I find myself a little overwhelmed. March 15, 1993 'it' began. When 'it' started, 'it' didn't have a name. Over the next year a name was determined, corporation papers submitted, excess medical coverage for participants obtained, nonprofit status applied for and gained. Why is BENCHMARK called BENCHMARK Adventure Ministries? It's not because I think we're the benchmark standard. Learn about [...]
December is time for personal evaluation. January is for fresh implementation. I'm not much for New Year's resolutions. I prefer regular evaluation and direction correction. January started well with a renewed commitment to personal, spiritual journaling. I began training as scheduled on December 26 for my 19th 26.2-mile marathon and that continued. Though I've been reading Philippians for years, I [...]
Daniel Walley (in the red jacket) Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving with the BENCHMARK team on my first adventure ministry event, a father-son weekend. A friend of mine introduced me to James on a Tuesday and by Friday I was packed and leaving town. The drive up to rural Kentucky was beautiful and gave [...]
My story begins with meeting a young man named James. James is in his early twenties and originated from Pennsylvania. I was drawn to him because he was sifting through everything that was prepared and presented at the AT Kitchen site. He would move from the food and snacks to the give away table and back to the food, and [...]
I don’t usually go on the AT Outreach. Historically it has been a dad/daughter trip in our family. This year things were different. I was going to have faith and trust that my husband, recovering from a serious heart attack, would be just fine there in the woods, near the trail, in the environment he loves. I was not planning [...]
For those who may not know, a BENCHMARK champion collapsed from a heart attack on February 15 while on training run for his first United States Marathon. First of all, for those on BENCHMARK's Prayer Team who have been praying..thank you. Really, thank you. I've been slow to send this update becasue, 1. I've been trying to catch up on [...]
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. [...]
On the second day of our 5 day backpacking trip in Virginia, we sat by beautiful Fox Creek sharing lunch with a middle aged female thru-hiker who was hiking by herself with support from her husband. As usual, I packed too much lunch and snack. Yes, it is possible to have too much on a backpacking trip. She was a [...]
Much of my life of ministry revolves around learning from doing. It's something I'm practicing and still learning. More and more I understand how important it is. Doing and then learning from it is critical to growth. It's the idea of action / reflection. I've done some things but didn't well learn lessons I would have benefited from learning. I [...]
Welcome to the new and improved Benchmark Website. Check out the new layout and content! Let us know what you like. We still have a few more updates to make, but these will be done soon.
