TEAM

Recently on September 5th, Kristina Anderson, Ben Anderson and I competed in a Sprint Triathlon. We are a Co-ed Relay Team.

I usually compete as an individual but this year I decided to put together a Team to compete in The Great Floridian Ironman Distance Triathlon in Clermont, FL.

Both Kristina and Ben thought and prayed about this undertaking because it was going to take commitment. Kristina will swim 2.4 miles, I will bike 112 miles and Ben will run 26.2 miles. The commitment is both to training and to the team.

We began training and then I found out that there was a Sprint Triathlon in Crystal River on the day of the Gators first football game which wasn't going to be till 7pm. I knew we could do the race and be back in Gainesville in plenty of time to enjoy the pre-game festivities as well as the game. I mentioned the race to Kristina and Ben and they agreed that it would be a good practice day for our Team.

The day before the race finally arrived. We were all excited. We were leaving at 5pm. About 4pm or shortly thereafter Ben sent me a text message saying he hurt his back working out. I thought Ben was trying to pull a joke on me. I sent him a text message back. His next text explained exactly how it happened. It was no joke. My teammate was hurting. We all began to pray that Ben would be healed up and ready to go by morning.

I picked Ben up first. He was moving slow. We picked Kristina up next. Oh, I forgot to mention that Courtney Smith was with us. We were heading to her house to spend the night. She decided to ride along and surprise her parents.

We got to Courtney's house and relaxed before dinner. Ben took another dose of ibuprofen. Our prayer was that he would be healed up in the night so he could run the 5K the next day. After dinner we visited a bit then decided it was time to get to bed because 5:30am would come early.

It did come early! I felt good; ready to go. I checked on Ben. Not good news. He was going to be a spectator and I now was going to do the 15 mile bike and 5K run. Not a big deal because I have been competing in some Sprints this season. I was just sad for Ben. He had been training and his training was going good. He would now encourage us as we competed, heal up and then resume training for Clermont.

We had a good race. Kristina did great in the swim and my run was better than my bike. All in all it was a great Team day and the Team did great to encourage each other and pull for each other. I am proud (in a good Biblical way) of my Teammates and thankful to God that they both are amazing Spiritual Teammates.

Here at the U.F. Christian Campus House we are not only a Family but a Team. We love each other, encourage each other and help each other as family members. As Spiritual Teammates we pray together, work together, serve together and reach out together so that the UFCCH Team is strengthened and that the world around us is impacted for Christ. This is a great challenge in a challenging place. If you are a follower of Christ please pray for Team CCH as we minister here in Gainesville and pray for our Relay Team as we prepare to race and share in Clermont late in October.

We are pressing on!

bg

08.31.09 - Off and Running!

Classes started last week which means our life just got super crazy! We are excited about all the new students that we have met on campus while playing Ultimate or Kickball. It has been cool to have them join us at UFCCH for Sunday Night Live or a Family Group. http://www.ufcch.com/

Family Groups (gender based) begin this week. Right now there are 3 Girls Groups scheduled to meet and 2 Guys Groups. We are continuing to look for students to host an on campus prayer group.

Today I met with some guys from Operation Transformation. They shared with me The 40 Day Campus Revolution. It challenges students to not only read the word of God and pray for 40 days but also to live it out. It gives them different options each day that will allow them to live out their faith on campus. I am asking our new Freshman if they would like to serve as a test group for this project. The 40 Day Campus Revolution college edition is just being relaunched.

Please remember us in prayer as we begin this semester and begin to make more and more of an impact for Christ on our campus.

Thanks,

bob g.

National Student Conference - Evansville, IN - 8.1-5.09

This was the year that UFCCH was going to return to the NSC in Evansville. It is an amazing college conference filled with great teaching, worship and fellowship. Ben Anderson and I were the only two that could go this year but that was fine. UFCCH was back!

Ben and I like to make our journeys a challenge so we didn't leave out of Gainesville for Sanford till 11:30pm. Actually, Ben didn't get off work till then so we didn't have a choice. The drive was fine but we both were tired. It was great to get to our hotel and grab about four hours of sleep before we were to catch the shuttle to the airport. Did I say shuttle? The 6:15am shuttle never arrived so we jumped back into the van and headed to the airport. We parked, checked in, made it through security and to our gate.

The flight to Owensboro, KY was good and quick. The airport in Owensboro was small so it was crowded. We called the rental car company and then waited on the shuttle. This one actually did arrive and took us to our car. Before departing Owensboro we needed some iced coffee so we gave McDonald's some more business. The drive up to Evansville seemed to go buy fast PTL! We knew we were early so we went to Wal Mart to pick up some things we needed for the week. We also took some time to check out the outdoor store Gander. When we finally got clued into the fact that we were now in Central time and way early for registration we decided to go to Golden Corral for lunch. We ate, returned to USI (University of Southern Indiana) and then crashed on some couches near Registration. 2pm central time finally arrived and so did Big Dog Tim Hudson. We checked in immediately so we could get the keys to our dorm room. We found our dorm and our room and settled in. After settling we decided that a good nap was in order before dinner. What a great sleep! We grabbed some dinner and then went to the opening session. There we got to meet some awesome folks from all over and bask in a great time of worship. After worship we were introduced to Shane Wood who would share evening messages with us. Shane was right on with his first message. After the session Ben and I visited with Shane a bit and then had prayer with him. Since he had three more messages to share with us we wanted to cover him in prayer. The first day and night were great; now it was time to get some more sleep!

Summer 3 Day Bike Ride 07.15-17.2009, UFCCH Alumni & Sebastian CC

I anticipated this ride for quite a bit. I missed being off the bike most of May and then it was hit and miss all throughout June. What I didn't anticipate were the difficulties that would challenge me each and every day.

Day one to Apopka was a day of getting use to Zach's bike. He let me borrow it for the trip. Half way through the day I realized I should have changed out the saddle. As the heat set in the cuts from my recent bike wreck began to sting as sweat poured into them. In the wreck I also hurt my hands so it was hard to grip any one way for very long. I was constantly changing my grip position throughout the day.

I stopped in The Villages for lunch at McDonald's. While there I was glad to run into Dustin. He was with a friend and decided to lunch at McDonald's as well. It was great to visit with them.

I got rolling again and didn't stop again till I arrived in Leesburg. There I got to visit with Ronnie Allegro. Ronnie was a student at UF and at CCH a few years back. He also likes to ride from time to time. It was great to see Ronnie and take a break from the heat. He blessed me with a cold water bottle.

I had talked with my brother David off and on throughout the day. His plan was to meet me in Eustis and ride with me to Apopka. I knew the distance I had to cover to get to Eustis and how long it would take so I visited with Ronnie for about a half hour. It was great to see him again. I am looking forward to a return trip to Leesburg so we can go for a ride.

I got to Eustis a bit late because the heat was getting me and I was running out of fluids. David and I met in the middle of Eustis and we rode to the closest McDonald's for a snack and an iced coffee. I also refilled my camelbak. From there to my mom's house we rode well. The McDonald's break did wonders. Once we got to mom's house we cleaned up and headed to Sonny's! I had hoped for that but never mentioned it so when mom suggested it I was super excited. We had a great dinner and visit. I knew the night would call for ibuprofen and lots of rest because the next day's ride to Okeechobee was going to be tough.

UFCCH AFRICA Mission Trip - 05.05-29.2009

The journey to Mozambique was amazing. It was the culmination of 8 months of raising funds and preparing as a team. I know I speak for the team when I say we were not disappointed. The journey there was long and included an overnight stay in Johannesburg. We got to our hotel by taxi since we could not track down the hotel shuttle. After settling and and having a nice dinner at the hotel we prayed our way into the night.

The morning came early and we were back to the airport to catch our flight to Beira. It was nice that this was a short flight. In Beira we would be meeting Jacob and Jaynie Michael, missionaries with Good News for Africa. They would be hosting us and leading us in ministry for the next three weeks. We arrived and as did our luggage PTL. The lady in charge didn't want to let one bag (filled with yarn) pass through Customs because we didn't have the receipt. Another group was having a similar problem so there was a lot of waiting around. Didn't really matter though because we were still waiting for them to do all the paperwork for the Tourist Visa that we purchased. Jacob came to the Customs office and talked with one of the ladies (the main one was still working on the other group). They seemed resolute in having both of us pay a tax on what we had brought in. The first group stayed in discussion with her and explained that all the supplies were for the people in Mozambique. After awhile she let them go and left the room. We asked the girl we were talking what to do and she said we should go on. I was thanking the Lord for getting us over this little hurdle. After all that was finished with the man in the Travel Visa office came out with all of our Passports and our receipt. Now that all this was done we could meet casually with Jacob and Jaynie and begin to load up all of our luggage and team.

It was an interesting start to our three weeks in Mozambique; I was sure that more was to come. I will write about that tomorrow.

The trip to Chimoio didn't start right away because we had to wait on Dale's flight to arrive. Dale would help translate for us. We knew he wouldn't be in for a bit so we went into Beira for lunch. After ordering we went for a walk on the beach. We knew that we had plenty of time because it takes time for the orders to come out of the kitchen. We had a good time walking on the beach and taking pictures. We returned to the restaurant and waited a bit more time. This allowed for good conversation with Jacob and Jaynie. Lunch finally arrived and it was great.

Dave finally arrived later that day PTL. We then began the two hour drive to Chimoio in the Landrover. It was a good ride but it was even better to arrive at the house. It's always fun to arrive at a new place. See the town, neighborhood and house. The dogs greeted us upon our arrival. They were so excited. We unloaded everything off the Landrover and got settled in. By this time it was time to go to bed. We we so happy to finally be there.

UFCCH Costa Rica Mission Trip - 03.07-14. 2009

The Costa Rica Mission Trip was an amazing journey. God once again assembled a great team. There were a total of 13 of us who wanted to do more on spring break than hit the beach. We wanted to serve and work and share. That we did!

After a long day of travel from Gainesville to Orlando to Panama City, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica to 6:8 Ministries in Alajuelita, CR we were tired! We arrived at the mission house, unloaded, had something to eat, had orientation with Spencer and the 6:8 Staff and then hit the sack! It was a great but tiring day one.

The next morning after breakfast we went to church at CCA. The fellowship, worship and message were good. They had the message interpreted for us so that helped greatly. We returned to the mission for lunch and then spent the afternoon prayer walking in different areas around Alajuelita. We visited with many families and lifted them up to God in prayer. It was a great way to meet people, learn our way around and bring our week to come in to focus.

Each night after dinner we had a time of worship and a message by Duke. We looked forward to this time each day because it encouraged us, challenged us, fed us and kept us focused. After worship we would then have group time. In group time we debriefed about the message, the day, situations.... We also took time to affirm each other and pray for each other.

Monday morning came and the work/ministry began. The rest of the week, except for Tuesday, we were teaching English in schools, sharing and serving at a Feeding Center, building walls for a burned down house, serving empanadas and kool-aid in the park.... One day we had gender specific ministry to do so the girls went to a Women's Ministry Center and the guys went to do some work for a local man that Spencer and 6:8 had been ministering to.
The girls loved their time with the ladies! They shared, sang, danced and spent time in the Word. God touched each one's heart. The guys enjoyed getting to know Luis more and helping him with the entrance to his house. They really liked using POWER TOOLS! Luis is confined to a wheelchair and likes to get outside some. The entrance of his house is being renovated so he can come outside and sit in the shade. There were many other bits of ministry that occurred throughout the week in a small group format. It was exciting to see God working and in through each one on the team.

Our free day was Tuesday. We spent the morning climbing the mountain. What's special about this mountain and this climb is that there are 3 crosses along the way. Each one is different and special. The whole group made it to all 3 crosses and enjoyed "the view from the top". After lunch we went to the markets in downtown San Jose. What a change. It was good though. We found some cool stuff, coffee and ice cream.

The whole week was amazing and I praise God for each team member as well as Spencer, his family and the 6:8 Ministries family. The final closed out with the viewing of the video from the week that Molly had made for us. You can see that by clicking on the link below.

God bless! bob g. & the cch cr mission team

To see more of our journey click on this... http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=032067c66a527a0d87b1

Overnight Ride - 02/28-03/01/2009, St. Augustine Beach, FL

SATURDAY
It was finally here! I had been looking forward to the Overnight Bike Ride with Shawn, Matt and his dad.

We all arrived on time, loaded the van up, prayed over our journey and set out.

Jen and Gavin (Support Crew) went to McDonalds after seeing us off. The ride out of town was good except for some road work being done. We stopped for some fluids and a snack in Orange Heights. It was a nice first stop to access how everyone was doing.

We finished up and began the journey to lunch on the river in Palatka. The ride through Melrose to Putnam Hall was uneventful. Between Putnam Hall and Palatka we had some ups and downs (hills). They were a good terrain change. It flattened out before Palatka so all we had to do was cruise through town to the river. There we met Jen and Gavin. We prayed and picnicked by the water. What a beautiful spot.

Lunch was great. Even better was knowing that we were just over 30 miles away from our campsite. We rode over the St. Johns River and then stopped to reload our fluids. From there it was a quick ride to Anastasia Island State Park thanks to a great tailwind. Everyone did great. Today's ride was 81 miles!

SUNDAY
I love camping at Anastasia Island State Park! Our site was great and having the opportunity to go to the beach just minutes away was fantastic.

After a great night of sleep we got up to dry but windy and overcast weather. We ate breakfast, shared in the Word and Communion, took down camp and began to pedal back to Gainesville.

Shortly after leaving the park it began to rain. With the rain and the wind it became really cold. We were biking into a strong headwind so we were working hard. Just before getting to 95 the rain started to come down hard so we pulled into a Kangaroo station to get out of the rain and get something hot to drink. We also summoned Jen to come back our way so we could get some things out of the van.

We waited for 30 minutes or more then decided to get back at it. The rain had let up alot but just after a mile or so of riding the rain stopped. It was still windy but PTL the cold rain had ceased. We fought our way to Green Cove Springs where we enjoyed Starbucks and lunch out of the van. The low light of the stretch before GCS was crossing over the Shands Bridge. The 30-40 mile an hour headwind made it very, very difficult. The traffic, including big redneck trucks, didn't help one bit. PTL we made it!

Starbucks and lunch were great. It was really great that a Family Dollar store was across the street. I need some cheap gloves and a beanie to keep me warm the rest of the way. We fought the wind to Camp Blanding and then on into Starke. We decided, before Starke, that that would be our stopping point. There was no need to fight the wind all the way to Gainesville. We could do that another day. Our average speed for the day was 11 miles per hour and our total mileage for the day was 60. We met Jen and Gavin at CVS. We loaded up on some food and fluids then we loaded up our bikes in the van and headed home.

It was a great two day ride though day two was quite challenging. I was glad we all experienced day two because that is the reality of long distance biking. Some days are easy and great while other days are hard and frustrating. If you can enjoy the bad with the good you can enjoy life on the road.

WINTER BIKE RIDE - Ft. Pierce to West Palm Beach, FL

The wind never stopped in the night and it greeted us early in the morning. After breakfast and breaking down camp we got back out to the road along the inlet. The wind coming off the water made the ride very challenging. As we entered Jensen Beach I was glad to spot a Starbucks. We needed a coffee break. We got our iced coffees and sat outside. We talked about the challenge of the morning and what was before us the rest of the day as we rode toward Ft. Lauderdale.

We rode through Stuart, Hobe Sound, Jupiter Beach and on to North Palm Beach. Jupiter Beach was really nice. Some locals shared with us that Tiger Woods was having a house built in Jupiter Beach so we were able to eyeball the construction. After JB Ben began having bike troubles again so we decided to to limp our way to North Palm Beach and call it a ride. The wind conditions and bike troubles made that an easy call. We met Jen and the boys at the CVS and we ate in the parking lot. After lunch we changed in the bathrooms, restocked our fluids, loaded up and began the journey back to Gainesville.

The drive home was good. I dropped Jen and the boys off at Texas Roadhouse so they could meet up with friends and I dropped Ben off at his apt. Then I went home to see my girl, clean up and get some rest.

The second Winter Bike Trip was a great success. We rode 325 miles in 4 days and got to see quite a bit of Florida's east coast. God took care of us the whole way as did Jen and the boys. Ben and I were humbled and blessed.

I am looking forward to Winter Bike Trip 3 this December. We will ride from Marco Island to Gainesville. Jen and boys are on board to serve as our Support Crew once again so we are very thankful for that. WBT3 will take place December 19-22. If you are interested in riding one or more days with us let me know.

Blessings! bob g.

WINTER BIKE RIDE - Titusville to Ft. Pierce,FL

It was cold this morning when we woke up. After two days in regular riding gear it was time to put on the cold weather gear. We did so after breakfast. I was hungry this morning. I consumed many packets of oatmeal and various other breakfast items. No coffee though so I was looking forward to using our Starbucks card in Cocoa Beach.

After praying we rode back out to US 1 and turned south. We took that down to where we could cut over to A1A. That stretch of road had several bridges so it was up and down and up and down. The cross wind made this stretch a good challenge. After the final bridge we got some protection from the wind as we entered Cocoa Beach. We found the Starbucks at the Cocoa Beach Surf Company so we parked our bikes and enjoyed an iced coffee and a cookie or pastry.

Ben's bike troubles started back up so we met Jen and the boys at Bob's Bike Shop in Eau Gallie. Ben got some work done to his bike and we ate lunch in the parking lot. There was no charge for the bike work so we were grateful and praising the Lord. After lunch Ben tested his bike out and it was better. Not great but better.

The rest of the day he dealt with bike issues but thanks to a strong tailwind we were able to put in over a hundred miles and make it to the campground in Ft. Pierce just after nightfall. We had out headlamps and taillights so it wasn't a problem. Because of the strong winds Jen was only able to set up one tent. When we got there I determined that it was too windy to start up the gas stove so we went to McDonald's. It was nice to get some chicken wraps, iced coffee and ice cream.

We got back to the campsite and set up our tent. The wind was still blowing strong so we worked together to get it set up. After doing so we settled in for a time of reading before drifting off to sleep. The strong wind whipped our tent in such a way that I was reminded of a couple of nights on my GTD ride and my time in the bush in Tanzania. I sleep well in those conditions and a good night's sleep was needed after a long day of riding.

WINTER BIKE RIDE - St. Augustine to Titusville, FL

Today started early! We awoke just after 5am so we could get cleaned up, eat breakfast and start pedaling by 6:30am. The reason we wanted to leave early was so we could stop at the Beachside Church in Ormond Beach for their 10am service. We just made it. We actually met Jen, the boys and Maria Jones at the Starbucks just before Beachside. Thanks to Maria's mom we were able to get a large iced coffee, she gave us a Gift card to use for our trip PTL!

The service at Beachside was great and it was great to see good friends Robbie and Greg. After service we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. Ben's girlfriend and family came to see us, it was awesome to finally meet Caroline and her family.

As much as we enjoyed visiting we knew we had to start pedaling again so we could make it to the KOA in Titusville. Ben had some bike issues along the way but we finally arrived late afternoon. By the time we got there Jen had the tents up so all we had to do was clean up, eat dinner and settle in for the night. As we settled in we were prepared for the cooler temperatures that would greet us in the morning. It had been a great day despite Ben's bike issues. God continues to take care of us.