Bootcamp!

Basic Training Portrait: 1975

Until Thursday and Friday it'd been 42 years since I'd last been in "boot camp." Actually, ARMY Basic Training, September-November 1975; Fort Knox, Kentucky. Eight weeks of uh...adventure camp guided by two combat-experienced, extremely motivated military professionals SSGT. Footman and SSGT. Osborn. We hiked a lot, got yelled at a lot, did push ups until Kentucky couldn't be pushed any more, marched around a lot, duck-walked a lot, crawled in the mud, charged up hills with our M-16's yelling, "Bang, Bang" at the "bad guys" (as the ARMY had a shortage of blank rounds for training at that time), ate complete meals in 5 minutes or less inside, ate from little green cans outside, shot real bullets, threw live hand grenades, experienced the pleasures of CS Gas (Tear Gas) in a highly saturated closed environment, and used up a lot of shoe polish and Brasso....ahh....but I digress.

This boot camp, March 30-31, was a little bit different. It was hosted by Support Raising Solutions (SRS). We were in a church venue in Charlotte, NC. No push ups, no one yelling at us, no tear gas, shaved heads, bullets, or hand grenades just 70 people gathered together for two days of intense training in how to be "Spiritually Healthy, Vision Driven, and Fully Funded" in our respective faith-based ministries. We did have crayons, silly putty, and breath mints!

On-table resources. The eggs contained Silly-Putty for personal use.

Our bootcamp venue at Steele Creek Church.

28 Sessions in 7 Parts over two days of interactive training, practical application, and competitive support-raising related activities (chocolate being the motivational prizes)...prayer, hard work, facing fears and conquering them related to sharing our ministry and inviting others to join us in it. From the newest missionary yet-to-raise-their-first-dollar--to those missionaries termed "grizzled veterans" (it seems odd to think on oneself as "grizzled") who've been living on faith support for over 20 years, we were all thrown in the support development trenches being drilled in the foundational aspects and approaches to expanding God's Kingdom inside the church in order to be enabled to share Christ's love and compassion outside the church. Goal setting and accountability, baby. GO. GO. GO.

Karen takes on a worksheet.

Part Four of Seven in our SRS Wookbook & Reference Guide

Intense. Focused. Practical. Challenging. Fun. Well worth it. A good investment of time, heart, soul, and Kingdom Resources.

Our training companions!

If you're headed into full-time Christian Service of the faith-based kind (raise your own donor-based ministry income) Karen and I highly recommend fully preparing for, and then attending, an SRS Bootcamp! You'll be glad you did, your mission will be glad you did, and those whose lives you're going to touch and transform...will be glad you did.

Me, Karen, Kim, and Jeremy

During the seminar were blessed to connect with a young couple, Jeremy & Kim, who met in the ARMY during a deployment in the Middle East, got married, started a family, and served 12 years before being called out of the military to serve in a the specific ministry to the military that transformed their lives through hospitality, outreach, and Christ's love: Cadence International. It's a great story of returning to a sub-culture many don't understand, to be Christ's hope for those serving our country around the world. They have a special understanding of our men & women in uniform.

Thanks for making it possible for us to undergo this training and be able to pass along everything we learned to the new missionaries and "grizzled veterans" entering service with Global Outreach Mission!

In The Land of Maple Syrup: February 19-24

Thank you for your prayers these past couple weeks! They were all answered in the most amazing ways. Because of your prayerful involvement: 

• we had UNBELIEVABLE weather in PA & Canada, enjoyed safe travel, and made multiple border crossings without incident
• we all enjoyed good health at Candidate Orientation as the fourteen of us lived, learned, and worked in close proximity for a week
• our times of devotion and teaching were TOTALLY graced by God
• and, through The Spirit's power, we believe we accomplished our goals and modeled our core HR values in orienting Global's next wave of missionaries for effective field service.

Here's a snapshot of me and Karen as we led one of our workshops.

Winter 2017 Candidate Orientation Graduates

We are very pleased to introduce our newest missionaries and two newest HQ staff members:

Jesse Jerge

US HQ--Finance Officer

 David & Andrea McCormick

Guatemala--Orphanage

Damian & Emily Obando

Costa Rica--Evangelism

Heather Redig

Sierra Leone--Nurse

 Adam & Melissa Satterthwaite

Ohio--Pastoral, Prison, and Motorcycle Ministry

Melissa Vandermey

US HQ/Administrative Intern

Home Staff, Orientation Staff, Mission Guests, and New Missionaries at our closing banquet.

Thank You for sending us so we can send others!

We did wake to a dusting of snow this morning at the retreat center in Niagara On The Lake, Ontario, CA!

It's Time? Did Someone Say It's Time?

The welcome baskets have come out and are just about ready to roll. You know what THAT means??? It's soon time for us to pack up the Honda Civic and head north for Global Outreach Mission's next Candidate Orientation in St. Catherine's Canada, February 19-24.

Putting the final touches on the welcome baskets for orientation.

It's always exciting to anticipate this semi-annual event with our coworkers in Buffalo and St. Catherines and our next "class" of missionaries ready to work thru an intensive week learning-the-ropes of being a GOM missionary.  We expect to arrive in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, the evening of the 17th and kick-off the orientation the afternoon of the 19th. Our nine orientees represent ministries in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, and Ohio with two being new administrators with our home office in NY. We are blessed to once again be hosted and well-cared for by Perry and Bonnie D'Elia at Pearables Ministries.

It will be a full week! Keith has three presentations on the topic of Partnership Development as well as two other sessions on "Executing The Event" and "Basic Partnership Tools." I will prepare and serve for each of our breaks and lead a "Concert of Missions Prayer" one evening, as well as take care of other odd jobs that always seem to pop up. Keith and I will team up to teach our missionaries how to use TntConnect, a powerful computer data base geared specifically for missionary use. We're working with Greg Constable, VP of Personnel and Randy & Jan Kent, career missionaries to France, for the main parts of the orientation. Several of the Global team from our Buffalo office will join us at various times as well.

Keith practices for the Newsletter Photography Round-table Discussion

On our way to Canada we will stop in PA to represent Global at a collegiate missions emphasis week. That will help break up the 13 hour drive time. We leave for PA this Sunday.

Prayer Requests
As we prepare, plan, and go, please pray for our orientation team as well as for the missionaries attending who represent ministries in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ohio, Sierra Leone. We'll also orient two new administrative personnel. Please pray:

• for good weather and safety for everyone traveling to and from the orientation
• for good health as fourteen of us live, learn, and work in close proximity
• that our times of devotion and teaching would impart all God desires for each person
• that, as leaders and teachers, we would be patient in problem solving, loving in our listening, and be faith-filled distributors of God's grace. 

We look forward to getting on the road again for such a time as this and we REALLY hope we don't need to trade the Honda for a sleigh!

Thank you for your prayers and support that allow us to play a part in preparing a new generation of missionaries to continue sharing the Gospel and harvesting the fields to the Glory of God!

DEPLOYMENT! DEPLOYMENT! DEPLOYMENT!

THANK YOU
Thank you for the role you played in helping send Josiah & Haley Neeley to Ukraine last week! Your gifts to us and prayers for us made each of you part of training, coaching, and encouraging this young couple through support development and beyond!

Josiah & Haley Neeley

Neeley's Deploy to Ukraine
After the Neeley's acceptance by GOM the end of September, I had the pleasure of shepherding Josiah & Haley through discovering the team of financial partners God had already assembled to transform their ministry vision into a Harvest Field reality.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Josiah & Haley were quick learners. They rapidly embraced the concept of "giving God the glory, through telling His story, and inviting others to join in." In only three and a half months, God revealed their financial partners for His work, and they received the Global "green light" to deploy!

We're not in California, anymore Toto!

The Neeleys have joined a missionary team already in Ukraine as part of an outreach to families impacted by disability, and are involved in a local church-plant.

Ukrainian Flag