Not to long ago the threat of needing a neighborhood emergency plan was hard to believe. Now, with the threat of fuel prices and shipping costs pushing inflation, banding together as local neighbors maybe the only viable solution. For those of us with a looming fore knowledge of a potential infrastructure and financial collapse, we can see that our current “Just-In-Time” manufacturing system will leave few working products as it folds. The long shipping lanes supporting our food stores may fail as fuel become unreasonably priced. If we don’t start reeling it in soon, our adjustment to local resources may be jolting to say the least. If we wait until systems start failing before we do something our local storage of supplies won’t be enough to start local productions up again. Fighting and theft may then breed distrust and eventually starvation. Common prepping strategies can even escalate the situation as irrational mobs begin their hunts for prepper signs. But… I have money! I can out bid other starving people and yet live. What value has money? Can you eat gold? There’re only really two things that you can trade with, work and knowledge. However, for work and knowledge to be viable trade makers trust must be maintained or re-established. Trust is the byproduct of faith. So, faith is the first part to a solid survival plan.

Faith is the building block at the base of all things created. God even uses it. We, as a people, have also used it when we needed to survive. Every budding community needs a few faith based principles at its creation. The first principle is an understanding of God. As we come to know God, He helps us discipline ourselves to trust others as we learn to love them. It has been shown that we serve what and whom we love and we learn to love what and whom we serve. As we build faith in God we grow our ability to love others. As we learn to love, faith teaches us to trust one another. We develop a method of “covenants” or “building three-way-trust-agreements” between ourselves, our trading partner, and God. Faith also builds a desire to improve. It shows us that we can be more than a speck on a worldly time line. When we know we’re immortal in nature; life and death isn’t as self serving in our decisions. And lastly, faith breeds gratitude to God. When someone shows us gratitude aren’t we more willing to help them again and again? Just think what it’d be like to have the Creator of Heaven and Earth on your side when the winds of destruction howl. Our faith should be the first important key in our emergency plan

Family is the corner stone of government. This places marriage as the first step to an ordered existence; insomuch that the marriage covenant sets the discipline, accountability, and direction that should guide this seed of governance. A marriage between a man who knows God and a righteous woman establishes that “from the mouth of two witnesses” truth can be taught to His children. From our families come the rulers and leaders that run governments and businesses alike. If anything places pressure on the importance of strong god fearing families, know this: the family was so important that the first 15 Amendments to the United States Constitution protected our families. However, in this same caveat the Devil attacks. With the removal of the original 13th Amendment (“The Titles of Nobility”) and the forced ratification of the 16th and 17th Amendments the door was open to down play the importance of the family in our government. With the 19th through the 27th Constitutional Amendments, women can now turn to the government for welfare robbing men of their responsibilities to provide. The marriage covenant has been trampled in countless ways. To restore Gods trust in us so that we maybe worthy to survive... we should address the restoration of our families as another important key in our emergency plan.

Home sets the scope and scheme of our plan. So, our plans should include everything that you would associate with the word home. It’s a combination of familiar people, familiar places, our treasures, our understanding, our state of rest, and our spiritual sanctuary. How we keep our homes and what we introduce into our homes becomes part of us. To make our home self reliant is to include knowledge and articles that exist independent and complete from others. For example: living off grid requires a home that is independent yet complete enough to serve our needs. Such a home requires a place, people, treasures, understanding, revitalization, and spiritual influence singled to this focus. So this is were we learn law, love, respect, and responsibility as these are the lubricants for the gears of a fruitful life. Hopefully, one of the laws we select is humility; so we’re teachable. Building our homes is another important key in our emergency plan.

Nutrition in self reliance is divisive to say the least. We need it to thrive physically to shoulder our survival. However, most of us only understand pieces of the puzzle that constitutes it. We struggle with doctors of all sorts tainted with ideals from the Flexner Report. As such, our modern medicine has made us addicted to drugs of one form or another instead of teaching us to heal naturally when we can. So, what’s self reliance in nutrition? It’s knowing that there’re at least 91 essential nutrients we need for health and strength. In actuality I’ve uncovered 155 nutrients and still finding more. Self reliance is knowing where to find these basic nutrients and how to use them. It’s coming to a realization that the body can heal if given the correct nutrients instead of trusting a drug to alleviate symptoms until we die. (This isn’t to say we don’t need a drug or band-aid once in a while as a bridge.) It’s learning how our bodies function with these nourishment. It’s learning how our bodies interact with our environment. When we master these, we master our strength. We’re limited without our strength. So, nutrition is another important key in our emergency plan.

Artisans are the backbone to self reliance. Cultivating and using our God given talents and skill-set is were ideas become realities. The more you know and can use, the more self reliant you can become. Some may consider work a four-letter-word but, in truth the very value of any financial system rests on it. The very value of our survival rests on it. When we add our value to others, real wealth is created. However, know that not all value is created equal; this is were “Capitalism” is needed. Understanding supply and demand is essential to assigning value. Before we start projects, selecting to do things many people want or need will bring better prices or value back to you. Our artisanship qualifies as another important key in our emergency plan.

Gardens and farming brings God’s sunshine, as food, to the table. When you’ve achieved food renewal you’re pretty independent. If our food is also the purveyor of real nutrition, so much the better. All food literally starts at the soil. The bacterium, biomass, and minerals all need to be there for the plants to serve us well. We must include animals into our gardens as they serve to recycle bacteria and biomass back into the soil. If we removed animals from our food cycle eventually our soils would be affected; we see the start of this with GMO crops now. Animals also stockpile soil minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and amino acids from poor quality feed crops as they graze. In addition to conditioning the soil, they turn grass, twigs, and bugs into usable nutrition for ourselves. Self reliance in gardening requires both plant cultivating and animal husbandry. Gardening and renewable food is yet another important key in our emergency plan.

Community building is essential for survival. We have all heard the saying “No man is an island”. Well, in order to genuinely survive requires more than one person. Sure, one person may stave off hunger and illness for awhile; but, when challenges come, only so many battles can be fought in solitary without external reason, motivation, support, or aid. God gives us the opportunity and is willing to stand with us testifying of all truth; save, we learn to listen by loving our neighbors as ourselves. This is the secret of the real survival plan. Eventually, everyone will need to stand on their own testimony of Jesus Christ; and... if it takes a disaster to overwhelm the arm of man and make this change of heart, all things are for our good. Learning to love is the last important key in our emergency plan.

Being about God’s errand is the best emergency plan. Hopefully, we might find other’s interested in learning as we listen to God’s prophet, study from all the scriptures as they’re provided, and through personal revelation by the gift of the Holy Ghost.