Minuteman Bible College.com

Monday, March 3, 2008

Summary: The former HQ of the April 2005 Minuteman Project is facing heavy fines for hosting the MMP.

Here's what you can do to help.

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Below is an appeal from Dr. Harter, minister of the Miracle Valley Bible College, where the original Minuteman Project was headquartered in April 2005.

In a short time, many people have forgotten that MMP was the spark that got the whole nation's attention focused on illegal immigration and how feasible it was for the government to actually close the border IF THEY WANTED TO.

The Minutemen showed that it could be done, and for ONE MONTH, Cochise County, which is right on the Southern AZ border with Mexico, was safe.

Many residents of the area said that they were able to sleep at night, and that their dogs were not barking incessantly from illegals skulking around their property.

Those of you who were not there or did not know anyone who had gone have no idea what a sea change and what a great victory this was.

This whole issue is about zoning, and comes down to a corrupt local government.

Miracle Valley sits on a prime piece of real estate, and it is RURAL.

I strongly suspect that certain individuals in Cochise County would love to force MVBC into foreclosure so that they could buy the property for themselves.

Dr. Harter and his wife Roberta have struggled for 8 years to restore the MVBC to its former self.

While I am not a Pentecostal, and disagree with them on a number of religious issues, I can guarantee you that the Harters are stone cold patriots and they are with us 100%.

I spent some time down there getting to know them and doing some volunteer work.

No matter what your beliefs, there is magic on the land in Miracle Valley.

The decision to host the MMP was a costly one for the Harters.

They have spent over $8,000 in legal fees fighting this $10,000 fine. So now their true costs are almost $20,000.

If you are a Christian, will you do the Christian thing and help your fellow believers?

And if you live in Cochise County, remember to register to vote, and see what you can do to get these corrupt officials OUT OF OFFICE.

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Dear Minuteman Friends,

As you know, we lost our case with the Cochise County Zoning Dept. for allowing you to stay at our campus for the month of April 2005.

We have spent nearly $12,000 in legal fees (includes our costs involved in our appeal to the State of Arizona).

Now we are fined $9,655 plus $50 per day until the fine is paid in full. That means that every month that goes by, our fine is increased $1,500. (The Appeals Court grants us only 15 days and not the usual 30 days before the fine takes effect.)

We do not have any funds to pay this fine. I know that you are under no obligation to help us, but I thought if perhaps everyone could make at least a small donation by clicking the DONATION BUTTON, it would be a great blessing to us.

I permitted the Minuteman Project to come to our Bible College because the County initially gave us the approval (verbal) and that was when I telephoned Jim Gilchrist and our good friend Will Marriott to inform them that we were given the "GREEN LIGHT."

As a minister of the Gospel, I did what the Holy Bible says we are to do. We are to honor our word "even if it is to our own harm."

When we were later notified that Mr. Vlahovich changed his mind and denied us, I continued to "hold to my word that I gave to the Minuteman Project, regardless whether or not Mr. Vlahovich held to his word, which he did not do."

In addition, I believe in what the Minutemen were doing and everyone here was delighted that the Minutemen came to our campus and local community.

I am not against individuals coming into our country; in fact, I welcome them. However, I am against individuals crossing the border illegally to get into the United States. I could understand it more so if the illegals came here due to oppression in their own country, but we know that is not the case here.

If our President wishes for those of other nations to come into the United States, then he should seek to change the immigration laws so they can come. That way, we will know exactly who is coming into America.

However, I live on the border. There is hardly a day that goes by that we are not dealing with illegals. Last week, they were in our church sanctuary. On a previous occasion, 23 illegals broke into one of our buildings that was locked. This is not right.

We continually offer water and food to everyone, including illegals who come to our campus because this is the Christian thing to do.

However, it is not always individuals who are seeking to better a better life.

On numerous occasions, we have actually discover many illegals carrying drugs into our area from Mexico.

Each incident has compelled us to do everything we can to eliminate this type of activity; however, as a Bible College, we should not be forced to deal with these issues.

Our governmental leaders are sworn to protect us from this type of daily activity.

Our USA border needs to be secured. Our nation has the power to stop illegals from crossing our borders. Why they do not do something about it is beyond me.

We appreciated the Minuteman Project for coming into our area in April 2005. For the very first time, our borders were secured. Thank God for the Minutemen.

But now we face the consequences from the Cochise County Zoning Department.

We did not get a fair hearing because the Hearing Officer, Mr. Jack Chapman, refused to excuse himself when we requested a different Hearing Officer. Of course, we know that this was just a "set-up."

Jack Chapman has proved himself to be against Miracle Valley Bible College on two separate previous occasions. By all rights, we won our Hearing Case; however, Jack Chapman cited against us because we believe he was prejudice. If he was not prejudice, why then did he not step aside and allow us to have someone else as a Hearing Officer.

And then Mr. James Vlahovich, the Director of the Zoning Department - Cochise County, AZ at the time, basically makes the rules as he goes. If need be, I can cite several instances where he has done this. Today, Mr. Vlahovich serves as the Assisted County Administrator for Cochise County and receives a salary of about $135,000 per year.

And although this is illegal to do, Lt. Al Tomlinson who is with the Cochise County Sheriff's Department, (Lt. Tomlinson is seen in a picture on this blog standing with Sheriff Devers and me) actually worked for the Cochise County Planning & Zoning Dept under James Vlahovich by "spying on the activities conducted on our college campus."

I appreciate Sheriff Larry Devers for sending one of his men to my office to inform me that Tomlinson was not authorized by the Sheriff's Office to be involved in any activity for the Zoning Department.

The only thing we can do is to pay the fine that has been accessed against me. Nevertheless, county elections will be held this fall, and one thing is for sure, we are going to do our best to vote these type of people out of office.

Again, if you can make a donation to help us, we would greatly appreciate it very much.

God bless everyone of you, and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Dr. Melvin Harter