Brothers and Sister in Christ,
I pray you are well. I am being deployed for 40 days to the South Pole to support 1,000 scientists, who will be there as part of the annual National Science Foundation studies. I will be gone from October 19 to November 29.
This has been going on for 60 years. The Air Guard has the responsibility of flying everyone onto the ice cap and back, going from Christchurch, New Zealand, out to McMurdo Base, Antarctica. This is done during the summer months on Antarctica. In addition to the main base at McMurdo, there are many remote locations spread out across the continent, including one at the actual South Pole. I’m not sure how many of these bases I’ll be able to get to in my time there, but I hope to support as many of the folks as I can.
I will also hold weekly services in the main base chapel, host Bible studies, provide counseling, and train about a dozen of the scientists in “peer to peer” counseling so they can supplement the chapel in caring for people. For those of you familiar with the resiliency training I used here, this is what I will be sharing with them, compressing it into six sessions.
We are going to have a “South Pole ‘stache Participation,” starting October 19. You must have a clean upper lip when we begin. South Pole mustache growing season is from October 19 to November 29. When I get back, we will have a South Pole ‘stache competition, with prizes awarded for all sorts of categories. If you can’t grow a mustache, you can paste on a ‘stache too. On Sundays during that time, you can compare each others’ progress.
As Scripture teaches us, hair can use used in conjunction with ministry focus.
“At Cenchreae the Apostle Paul had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.” -Acts 18:18
“You shall conceive and bear a son (Samson). No razor shall come upon his head.” -Judges 13:5