Today, I had the opportunity to let my church know about my trip to Pakistan (one week away!). St. Joseph Parish is known for being concerned for the poor and the hurting, and the parishners proved this true once again! People were very enthusiastic in their support for my trip.

I created an info sheet that i was handing out. I had a journal in which people could write prayers for Pakistan that i will take with me to pray while i’m there (feel free to leave similar in the comments!). Many people offered financial contributions. In total, just over $500 was generously given! It came in the form of donations from $1 to $100. I’m so grateful for each one of these gifts. A lot of people had a decent awareness of the situation, and expressed sincere gratitude that they could help send me, and that i was going.

Thank you, my St. Joe’s community, for all the love and support!

(this puts me about almost half way to my goal of $3000… any beyond this will go to supporting my team members).

Today my application to join an organization to assist in earthquake relief in Pakistan was officially accepted. i mailed my visa application, and bought travellers health insurance. This is really happening! I’m going to leave on November 28th, which is coming up fast!

But i can’t do this alone. Sarah and i both need the loving support of our community of friends and family. We need your prayers. i am also accepting financial contributions, since no funding is provided. A round trip ticket costs about $2000, which is my primary expense. Please consider this unique way to contribute to the relief effort. $500, $50, or $5 — any amount will help get me there! You can send me; i will be your delegate to the muslims of the mountains that the quake left homeless. Let’s do this together!

Encouraging messages and PayPal donations can be sent to brooke <at> wantmorelife <dot> net. Or you can mail a check to Brooke Bassage-Glock / 409 23rd Ave South #601 / Seattle, WA 98144 (i am changing my last name to Riggio, but it isn’t in effect yet). Unfortunately, because of the rapid response required for this trip, i can’t set up an account with the agency, so this isn’t tax deductable.

Thank you for your partnership in this effort. I simply wouldn’t even attempt a thing like this without knowing that my friends and family are behind me.

blessed to be a blessing,

+brooke

There has been much i have wanted to write about recently, but this trumps them all (and provides activation energy!).

Do you remember the earthquake in Pakistan on Oct 8th? It was bad, in some ways worse than the tsunami.

Relief supplies are coming in, but so many badly affected regions are high high in the mountains (higher than helicopters can operate), or behind blocked roads that may not be cleared before winter sets in. The Pakistani government has not been ablt to get the materials there.

So FrontRelief is looking for delivery teams:

Emergency in Pakistan: men needed now

I just received a phone call from a FrontRelief leader in Pakistan. My emotions overflowed with the sense of the urgency in his voice. Here is what he told me:

This is an incredible opportunity and a desperate need. WE NEED MEN HERE, NOW, to get into the valleys where all the houses have been destroyed, and where until now no relief people have showed up. We could save thousands of children’s lives. I can’t sleep. It’s 1:30 in the morning. I’m calling all the pastors I know. January is too late. It can‚t even wait until Thanksgiving. The winter snowstorms are coming, and we must get there first. We have portable shelters to set up. This shelter is amazing, far superior to tents. The shelter will last through the winter. And the materials can be re-used to help build permanent homes in the spring.

We need men now. They will work in teams of two to four, with an interpreter, for 2-6 weeks. They will travel in small trucks into the valleys to assemble the shelters. The clever design of the shelters means that they can be assembled in a short length of time. This rescue will change the lives of all who can come and help the survivors.

I am appealing to you to let others know of this emergency. Can you or someone you know respond to this emergency?

Respond by [address deleted, reply here if you are interested], and we will send you an earthquake-response team application which we will expedite as quickly as possible.

Yours for saving lives,

Jose Rodriguez
US Director, FrontRelief

Sarah and I are considering if i can go. I think that amongst my friends, i could get a whole team together.

So for those of you who have any flexibility with work schedule, please consider coming. Two weeks isn’t that long to be gone from home, but can make a huge life-saving difference to countless families in the Himalayas. They need the help.

This past weekend, my beautiful wife and I organized what is becoming an annual fall camping trip near this little-slice-of-Bavaria town called Leavenworth .

We had a great fire going, thanks to my brother chopping up lots of wood with my new Gerber hatchet. Sarah’s parents were even able to join us. We told jokes, had some Russian Quaalude and beers, roasted hot dogs, made s’mores, and generally had a good time.

The next day, after a tasty and assorted breakfast, we broke camp and headed into town for the Oktoberfestivities. This mostly involved taking advantage of the free samples at the cheese and chocolate shops, a lunch of beer and brats, and generally celebrating all things Autumnal.

We rounded out the day with a hike in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The trail was beautiful, running alongside a great twisty and tumbly creek. We were able to cross the creek dry thanks to an awesome Lincoln-Log-type bridge.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend enjoying Fall colors and traditions. We made it back with a box of apples that Sarah will sauce (her recipe is gonzo-good!) and campfire-smelling clothes to keep us in the Oktoberfest spirit.