Welcome to the Chazak Rescue Blog!
Welcome to the very first post here on the Chazak Rescue blog. We’re excited you’re here!
In the coming months, here in this space, you can expect to see updates from the field, news on upcoming events, snapshots of what our cadets and staff are up to, and photos from the front lines.
Here, you can stay connected to the work going on within Chazak Rescue while being inspired to finish the mission as outlined in the Great Commission.
CHAZAK RESCUE
If you’ve followed along with us up to this point, you’re probably already familiar with our vision at Chazak:
to finish the mission of going into all the world and making disciples of all nations.
In essence, we train and deploy specialized teams to bring leadership, humanitarian aid, and hope to war zones and high-risk areas.
If you’re new to the organization, maybe you’re wondering:
What does this look like?
For starters, we recruit cadets and guide them through rigorous training spanning two to four years.
While we believe training is crucial, we also believe action is essential. For that purpose, we integrate both training and deployment on a cycle of hands-on training and real-life service.
Our cadets receive a thorough education in body, soul, and spirit. In addition to learning practical skills and receiving the certifications needed to be first responders, they also receive spiritual training, training in leadership, relationships, communication, and fitness.
Upon completion, our cadets receive either an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, or Master’s degree, depending on their duration of training.
So what’s currently happening?
THE ADVANCE TEAM
At the beginning of August, our Advance Team officially launched.
As the name implies, rather than going through our typical two to four years of training, the Advance Team is taking a condensed training before deploying straight onto the field. Training for the Advance Team focuses specifically on first responder and security skills needed to respond in high-risk areas.
The Advance Team is serving several purposes:
- First, they are providing Chazak staff with valuable insight into which training and gear work well.
- Second, they are establishing relationships with organizations around the world that we can partner alongside in deployments.
- Third, war zones and disasters are not lessening up. As such, the Advance Team will start deploying as professionals in as little as seven months (as opposed to two years for our regular cadets).
Amidst training and deployments, the Advance team is doing much-needed research and development too. Throughout their time at Chazak, this team will serve as basic first responders while providing valuable feedback for future cadet teams.
So who actually makes up this team?
We’re excited to introduce you to {drumroll}:
Ryan Esh, Mindy Snyder, Jennifer Kauffman, and Ethan Royale.
RYAN ESH
is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. What attracted him to Chazak is how it combines many things he enjoys and is passionate about. Namely, helping people, being in the great outdoors, and stretching himself physically and spiritually. Ultimately, he attributes where he’s at today to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and many answered prayers.
Ryan is excited to be working with Chazak because of the culture within the organization. In his words, “It’s a culture that encourages vulnerability and strength, kindness and constructive criticism, leadership and servanthood.”
MINDY SNYDER
is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She spent time serving in Iraq and Southeast Asia before joining the Advance Team. She was originally drawn to Chazak specifically because of a shared vision and a personal love for reaching people in hard places. She’s excited about the extensive amount of deployment she will get to do while on the Advance Team.
JENNIFER KAUFFMAN
is from Abbeville, South Carolina. She spent a significant amount of time overseas, including a six-month term on the Ultra program with GTO. Although she chose to join the Advance team on very short notice, she’s confident God has been preparing her for this and it’s exactly where she is supposed to be. Looking forward, Jen is excited to be on the Advance Team with individuals who feel like family.
ETHAN ROYALE
is from Northern Indiana. He was attracted to Chazak by both a basic belief that God is love and an understanding that God wants us to show His character to the nations. Because of previous experience living in several countries and entering hard places in the world, he is especially looking forward to having the honor of stepping into these places while showing love to people on their worst days.
WHAT THEY’RE DOING
In their first month of training, this team of four has dove into basic swift water skills, navigation, basic rope training, and basic components of disaster response.
“One of my highlights this first month has been this last training [where] we ran through a lot of scenarios and learned about the proper way to deal with crisis situations in restricted countries,” Jen shared. “I had no idea there was training like this available and it was really cool to be able to make a plan for the things that could happen.”
“What surprised me in the first month was how close our team got after three days of driving together, how much we laughed, and how much we already feel like a family,” Mindy commented.
“The best analogy for what training is like is sticking a 1 1/2” hose in one’s mouth, turning the water on, and drinking it all… It’s fairly intense,” Ethan adds.
This next month, the Advance Team will be training in wilderness first response as well as the fundamentals of search and rescue. Yes, you’ll be hearing more from this team in the future.
THE CHAZAK CADETS
We’re also excited to announce the official launch of our first Chazak cadet team, happening September 3!
After completing three days of orientation and briefing, this first class of nine cadets will head to Maine where they will spend a week and a half in the wilderness canoeing and backpacking. During that time, cadets will be introduced to many of the subjects they’ll be learning in-depth over the next years. This team will wrap up their first segment of training with a day of debriefing.
We’re excited to see the launch of these nine initial cadets and will keep you updated on their training and development.
Thanks for being here as together we work to fulfill the Great Commission.
The Chazak Rescue Team
