Past Short Term Missions Trips
I have participated in the following short-term missions and missions related trips:
2008
August: Kenya to work directly with children that have been left as heads of households in the Oyugis area due to the AIDS/HIV epidemic.
March: Trip to Brasil to continue the 2007 project at the camp, plus more time spent at the orphanage.
2007
March: Londrina and Maringà, Brasil, church camp repair project.
2006:
November: Moçambique, Africa, with some time spent in tourist activities in South Africa, Zambia and Botswana.
June: Lindrina, Brasil, church repair project.
2005:
October: Prewitt, New Mexico, one week church visit and work team project.
This impressive natural arch was one of the landscape features we visited with people from the Blue Mountain church in New Mexico.
February and March: Londrina, Brasil, two week church construction project.
2004:
July 10 - Sept 1: Stood in for the Evangelical Church Missions in Cubatão, Brasil. This turned into a very interesting trip visiting the poorer areas of the city.
2003:
September: Brasil: I had heard of a group planning to go to Brazil strictly as a prayer team for the OMS "All Creatures" convention and planning meetings. I had also heard of a tourist group going down in August to visit a few interesting railroad features of that country. Furthermore, Julie, a friend of mine from church, had been serving in SSão Paulo. So, I decided I would try going with both groups - going down the the train tourist group, and returning with or slightly after the missions group. The photos from the train trip are on a different web site. In order to get to them, please see the Train Trips page that I have. The missions trip was specifically to pray for the group as it met during the convention. I did not take any photos of significant interest to the general population during the missions part of this trip. It is interesting how God work in this way: here I had decided to give up on travel specifically to visit various railroad sites of interest, and instead concentrate on travel that would serve Him. With that decision, I have been able to see some interesting railroad locations that I would never have dreamed about, as well as serving God with my travels.
São João del Rei - one of the interesting railway cities that I visited on this trip, before joining the missions group in Londrina. "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." - Psalms 37:4 Patiently waiting upon the Lord in faith eventually yielded an opportunity. I had first seen photos of the railway station at São João del Rei in the 1980s.
July: Uganda: Church building team with the World Gospel Mission. This was the first time since the opening of the WGM Field in Uganda a short term team of this type came. It was interesting pioneering work in that way.
2002:
July: Russia: English Ministry. A nearly two-week camp operated in a far more intimate fashion than the English camps in Brasil. This allowed us to get to know the people far better, and led to a better environment for discussing God. There is also a brief page featuring quotes from the material that I read before going to Russia.
January: Brasil: English Camp with OMS related facility in Londrina, plus hold over travel time from visiting friends, plus a few other things. Partly a tourist trip, partly a trip to help missionaries.
2001
November: Bolivia: Helped start construction of a church on the outskirts of Santa Cruz. Evangelical Church Missions.
Gordon Elliott, one of the Evangelical Church's missionaries in Bolivia, watches with some concern as a truck loaded with people crosses a river.
September: New Mexico: Helped with some repair and upgrade work to a house owned by the Evangelical Church Missions, and residence of our missionaries in New Mexico. This is part of the Evangelical Church Missions.
2000:
July-December: Brasil 2000 I was originally going to Brasil to participate in the second English camp. I was also going to participate in the September work team from the Valley View Evangelical Church. However, due to an urgent need for help in the Webb school, and the Spirit of God moved so that I would stay there in Londrina until December of 2000.
April: Trip to Honduras to help build the first pig barn at the El Sembrador School. This team came from the Valley View Evangelical Church, and originally there was a report on the church web site, but today that is gone. Very little could be sent out during the trip due to there not being any telephone service in that area of Honduras (all access is by satellite phone, which is very slow and expensive internet at best). Therefore, my usual method of converting update messages to a web page describing the trip didn't work. The El Sembrador school attempts to find potentially troubled students and give them assistance by teaching them in regular classes with special attention, plus trade skills. It is part of the ministry of WGM
1999:
Participated in the first English Camp at Acampamento Shalom in Brasil. It was great to see the roof we put on the chapel at the camp (see below) used for its intended purpose.
1998:
Helped put a new roof on the chapel at Acampamento Shalom in Brasil.
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