Gilmore, Bill Weeks, Tracy Welch, J. E. Barnard, Larry Pearce, Randall Wilson and David Harrison. Several evangelist and ministers came to visit and pray including the McCutcheon family, Joel and LaBreeska Hemphill and Calvin Quarry. Many of their wives and children came as well. Evangelist Braxton Bigot came prayed for me. He also prayed for me many, many times at all hours throughout the night over the phone as also did our good friends and neighbors Calvin and Christie Stone. My good friend Mike Moncrief came as well as the Davis family, Tony and Debra Fowlkes, and Alan and Karen Craven. Minister Ron West from Kentucky was so faithful to pray and to call and check on me as was so many. Elder John Smartt came after I was home and did some repairs to the electric wiring in our house and Randy Romeo and the Conway FFA Chapter had a fundraiser to help out with expenses. My brother Tommy and his girlfriend Kathy came for months and took out the trash and did what needed to be done around the house. Sheryl’s sister, Sandra has come and helped her each week since because I was unable to lift her. Several sent in love offerings that helped keep the camp and our family going while I was off work for nearly a year. A little nine year old girl that attends church with my father in law sent in two dollars “to help that man live.” A woman that attends church with my father got with her grandchildren and made me a pillow covered with healing Scriptures.   God bless each of you and may you reap what you have sown. Special thanks to our attorney, Lynn Plemmons, our accountant and neighbor, Joel Hawkins, our real estate advisor Richard Henley and our good friend, former Senator Stanley Russ for his visits and help. Special and sincere thanks to Dr. Robert Rook, Dr. Susan Beling, Dr. Diane Rhoden and their assistants and staff. Most Sincere thanks to the staffs of Conway Regional Hospital and UAMS in Little Rock Arkansas and the Faulkner County Home Health Nurses and Therapists. Special Thanks to our late Pastor Autry Davis for his teaching and example of faith. Also to the late missionaries M.A. and Jane Collins Daoud and the late Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin for their books and literature on faith that continues to be a blessing to our lives. There are many people that I failed to mention but God took notice of all that you did and I am sure without any doubt that you will be rewarded.
 
I have long since been released to go back to work with no restrictions and the medical world has declared my health restored. Therefore I give all glory to God and being very thankful to my fellowman I am still singing “Jesus is my Healer” and I plan to until the day that I die.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Dale Collins
 
P.S. We continue to lag behind with the Campground payment but we should not have any trouble making the payments once it is caught up. PRAYER REQUEST: At the time of this writing the paper work has been submitted to DHS to see if they will help us with part or all of this huge bill. Please join in with us in prayer to God that He help us work this out for His glory. Thanks again.