The Hoof Print

Ten years - a Decade! eQuest For Truth celebrates being on the web for a whole decade!

I can't help but consider it a reason to rejoice! What a "memorial stone" that speaks of the Lord's provision and His plan!

Is this website as full and developed as I had hoped and planned and dreamed for in 10 years? No--but it has served a small purpose in the Lord's service and I am so blessed to have been apart of its history and formation. It is a very small light - yet, the Lord has used this little article archive website specific to Christian apologetics to 1) grow me in so many ways, 2) encourage dear readers that have written sharing with me their testimonies and 3) to be a resource to get horse lovers and fellow Christians a start or reference for Biblical study. It's been a journey of "grand ideas" to harmonize with the Lord's plan. Being someone that my Mother told when I was 16, "Rebekah, you don't have to accomplish everything in life by the age of 17!" --well, the Lord's been constantly refining me in this process of becoming aligned with His purpose for eQuest For Truth!

This all just didn't happen. The history of eQuest For Truth all actually started long before 10 years ago.

Since becoming a Christian at the age of 5, there has been a recognition and growth in understanding that all of us who profess Christ are called and enlisted into His service. In addition, we are always equipped by Him for the specific tasks He gives us. That equipping may entail a motivation to forge the difficulties of developing skills with hard won diligence or perhaps it comes as gifts just plopped in our laps as strengths by His hand. It's a journey of preparation and one we're always on until we go to be with the Lord.

Through the seasons of growing up - I had been involved in children's ministry or volunteering with organizations that served the

special needs community since the age of 12, even serving as a camp counseller when not much more than a girl myself at 14. By the time of high school, I was living the small farm dream on my parent's 10 acres, starting a few Quarter Horses to ride and planning to start a small business training cart horses for children and teach riding lessons. By the age of 17 we were moving to a 300 acre farm, I was teaching children how to ride horses and managing our family's small pony business, Bar H Farms and taking in Miniature Horses and Shetlands training them for riding and cart ponies. It was a successful venture for a season of joy of doing exactly what I wanted to do in life. At the peak, I was managing 30 horses and ponies, foaling out 7-8 of the world's cutest pony foals each year and marketing horses online.  Riding lessons were seasonally consistent with a troup of children, some only a few years younger than me, I was teaching the basics. By the age of 20, it was time to prepare for Certification with the Certified Horsemanship Association (though not currently teaching, I still hold a PATH Intl. Registered Instructor certification--just in case!). 

Through many encounters with children of tender age telling me about their broken home lives--God was working on me. I became more and more aware that this grandeous idea of mission work only happening in a compartmentalized setting or abroad was a small outlook. The challenge of sharing the Gospel was pressed upon me. How could I of all people do something so drastic during a riding lesson? "But Lord I'm a Nobody!" and "Skillful Weaving - A Testimony" are both testimonies to this struggle and real start to what led to eQuest For Truth--when all my glorious ideas of "ministry" had to be brought out of the clouds, applied where it counted for strategic, God given opportunities and became apart of my daily life.

Through my work with horses and the process of becoming a creditialed riding instructor--I was confronted with evolution. If you spoke out against or questioned the theory--well, you were just considered dumb and one of "those"!  Children were constantly asking me questions about the frog, ergot and chestnut - the very parts of the horse that Darwinian evolution seized upon as vestigial digits. I was fired up. Through my youth, my elder brother had become very involved in the Creation ministry and I tagged along with gaining interest. It was time to have a resource for children and fellow Christians that was evolution free.  I had such a burden not to mislead these dear little impressionable lives I had for so many short minutes a week.

Through the ministry of Dr. Jobe Martin's Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution, ten years ago, I was aching to do something about horses and their design that could point children to their Creator. I had found that through my students' desire to learn about the horse--it was an open door to introduce them to Jesus Christ Who was the first horseman and rejoiced in their delight of a creature He created just for them to enjoy!  At this time, I was also teaching a homeschool elective for a local homeschool coop about horses and was applying myself to write a small booklet called "Understanding Horses from a Biblical Perspective."  The previous Fall, opening my Strong's Concordance, the study began as I painstakenly looked up every equidae related Bible verse and found treasures to inspire the Christian horse lover. 

All these varied efforts, experiences, encounters came together.

Seeking the support and writing of scientists like Dr. Jobe Martin, Dr. Jean K. Lightner, etc. and using some of the articles I had written--my work began and the website materialized.  Even the name "eQuest4truth.com" was available! The little, tiny graphic design interest I had and basic website building I had learned through marketing ponies--started to piece together. The idea was for me to coordinate and compile all the possible articles available specific to refuting horse evolution. There were some out there, specifically written by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, but what I found was that there were specific horse specific topics not addressed or geared fully to a horse loving audience. I had a lot of work on my plate and somehow I became the one writing the bulk of the articles instead of the "behind the scenes" gal just compiling information.  

The first articles eQuest For Truth published are still all there. 

• What About Equine Origins?
• Creation vs. Evolution
• Horse Evolution: Fact or Horse Manure?
• The Bible Stands
• The Bible and Evolution in Conflict
• God The Creator
• How Did We Get Chestnut Colored Horses?
• Equus in the Bible
• Equine Bible References

After ten years, there have been a huge list of people that have supported or encouraged this effort. Many served me as sounding boards, counselors,

contributors and reviewers. I thank you all for your taking me seriously and not sending me down the chute when I asked for assistance or advice! Specifically, I'd like to thank Vicki Watson and Firn Hyde for their partnership in updating the website's CMS/design and/or providing so many fantastic articles for the website. Their efforts behind the scenes and the hours of work to contribute what they have for several years are worth acknowledging.

To date, there have been Christians from the US, Canada, Brazil, UK, Ireland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, Japan, and I can't remember all the other countries that have written feedback.  Unfortunately, I don't know if all the seeds planted come to fruition. But-the job of eQuest For Truth is to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and give Him the glory...and let Him do the rest.

I want thank you, for taking your time writing this good message, [not long] ago I spent my time instead of reading [the] Bible... watching pornography... It immediately raise[d] a guilt in me, that cause me to search in Google the Message that can bring me back at the feet of the Cross [ofJesus]... I want to [thank] God for giving me [the Equest For Truth ministry], you know Bible says: all things work for good to those who love Him... I thank God again for lighting His fire and giv[ing] me the passion of reading His Word. Oh Lord, do not let m[e] grow cold, this [is] my prayer, keep on praying for me. I pray God to enlarge your ministries, you know when God gives a vision, He gives too [the] provisions to accomplish His work in us, now do not get weary to do good. I believe at due time you shall reap. May my Heavenly Father richly bless,

D.R. via Internet

Since the growth to include "non-horse" related articles on "Quest For Christ" - this has been the greatest drive to the website. Articles on Purity and Contentment have remained only second to the Horse Evolution articles. A Christian's Twelve Practical Principles to the Path of Contentment; Ten Guidelines to Live a Pure Christian Life; (be sure to check out the 2015 blog posts series "Purity: It's Possible Even Today!"  Most of my articles now are geared to "Quest For Christ" or find their home on the blog "The Hoof Print". The Lord has changed my life to be 

drastically full and time for researching articles is limited and balanced with needful work, ministry opportunities and investing in my family. As eQuest For Truth was never intended to be the "personal" ministry of "Rebekah L. Holt" it is well that God chooses to keep me well harnessed in the daily grind and limit my word count!  The term "Applicable Christianity" behooves us all and I certainly have my share of needing to apply first and sit at Christ's feet before writing an article about it.

What's the future for eQuest For Truth? I don't know fully. Yet, for now, it is evident that the Lord is not yet finished with this little website and He can continue the work. There have been very tough times of discouragement over that 10 years when I was ready to shut it all down. God always confirmed it was viable with sudden feedback from someone who had read an article and wrote of their encouragment. Who knows, perhaps the ideas for Discover Equus - an action packed horse curriculum for homeschooling families can materialize one day!  That idea's been cookin' for a decade too! 

Thank you for being apart of this journey!

On to living for Christ today...

Rebekah L. Holt

The Original Logo:

Today is my King's birthday.

He is older than time, but today marks the two thousand and fourteenth year since his birth. When He was born, a giant star lit the entire sky with the brightness of a second sun. Angels sang, shepherds worshipped, his virgin mother held him close, wise men brought gifts of value and the King of Kings slept in the hay.

Tonight, there is no star. I hear no angels. I see no shepherds. Mary is long gone. And I can offer Him nothing more than I already have: myself, a living sacrifice.

But tonight, the King does not sleep. My resurrected King reigns today in the glory of His majesty; He is the Alpha and Omega, the Creator of the world, Lord and Saviour, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). He governs heaven and earth, He is mightier than mighty, stronger than the definition of strength. As I worked in the sunset, He filled my mind, Christmas carols rising around me as I ran the bodybrush briskly down my chestnut colt's sleek golden coat.

I always find Christmas a little sad. That innocent Babe in the manger was destined to live a cruelly short life, to die a horrible death, the hands that healed nations punctured by nails, the lips that spoke truth and love to cry in desperation, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 22:37) Of course, this Babe would rise again and reign forever. But I can't help but grieve a little knowing what my beloved Friend had to go through for my sins. I grieve, too, for Mary; Mary who sang her song to glorify the Lord that night, perhaps not knowing that in thirty-three years she would sob at the feet of the cross upon which her baby was slowly dying. As Simeon said to her, “A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.” (Luke 2:35)

I am joyful, yes. Thankful, beyond so. But always a little sad. And my thoughts were with Him, rejoicing and thanking and praising and apologising all at once. I finished grooming the colt, untied him and turned him loose. The last rays of the setting sun had turned the world to honey as I set to work scrubbing out the feed bins and convincing the ageing donkey to move from his feeding pen back to his paddock. The donkey, like all donkeys, bears a cross on his back. Maybe it's just legend that donkeys have crosses ever since a little donkey colt that bore the King, or maybe He laid it there when He first made donkeys, marking His humble mount since creation.

My humble, beloved King. I ride a thoroughbred; bright as a sword's blade, aflame with his power, able to leap as high as I am tall and run like a winter gale. But my Lord rode a humble little donkey that had never been trained, a donkey colt no more than ten or eleven hands high, dusty with the desert sand. Lord, how You bless me more than You blessed Yourself.

“O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore him,” I sang badly, tunelessly. I never sing when people are around, but I think Jesus appreciates the effort, even if He does so with earplugs. “O come let us adore Hi-im, Christ the – Oh, look!”

As I turned, I saw it. The chestnut colt, inviting the thoroughbred to play.

The colt is only fifteen months old, but he's had a rough start. He spent most of his life in a little paddock, and – worse – some of it cooped up on stall rest for an injury, going stir-crazy with nothing to do and nowhere to move until eventually he just died a little inside. The flame inside every colt stilled, until his eyes were full of fear instead of fire. Two months ago, when I got him, the colt didn't know how to be a horse. He didn't know what he was. He couldn't function in a group; while the other horses grazed, he would stand in a corner of the pasture, nibbling hay instead.

Now, my socially impaired colt has made friends and ventured further, but something has still been missing. The colt had no idea of how to play. Where his peers were on their hindlegs sparring joyously in boisterous play-fights with their friends, he would just stand and eat hay. Even the older thoroughbred gelding would dance and strike at him, trying to get him to play, but the colt would just trot out of reach and stand watching. It was the one thing he needed that I couldn't give him; I fed him as best as I could, and gave him the space and company he needed, but without the free exercise of playtime in a group, the colt's legs would never grow up properly, would never recover from the injury he had suffered a few months ago. There was nothing more I could do. It was up to God and the thoroughbred to teach the colt to play.

It was unusual to see the colt even walking briskly, which was why I was so excited to see him trot right up to the thoroughbred. But I was still more astonished by what I saw next. Tossing his gentle head, the colt stuck out his nose and nipped the thoroughbred right alongside the cheek. Snorting, the thoroughbred returned the nip, slightly harder. I held my breath, sure the colt would flee. But he didn't. He squealed, struck out with a foreleg and nipped the thoroughbred's neck. The thoroughbred, delighted, nipped back and the colt reared briefly, clumsily striking out with his forelegs in an attempt at the usual play-fighting gesture.

“Oh, Jesus, Sir!” I nearly sobbed. “He wants to play. Exavior wants to play.”

The play session only lasted for a few more seconds before the thoroughbred wandered off and the colt began to contentedly graze beside him. But it was a start. My broken colt had finally learned to play, and I knew exactly Who was behind this discovery.

It was the most perfect Christmas gift. A little gift, perhaps. But it lit up my world.

I turned into the sunset, smiled and said, “Thank You, Sir.”

Peace on earth, and goodwill to all men.