2012

All the hype on the world ending in a couple weeks makes me laugh, but it did get me inspired to look up some 'old school' clips and songs on the end of the world.    If you want to get the real lowdown on the end of the world go to this website and look up the 11/05/00 and 11/12/00 messages that give you a quick look on the book of Revelation.

Here's to the end of the world!

Do this: Bear Grylls Survival Academy

If you have any interest in doing remote missions then UNUSUAL SOLDIERS highly recommends that you get sponsors and go through this training as a means to prep yourself.  Apply Here!

Bear Grylls Survival Academy Recap

Biggest Fear Going in:
I am the kind of guy who gets cold in the middle of the summer so crossing rivers in freezing temperatures was a huge fear going in.  But I survived, and three of us (Dan and Luke) even took a frozen plunge just for fun one night.

High Points:
1. Freezing all night in our man made shelters (Yes those are high points for me).
2. Learning the Priorities of Survival from world renown mountain guides that see the value of empowering and equipping others.
3. Watching how Bear Grylls graciously interacts with the media, his team, and  his "trainees."  He is full of positive energy and is a real servant leader.
4. Eating Rat, Maggots, "sea food," and drinking my....
5.  Watching my teammate, Luke, not give up trying to  start a fire with his flint and all natural materials.  He hit a wall early in the week, but after he started the team's fire he said, "lighting this fire just made everything worth it!"
6.  Sharing with the media why survival training was so important to me.  It has a lot to do with rescuing people like this.
7.  And of course engaging in some deep spiritual conversations with nonbelievers .

Low Points
1. Failing in doing a regain on the rope crossing - but I will conquer that beast soon (with a backpack on!)
2.  Watching my mind tank in the end because I went too "rambo" in beginning  (cutting multiple trees down with a knife, refusing to eat a few packaged meals, refusing to use a sleeping bag, didn't drink enough water, not sleeping due to jet lag, etc.)
3.  Losing my water bottle right before our final 36 hour challenge and having to humbly ask someone else for a drink.
4.  Realizing that I am not in the same physical shape that I use to be.  Time to get fit again!

The Trip in One Word:
PERFECT.  From an educational standpoint it was everything that I hoped for and I am eager to pass on the teaching to others!  This training experience fits perfectly into what the ministry of Unusual Soldiers is trying to accomplish.

Bored in the Lord? (BGSA Recap)

Upcoming FCC Newspaper Article:

I think that many people avoid Christianity like a plague because they think it requires people to follow a boring list of do's and dont's.  If following Christ means us, Nebraska rednecks, transforming into a smiley Mr. Rogers, then lets be honest, its not that appealing.  But I discovered that following  after the cause of Christ is one of the most adrenaline packed adventures on the planet.  Sure we value being good moral people, but scripture also tells us that Jesus has come to give us life, and give it to us to the full (John 10:10).

Last week I was at the Bear Grylls Survival Academy in Scotland.  I am not sure how I made the inaugural team, but I got to be the first and only American on the six person team.  It was a week full of adventure, survival training, and "Man Tests".  The guides were renown mountain guides who played major roles behind the scenes of Discovery channel's, Man vs Wild.  Even Bear Grylls, himself came to train our team for a day.  We ate maggots, built shelters out of trees, made harnesses, crossed freezing rivers, climbed the mountains of Scotland, and eventually got "abandoned" on an island.  My 35 year old body tanked hard and shivered all night, but that was what made it so much fun. 

When the media was interviewing Bear Grylls, one lady turned to me and said why a "pastor" would want to  do this survival course.  I told her that it had a lot to do with my calling as a Christian to bring the hope of Christ, to dark, dangerous, and despised places.  And that this survival training was not only beneficial for myself in those areas, but it could also benefit those that live in dangerous areas every day - I think it caught the reporter off guard. I hope she made the discovery that following Christ or even being a pastor doesn't mean that we are members of a "Bored-in-the-Lord-Club."  Following hard after Christ gives believers a cause to engage that is full of love, adventure, and risk.

I was amazed at the spiritual conversations I was able to have with the other five team members.  I guess, living in the wild away from technology has a way of making people do some intense soul searching.  One student, decided to start opening himself up to Christ while another fellow student asked me for my Bible. The training I received at BGSA was fulfilling, but it was in those moments that I felt most full and alive.

Bear Grylls himself stated in his book, Mud Sweat and Tears, "Christ comes to make us free, to bring us life in all its fullness. He is there to forgive us where we have messed up (and who hasn't), and to be the backbone in our being."

If you have scrapped the idea of Christianity or church for of any number of reasons then I would encourage you to get involved with a community of Christ followers that is alive and active.  Give it everything you got and you yourself may make the great discovery that living for Christ is everything, but boring.

US NAVAL ACADEMY EVENT

This is a report from the speaking event that I just had at the US Naval Academy - thank you for everyone who lifted it up in your prayers!  I had an outstanding time speaking to a group of people who fully understood the meaning of having a cause worth dying for.  The picture to the left is the "campus" chapel.  It is an amazing piece of history and I was privileged to speak at the protestant services on Sunday morning.  Here were some of the highlights from the event:

• Hearing the heart of Chaplain Cash. He was the real deal - nephew of Johnny Cash, author of A Table at the Presence, and he served as Obama's Pastor for a season at Camp David.  His heart for the gospel was very evident. 

• The Lord allowed me to speak at the main services about the importance of facing our fears and having courage in our faith.  After the services I discovered that Admiral Mike Mullen was there - the recently retired highest ranking military officer in the United States.  He was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was Obama's military advisor.  He is the man behind Obama dressed in kaki in the iconic war room photo of Osama's invasion.

• Speaking at Sunday school to a wide variety of people about the importance of intimacy with God.

•  I had the opportunity to speak to the Midshipmen at a contemporary service on Sunday night and at a Food and Faith gathering over the noon hour on Monday.  There were many responses at both services.  Sunday night many committed to engaging people with spiritual eyes and intent when they are deployed to dark and dangerous places world wide. The Monday service was a time when many of them committed to being a follower of Christ rather than merely someone who believes in Christ.  There was a man of high influence who attended the 'Food and Faith' service for the first time.  The Lord must have worked in his heart because he stated that he was looking forward to coming to the next one.

• I had the opportunity to get to know Chaplain Cash's boys and was impressed at the depth of their faith.  It gave me great hope as a traveling father that my children can grow up to be genuine followers of Christ as I continue to put effort into their spiritual lives when I am home and prayerfully when I am gone.  I am hoping that one of his sons will get to join me in a training event in the future.

Thanks again for all of the prayers!
Here is a video of Chaplain Cash's testimony from the front lines of Iraq.

The Volcano on Ambrym Island

This brings back some great memories from our ministry in Vanuatu.

STRANDED 2013 COMING SOON...

The details for Stranded 2013 are coming soon.  In the meantime here are a few photos to encourage you to reconsider submitting your application.

www.unusualsoldiers.com

Be A Trader

I am digging this Vid:

SUBMERGE: BIG FIVE

As I look back at our first official SUBMERGE training event here are my personal big five moments:

1.  Ministering along side our "adopted daughter." God used her to bridge so many gaps with people on the streets and devout followers of other religions.

2.  Ministering at the notorious red-light district in Nairobi only to discoer that many of the women were single moms who feared God but did not know how else to survive (see Franklin County Chronicle article for below for more information).

3.  Speaking at a market that we were warned could turn hostile if we mentioned Jesus. Two people received Christ despite the numerous jeers from the crowd.

4.  Spending the night at very remote and an unreached Maasai village in Tanzania.  They slaughters a goat for us and welcomed us into their village for the night.  Our team seized the opportunity to share the hope of Christ with them and they responded with open arms even expressing their desire for a church in their community.

5.  Meeting up again with Chief Most at our Unusual Soldier's training center.  He is now being discipled and will be an enormous influencer for Christ throughout unreached areas of Maasailand.

* Bonus*  Watching everyone on our team come alive and seize different opportunities throughout the trip.  Everything mentioned on the post prior to this one is what I live for!

SUBMERGE: GREATEST TEAM MOMENTS

Mary Kate had a strange vision while she was at a training event in Nebraska last year.  She has a vision of three distressed boys in Africa and an inclination that she was suppose to go on a trip with me to Africa to find them.  That is a lot of pressure especially when I have vocally made it known that I don't take girls on Missions trips and even if I did how would we ever find these these three boys with out God totally intervening.  To make a long story short, Mary Kate became a catalyst this year.  This was the first year that I have opened the invitation for female students to join our team and I am so glad that I did.  God used them to extend our ministry reach in profound ways.  And as for the three boys?  While we were driving through a very remote dry region we found three young boys living out there without their families.  I had never seen anything like it in my life.  They did not even have a shelter of any kind.  Mary Kate wasted no time in giving them our teams water.  She expressed her deep care for them as tears filled her eyes.  God was surely on the move in a profound way.

It was at a park when I saw John come truly alive.  John had the opportunity to minister deep in the bush and saw God do great things but it was in the city talking to skaters where John seemed to be most in his zone.  Skateboarding is a new sport in Nairobi and our team was blessed to meet the "best" skater of the city.  John talked to him with ease.  It was like they had known each other for a long time.  John later had the opportunity to lead this young guy to Christ and God only knows if there is a future ministry waiting to be birthed here.

Charlie seemed to always be looking for opportunities.  When we pulled over to meet some moran warriors Charlie seemed to be in the zone.  His conversation with them was fluid as he presented to truth of Christ to them.  The men responded and Charlies burden for tribal people has only expanded.  While on the trip he made a discovery about a tribe that is virtually unknown to the outside world.  He is currently making plans on how to best launch a disciple making movement among them.

Taylor was our youngest student on the team and this was her first mission trip.  She faced off with fear more than anyone else, but it was her compassion and "nursing" heart that drove her to not let fear have the final say.  As Taylor interacted with disadvantaged people her heart broke for them.  As our team was in "little mogadishu" she noticed a boy with a large deformity on his head.  The growth nearly doubled the size of his head.  While most would turn away, Taylor told us that that was a defining moment for her.  She wanted to reach out to those that are overlooked or ignored because of an illness.

Kristen's ability to draw and communicate through art is unrivaled.  Her art had potential to draw in large crowds in literally no time.  Everyone wanted to see what she was drawing whether it was a portrait, a picture of Jesus, or something symbolic - it worked.  When she discovered that the wives of certain tribe had very little freedoms her heart broke.  She was awakened to a new type of slavery.  One that involved arranged marriages of girls that were as young as eleven years old.  When she discovered that husbands could later sell their wives to other men once they grew tired of them she was broken even more.  Kristen is now trying to discern how to best use her art to free these women from this injustice.  Perhaps even selling her art to purchase enslaved wives to freedom.