My Journey to Alaska Missions

Friday, June 10, 2016

Suggested Travel Items

Essential Travel Apps:

Bible - never leave home without it.
myNoise - to down out the snoring roommates.
GoPro - remote control and viewfinder.
Strava - record all the routes you travel.
RoadID - similar to Strava but can notify others.
Waze - traffic routing.
InstaWeather - document weather conditions where/when you are someplace interesting. People always ask, "how was the weather?"
InstaPlace - similar to InstaWeather but w/o the weather info.

Don't forget your earbuds for use with the myNoise app when trying to sleep. Get to sleep fast and stay asleep because o'dark-thirty comes early.

If you bring a lot of electronic, photography, or video gear on your trip then remember these:

DC to AC inverter for use in the car.

TWO power strip w/ enough outlets for:
1. Cellphone charger
2. Camera battery charger
3. GoPro battery charger
4. Smartwatch / Activity band / GPS charger
5. Laptop
6. Small fan - the AC may not be on
7. Roommates cellphone charger

Carry the inverter and a power strip in the vehicle on all trips to charge devices while on the go.

1 power strip stays in car. 1 power strip stays in dorm room.

You will have less time to see things than the others if you are not prepared. Think ahead and be ready to capture the moments. Fumbling around for what you need while everyone else is enjoying the scenery isn't what you want to be doing. Don't be the slow-poke.

Plan your sleeping arrangements:
Position your air mattress where you can have easy access to wall outlet. One person on each side.

Eye mask for blocking out the light from midnight sun and from roommates opening dorm room door and letting in the light

A folding chair next to your air mattress makes a good shelf, clothes hanger, towel drying rack, and of course a place to sit and get dressed.

If you have to get up frequently in the middle of the night, be close to the door.

Use the myNoise app. It's better than earplugs. Music works too.

Food:
Pack snacks for yourself. You never know. You or a companion might need them before you can get a real meal.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

SoulShine Alaska Mission Trip Video Recap

Below is a video we put together following our mission trip to Anchorage, Alaska, from June 26 to July 4, 2015. It was a wonderful experience that none of us will ever forget. "SoulShine" was the theme of our mission team: Scott, Kathy, Patrick, Judy, Gene, Tracy, Logan, Melissa, Austin, Hanna, & John

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Catching My Breath

It has been about three weeks since we returned from Anchorage. We were there for nine glorious days! Unfortunately, I was a little under the weather before, during, and after the trip. Before the trip I somehow got into some poison ivy and was taking prednisone, which really helped with the rash, but it lowers your immunity and can have some adverse side effects. I had to make a trip to the ER in Anchorage to get treated for oral thrush and the Nystatin mouthwash really helped. I was blessed to be “transported” to the ER by one of FBCS’ & “Greenville County's finest.” God clearly put this team of people together.

My mouth started feeling better but then a post nasal drip and cough began to develop toward the end of the trip and I had to go see my family physician once we got home. One dose of a prescription cough and antihistamine syrup really helped with that, but in all honesty, it still took me a solid week to recover from the trip. With 19 hours of daylight in Alaska and a 9-day, 19-hour-a-day schedule and a return flight that departed Anchorage Saturday night at 7:45 p.m. and arrived in Atlanta Sunday morning at 6:45 a.m. we were all wore out. We still had to caravan two car loads from the Atlanta airport to Simpsonville, despite one dead car battery and a couple of pieces of lost luggage, we arrived safely at FBCS around 10:30 a.m.

Julie was waiting for us and after some hugs I went to wait for Samantha outside her Sunday school classroom. I was happy to see my girls! We got home around 11:00 a.m. and I was happy to see my oldest son, Alex. They had done a great job of taking care of one another while Austin and I were in Alaska. Thank you God for my family, the time on mission in Alaska, and for safe travel.

Since returning home, I spent the first week simply trying to recover. I needed time to get over that cough and catch up on my sleep. Between Austin and me we captured about 78 GB of pictures and video. I didn’t even look at any of it for a week, as much as I wanted to, I just didn’t have the energy. I started trying to organize the pictures and video the second week because we needed to put a video together for the church and have been working on that off and on for the last two weeks. We present that video to the church on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the chapel.

The next thing I need to do is begin working on a longer video for the mission team that includes more pictures and video footage from our morning devotion times and free time outings, all of which were awesome! We'll be shooting to have that video done for our mission team luncheon at church on August 9th.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and their families again and sharing memories of our time in Alaska.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Departure Day & Time

June 26th is the day we departed on our mission trip to Alaska. We drove from Greenville, SC, to Atlanta, GA, then flew directly to Anchorage, AK.

Three years ago to that day, I received a call from my Step-Mom. My Dad had passed away. It was not expected. His soul has departed this Earth, but his memory remains strong in our hearts and minds.

My Dad's obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanantonio/obituary.aspx?pid=158282840

My Dad did not know his departure time. Neither do you. None of us do.

Do not depart Earth without first knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Here are a couple of pictures of the last time I got to see my Dad:

I miss him!

He was a great man!

Love you Pop!

We flew back from Anchorage on July 4th, the same day we flew back from his funeral in San Antonio three years earlier.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

SoulShine

We have a team theme for our mission trip to Anchorage, complete with a song and t-shirt. The theme is SOULSHINE and here's what our T-Shirt looks like.

T-Shirt Front:

Every color on the shirt represents something:

Gold: Represents God, the Creator of all, who lives in Heaven. The Bible says that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness - God is Perfect! God loves you and He wants to have a personal relationship with you. Jesus is God's son. The Bible says that Jesus and God are One.

Dark: Represents Sin, which is doing wrong things. God says that all have sinned and fall short of God's standard of perfection. Sin separates us from God. The Bible says that the penalty for our sins is death or separation from God forever.

How can your sins be removed so that you can know God?

Red: Represents Jesus' blood. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, but He died on a cross to pay the penalty for all of our sin. Again, the payment of sin is death, so Jesus paid the penalty for each of us. Why? The Bible says, "For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life" (with God). The Good News is that you don't have to be separated from God forever by sin!

White: Represents each of us after our sins are washed away by Jesus. How can Jesus wash our sins away? When we believe in Jesus by following Him, our sins are forgiven. The Bible says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

Have you accepted Jesus' gift of forgiveness by believing in Him?

Green: Represents growth in your relationship with God. The greatest commandment is that we love the Lord our God with all our Heart, soul, mind, and strength and that we love our neighbors as ourselves - Love God, Love People! Read the Bible each day to learn more about God and His love. Pray to God constantly and share your thoughts, needs, and desires with Him. When we are Baptized, we are telling the world that we have committed our lives to Jesus and that we are a new person, like being born all over again! Hang out with other Christians and encourage each other. (Church is a good place to start.) Share the Good News that Jesus can forgive sins when you trust in Him! Tell as many people as you can!

T-Shirt Back:

This T-shirt is meant to be a conversation starter, hence the "Ask me about my SoulShine" line.

It is also a memorializes our trip location by showing where we are going as well as representing the Alaskan State Flag which is represented by the stars and blue background, which is really Navy Blue and not Royal Blue as shown here.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to have designed this shirt with input from several others, but even more for the the opportunity to wear this shirt and "Let my SoulShine!"

(A Christian friend printed these shirts for us and I would be happy to pass along his contact information to you if you have any t-shirt printing needs.)

I hope to be able to post a video of the theme song being sung on location (post-trip) so stay tuned...

Monday, June 22, 2015

Obstacles, Opportunities, & Revelations

A leaky roof taught me, once again, that I can trust God with all things…

As the mission trip got closer we started to have a lot of things happen that gave us cause for concern and we began to question.

We experienced several Obstacles:

1. We had some wind and hail damage to our roof and had to make an insurance claim.

2. I was involved in a traffic accident where I was rear-ended and of course I had whiplash for a few days and had to go to the doctor and physical therapy. I had to deal with insurance and deal with the body shop that could not obtain the correct part for two weeks.

3. Our air conditioner froze up and stopped cooling; the same unit that we replaced the furnace in earlier this year.

4. The new, one-day-old roof began to leak during the first rain storm.

5. We had to deal with water damage repairs.

6. Somehow I got poison ivy and had to go to the clinic and start a round of prednisone. I don't like taking this stuff. It certainly helps but it has side effects.

We realized that these so called obstacles are really Opportunities:

1. Hey, we got a new roof and it only cost us our insurance deductible! The roof was 13 years old. We’ve been in the house going on 8 years and had to deal with at least 3 separate leaks in the old roof. We got to deal with a very reputable roofing contractor that had helped one of my co-workers with a small repair. More on this tie-in later…

2. I got to drive a much nicer rental car than what I normally drive and the other party’s insurance paid for it and all the repairs. The doctor and PT were very helpful and I got to meet a new PT that knows another person going on this mission trip to Alaska. Small world.

3. The service technician that installed our new furnace is the guy they sent out to look at our AC issue. He is a good Christian man and I enjoyed his company. He’s a straight shooter and helps save me money on preventative maintenance and repairs. I should have changed my filters sooner. He added two pounds of refrigerant to the system, just in time for the really hot days we’ve experienced since the issue. Same as with the furnace, we had a solution in place before the real cold spell hit.

4. Hey, what better timing for a roof to leak than the day after it’s finished! I’d rather know now than when I’m in Alaska so I can be around to take care of it and not burden my wife with it. This is really the big story, but I’ll come back to it at the end…

5. The roofing contractor responded after-hours to my text messages regarding the leak and had his crew chief on top of the house the next morning to find and repair the problem. (One piece of metal flashing ($0.50) and a properly cut shingle could have saved a lot of hassle for everyone.) He also had a drywall guy and painter out the next day to assess the inside repairs, which were taken care of promptly and professionally. I really liked all these guys and felt blessed by them. I’m thankful God brought them into my life to take care of these problems. I would hire them all again. The roofing contractor also gave us a gift card so we could have dinner on him. We used it for Father’s Day lunch and it was plenty.

6. Poison Ivy, really? Hey, I’m still trying to figure this one out, but I know that there is a purpose and lesson in it so stay tuned.

I left a few strands hanging in the items above and now I’d like to tie them all together.

The Revelation:

The co-worker that recommended the roofing contractor is a Godsend. I had been working outside all day and was sitting on the couch watching TV exhausted. It had started raining pretty good and there were no signs of any leaks so we continued to relax. My co-worker had called earlier in the day and asked if he could borrow an ice chest. He called while I was sitting on the couch and said he was on his way over, but then said it was raining pretty hard and that he’d get it another time. I told him to come on and that I’d bring it out to him. (I wanted to test out my new rain jacket.) So my wife and I went into the garage and got the ice chest down and I put my rain jacket on. We stood in the garage for several minutes with the garage door open waiting to see his car approach. I ran out to his car and put the ice chest in the trunk and headed back to the garage. It was raining really hard. My wife had gone back into the house and I began to take off my rain jacket and inspect my shirt. It was a little wet on the shoulders, so it really only meant for a light rain. It had passed the light rain test already, but I needed to know if it was going to hold up to a heavy rain. Just like this roof, I needed to know if the roof was going to hold up to the first good heavy rain. Well, about that time as I was inspecting my jacket and shirt I heard something behind me. I turned and looked to find a stream of water coming down from a junction box in the garage ceiling and spilling out across the billiards table we have parked where a car should be. I acted quickly despite my shock and was fortunate to have had a good beach towel, moving blanket, and 5 gallon bucket on hand. Even more, I was glad we kept a green plastic protective cover over the pool table when not in use, so the felt stayed dry. My wife and I stood there in amazement. It had been raining for 30-60 minutes before this leak occurred just at the right time for us to see and catch it. We would not have gone back out to the garage until just before bedtime as we checked all the doors and lights. We might not have even noticed until the next day.

Look, God orchestrated all these events to point us to Himself and his provision for us. We stood there thanking and praising God, in the middle of a literal (rain) storm for a leaking roof, because it was unmistakable that He was in control and He was demonstrating that right in front of us! We realized, once again, that we can trust God with all things. You can to! Start by trusting Him with the forgiveness of your sins and your eternal salvation. Let me know if you have any questions about that…

That’s why I’m here. To point others to Him!

For His Glory,

John