Another Year Away

Turkey - Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia

2009-04-27T16:59:00.012+03:00

Christian Youth Conference - Nuba Mountains, Sudan

2009-02-01T19:01:00.009+03:00

Opening of largest SP church in the Nuba Mountains

2009-01-31T15:32:00.001+03:00

Nuba Mountains church openings - Sudan

2009-01-24T00:40:00.004+03:00

Lalibela, Ethiopia

2008-12-10T11:37:00.083+03:00

Here's a little girl me and Hannah came across while riding donkeys in the mountains to see more churches carved out of rock outside Lalibela.

As we were coming down the mountains it began to rain so we stopped at a home of some local villagers. We were fed and given home-made beer to drink while we waited out the rain with the family.

Here's an entrance to a church carved out of a rock in Lalibela.

This is Hannah at Bet Giorgis church carved out of a rock mountain in Lalibela.

Egypt

2008-12-10T06:38:00.007+03:00

Me and Hannah sailed along the Nile River at sunset in a falluca in Luxor.

This is the exterior of the library in Alexandria. They charged to go inside so we didn't.

Here's me at Giza.

Nuba Mountains - Sudan

2008-09-15T21:15:00.008+03:00

Nuba Mountains church - Sudan

2008-09-15T21:00:00.003+03:00

Eye clinic held at a leper colony outside of Juba, South Sudan

2008-08-11T17:29:00.004+03:00

Tiit-Cok, Rumbek - South Sudan

2008-03-01T19:08:00.006+03:00

The DC-3 and the end of my first R & R

2008-02-13T18:59:00.002+03:00

Petra, Jordan

2008-02-11T17:43:00.014+03:00

Bethlehem - West Bank, Palestine

2008-02-09T15:21:00.018+03:00

Old City, Jerusalem

2008-02-08T13:54:00.001+03:00

Via Dolorosa - Old City, Jerusalem

2008-02-07T15:45:00.037+03:00

Here are the 14 stations of the cross along the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows, in the Old City of Jerusalem. Many Christians believe it is the route where Jesus carried the cross to Calvary. The last picture in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a marble slab covering the Tomb of Jesus and the rock where Jesus body was laid and the site where Jesus was resurrected three days later.

Sea of Galilee

2008-02-06T16:27:00.019+03:00

Nazareth - Galilee

2008-02-05T15:23:00.009+03:00

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2008-02-02T18:59:00.008+03:00

First leg of R & R - Sudan by air

2008-01-31T22:16:00.000+03:00

I left Yei, Sudan this morning before sunrise heading for Nairobi with a stop in Kajo Keji and Loki. The sunset picture from the ground I took after we stopped in Kajo Keji to pick up another SP'er. The pilot hurried to get back in the air since we didn't have clearance to land. He figured the military were on their way and if we were stopped it would be a long time before we got back in the air. Shortly after we took off we flew over the Nile River, which made me very happy. Tomorrow me and Chase go to Dubai, Jordan and Israel.

Yei airstrip early in the morning (very early!)

2008-01-30T15:12:00.000+03:00

This morning I had to wake up at 5:40 a.m. and leave to load an engine onto this airplane with other SP'ers at the airstrip in Yei. As we were waiting for the pilot for whatever reason I thought I could get a clear and good picture of the plane taking off using my little no lens-changing digital camera they gave me. And to my not-surprise the picture turned out much better than I thought. Sometimes I love it when I don't know how my camera works.

The plane is identical to the one we use to get us part of the way back to Nairobi. The last leg of the trip we switch to a DC-3. Tomorrow I'll be flying on one for my first R & R. From Nairobi me and Chase, another SP'er working up in the Nuba Mountains here in South Sudan, fly to Dubai and Jordan and then take a bus into Israel.

Below is, from left, Jon, Jeff and Brent. Jon works at the Yei base, Jeff was working in Maridi but currently can't make a decision to save his life and Brent works on the Bible distribution team.

Road trip from Maridi to Yei

2008-01-28T22:23:00.000+03:00

We drove down to Yei today from Maridi where I spent the last week and a half interviewing church congregations. It's about a 7-hour drive. This just gives you a sense of what the roads are like in Sudan. Many are much worse and I haven't even seen them in the rainy season yet. I'll be here in Yei until Thursday and then I head to the Middle East for my first two-week R & R.

I drove down with the Bible Distribution Team who are assessing where to donate 250,000 bibles printed in English and numerous tribal languages. Outside Maridi Brent had to tighten up the top load.

Ngburasi - Maridi

2008-01-25T12:26:00.000+03:00

Ngburasi Pastor William Juma

Christ Town Church - Maridi

2008-01-24T14:46:00.000+03:00

Mother's Union Leader

Retired pastor Alfred Chrispo

Pastor Martin Lemi

Nakwa - Maridi

2008-01-21T18:10:00.000+03:00

I spent the last week and a half in Maridi where there is work to rebuild 15 churches affected during Sudan's civil wars. I interviewed 10 of these churches trying to piece together what happened. This woman was a member of the church in the Nakwa village outside Maridi. In 1990 the congregation fled to hide in the bush as the SPLA war was becoming too dangerous for them to stay.

Their church was destroyed by a bomb dropped by the northern government. They believe this because when they returned from hiding they saw the church burned and destroyed and a large hole in the ground of the church surrounded by bomb materials.

Nyangkot - Rumbek

2008-01-04T13:01:00.000+03:00

Nyangkot Pastor Emmanuel Majur

This is what's typical of where villagers meet for prayer and church service in Rumbek. At one point these villages had an enclosed church structure (not of concrete) called a Tukul made of mud walls and grass roofs but these were destroyed in one of Sudan's civil wars. So far in Rumbek six churches have recently been built. This village is just outside the town and is one of nine more locations where we're going to help build, with the locals, a permanent and cement church structure within the next several months. However, I have not 'promised' or so much as implied a 'maybe' as to their construction to absolutely anyone. Honest! (I'm talking to you Ben)

Pacong hand-over ceremony

2007-12-23T11:04:00.000+03:00

So here's how I spent my lead-up to Christmas. These are six hand-over ceremonies I attended with Matt, Ben and Bill (I know they spoke but I went to all six) and photographed of the churches recently built in villages just outside Rumbek, Sudan. They were held because the bishop of Rumbek for the Episcopal Church of Sudan has been out of town for months (last we heard he was in the states) and the congregations were eager to open up. Normally, there are only dedication ceremonies with the bishop present that are more elaborate and an all day event with dancing, eating, singing and preaching. But all of these churches will also have these ceremonies once they find the bishop.

Abin Ajok ceremony

2007-12-22T17:38:00.000+03:00

Patir hand-over ceremony

2007-12-21T17:08:00.000+03:00

Maleng-Agok hand-over ceremony

2007-12-19T16:58:00.000+03:00

Adol hand-over ceremony

2007-12-17T16:32:00.000+03:00

Cuei Cok hand-over ceremony

2007-12-15T16:46:00.000+03:00

Maridi survey trip

2007-12-02T16:51:00.000+03:00

This is where me, Jeff and our interpreter and guide Sear (?) stayed a night while on the survey trip that took us about a week in the Maridi area. We were helping to develop statistics on what happened to the churches in South Sudan during the country's two civil wars that have spanned more than 50 years. We randomly selected locations to survey members of the church congregations. Me and Jeff rode the quad and Sear drove his motorbike.

I thought this cow was dead but when I got closer it starting moaning but not moving an inch. We were told that a driver hauling cattle realized it was sick and decided to drop it off on the side of the road before taking off. While eating dinner at the front of the lodge we could hear it moaning throughout as well as all night long. We were given an option and let's just say I was happy I didn't choose the meat. The next morning as we were driving out we saw it being slaughtered right where you see it laying.

The Most Important Job - Multimedia Presentation

2007-10-28T18:03:00.001+03:00

Click on the title above to see a multimedia presentation of the story of a Naples man who is illiterate, unemployed and a single father of twin boys with cerebral palsy.

Hungry?

2007-10-21T04:55:00.000+03:00

Courtney Mocco, 6, of Naples eats a hot dog after having her face painted as a Jack-o'-lantern by Michael "Captain Black" Bey, a theme park face painter, at the first annunal Ave Maria Fall Festival in October 2007.

Florida Estuary

2007-09-28T06:04:00.001+03:00

Dave Graff, an education specialist at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, searches for marine life with three other employees at Tigertail Beach on Marco Island in September 2007. The animals found on the search will be used in one of the two touch tanks at the Environmental Learning Center that is opening to the public in Naples on Saturday. The marine life found included fiddler crabs, a moon snail, spider crab, crown conch and a pear whelk.

Twins: Chris and John, Jr.

2007-09-22T02:34:00.001+03:00

Graduation

2007-09-19T05:17:00.001+03:00

Going, going, gone

2007-09-18T04:50:00.000+03:00

Avalon Elementary students including fourth-grader Anthony Connor, 10, right, fourth-grader Buddy Varragan, 10, left, and fifth-grader Xena Fortuna, second from left, react to Connor hitting a tennis ball too high and too far after being tossed a tennis ball to hit during tennis lessons at East Naples Community Park in September 2007. Nine students took part in the class that lasted one hour on the first week of a six-week course.

Greg Lang's battle with cancer

2007-09-16T04:04:00.000+03:00

Starting over

2007-09-11T02:13:00.000+03:00

Shawn Todd, 35, watches day labor workers load onto trucks and vans at a pick-up site in Immokalee during the early morning hours in September 2007. Todd recently arrived at the Immokalee Friendship House, which is an emergency shelter for the homeless. Todd has struggled with depression and substance abuse and is attempting to get back on his feet by finding a stable job.

Space Station Hello

2007-09-05T01:57:00.000+03:00

Austronaut and Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, left, and Cosmonauts including Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, right, and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, not shown, answer questions relating to space travel from the International Space Station from Pine Ridge and Immokalee Middle School students at Pine Ridge Middle School in September 2007.

Seventh-grader Sage Baird, 12, asks a question for American astronaut Clayton Anderson during a question and answer session with students from Pine Ridge and Immokalee Middle Schools at Pine Ridge Middle School in September 2007.

Recovering squirrel

2007-08-31T00:48:00.000+03:00

Rebecca Galligan, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist, feeds a special squirrel formula to a rescued baby squirrel at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples In August 2007. Each year the vast majority of squirrel baby rescues occur from August to October due to the time of year when female squirrels typically give birth to young.

Faceplant

2007-08-26T01:10:00.000+03:00

A young girl trips and falls into an inflated wall while wearing a jumpsuit covered in velcro with the goal of jumping onto the inflated wall covered in additional velcro to get stuck and be able to hang on the wall during the Community School of Naples' twenty-fifth anniversary party in August 2007.

Old 41 fatal

2007-08-23T01:25:00.000+03:00

A woman's body is carried away from the scene of an accident after the woman was killed in a collision with a black pickup truck on Old 41 Road north of Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs in August 2007.

Adopt me

2007-08-19T01:33:00.000+03:00

Susan Chipman, left, holds a kitten at the Humane Society of Collier County in Naples on "National Homeless Animals Day" in August 2007. Chipman said she wanted to adopt a brother and sister kitten.

Diver training

2007-08-16T01:44:00.000+03:00

Firefighter Justin Beasley prepares to enter the Golden Gate Canal between 8th Street Northeast and 10th Street Northeast on Golden Gate Boulevard in Golden Gate Estates in August 2007. Beasley was taking part in a training session through the Golden Gate Fire Department to prepare for vehicles crashing into area canals and waterways. The goal for the divers was to find blocks on the bottom of the canal, which were placed at various points in the canal earlier in the day.

School arrives

2007-08-16T01:05:00.000+03:00

Upcoming sixth graders Daphne Cabada, 12, left, Lorena Mita, 11, center, and Alexis Mentch, 12, look for Cabada's homeroom at Pine Ridge Middle School during the New Student Walk-Thru in August 2007. A student's homeroom class is the first classroom a student is asked to go at the beginning of the first day of school this Monday. The event also allowed parents and students to purchase locks for the hall lockers and tour the sixth grade wing, cafeteria, gym and locker rooms.

Stand off

2007-08-11T01:00:00.000+03:00

Law enforcement officers point their rifles towards a Greyhound bus at the station in East Naples and direct passengers off the bus as they look for a man who killed a Broward deputy earlier in the day in August 2007. The bus arrived at approximately 5:25 p.m. bound for Tampa.

The pain of immunity

2007-08-09T01:18:00.000+03:00

Hailie Baker, 4, has her eyes wiped by Bonnie Smith, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), after she began to cry from receiving three immunization shots as she is held by her mother Tara at the Immunization Clinic of Collier County at the Government Complex in Naples in August 2007. Hailie was receiving shots in preparation of beginning pre-kindergarten later this month.

A family mourns

2007-08-05T00:52:00.000+03:00

Jodi Vidaurri, sister of Melissa Shook, hugs her father Gary Esckilsen after family members took part in burying some of Shook's ashes outside of Our Lady of Light Catholic Community during a memorial service in Ft. Myers in August 2007. The memorial service began inside the sanctuary and ended with the burial of Shook's ashes and a butterfly release outside of the church.

Uriel

2007-07-30T20:43:00.000+03:00

Uriel Jacob Perez, 6, who suffers from Arthrogryposis, has his hair washed by his mother Janette at their home in Naples in July 2007.

Jason Giambi visit

2007-07-27T23:52:00.000+03:00

The New York Yankees' Jason Giambi signs autographs for fans at Hammond Stadium at the Lee County Sports Complex in Ft. Myers in July 2007.

Fun Time

2007-07-25T23:07:00.000+03:00

Joodlhy Charelus, 3, spins around with her eyes closed while playing musical games led by a classroom teacher Christina Sepeda at Fun Time Nursery in Naples in July 2007. The Fun Time Nursery was approved earlier in the day to build a new and larger facility in Naples. The current building on 5th Avenue South is 4,300 sq. ft., can care for 50 children and has five classrooms. The new facility will almost double in size to 8,000 sq. ft., be able to care for 75 children and will have six classrooms.

Overpass opening

2007-07-23T23:27:00.000+03:00

The Golden Gate Parkway overpass above Airport-Pulling Road at dusk in Naples the evening before it is opened to the public in July 2007.

Celebration of Life

2007-07-19T23:04:00.000+03:00

Alice Stayer, center, visits with Edna Krentz, right, Anne Miller, second from left, and Doug Hughey during a celebration event at Bentley Village, a classic residence by Hyatt, commemorating the life of Alice's husband Ralph Stayer, who died a few weeks earlier in Naples in July 2007.

Gearing Up

2007-07-13T23:20:00.000+03:00

Josiah Goberman, 5, reaches for his helmet in the locker room before tackle football practice through the Naples Gators Youth Football League at Fleischmann Park in July 2007. The league began practices on Monday, July 9 and will hold practices from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. five days per week until school begins Monday, Aug. 20. The league includes six tackle football teams with players from ages 5 through 14. Goberman is in the 75-pound maximum weight division. The first game for the league season is Saturday, Aug. 18 and games continue through October. If necesary playoffs for any one of the teams would occur in October.

Prostitution Sting

2007-07-12T23:33:00.000+03:00

An undercover female detective posing as a prostitute stands along Rosemary Drive off of Old U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs that led to the arrest of eight men for the misdemeanor charge of solicitation of prostitution in July 2007. The prostitution sting included a listening device placed on the undercover female detective to allow additional undercover detectives to monitor the conversations. Once the detectives determined a crime was committed uniformed officers who were waiting nearby were called in to make the arrest.

One of a kind

2007-07-09T23:10:00.000+03:00

Thomas and Ruta Vicker stand outside their home in Golden Gate Estates with their horses Halluj and Khloud in July 2007. The home was finished in 2005 and built to be fire proof, tornado resistant and to be better able to withstand hurricanes than most other homes. The couple is having trouble getting the home refinanced due to its unique design.

Stretching out

2007-07-05T23:41:00.000+03:00

Andrea Castillo, 7, left, stretches out on a parachute used to play games such as "Cat and Mouse" during the Marco Island YMCA's Summer Day Camp at Manatee Elementary School in Naples in July 2007. The camp included 130 children ages 5 to 14 and extends from June 1 through August 10.

Trick photography

2007-07-05T23:36:00.000+03:00

Kristina Vera, 8, left, attempts to take a picture of a trick photography exercise as teacher Meredith Feist assists during the Photography and Arts Camp at the RCMA School in Immokalee in July 2007.

Waiting

2007-06-28T22:24:00.000+03:00

Performers including the Ziegfield Girls, from right, Sophie Gattie, 10, Erica Wagner, 11, Julia Neuman, 12, Bailey Nadeau, 12, and Mariel Weinand, 11, prepare to go on stage before the beginning of dress rehearsal of "Charleston" through the KidzAct Youth Theatre at The Naples Players Youth Theatre in June 2007.

Quinceanera

2007-06-16T22:08:00.000+03:00

Diana Esparza, left, and Alex Castro, both 15, dance at Esparza's Quinceanera marking her coming of age at 15 during a choreographed dance using the theme of "Phantom of the Opera" at Vanderbilt Country Club in Naples in June 2007.

Bucked

2007-06-08T21:59:00.000+03:00

Cody Nance, 19, of Paris, Tenn., falls to the dirt after being bucked off the bull Bones during the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. Challenge Tour Germain Arena in June 2007.

Honoring the fallen

2007-05-15T21:03:00.000+03:00

Corporal Fred Bradley kisses his 15-month-old son James in front of the Collier County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement Memorial to pay his respects to 10 officers who died in the line of duty. Bradley is a third generation police officer and knew as a child or worked with eight of the ten fallen officers memorialized. The memorial service was held outside the Sheriff's Office in Naples in May 2007.

Stone crab fishing season comes to a close

2007-05-14T22:17:00.000+03:00

Stone crab fisherman Fred Harbec, 46, left, and Marcus Garcia, 22, unload crab traps off the boat "Bad Bryer" after finishing the day's catch in Goodland in May 2007. Harbec has been fishing stone crab since 1979.

Picayune Strand State Forest Fire

2007-05-09T21:35:00.000+03:00

Jorge Dominguez walks through the aftermath of a fire at Picayune Strand State Forest in the midst of burned vehicles and charred brush on the property close to the trailer he was living in that was destroyed in May 2007. Dominguez lost all his personal belongings in the trailer fire but was able to save another trailer on the property he is now living in by fighting the fire from moving brush away, using water, using fire extinguishers and moving dirt to help stop the spread of the fire.
Police officers take questions and concerns from the public while redirecting the traffic traveling on I-75 South at the off ramp at Collier Boulevard after I-75 was closed due to thick smoke caused from the fire at Picayune Strand State Forest in May 2007.

Moving in

2007-04-30T21:48:00.000+03:00

Sidewalk art

2007-04-13T22:07:00.000+03:00

Fourth-graders Luis Osorio, top left, 9, Jonathan Flores, bottom left, 10, Tedrick Marshall, top right, 10, and Mike Isme, bottom right, 11, paint a sidewalk as part of the art project developed by Shannon Guidry, art teacher at Avalon Elementary School in Naples, in April 2007. Guidry began the project after receiving a grant from the United Arts Council of Collier County.

Water restrictions

2007-04-11T21:50:00.000+03:00

Oscar Ruiz, an employee working for Villa Gomez Lawn Service, adjusts the sprinkler system at the home of Kevin Sullivan on St. Andrews Boulevard in Naples in April 2007. Water restrictions are being considered due to the current drought.

Station of the Cross

2007-04-06T21:14:00.000+03:00

Rones Sagesse, 15, carries the cross while playing Jesus Christ during the Good Friday ceremony "Living Stations of the Cross" at St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Naples in April 2007.

Final Curtain Call

2007-03-19T04:34:00.000+03:00

Immokalee trailer fire kills five

2007-03-06T06:02:00.000+03:00

JROTC training

2007-02-26T23:04:00.000+03:00

Swamp Buggy Races

2007-01-29T06:34:00.000+03:00

Florida oranges

2007-01-20T07:31:00.000+03:00

Ben Dichiappari, 4, looks for help from his father Tom, right, of Bristol, R.I., after being handed a bag of oranges and being unable to hold the weight at South Naples Citrus Grove in Naples in January 2007.