Steve’s Excellent Adventure

Example of what Compassion does………….
“Michelle Tolentino, former Compassion-sponsored child and Leadership Development Program graduate speaking in Atlanta”

Snow in Colorado Springs..Oct 21,2008

We usually get this in Colorado Springs on Halloween.  But the last couple of years, including this year, it has come early.   Gonna have to run on the treadmill today.

Ran 5 miles today, mostly in the rain.  Actually a mist and it felt pretty good.  They are talking snow out here in a few days…ugh.   Had three spectators cheering me on at the end of the run today.  They took some time away from lunch to check me out.

Cheering me on!

I googled Run for Nets…and I was 5th on the list!  Pretty cool.  Looking to “keep on keepin on”, and pray for a ton of sponsorships.   God bless!

I went to El Salvador last year as a photographer for Compassion. While there, I met and sponsored a child from San Vincente(I think that was the name). The church affiliated with the Compassion project is a big one that was funded by a church in San Salvador. I was VERY impressed with the pastor there.

Me an pooch dropped the pickup off across town and ran home.  Sorry about the jiggling, but I WAS running.

Kind of “tweaked” my ankle the other day…time for some cross training.  Rode my bike up to the Garden of the Gods.  Beautiful, but kind of chilly.  Winter is coming, soon.

The video is the one that was shown in church last Sunday.  Now you may be wondering what this has to do with Malaria Intervention (did you notice the Compassion sponsored child had a mosquito net?).   And why are we pushing Compassion so much?  Well, Compassion is first a child sponsorship organization.  They have “been there and done that” for over 50 years.  They are already in 26 countries around the world, and have done an amazing job.  We have seen what they do in person, and believe in the organization so much that we volunteer on a regular basis.  One of the things that Compassion is doing in addition to child sponsorship is Malaria Intervention.  They are very good at everything they do.  Your hard earned donation will be wisely used.  And, by the way, consider sponsoring a child while pledging for Malaria Intervention…the life you change may be your own! 

Connie gave a presentation at church last Sunday.   In addition to this video, she spoke about Compassion.  The folks at Calvary Worship Center have sponsored hundreds of kids in the past, and she praised everyone for their response to this need.   She explained Compassion principles of the 4C’s.  Christ centered, Child focused, Church based and Committed to financial integrity.    She held up a Starbucks cup and explained..”for the cost of 2 of these a week, you can change the world for a child living in poverty”.  The question left is, will you?  

Click HERE and see kids who are waiting for a sponsor.

BTW…   44 kids were sponsored!  And there is still one left for you!

What a BEAUTIFUL day for a run today.  Felt good…4.5miler.  Click on the icon above to check out the route…

I went online and set up a training schedule that you might have noticed on the calendar in the right column.  Looks like the St Louis Marathon may fit right into the training.  Obviously, I won’t be ready for a marathon, but a 1/2 marathon would be just right.  So, as of now, St Louis here we come!  maybe we can catch a Cardinal game while in town.

Ah yes..the trusty old treadmill.  Been hitting it hard.  I watch TV when I run on it…pretty much the only time I watch TV, as there is almost nothing to watch nowadays.  Food Network is good watch while running..I know, kind of crazy, but it works.

This is a newspaper article about Dennis from 2007…….

A quiet crop and hog farmer, Dennis Goetz discovered in his mid-40s that international mission trips fed his soul.

The African country of Zambia particularly captured his heart. He made three trips there in five years to spread the word of God while working on projects with the people there.

During his final trip to the country in 2002, Goetz contracted malaria despite taking all of the precautions he was told about: anti-malaria pills, mosquito nets and bug repellent. He fell ill when he returned home. He died a month later, leaving behind his wife, children, hundreds of friends and the work he started.

“It was something he was passionate about,” said Laura Goetz, his wife of 25 years. “When you do missions work, you always think about what you are going to do for that other person, be it overseas or right in the Quad-Cities. But it’s really always what you learn and bring home.”

Dennis and Laura Goetz, members of Heritage Wesleyan Church in Rock Island, attended a meeting in 1997 about a mission trip to Russia.

When he raised his hand to volunteer to go, “I fell off my chair,” she said.

The trip to Russia led to trips to India and Zambia.

When the Goetzes returned home Sept. 25, 2002, after a 13-day trip to Zambia, he began feeling sick. He began shaking at the end of church services Oct. 6. He went to the doctor, but was not diagnosed with malaria and came home to harvest soybeans.

On Oct. 10, he was admitted to a hospital and diagnosed with the most severe of the four strains of malaria, known as black water fever.

He died a week after entering the hospital.

In October, she will mark the fifth anniversary of his death with a return trip to Zambia. She will be checking on the work completed there with the money from his memorial fund.

The village of Chabbeboma, where the Goetzes developed “wonderful relationships,” will have electricity and water in her husband’s name. The first light installed is at the church there. “How powerful that would be for the first time to see light to have it be in the church,” she said.

Other projects are in the works, including the training of two pastors per year in Africa.

Goetz hopes the work will inspire others.

“I hope people will realize what a huge difference they can make in the world,” she said. “I pray every day, ‘God let me get out of myself so I can get into others.’ If you never plant the seed, you will never reap the harvest.”