hashtag = #nponline ... RT plz!

14 years ago, Andy Stanley, a pastor in Atlanta, had a vision to create a church that "unchurched" people would love to attend. Northpoint Community Church was so well received that they outgrew their building, and instead of moving to a new one, they added another auditorium and piped the message into that room on a live video feed. Once that room filled up, they wondered if they could show the same video across town and reach people in a different community. Buckhead Church was born and their new vision became creating churches that unchurched people would love to attend. Not long after that, an incorrigible young lad named Troy Fountain decided that if they could do it across town, surely they could do it across the country. He moved to Dothan Alabama and started Wiregrass Church, the first "Strategic Partner" of Northpoint.

When Emily and I moved to Alabama, we were lucky enough to receive an invite to Wiregrass Church. We went, and for the first time, watched the Sunday morning message on a video screen, delivered by a guy we didn't know in Atlanta, GA. The whole experience was so amazing. We didn't stop going back until we had to move to Ft. Bragg, NC. Ever since then, we've wanted to share that experience with friends and family around the country, and even though there are now more than 15 strategic partners showing Andy Stanley on Sunday mornings, and creating irresistible environments where people can learn about God, most locations aren't anywhere near the people we know and love. That is, until now.

If you're reading this on a computer, you're already at the newest Northpoint campus. All you have to do is click http://northpointonline.tv. This Sunday night, August 16th at 6pm, for the first time ever, Northpoint will broadcast their entire service live on the internet from the Buckhead location, the music, the video, the message, everything. I invite each of you, regardless of whether or not you actually "go" to church, to check this out from the comfort of your own couch this Sunday. There will be a live chat room, and I'll be online in Afghanistan. We can actually hang out together from around the world!

Star Trek IV...

I just got back to Afghanistan. The trip was long and perilous. Well, long anyway, not too much peril, I just thought that sounded exciting. In reality, it went like this: Fayetteville airport Saturday morning, 1.5 hrs on a commercial flight to ATL. All day sitting in the Atlanta Airport, where, at one point, I met a lovely black, puerto rican woman who was offended by my apparent racism. The conversation went like this...

"[me to my friend] All this construction [in that particular terminal] makes this place look kinda ghetto."

"[woman, in front of me on the escalator, to me] What's 'ghetto'?"

"[me to the woman] Well, right now this terminal is."

"But how do you define 'ghetto'?"

"I use that word to describe something that has been neglected, or is in a state of disrepair, or simply looks like it needs some improvement."

"Yeah, but who lives in a ghetto?"

"Umm, in WWII the Jews were forced to live in ghetto because of their ethnic status."

"We're not talking about WWII."

"No, we're talking about Atlanta International Airport"

"Don't play that. White people own this airport. And you know who lives in the ghetto. Black people do. And don't be sayin' a black man is president, because you know who runs this country - white people."

Of course I apologized for my insensitive comment because she made such a compelling argument that racism is still a plague upon our country (even if only through her apparent attitude rather than through the words she chose). Thank you God for grace.

Food for thought - here are several definitions from various online sources for the word "ghetto":

1. (n.) an impoverished, neglected, or otherwise disadvantaged residential area of a city

2. (adj.) poor; of or relating to the poor life

3. from the word 'getto' or gheto', which means 'slag' in Venetian, (slag being the waste from the reduction of a metal), and was used in reference to a foundry where slag was stored in the same area as that of Jewish confinement, as in WWII Europe.

Back to the timeline. Left Atlanta late Saturday night on a chartered commercial jet with about 300 other soldiers. We made one stop in Ireland for gas, then on to Kuwait. That whole portion took about 16 hours. Once in Kuwait we sat around and tried to avoid going outside for about 5 days because it was about a billion degrees. Late thursday night I hopped a C-130 for the 4.5 hour flight into Kandahar Airfield. We arrived around 1030 Friday morning. I moved back into my room and did all my laundry. Now, less than 24 hours later, I'm headed to work (if you can call it that) to go flying. Can you believe they pay me to do this?

9 months to go.

Afghanistan News Vol. 4

[This post was originally emailed on July 3, 2009]

People started asking why I hadn't written and I realized that it had been a while. So, here's the latest. Life in Kandahar is going very well. I'm actually flying quite a bit. I've flown about 80 hours since we arrived, a little less than half of those being at night with Night Vision Goggles (NVGs). Our company is currently supporting a mission called Airborne Reaction Force, or ARF. It's round the clock coverage to respond to bad guys doing bad things. It's actually split into two shifts, each 14 hours long so they overlap 1 hour on each end so the Day crew can the Night crew. I've been on Night ARF, or NARF as we like to call it, for about two weeks. Did I mention I love being on nights? No sun, less people complaining about insignificant things, you never have to see your boss, and there's less work to do. Anyway, the mission goes like this: the Kiowas (OH-58s) fly around looking for bad guys. They spot dudes burying Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and then "reduce the threat", as its called in high level briefings, through whatever means they have at their disposal, i.e. missiles, rockets, heavy machine gun, etc. Once the threat has been completely reduced, they launch the ARF. We leave here with a couple of Blackhawks full of dudes trained to secure the area and we insert them near the target. They reduce any remaining threat, and collect whatever they can find on the threat that had been previously reduced by the Kiowas. Then we swoop in and pick them up, and RTB (return to base). As we land the "stack" looks like this: Blackhawks at 200' and below, Kiowas above them, AH-64 Apaches circling a little bit higher, any fixed wing aircraft doing close air support (dropping bombs) go on top of the Apaches, and then way up we have UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, that get everything on high-res video. It's quite a collection.

Mind you, all this happens at night, under NVGs, often with no moon, into LZs (landing zones) that are so dusty you can't see the ground for the last 10 to 20 feet of your landing. You just have to keep flying and hope that the ground is still below you, and not beside you when your wheels finally touch. Then, of course, there's the take-off. As you pull in power, the dust begins to build, the ground disappears, not because you've left the earth yet, but because you just can't see it. You keep pulling in power until there's no more to pull, then just wait. Only your training assures you that the aircraft is moving in the upward direction. Somewhere around 50 to 75 feet you emerge from the cloud, again, hopefully with the ground below you and not beside you, or God forbid, above you, and then you accelerate forward. It's about the coolest flying you can do in a Blackhawk, especially since we don't really get to shoot at anything, unless that thing is shooting at us.

We train for the real thing several nights per week, but the real mission has only happened three times so far. I've been fortunate enough to be flight lead on two of them. The great thing about this particular mission is that I feel like we're actually a part of removing bad guys from this fight. My opinion has been that I don't think the little bit we're doing here is nearly enough to ever actually "win", but that's only because America doesn't have the stomach to handle the war that the bad guys here want to fight. It reminds me of the revolutionary war when the Brits would march in rows as the Militia and Native Americans shot at them from treelines and bushes. The Brits couldn't understand why they weren't winning. What America refuses to understand is that we're fighting an enemy willing to die for the crazy things they believe, and I guarantee you they are certainly willing to live for it. In other words, they're ready to spend their entire lives hiding in the treelines, or in this case, caves, and just wait us out. That's not to say that America is standing in rows and getting shot at like the Brits, because our tactics are lethal and effective. What I mean is we'll throw absolutely everything we've got at the problem, as long as no one gets hurt and we're home by dinner time.

In other news, progress is being made in other parts of the country too. You may have read in the papers (do they still make papers?) about the Marines going into the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. That's been happening for the last few nights, and though its been in the news I can't talk too much about the details, except to say that Helmand has been the most notoriously Taliban dominated area in the country, and say you what you like about the current administration, but we're finally doing something about it. It was described by all the Brass as an "historic occasion", though I think the colonel here said "a historic". Basically, we took a lot of helicopters filled with a lot of Marines into that area and hopefully we will see some good come of it. I only logged four hours on my part of the mission, but several crews were in the cockpit for 11 hours. Again, its great to be a part of this whole thing when we're actually making moves and not just moving people and mail around the country.

I've been reading a lot lately. I finished a couple John Grisham books, and one by Dan Brown. I finished the book of Matthew in the New Testament and kept going right into Mark. Since that began I've maintained my comittment to read the Bible every day. I believe I'm in Mark 10 or 11 right now. Jesus has just arrived at Jerusalem and made his entry into the city on a colt, at the beginning of the week leading up to His death. It's a great story, you should check it out. Also, reading Everyman's Battle, a truly excellent encouraging read for any man looking to keep their thoughts and heart pure. For the sake of my younger readers I'll let you look up the subtitle for yourself on Amazon. If you are interested in donating copies of this particular book you can do so via Amazon gift cards in my name. Just enter my email address when you purchase the gift card, and make a note that you would like the gift used to purchase copies of Everyman's Battle and the workbook that goes with it. I will make sure they get into the hands of troops overe here who are currently involved in the eternal internal struggle that every man deals with, trying to stay focused on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable and anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.

I've also recently gotten a hold of a great devotional book called Everyday for Everyman. Each day has a short excerpt from one of several books in the Everyman series. It's helped me focus the quiet time I spend with God and I've even taken to making a short journal entry at the bottom of each page to keep track of my spiritual growth. Also currently reading: Why 27?: How we know we got the right books in the New Testament, A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity: Bill O'Reilly's new book, and Seeds of Terror: How opium production in Afghanistan is funding terrorism.

Very exciting update to my computer situation: my new Macbook Pro has arrived. I can't remember how I lived life before I got my iPhone. I was immediately convinced that I will one day soon feel the same way about this computer. Not sure why I waited so long to make the switch. But thanks to each of you who encouraged me and helped through this process. Your support was invaluable and I don't think I could have done it without you. You know who you are.

For anyone following along with my wiener dog Sam's health problems, he has pulled through the rough patch, and though he's a few pounds lighter (which is pretty much 50% of his body weight), it looks like he will make a full recovery. Thanks for everyone who prayed for him.

So that's all the news I have to report at this time. I'll actually be home on leave very soon for two weeks in the states. I know its early in the deployment, but once Emily starts school in August she will be unavailable until we get back to the states. If I came home during the school year, I'm afraid her professors would wonder what happened to her.

As always, if you know anyone who would like to receive this newsletter, just send me the address. Or if you would like to be removed from the mailing list, let me know.

- Jeff

Afghanistan News Vol. 3

[This email was originally sent May 18, 2009]

So, I've been gone a month. Really? Wow, it's going by quickly (though Emily might disagree). I just finished up my two weeks in Qalat as the medevac escort, or "med chase". We flew about 20 hours, which is not too bad since our company is just now taking over the missions from the unit we're relieving. A lot of that time was spent transporting patients who needed care that was only available at the larger airfields (like Kandahar), some U.S. troops, some NATO allies, some locals, no enemies as far as I know. But in case you're wondering, yes we do take care of them also. If U.S. troops get into some junk and take down some bad guys we would still get called to help. We would take them to a U.S. base for treatment, but instead of ice cream, when they wake up they probably get interrogated.

So here's what went on during my two weeks in Qalat. When I wasn't flying, I was either watching 24 (my roommate and I made it through two seasons) or reading. I made it through most of the Book of Matthew in the New Testament. I haven't made it a goal to finish any particular amount of the Bible by any particular time, only to work on it every day. I find that without the pressure of checking the block I have been able to slow down and really take the time to understand what I'm reading. So that's my current Bible reading plan. If you want a different one they're available at Explore Church. Having a study Bible really helps too. Unfortunately, I didn't get to attend church while I was in Qalat because they didn't have a regularly scheduled service. But I was able to talk about my faith with one of my friends who was there with me, and like I said, I had a lot of time to study.

I also got my new bike assembled. There wasn't really any place to ride it, but I had so much free time I took the parts with me to work on getting it put together. I don't think there was a bolt that Emily didn't loosen in order to fit that thing into a box small enough to mail. She even took pictures of every single step so I had personalized assembly instructions. I showed my friends and told them how much work it took for her to get my bike to me and they were very impressed. They questioned how I was able to score such a babe. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

There were a few stray dogs running around up there too. My friend had already claimed a young puppy named Dozer that a local found and dropped off with our unit. I took him into the shower to get him cleaned up (the puppy, not my friend). He was not a fan of that, but I had to get him wet to see all the ticks in his thick white fur. I got him squared away and everyone enjoyed his company. As I understand, its very expensive to bring dogs back to the states so he'll probably stay here when we leave and keep the next unit company when they arrive a year from now. Besides, we have enough dogs in my house right now, unless you find a stray dachshund or chihuahua. They're like ice cream, you can never really get enough.

The food was good, we had steak with lobster or crab legs on a few occasions. They also had Baskin Robins 31 flavors, except we only had 4 flavors. Maybe if you mixed those 4 you could come up with 31 combinations. Anyway, mint chocolate chip was one of the choices so I was ok with that. They also served mango sorbet bars which I fell in love with. I spent a lot of my free time consuming them. Sadly, they were made by an Arabic company with shops in Dubai so I don't know if I'll ever see them again. Tear. We also made a habit of bringing out lunch meats for the FOB (forward operating base) dog, Trigger. He was always appreciative, but we realized quickly he only wanted us for our food. If we came out empty handed he wasn't interested in playing with us.

So now I'm back at Kandahar Airfield (KAF). We got in yesterday morning and I was looking forward to some time to get settled into my new room because our company is finally out of the tents, but I was informed I had to be in at 0400 the next morning (today) to fly a mission. It was good to be out doing missions already though and flying with some of the newer guys. I enjoy teaching. Nothing fancy today, just moving troops around the battlefield. Flew about 3.5 hours. Tomorrow I'm shifting to a night schedule. I'll be the primary planner for our company's missions, and all of that work gets done at night so it's ready each morning for that day's flights to be flown, or for the next day's flights to be briefed by the Colonel. One of my responsibilities as a tactical operations officer is making sure everyone understands the planning process; that's why I'm one of the first guys to get stuck on planning duty. I'll probably do that for a week or so before getting back on the flight schedule.

That's all that's happening right now. Our new internet system is currently being set up so I'll be able to post photos soon. Thank you all for staying interested.

- Jeff

Afghanistan News Vol. 2

[This email was originally sent May 4, 2009]

Welcome to the second issue of the Afghanistan update. Two Sundays have past since I last wrote and the time has gone quickly (for me at least, Emily might say something different). Last week I did get to go to church. I took some pics and a short video of the music which I will post when I move into my room, which still has not happened. I'm actually not even at Kandahar anymore.

So here's the situation. There are lots of regular Blackhawks, but only a few medevac Blackhawks. Because of the enemy threat here, no helicopter is authorized to travel alone. So, instead of sending two medevac birds on a mission, they send one med bird, and one normal blackhawk, which I fly. we call this duty "medevac chase". In order to provide the quickest response time to injured Americans or Allies, the med birds get stationed at small FOBs, or Forward Operating Bases around the country. So right now I am at a FOB called Qalat, about a 30 minute flight from Kandahar Airfield (KAF). When someone in this area is inured, they launch the med bird and my bird to go pick them up and carry them either back here or to KAF, depending on the level of care required. We flew in yesterday (Sunday) so I missed church. I'll be here for the next two weeks on med chase. It's round the clock duty on a very small FOB with not much to do. The good news is, they have internet, and the chow hall is decent. We've been launched once so far, but there's not much going on in this region right now so it could be an easy two weeks. This mission is a mixed bag of emotions really. I want to be flying, but flying means people are hurt.

While I'm away, the rest of the company will be moving into our new buildings at KAF. Hopefully they'll save me a good bed. Normally I would be worried about getting a good mattress too, but I have a memory-foam topper that makes night time happy time.

Life here on this FOB, like I said, is slow and uneventful. Even when we fly, the notification is immediate and we're done as soon as we land. There are no briefings to attend, and no other responsibilities. I'm still reading through Christian Beliefs by Grudem. I'm also still in Matthew in the New Testament. Emily mailed my ESV study Bible, which makes Bible reading so much more productive. If, like me, you struggle to "get something" out of the Bible, you should really look into getting a study Bible. I like the ESV, but there are lots of good ones. The extra information provides background context almost verse by verse. It can be a double edged sword though. While I get more out of the reading, I cover less ground overall because there is so much interesting information on each page. Hence, still in the book of Matthew. But thats ok, because I don't feel like the whole thing is over my head anymore, and that is so much more important to me than checking the block on five chapters per night. When I'm not reading I'm watching Heroes. I just started this series from the beginning, and though slower than 24, the story is very exciting.

The great news about this FOB is that there are indoor toilets and showers very close to my tent. Thank God for small blessings. Also, while KAF is around 3,000 ft above mean sea level, Qalat sits above 5,000 ft so the average temperature is several degrees cooler during the day and quite a bit cooler in the evening. We're really enjoying that feature. It's probably exactly what the weather is on the east coast right now.

Today I met some dogs wandering around which was very exciting. It's always great to interact with dogs over here. I get to talk to Emily or exchange emails almost daily, but I will go the whole year without any interaction with my dogs so that's kinda tough. Probably the second worst thing about being deployed (behind portajohns).

I want to thank everyone who has sent gift cards for Green Beans Coffee. I have shared frozen coffee with friends on several occasions so far and they are all very thankful as well. It means a lot that you guys are thinking about us while we're gone. Also, I really appreciate hearing from people about what's going on in their daily lives. It helps me stay connected so thank you to those of you who are staying in touch. I actually have a cell phone which you are welcome to call if you like. I have free incoming minutes, but its going to cost you to call me. Please don't feel obligated, I'm quite happy responding to emails and I don't have voicemail set up on the phone. But, if you do want to call, Here is a great website where you can get a calling card to call Afghanistan. After you place an order for a card, they will either call you or email you to confirm (which is usually within an hour of ordering). After you have been confirmed, they will send you a pin number. Use one of the local access number listed on their website (using their 800 access number costs you more per minute), then enter your pin when prompted. You will then be asked for your "destination number". Enter 011 93 79 600 7435. This is my phone number with everything you need to dial already included.

That's about all that's going on. For those who believe in prayer, praise God that I am as comfortable as I am, and ask that my words and my actions are an example for Christ to everyone I interact with.

- Jeff

Afghanistan News Vol. 1

[This email was originally sent April 24, 2009]

So, I arrived safely about a week ago. Life is pretty good here. I'm on Kandahar Airfield (KAF), just outside the southern city of Kandahar, Afghanistan. You can actually see this on google maps, or google earth. We will eventually have buildings to live in, but right now we're all in tents with about 30 cots per tent. Each person has one cot, and floor space about the same size as one cot. The tents are completely air conditioned; I actually sleep in sweats inside my sleeping bag. There are two downsides. One, we have to use port-a-johns (the worst part about being deployed), and crappy showers. Second, the tents are a 20 minute walk from where we work. Emily is sending my bike to me so the travel time will go way down. Once we move into our buildings we'll have indoor plumbing and we'll only be about a 10 minute walk to work, and the Asian chow hall will be right outside our door.

There are actually quite a few places to eat. First, we have several chow halls, each with a theme around some global region. The Niagra is American, the Luxembourg is European, the Far East is Asian, etc. I actually eat at the Asian chow hall because they have a great selection of curry dishes, and they cook stir fry in the wok fresh every day. You can actually watch the guys making it and see all the fresh veggies and other ingredients they use. There are also several fast food places surrounding a recreation area called the boardwalk. We have Tim Horton's (Canadian version of Dunkin Doughnuts), Subway, Burger King, Pizza Hut, The Kabob House, and an ice cream shop. Within the recreation area, there is a roller hockey rink where the Canadians play a lot, and a large field with a stage at one end for entertainers. Toby Keith is actually playing tomorrow night for my birthday. Go figure. Anyway, I don't normally spend money on the fast food because the chow halls are good and their hours aren't bad either so I can eat whenever I need to.

There a couple chapels on base and I'm looking forward to checking out the "Contemporary Service" this Sunday at 10:30. I've already met a couple guys who are interested in working together to be strong examples for Christ. That's difficult to do in this environment if you don't have other people to rely on, so I'm very grateful for the guys I've already met, and I look forward to meeting more. Right now I'm reading a book called "Christian Beliefs: 20 things every Christian should know", by Wayne Grudem. Anyone who claims to be a Christian really needs to get this book. I've been going to church for a long time and this book is full of entry level stuff that even I didn't know. Gotta start somewhere right? Also, I'm reading through the new testament. I started when I first arrived doing a couple chapters each day so I'm still in Matthew, but I also read other parts as I come across references in the Grudem book.

A lot of people ask "What can I send you?" This is truly a flattering question. I feel like I'm just over here for a really long day at work. That people would want to spend time and money to send stuff to me is very generous, and I thank all of you who have done so, or are planning to. As far as I what I "need" there's really not much. I packed everything I need to survive, and there's a PX where I can buy the rest. A lot of folks like to send care packages full of snacks. Like I said earlier, the chow halls are great and we're allowed to take stuff out with us so that's kinda covered. However, if you still want to send snacks, candy, or fun stuff, what I can do is give that stuff out to local kids who live outside the small bases where we land our helicopters, or even to the soldiers at those bases who don't have access to all the stuff I do. I will do my best to let you know what happens to anything you send. My address is:

Jeff Gelzinis
C Co. 2/82nd Avn
TF Pegasus
APO AE 09355

That said, there are two things I personally enjoy getting. One is gift cards to Amazon.com. I can use these to order almost anything from amazon but most likely, I will use these gift cards for books or video games To order these, visit www.amazon.com and use my email address "jgelzinis@gmail.com; the gift will simply be credited to my account. The other thing I enjoy is gift cards to our local coffee shop, the Green Beans Cafe. To order one of these, visit www.greenbeanscoffee.com and click on the "gift cards" link. Follow the instruction from there. When it asks you to select a location, pick "Kandahar, Afghanistan - MWR". They'll send me an email letting me know that a gift card is waiting for me in the coffee shop. This is also a gift I usually share with others; frozen coffee by yourself just isn't any fun.

For those on facebook, I have been trying to keep my status updated but the public internet is slow and I won't have my own connection until we move into our buildings. So, feel free to email me here to find out what's going on. Or, just standby for the Afghanistan News to stay informed. Once I have my own connection I will also start posting photos so you can see what this place looks like (it's not impressive).

Thank you all for praying for me. It means a lot to Emily and I that so many people care about us. The year should go by quickly and hopefully I'll be home on my 30th birthday.

peace out,
Jeff