A day in the life of...Mark Williams

Geocaching Day

I had read about geocaching somewhere back around October 2010.  In November, I decided to check out this high-tech treasure hunt.  Little did I know that my first geocaching adventure would take me less than a half of a mile from my house.  And I also didn’t realize how quickly my family and I would become hooked to this new hobby.  

After a few months of finding geocaches around our area, on Christmas trips to see family, and quick park-n-grabs, we quickly became geocaching evangelists.  We continue to tell everyone about geocaching and how much fun it is for the entire family.  I am an associate pastor at a church that oversees family ministry, and I see it as a great opportunity to get families spending time together.  My wife is a stay-at-home mom who is rarely at home.  She is president of the PTO of our local elementary school, Agricola Elementary, just outside of Lucedale, MS where our son is in school.  We are always looking for unique ways to involve kids in cool ways to learn and spend time with their families.  

With our new hobby, and our involvement at church and the school, we came up with the idea of a “Geocaching Day” at our school on the school grounds.  With so many schools being affected by budget cuts, the idea of an “on-site” learning experience was just what was needed.  Below is how we pulled off the Geocaching Day at Agricola Elementary School.  

Who was involved:  This 1st annual geocaching day was geared toward the 5th-6th graders, their teachers, and a few students in some multi-age classes.  We had a meeting with one of the teachers, told her about geocaching, and explained how it could be used in learning.  We then had the event approved by the principal, who was excited about the event.  Having this opportunity to share about geocaching with them first was a huge plus.   

Learning about Geocaching:  The day before “Geocaching Day”, we had 30 minutes with each grade to share with them the basics of geocaching, and how the next day would run.  It gave us the opportunity to educate the kids about geocaching.  However, for the next day, we had a quick rundown of how to use a gps device.  We also instructed the kids to gather into teams of 4,5, or 6.  Each team had jobs that had to be fulfilled on each geocache find.  The jobs were:  one person to read the gps, one person to read the coordinates/hint, one person to sign the log when the geocache was found, and everyone else were the “eyes” on each find.  After each geocache was found, the jobs were rotated so everyone was able to do each job at least once.  This gave everyone the opportunity to learn how to line up coordinates.  

How we set it up:  We divided the school grounds into 7 general areas.  In each area, we placed 6 geocaches with coordinates.  Taking about an hour and a half a few days before the official “Geocaching Day”, we set out to get the accurate coordinates for our 42 geocache hides.  On the day before the actual event, we hid the 42 caches that afternoon.  Inside of each cache, we had the coordinates listed at the top of each log.  Because some of the areas were smaller, this was to insure that the team was finding the right cache.  

After placing all the caches and recording the coordinates, we made 6 different “routes” so no two teams would be going after the same geocache at the same time.  This kept teams from seeing another team, and just coming and picking up the same cache.  On the day before, we did a “dry run” with one of the teachers who had never geocached before to make sure that everything was ready for the big day.  So we gave her a route sheet, and sent her off with us sitting back to see how she did.  

Each route had its own sheet that gave them 7 caches to find.  There was a brief hint to get them in the general area of the cache.  However, the hint wasn’t enough to lead them straight to the cache.  The teams HAD to use the gpsr to get the correct coordinates of the geocache.  Each team was given a time limit 30-35 minutes maximum to find the caches.  

I had 2 gpsrs that I own that we used on Geocaching Day.  We had 3 others that were donated or borrowed.  When you add “for the kids” to something, people are willing to let you use their gpsrs.  

The day of the event:  We took out anywhere from 20-26 students at a time divided into teams of 4,5, or 6.  Each team was given a clipboard with the “route” for 7 geocaches with the hints for each general area.  This sheet also had the coordinates needed for the hunt.  Each team had a volunteer guiding them, but not giving them the location of the geocaches.  The volunteer had the scorecard with team name on it.  Teams were awarded points based on finding the cache, signing the log, placing the cache back properly, and finishing in the least amount of time.  We told them about the importance of placing caches back just as they found them.  This was also part of the education that we did with them the day before.  

Once the day started, it was off to the races for Geocaching Day.  The students were great!!  They worked together using the loose hints to get to the general area.  Then they used the gpsr to get to the specific locations.  Once the cache was found, they rotated jobs, and they were off to the next geocache!!  All the kids had a fantastic time, and were begging to go again!!  The excitement was contagious throughout the entire school.  Students from other grades were asking about what we were doing, as the teams raced around the school campus to be the first group to find all 7 assigned caches.  

All in all, we introduced over 145 students geocaching.  It was a great day that included the kids using their brains, getting them physically active by going after the caches, and using teamwork to accomplish their goals of finding all the caches.  The 1st annual Geocaching Day at Agricola Elementary School  proved to be a successful day.  We are already looking forward to our 2nd annual event next school year. 

Missions Conference at FBC Long Beach

This past weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at the Missions Conference/DNOW for FBC Long Beach, MS.  It was a GREAT weekend speaking aabout Reaching the Unreached.  I had the opportunity to share about my travels to Malaysia, Peru, Honduras, and other mission journeys I had been on.  Most importantly, I was able to challenge those who attended (about 175) to GO!!  We are called to GO.  It's clear in Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19.
     John Jones is the minister of students at FBC Long Beach.  Although the concept of Mission Conferences isn't a new one, implementing them into DNOW's are rarely done.  Viewing the weekend as a whole, I would say that John did a great job bringing it all together for a weekend of worship, hands-on missions, and challenging people to let missions penetrate their lives. 

    I had the opportunity to stay with a former student and her husband.  Kaitlyn grew up in my student ministry when I served on the coast.  Ashton and Kaitlyn are now heavily involved in ministry at Grace Memorial in Gulfport.  It was a lot of fun to catch up with them and stay up much later than I needed to. 

Before I headed back to Agricola on Saturday, we ate at Darwells in Long Beach.  GREAT FOOD!!  I also took them geocaching for the first time.  I think they'll be hooked.  Always fun introducing someone to geocaching. 

Weekend geocaching update

We've enjoyed getting into geocaching over the past 2 months.  We started off slow in our new little hobby, but have picked up a little speed lately.  I thought I would do a little update on our weekend adventures.

Friday:
Wallace! Wallace! Wallace!  I found this one in Lucedale.  Probably one of my favorite cache finds so far!!

Saturday:
Melanie's brother and family came down for the weekend.  This morning, we went on a little cache run in Lucedale.  I took them to some that Micah and I had already found.  We went after some others that none of us had been to before.  We went after some where the difficulty was much greater.  Here they are.

Just Fork It Over.  This was my second time to this one, with no luck on the first one.  The GPS kept directing me to the wrong place. 

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up.  This one was pretty tough as well.  Had to go into the woods after this one. I also got attacked by some pretty large briars.  Injury to prove it. 

Stumpy.  The terrain wasn't bad, but it was a micro, so it was hard to find.  My sister-n-law spotted this one. 

5 Year Anniversary.  I loved this one.  Mainly because it took me to a place in Lucedale I had never been.  Out at Depot Creek, we have a hidden gem of a nature trail.  I'll definitely be back down there some time in the spring. 

All in all, it was a great day.  We took them to an additional 5-6 that we had already gotten.  But wanted to give an update on these. 

1 for 3 on geocaching on 11-13-10

We went to grab a few caches around Lucedale.  We struck out on the first two, but finally scored one on a grab that we almost gave up on.  Then, we tried one last place that it may be, and we found it.  Had a lot of fun.  It's addicting.  Already got a friend in Long Beach addicted. 

A geocaching run in Mobile

Melanie's parents have been in for the weekend.  While the ladies went shopping, Micah and I went for a quick geocaching run.  We struck out on a few, before we finally scored a grab over in the Malbis/Eastern Shore Shopping Centre area.  Micah and I also purchased a few containers at an Army/Navy supply store to create our own geocaches. 

So, over the next few weeks, we'll try to get creative on establishing a location for our geocaches.  Also, we'll be coming up with some creative names for them too. 

Flying squirrel

While I was in town Friday to go by the bank, I decided to go after a few geocaches.  I scored a nice one that was very well-hidden.  After that, I ventured to a park I didn't know about in Lucedale for #2.  I was walking toward where I thought it was hidden, and a squirrel started up a "shoot" out of the bush.  I could tell that this shoot wouldn't hold him up.  He scooted on up it to get away from me.  He was going to jump to the branch on the tree beside him.  Well....when he was about 9-10 ft up, he jumped, missed, the tree limb, and SMACK!!  He hit the ground about 5 feet from me.  He then scampered on.  It all happened so quick, but seemed to happen in slow motion.  Just thought I would share this little adventure. 

Geocaching...my new hobby with the family

We've been looking for something we could do with Micah to give him opportunities to explore a little.  Enter our new hobby:  Geocaching.  What is it?  Well, it's a cross between a scavenger hunt/treasure hunt using GPS coordinates and subtle hints.  You can check out www.geocaching.com.  There are literally millions of these little "containers" with a log inside of them to sign when you find them.  You also log them online as well.  It's a great hobby to do with the kids who seek a little discovery.  Here is a quick video to show you what it is: