February 2026

Meetings

Since our last letter I preached in: Oregon, Delaware, Wisconsin, Nevada, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, New York and Michigan. The meetings have had good results.

The News on My Neck

Last summer our 3/4 tone truck combined with some really rough roads in Texas really worked me over. We almost called off the summer tour. But, we stuck it out and finished the summer. But I was in pretty rough shape when we got back to Idaho. I made an appointment with a neurosurgeon. He ordered five different tests. One of them was an MRI.

Strange!

In 2020 I had two MRIs, with and without contrast. They showed:

1. C1-C3, the only vertebrae not fused are deteriorating
2. I have permanent spinal cord damage
3. I have bone spurs the whole length of my neck.

This time around I had only one MRI, without contrast. Crazy! It read like it was a different person! This MRI saw nothing that appeared in 2020! It showed I have bulging discs above and below (C4-C7) and pinched nerves to my arms. Based on that result I knew a cervical fusion was out of the picture. I figured he would probably do surgery to relieve the nerves to my arms. I had one of those back in 2013 which has lasted these 12 years.

We saw the surgeon on January 22 to hear the results of all the tests. He said that my neck is deteriorating and that surgery wouldn’t help. He’s going to refer me to a pain doctor. He said nothing about the stenosis to my arms. I was kind of surprised he didn’t address the stenosis.

I can’t count the number of “Pain Doctors” that I’ve seen! I’ll see what this guy says.

The problems have increased. Kathy and I have been asked by many if we were going to retire. That thought doesn’t even enter our minds!

I hope you can understand this. We love what we do! We have no desire to quit. Therefore we are going to continue on as we have been. For me that is: keep traveling, keep preaching, keep writing and keep teaching until I’m physically unable to do so. I love it all!

For Kathy that is: keep traveling with me and keep taking the wonderful care of me that she has for the last 53 years.

We will keep going as long as we can. This life is the only chance we’ll ever have to do something for our Saviour and we don’t want it to end.

Our Quandary

Last summer the truck gave us some trouble as well as trying to beat me to death. In July we almost cancelled the summer preaching tour and came home. Things were pretty bad. But I am loathe to not keep a scheduled meeting so we got through it without having to cancel any meetings.Kathy and I are perplexed at what to do about our present rig. I’ve thought about getting a newer model truck, hoping it will ride a little better. The other option is to buy a small motor home that we could pull a ½ ton truck behind. The first option is like buying a house. The second is like buying a big house!

Here’s the circumstances that rule our decision:

1. Our trailer is 29′ long. That was the smallest I could get that had a recliner. Many nights I have to sleep in a recliner due to my neck.
2. A 29 foot trailer is too heavy to pull with anything smaller than a 3/4 ton truck. The first year wehad this trailer we towed it with the ½ ton truck we had. It pushed the little truck all over the road! We need a 3/4 ton.
3. We’ll go with a diesel for the range. One year we ran out of gas in the Mojave Desert because our truck, which usually gets 7mpg towing only got 6mpg due to the slight increase in elevation. We need the range.
4. If we go with a motor home we still have to buy a new truck (½ ton) because we put a cap on the bed to carry books to our meetings.

I don’t want to make a major financial outlay and then realize we did the wrong thing. Please pray for God’s leadership in making this decision.

We plan on using the truck we have for this summer’s tour and decide on what to purchase when we get home in August.

Please also pray that I will toughen up so I can handle the “New Normal” with my neck.

Three New Books

1. A History of Scripture in English – This book catalogs a total of 1,880 translations of some portion of scripture into English. It is divided into Old English, Middle English and Modern English. It also highlights the state of Bible translating today. (Did you know there were over 100 NIVs?) Yep. I have everyone of them documented.
   
   This book has been printed and is now available at: daystarpublishing.com or you can call:
   1-800-311-1823.
   
2. Fight On #3
   Yet More Fight On! Stories is proofed and I am in the process of making the final corrections.
   If you check with daystarpublishing.com or samgipp.com you’ll know when it’s available.
   
3. The Witnesses of the New Testament: A Comprehensive Catalog of the Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament
   I am in final formatting and it will go to the printer this year.

Needing Your Prayers More Than Ever,

Samuel C. Gipp