God Working In Us
May 6th, 2010
May 6, 2010
God’s Ongoing Work
Dear friend,
Managing, training, and activating our resources for public
service and global emergency response may be a significant mission to
accomplish, however, there can be no greater outcome than that of lives
surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in our sixth week of Basic
Training, and five men have placed their trust in Christ for salvation. We
praise God for His work in their lives.
Currently we have men in Haiti and southern Wisconsin. A
five-man team cleared a road yesterday in a county that was hit by strong winds
that brought down trees across the area. We have also had some contact with
people in Nashville, Tennessee and may soon be sending men to help with the
flood clean up.
Excerpt from our Haiti team report from Sgt. Bryan Winchell:
“We are staying about 10 miles northwest of Port-Au-Prince,
in a rural area at the base of the mountains and within easy sight of the
ocean. Housing consists of a circus tent with the team from Friend Ships on a compound
owned by Global Outreach. Also here on the compound is Samaritan’s Purse and
Rescue 24, a mobile clinic outreach program put on by the Southern Baptist Men
of South Carolina. Just outside the compound is the Haitian Academy/Central
Hospital, a tiny hospital and med school run by Dr. Duvall.”
“This week the ALERT men have been deploying medical units
with Rescue 24 and Samaritan’s Purse to assist with the mobile clinics. We have
been assisting and learning from Dr. Duval at the Haitian Academy each day (an
amazing opportunity to learn from a Haitian believer who went to med school in
the US to come back and teach/treat his local people). Several of our men
have been assisting at a local burn clinic as well, since burns are a very
common injury in Haiti due to lots of children getting burned in cooking fires,
and adults while welding/riding motorcycles. ALERT men have also been
assisting the Friend Ships crew with painting buildings on the compound and
working on reaching out to the people in the nearby village of Simonette. This
consists of cleaning up their beach, playing with children, street preaching,
learning the Creole language, and playing soccer with the men. We’ve seen
several pray to trust Jesus already this week.”
“We have had several opportunities to foray out into
Port-Au-Prince to see what urban Haiti is like and to deliver a handmade
wheelchair to a disabled man. Here is a link to an online photo gallery; we’ll
be trying to keep adding several photos each day.”
“It has been incredible to see God at work this week,
arranging unexpected opportunities for outreach and serving. The simplicity of
life has been both challenging and rewarding, while allowing for extended times
of personal prayer/study/Bible reading for all of us. I know I have been
personally impacted by the necessity here to depend on God for direction and
fulfillment.”
“Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for
opportunities to utilize our team effectively and that all of us would continue
allowing God to work in our lives through this time.”
For the entire team, Sgt. Bryan Winchell
Ways you can pray for current needs at the International
ALERT Academy:
Our fleet of deployment vans is deteriorating. God provided
these vans many years ago through several donors and they have carried our men
to many disasters and other projects across the country, proving themselves to
be a great blessing and asset for carrying forth the work of our mission. But
now, we are lacking enough to fulfill future deployment needs. Of the remaining
roadworthy vans, two are just less than 100,000 miles; three are at the 200,000-mile
range; two at nearly 350,000. Several vans have been removed from the fleet
this past year due to high mileage and lack of dependability.
Several of our flat-roof buildings have deteriorated to the
point of needing roof replacement to eliminate the decline of our infrastructure
to these.
Please pray for these and our continuing general (most
needed) and disaster needs.
Colonel John Tanner, Director
International ALERT Academy
To support our ongoing ministry, please click on the DONATE
NOW button at the top of this page
Or, mail us at: International ALERT Academy, Faithful
Endeavors, One Academy Blvd., Big Sandy, TX 75755
Pictures from Haiti
March 16th, 2010
March 16, 2010
Worth a thousand words!
Dear friend,
Jesus used analogies and word pictures to help us grasp the
full meaning and thrust of the Christian life and the Biblical principles by
which we are to conduct ourselves. Last week I reported on our “faithful
endeavors” in Haiti, but did not have pictures at the time. Some pictures have
arrived and I would now like to share with you this brief update in visual
form.
The men were ready to serve as they embarked upon their
journey to Haiti.
Two of our men are shown with the doctor and the mom after
assisting in the delivery of the new baby.
The new mom honored the ALERT men when she insisted that
they name the baby. After several men discussed it, they named her Esther.
They were all smiles as they posed with the mom and baby.
Our medics were also involved with the daily medical needs
of adults and children as they continued to seek help at the medical clinic.
We praise God for the opportunity to touch so many lives and
we thank each of you who have supported this work of the Lord during a time of
great need.
Colonel John Tanner, Director
International ALERT Academy
To support our ongoing ministry, please click on the DONATE
NOW button at the top of this page
Or, mail us at: International ALERT Academy, Faithful
Endeavors, One Academy Blvd., Big Sandy, TX 75755
Storms in Big Sandy
April 11th, 2008
Residents Join Officials In Cleanup After Storms
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer—Tyler Morning Telegraph
The sound of chainsaws filled the air around East Texas after strong thunderstorms raced through the region, felling trees and knocking out power to thousands of homes.
Scores of volunteers lined Gilmer Street in Big Sandy where those wielding chainsaws to clear the roadways and help remove trees from power lines included police, firefighters, ALERT Academy Responders, city and Upshur County officials.
“We had straight-line winds hit us this morning in excess of 60 miles per hour,” said Big Sandy Police Lt. David Sheffield.
Missing Child Found Unharmed
April 8th, 2008
By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer—Tyler Morning Telegraph
LINDALE – For 13 long hours, emergency workers scoured thick woods for an 11-year-old girl who disappeared from her home Wednesday evening as family paced between their house and mobile command center, bleary-eyed and praying for a miracle.
It was close to 7:30 p.m. “Super Nanny” was on TV and Rachel Stevens was in the kitchen cooking dinner after giving her niece Celeste Robinson, an autism patient, her evening medication.
At 8 p.m., when the house was too quiet for comfort, Mrs. Stevens went into Celeste’s room -she wasn’t there. Worried, she checked the backyard.
Still, Celeste was nowhere to be found.
“Last week was spring break and she was just getting more and more bored. Autistic children get in manic episodes. She may have decided to take a walk about while I was getting dinner,” Mrs. Stevens said. Becoming increasingly more frantic, with no sign of Celeste’s whereabouts, the little girl’s aunt and legal guardian called more family members to help search.
“She has never gone this far before,” Mrs. Stevens said. On four-wheelers, neighbors and family scoured the 14-acre narrow strip of wooded land that stretched about a half mile behind the Stevens home on County Road 4122.
Flashlights cut through the darkness, the beams bobbing from bushes to inside parked cars and under sheds. Then, almost as suddenly as Celeste had vanished, a neighbor, from atop a four-wheeler, spotted the little girl’s black Mary Jane shoes in a creek bed.
Deployment – Vidor Texas
March 20th, 2008
The aftermath of hurricane Rita in 2005, left damage that will take many years of recovery time. Some of the damage will be irreversible. But, the small town of Vidor, near Beaumont TX, asked for ALERT’s assistance last week with the tearing down of two houses that were damaged by Rita. That was done in short time by some of the fifty- three ALERT men sent from Big Sandy.While there, our men also hung insulation and sheetrock in a new church where Rita had destroyed the old one. The battalion and officers stayed in the gym at another local church while working for a week in Vidor and were blessed by being able to serve the citizens.
Deployment – Home School Debate Competition
January 18th, 2008
Six men under the leadership of Captain Phil Smith were deployed on a service mission to the Regional Home School Debate Competition in Houston TX Jan 9-12. Upon arrival the men worked tirelessly to set up over 50 rooms on three different floors. There were no elevators to assist and all the chairs and tables were on the first floor. Two men carried the tables up to the other two floors, and staged them in the hall, while the others set up the rooms for the many different configurations.
The first day also had us setting up the recruiting display and putting out brochures. We also took along the scale model of the rappelling tower, which turned out to be a great attraction to all the boys and girls at the competition. During the week, we spoke to many of the young men there and encouraged interest in ALERT, Cadets, STEP, Quest, Family Camp, and answered many questions concerning the program. The men all had good attitudes and willing spirits to assist in whatever was needed. Much trash was carried out , floors swept, tables and chairs moved and set up and torn down, the men even took time out to interact with some of the young men by playing chess.
One of the most interesting opportunities was sitting in as a judge on one or more of the debate/public speaking sessions. Each judge is given a sheet that describes what to look for in the presentation of the students. The rules are quite restrictive and penalties are even assessed for some infractions. This year’s topic was Illegal Immigration Reform. Each team was given the topic and had a limited time to prepare their positions. Sometimes for and sometimes against, they were to be judged on their ability to make their case, not on the judge’s personal likes and dislikes of the topic or the presenters. Several of the men participated and were allowed to judge on multiple occasions.
The contact people we were assigned to for the week were very helpful and grateful for our assistance. Thanks to Russell Strack and Mrs. Stevens who worked without ceasing on behalf of the students to make everything work smoothly. The hospitality team responded in kind by supplying us with an almost endless supply of both homemade food and baked goods (the stuff that ALERT men thrive on), as well as drinks, both hot and cold.
Of the four hundred that attended the competition, we personally spoke to over 100, and offered support and encouragement to everyone. We have returned with honor both to our God and our fellow man.
Malaysia Deployment – Help Needed
June 21st, 2007
ALERT has been invited to put on an ALERT Cadet Challenge (ACC) in Malacca, Malaysia during the ATI conference being held by the families in Singapore and Malaysia. This is a unique opportunity for us to introduce the ministry of ALERT and ALERT Cadets to the ATI families there while at the same time serving them. While there, we will also put on a weeklong Leadership Training Camp (LTC) for fathers and their 13-17 year-old sons. We anticipate there will be about 150 young men participating in the ACC and about 40 in the LTC Camp. The format will follow what we have done at the four US regional conferences this year. We would like to have three to four ALERT men, preferably graduates of the ALERT program, to accompany Major Roger Farr to the event. For more information and an application go to malaysia-2007.pdf