After driving from Pensacola to Greenville, South Carolina, the team was more than ready for a week of relaxation. The Galkin and Coffey families parked their trailers at Faith Baptist Church where there is plenty of room for the kids to play. The singles all dispersed to different locations, to stay with friends and family in the Greenville area. Elise and Josh especially enjoyed the extra time in Greenville, as they got to see their fiancés.
The team also did some shopping, but Reba came away with the big purchase of the week. She bought the team a double bass! It arrived just in time to begin rehearsals for the new recording.
The team is thankful for the week off, and will be rested and ready to go after our new recording.
-Elise Lafferty
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Try it out on our latest Galkin Digital Short
This past weekend, we drove from Elko, NV to Grand Junction, CO. Because we left Elko on Friday, we were able to take a whole day of rest on Saturday. We didn’t schedule any specific activities, but most of the team ended up at the Colorado National Monument.
The monument is a red rocks canyon with many buttes and drop-offs. We enjoyed hiking along the ridge and climbing the canyon walls. The view was breathtaking. We could see the whole valley of Grand Junction. We could also see the Colorado River flowing amidst the fall-changing yellow trees.
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After 8 weeks on the road traveling over 2500 miles, it was time to scrub down the Galkin Trailer. Watch this video to get a glimpse into team life and to see just how big this trailer really is.
Also view our first Galkin Digital Short video, Arctic Circle Concert, on the same page!
(click image to link to video page)
This summer has been one filled with sorrow, joy and whole mixture of emotions. The Lord in his goodness allowed Dr. Roland, (Christy and Josh’s father) to be diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in January of this year. It was a battle and a rough one at that, but the Lord gave much grace to Dr. Roland to remain faithful to the end. On June 30, he went home to be with his Heavenly Father. He has entered into a place of eternal joy and rest. He has no more need for faith, all is now sight! As the Bible promises, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” and “in Thy presence is fullness of joy and at Thy right hand are pleasures forever more.” Our hope and prayer is that he has received an abundant entrance into the Heavenly Kingdom!
The funeral was held on Wednesday August 5, and nearly 800 people came to the service. The Gospel was clearly presented at the funeral and many who were unsaved heard the good news of Jesus Christ. There is a video memorial of Dr. Roland posted on Facebook that may be of interest to you.
Traveling on the road, I meet lots of people, and many of them wonder the same things I used to about these "evangelistic teams". Now, I can't speak for all evangelistic teams, but as far as the Galkin team goes, here are a couple answers to "FAQ's" that I get on a regular basis...
Family, fun, friends, and food. These four things have characterized our last couple weeks in Denver. Family – Denver is where Josh and Christy grew up. It’s been fun to be able to spend extra time with Dr. and Mrs. Roland and a few of the brothers, Dan and Ben Roland. Dan, his wife Audrey, and their son Ezra were able to come out to a couple of services. We enjoyed a chilly night sitting outside Starbucks while we caught up and laughed at old college stories. Just this last weekend, Josh’s younger brother Ben flew in from college and our whole team and the Roland family feasted on pizza from a local place called BeauJo’s Pizza. We took up a large portion of the restaurant seating and were quite a spectacle while we cheered on our teams playing in a March Madness basketball game.
So, this past Saturday, Josh, Aaron, and I headed to Eldora--armed with passes (which were generously loaned to us by Tri-City Baptist Church), our snow clothes, and high hopes. Over the past two weeks, I received many comments from people on how I would respond to my first time on a snowboard. Most were pessimistic (or honest) and told me I'd fall all day, hate it, and would be sore for a week. Others were more kind, yet maybe not quite as truthful, in telling me I might actually enjoy it. I just had to find out for myself.
This past Tuesday, we enjoyed a fun night of wings, games, presents, and cake to celebrate Josh’s 25th birthday! The actual day was this past Friday, but we never mind making the celebration last as long as possible. We were especially thankful that Josh’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Roland, his brother Jonathan, and his brother Daniel, his wife Audrey, and their baby Ezra, could join us for the special occasion.
As a fourth year traveler on evangelistic teams, I’ve often wondered what it would be like to live in a trailer. Several weeks ago, in Phoenix, Caroline and I were able to stay in our very own trailer. We were both very excited to finally get a taste of trailer living!
In a back lot of Westside Baptist Church, our team parked three trailers. Our trailer was a very spacious toy-hauler. In the back was a set of bunk beds (where Caroline slept), a kitchen, bathroom, and then the bedroom in the front of the trailer (where I slept). The biggest adjustment we had to make was in the realm of shower taking. To preserve the hot water, we had to grow accustomed to taking 5 min. or less showers. The good thing about quick showers was we got to get a little extra sleep! We learned to make the most of small spaces and lifted the back bunk beds so we could stick our 75lb. suitcases underneath the bottom bunk. We also ran in an extra extension cord so we wouldn’t blow any fuses while running our hair dryers in the morning. Caroline and I quickly made this space our home and enjoyed trailer living…until one fateful night.
One of our favorite things to do is play special games as a team. Our recent purchase has been the game Ticket to Ride. The game involves building train connections between certain points of destination, and whoever builds the most trains and completes the most destinations wins! We played Ticket to Ride with the Counterman’s and Josh took the win by...
Everyone enjoyed our week in Huntsville, AL--but I think the Galkin kids enjoyed one particular night the most. Since the church was kind enough to let us stay in their missionary apartments, Josh, Reba, and I decided it would be fun to have a sleep over with the kids! So, with the anticipation building up through the week, we brought the kids over after the service on Thursday night for the best sleep over of their lives. Not only did we stock up on tons of junk food, but we also watched a fun movie (projected onto the wall, thanks to Josh!) and some competition on the Wii. When the boys and girls split ways for the night, we went to bed tired, and looking forward to the breakfast the guys would cook in the morning. We discovered many things through this experience--first, that Anna Grace is quite good at Wii bowling, while William takes after his dad in dominating the WiiPlay Tanks game. Second, Lilly and David are very affected by sugar late at night, and that if left to his own devices, David can and will eat a whole bag of M&Ms. Third, Josh can make some great french toast!
Posted by Caroline
The Coffey’s are back from the Islands of Hawaii, where they had meetings in 5 different churches and 2 Christian schools. Several received Christ as their Savior including children, teens, and adults. The Galkins have been in Colorado for the last several weeks. The birth of their baby girl went well and the adjustments are taking place. Hopefully she will start sleeping through the night. Josh just got back from his missions trip with the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team to the southern Pacific – Guam, Australia, and the Philippines. He helped minister in 4 local churches and 2 Christian schools and saw the Lord do some wonderful things. Many people came to know Christ on the missions trip. Caroline has been enjoying spending some time with her family in Atlanta and visiting friends and schoolmates in Greenville, SC. She is participating in her church’s cantata, and has been able to use her cello in some educational venues in Atlanta. Reba has been at home spending time with her family as well. This last week she was able to go on a missions trip to Peru with the Frazors and the Chapmans. The majority of the trip was spent in Lima, Peru where she was able to minister alongside fellow believers for the cause of the Gospel. Right now, all the team is with their families getting ready for a wonderful Christmas. We start back up in the beginning of January. Stay in touch for more updates from the team members various travels.
For those of you that are needing all the details. . . she weighed in at 8lbs. 9oz and measured in a 20.3". She came at 1:40 a.m., and the labor was a little difficult. We are currently staying with Grandma and Grandpa Roland and looking forward to Grandma and Grandpa Galkin joining us for Thanksgiving.
While ministering at East Delavan Bapitst Church our families visited a farm that was selling pumpkins and had a fort made of hay bales. Continue on to see a couple of cute picture of the Galkin children loving on "Baby Ella".
The Galkin trailer has been parked at Five Mile Baptist Church for the past 2 weeks as Will has been recovering from his appendectomy. Notice the beautiful autumn colors. Click on the read more link for a few more photos.
Praise the Lord! We would like to announce the arrival of Isabella Mercy Coffey.