Captain's Log #45
May, 2005

Survival
The bright yellow inflatable section of the SOLAS survival raft that is supposed to aid injured and exhausted people out of a raging sea and into the rubber life raft, had blown apart like a rifle shot before the raft had even hit the water! Equipment failure is part of it all! Now as we struggled to get up out of the water, all that was left to help us inside to safety was a net made of webbing that was sweeping back and forth with the surging motion of the water under the raft. After what it had taken to swim to the survival raft, get it turned right side up and then help the others up out of the water… muscles I’d forgotten I had were burning like fire. Arms were reaching out to help me and with a final heave I tumbled up and over the side and came to rest on the moving rubber floor.

As I pulled myself up against the tubular side under the inflatable canopy, I subconsciously finished counting… 9, 10, 11!! All eleven people had made it… YES - we had everyone inside!!

Life Raft
In the eerie light and atmosphere of the life raft, to my immediate left, drenched and barely recognizable in the survival suit, was the South Pacific Field Director Rev. James Johnson. On my right was Tim Deuel, the leader of multiple Work and Witness teams to Fiji. The images of all we had recently faced flashed through my mind in vivid detail!

FIRE!
The fire had been horrific! Motors with fuel still flowing engulfed in flames, diesel floating outward on top of the water with flames bellowing up and out 20 to 30 feet or more, the searing heat of the inferno like some massive blowtorch to the power of 10,000! Never will I forget charging the flames with fire extinguishers that seemed way too tiny to make any difference. Never will I forget the search and rescue efforts in total pitch black darkness or all the First Aid and CPR or strapping injured people to Back Boards or the broken arms and broken legs and all the details of the life threatening injuries!!

Training
Mostly I will never forget how thankful I was that all of this was just training… not for real… no actual hurt people, no tragedies, no disasters… this has in fact been the first week of furlough, a very long week of required U.S. Coast Guard training at the Washington State Fire Fighting Academy and various maritime training facilities near Seattle, Washington.

Required - Jim?
Actually this was only required for me because of my U.S.C.G. license, but to my amazement, when I hinted to my colleague and the South Pacific Field Director Jim Johnson that I figured plenty of preachers I know wouldn’t do anything like this and… hey ‘wouldn’t this be a great ‘team building’ time?, never mind good practical training for anyone on the South Pacific Field… ??” he instantly replied; “sign me up!” Amazing man who has my deepest respect.

Required - Tim?
When W&W Tim found out about it, he took off work and somehow got himself enrolled in the program… but then Tim is not a usual kind of guy either – he’s the same guy who found out Cindy and the kids and I had scheduled ourselves for 30,000 miles or more of road travel through 35 States and about 100 speaking times in 90 furlough days… so he meets me at the airport with keys to a vehicle and a credit card to put gas into it. Wow!

God's War
What an awesome thing to be able to partner with so many including individuals like this, as this Kingdom marches forward! Makes a person think we’re on the winning side. Truth is, clear knowledge of who the enemy is and clear knowledge of who it is that is on your side and then intense, ongoing training has always been a vital part of every army in every war – at least the ones that win! How much more in God’s!!

U.S.A. - South Pacific
As we have been traveling and speaking across the States, it is overwhelming to realize that this incredible family called Nazarenes and others are so committed and serious about this eternal Kingdom marching forward like never before in these days – what an awesome privilege to be part of it all! Please come and visit with us if you are anywhere near one of the places were we will be speaking. We want to tell you more about all that is happening in the South Pacific… especially things like the current pending land purchase/mission home/Maritime base/Bible School/local church/disaster response storage, etc. etc. as our South Pacific Field is now expanded to also include Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.

Our God Reigns,

Harmon

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