James' Travel Blog

As a nautical cartographer, I am sometimes involved in international meetings dealing with international standards. In November 2017, I spent a week participating in meetings of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean ( GEBCO ), organized under the International Hydrographic Office (IHO) and the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). Most of the attendees were academics, representatives from hydrographic offices, or professional sonar/data management vendors. Presentation by Dr. Martin Jakobsson, Stockholm University A major topic was the Seabed 2030 project to map the World Ocean by the year 2030. Project lead Dr. Martin Jakobsson from the University of Stockholm pointed out that current ocean models are really based on sparse data. (Dr. Jakobsson can be seen presenting on this issue in the image at left.) The goal of the Seabed 2030 project is to enjoin organizations worldwide to work together to collect sonar data in the World Ocean so that nothing bigg...

During the first week and a half of July 2017, I assisted Dino and Cecy from Eleos Healing Global Mission to run medical outreaches in the mountain communities near Cayambe Ecuador. While there, I also had the opportunity to visit two of the children I sponsor through Compassion International . Also see my Google photo album here ! Why Medical Missions? Tonatiuh, Jacqui, Cecy and Elisha in Quito (1 July 2017) I am not trained in medicine, but my friends, Dino and Cecy, have training in the Ecuador and in the United States. I met them in 2009 while seeking out a Spanish-language ministry to serve at my church . They started Eleos Healing as a way to develop regular outreaches to help needy and suffering people in Ecuador and elsewhere, sharing the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ - "Helping the Suffering ... Sharing the Eternal Cure!" What does it mean, "the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ"? Our greatest need is reconciliation with God . We ...

At the end of February 2017, I traveled to Cap Haitien, Haiti with Dino and Cecy of Eleos Healing Global Mission , plus nursing students from Southeastern University of Florida. We brought ten 50-pound bags of medical supplies and donated clothing to use for the medical outreaches and provide clothing to needy families in two communities. We also brought along a couple of Bibles in the local language, Haitian Creole , as well as 20 New Testaments and about 100 gospel tracts , also in Haitian Creole. Our team of five students from SEU included some nursing students; some of them already had experience in missions. Last year,  Prince , an agronomy student at Université Chrétienne du Nord d'Haïti  (UCNH), invited us to run medical outreaches at the university near Limbe and at Ouvre, near Ouanaminthe. Our team leaders, Dino , Cecy and D'Erika  visited in Ocober 2016 to make plans for the team and review ministry possibilities. Since none of us speak Creole, Pr...