Been Awhile

I apologize it's been a while since I've written. I'll blame it on the untimely coincidence of many great things happening and limited access to a personal computer.

There are a number of things that prompted me to write briefly today. I first must tell you that we realized recently that we are expecting our first child after 10 1/2 years of wedded bliss. Like most expecting parents I'll sure there will be more on this.

In the meantime we have also been quite busy with activities pertaining to preparedness and response as it relates to disasters and other emergencies. I've written about this topic in the past and this continues to be an area we feel the Lord leading us.

Today I want to touch on the idea of what we call "go bags". The basic concept is the building and maintaining of a cache of supplies that are ready at all times and can be grabbed on the way out the door in case of emergency. These are going to look different from home to home and that's fine. I will tell you about our approach more so you can see the process by which we built them.

One of the reasons no two go bags are alike is that it's important that they reflect and meet individual needs. Also, life experience, expertise and lifestyle can greatly influence their intent, appearance and contents.

My wife & I have an extensive background in the outdoors, particularly, and in this case, backpacking. You can probably already imagine and guess correctly that we have chosen to build our go bags from a backpacker's perspective using full-size mutli-day wilderness worthy backpacks. We have several reasons for doing so and these are the more universal principles I wanted to share.

1. We started with what we already had on hand. Because we have backpacked for years we had a couple of spare packs that we could afford to have packed and ready at all times in case of an emergency. If you have military experience you may choose to use a rucksack or duffel. If you are into sports, you may choose to use an older equipment bag. An inexpensive plastic tote or even a cardboard box could be used if you are on a tight budget.

2. We chose things we are most experienced, familiar and comfortable with. We know what they packs are capable and how to get the most out of them. A flight attendant may choose to use a piece of luggage with wheels or without. A smaller kit could also be kept in a large briefcase, messenger bag or purse.

3. We made our choice based on the most practical solution for our worst case scenarios. In our case we live near railroad tracks. If there were to be a large chemical spill and our city needed to evacuate we would most likely drive to the family farm. The limited accomodations there may require camping gear which is often most easily moved in a backpack. Also, if we were to breakdown along the way we could continue on foot to our destination. If worse, and all major infrastrutcture was disabled we would still have an easily managed highly portable self-contained urban to wilderness survival kit.

4. This really brings us back to the first reason. Becuase we chose something we already had it means we are not tying up valuable assets. We have on occasion used the emergency backpacks for times of recreation. We can justify doing this, temporarily emptying the usual contents, because when we're backpacking we already have most of what we would need to survive multiple days of self sufficiency. In fact, a relevant side note, backpacking or some of the other more primitive forms of camping are excellent ways for individuals, groups and families to learn and hone personal preparedness and response skills.

In future posts I would like to tell you more about how we chose the contents of our go bags. But for now, since I hope you have already gotten started, make sure you keep your kit, in whatever form, somewhere where you can grab it quickly on the way out the door. Some people store them in their vehicles and that certainly has its advantages too. We chose the coat closet by the front door. This would also be a good time to also emphasizing putting everything you need in a single unit. When time is short you need to be able to grab and go not have to take inventory or risk leaving an important component behind.

Until next time,

- Wade Baker

Mountain Top Experiences

As you may know, I'll be heading to California this Saturday, June 20th, for a conference at Bethel Church in Redding. I'm pretty excited about it for many reasons. The title of the conference is Kingdom Culture. I'm actually going to the same conference as 7 or so other people from Siloam Springs, mostly from Outreach Center Church. None of us coordinated this ahead of time. We all found out about each other after we had made our decisions.

I booked my airline ticket before I even knew what the conference was about. I believe the Lord directed me to do so over a series of quiet times, one little hint and step at a time. That's probably a good thing. I don't know how I would have handled it all at once.

Part of this direction included booking my ticket so that I would arrive 4 days before the conference begins. I wasn't quite sure what I'd do with that time until after I booked the ticket. I was researching the area and noticed a little town north of Redding by the name of Mt Shasta. I didn't know the town but I'd certainly heard of a mountain by that name.

For those who don't already know, I have a bad habit of climbing mountains. I started back in 2002, the last time I was in southern California. My most recent climb was a few years ago on Mt Rainier. It was the biggest one I'd ever climbed and was truly an awesome experience. It turns out Mt Shasta is its California cousin and only 2nd to it in height in the range. I then recalled that some of my climbing partners on Rainier spoke about their experience on Shasta. I remember thinking then that there was little chance I'd ever get an opportunity to climb Shasta since I'd already made one special trip to the Cascades and it wasn't cheap.

This is a photo of me during my last break before summiting Mt Rainier a few years ago.

When I realized my opportunity I started making plans for a 2-3 day climb. I had many of the details worked out when about a month ago someone suggested I check out some of the other ministries at Bethel. In particular, there is one called Sozo. I agreed to look into it and ultimately decided to pursue the Sozo Ministry. Apparently, these ministry times get booked well in advance. The only time they could work me in was middle of the day Monday. This was also right in the middle of my planned Shasta climb.

Part of this was difficult for me and part of it wasn't. I knew, going through the Sozo application process, that this could happen but I was trusting the Lord's timing. I figured I would secure an appointment before or after my climb. When I learned it was Monday I knew in my heart that I would accept it. I was fairly certain this would kill all of my possibilities of climbing the mountain during this trip. So I confirmed my appointment and modified my planned climb to the summit to a hike only part way up.

Meanwhile, I had placed an ad on a well known mountaineering site for some Shasta climbing partners. Within 24 hours of conceding my climb I received an email from an experienced west coast mountaineer. With the next 24 hours we came up with a new condensed plan that once again brought Shasta's summit within reach. About another 24 hours later I received an email from a 2nd experienced west coast climber and there's a possibility for a 3rd.

We cut the original plan, roughly 48 hours that covered 3 calendar days, to about half that, a forecasted 27 hours covering 2 calendar days. The addition of the experienced local climbers in good shape helped make the big difference. I actually stand a better chance of summiting now than I did before I knew about the whole Sozo Ministry thing. I find that pretty amazing. I give God the glory for that. I've shared with several people recently that I felt like God was leading me to a couple of mountain top experiences during this California trip and now it's looking like there will be room for yet one more.

- Wade Baker

Saturday Sunset

This is just a picture of a beautiful sunset I enjoyed seeing with some friends after a long day of music and outreach Saturday. We especially liked the rays the setting sun produced from the horizon.


- Wade Baker

Chopping Broccoli

My first time ever growing broccoli I'm fairly pleased with the results. I should give props to Kyle & Heidi Meythaler. They contributed most of the starters. I harvested them this morning.

I should have put something else in the shot for scale because they're bigger that they look in this picture. We'll probably use some, both fresh & cooked, right away, put some in the fridge and some in the freezer and, of course, share some with Kyle & Heidi.

I understand if I leave the plants a while longer I could actually see some more crop. It won't hurt to try. After that I'll take them out and put a mid summer vegetable starter plant in their places. When that runs out I'll try a fall crop of broccoli trying to get 3 different crops in one year in the same space.

- Wade Baker

A Backyard Vegetable Garden Lunch

I have just a couple of quick pics for you today. Yesterday, when I went home for lunch, I spent most of my time in the backyard around the raised fruit & vegetable gardens beds. I watered, did a little plant maintenance (that includes talking to them, of course) but mostly I ate.

My snap peas are really starting to mature. That's what I spent the most of my lunch time on. I'm still learning how to tell when the peas inside are at their best size to pick. Sometimes it's difficult to tell until you pop the pod. I enjoyed eating the sweet little peas.

After work, later in the day, I spent more time in my peaceful garden. I made sure everything was watered well, grabbed a few weeds and made sure my puppy-proof enclosures were all buttoned down. A dog with some terrier in her, she loves to dig. Maybe she can help me when it's time to bring up the potatoes. They are already busting up the ground and I keep needing to put more dirt on them.

The broccoli heads are about the size of a man's closed fist and so are the cabbages. The peas are taller than I am and I didn't build the trellis high enough this year. I'll know better for next year. In fact, I'm planning on planting a fall crop too. I've never done that before. I'm hoping to double my investment.

Below is a photo of my largest bed, the early season crop. In addition to this bed I have 5 others and one more on the way.

I plan to break this bed up over winter and divide it into two 4-foot beds so I can walk in between better. I think this will especially help the tender roots of my peas.

My strawberry & lettuce bed is looking good and I think I'll have at least one strawberry ready again for dessert tonight.

- Wade Baker

Crisis Response International

I don't know if I will ever be able to fully unpack what has gone on these last few days let alone in such a tiny blog entry. I personally have only one little photo to post here below. This is part of the Mobile Kitchen Unit (MKU).

I and a couple of other believers from Siloam Springs attended a 3-day simulated deployment disaster relief training exercise in the middle of nowhere Kansas about an hour south of Kansas City. It was put on by Crisis Response International which was birthed out of IHOP-KC a couple years ago.

I have time only for about another paragraph so the highlights. They had 3 mock scenarios for us. The first one was a large multiple vehicle crash. It was very realistic. They used motion picture quality makeup and we even had to set up a morgue. Then they had a simulated flu epidemic where a community was quarantined and we had no outside help. They next day was the big one. We did search & rescue on a very realistic plane crash complete with real plane parts, smoldering debris piles and smoke. There were injured and fake dead bodies strewn across a field and forest. We had to get the victims out before the fire got out of control. It was an exhausting 3-days but we learned at an incredible pace.

I am now credentialed to deploy with CRI and I am also working on emergency efforts within our own community. There will be more of this to come.

- Wade Baker

Art Festival - Oklahoma City

What in the world was I doing at an art festival in Oklahoma City? As referenced in an earlier post, you could probably imagine, knowing me, there had to be a good reason. And you would be right. There was. And it's not that I'm artsy or even work with the artsy (which I enjoy, by the way.)

Below is a picture of one of the many rows of the art festival that was in that district in Oklahoma City Saturday, part of the Memorial Day weekend. It was really interesting and I had a great time. It was a little hot but nonetheless enjoyable.


I bought a piece of equipment online and it required that I pick it up in Oklahoma City. I also have an uncle (John) that lives there and so I got to see him while I was there. John needed to find a birthday present for one of his friends and so we went to the festival together to find something for them. We walked and talked and had a great time. There were a hundred or so boothes, the local art shops were open, food & drink vendors, stage music and below is a photo of one of the street musicians. She looked like Peter Pan playing a viola. She had classical sheet music down on the ground in front of her and it sounded great.


John was able to find some small art for a friend or two. I hadn't seen him in what we calculated to be around 5 to 6 years and we live only 4 hours away. It was the first relative I've seen since his brother, my uncle, Rob passed away a few months ago. I needed that family embrace. We also had great conversation and prayed with each other before I returned home. He also helped me load my purchase into the bed of my little pickup truck and secure it well for the drive home. It was really good to see him. There is actually an opportunity for us to see each other again in 3 weeks. I hope it works out.

- Wade Baker