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