PAX: @Night Light @Soul Glo @Singlet @Baby Gap @OPIE @Buckeye @Bubba Gump  @Hot Mic (Tribute) (QIC) showed up on cool breezy morning, almost ideal conditions.

F3 disclaimers

Warmup:

Heros Honored: The Fallen from Operation Gothic Serpent

On October 3, 1993, members of various U.S. military branches participating in Operation Gothic Serpent conducted a raid in downtown Mogadishu. During the raid, a large firefight began between the American forces and irregular Somali militia. Two American helicopters were brought down and 18 American soldiers killed. The incident is known in some circles as the Battle of Mogadishu or the Battle of the Black Sea, but most Americans simply call it Black Hawk Down, the title of the 2001 movie depicting the battle (and title of Mark Bowden’s book, on which the film was based).The real Mogadishu Mile did not go exactly the way that the movie makers portrayed it. Calling the retreat a “run” is an oversimplification, as the soldiers moved from cover to cover, often at a walking pace, and frequently paused to communicate and ensure that the element was staying together. Instead of going straight from the crash site to the Mogadiscio stadium, the Delta and Ranger troops actually started in the opposite direction. From the first crash site (UH60 Super 61), they had to move south to reach a rally point at the intersection of National Street and Hawlwadig Road, still in the heart of the city and only about five blocks south of the Olympic Hotel, where the raid had begun. There, they met additional tanks and armored vehicles waiting for them, and more of the men were able to transfer into vehicles. From that intersection to the soccer stadium, the combined convoy took a zigzag route out of the city center, avoiding the barricaded major roads overflowing with the enemy. The actual distance traveled during the retreat from the intersection was somewhere between 4 and 4.5 kilometers or 2.5 to 2.8 miles. For those who had started at the first crash site, the distance covered topped three miles. The dangerous retreat on foot was shared with troops from 10th Mountain who had given up their vehicle seats, as well as the SFOD-D and Rangers as portrayed in the movie.

These men had already been fighting the enemy for around 12 hours before the convoy arrived and the Mogadishu Mile began. Aside from one daring helicopter resupply run the night of October 3 (by Super 66, which barely made it back to the airfield with 3 wounded crew), the soldiers had access only to the food, water, and ammunition that they had brought with them to the initial raid. They were dehydrated before the run began, and had not slept or rested during the night. During the fight, they had carried with them their individual weapons, body armor, radios, rucksacks full of gear, helmets, and all other sorts of items, and now as they left the city they fought their way out, shouldering their weapons and using the last of their ammunition to engage targets and protect each other. Several soldiers were wounded by enemy small arms and RPG fire. Stopping to tend to them was impossible given the tactical situation, but leaving them behind was against the creed of their comrades. Without vehicles available, the wounded were helped along, and in some cases carried out by their fellow soldiers. They all fought for their lives.

The Thang:  Mogadishu Mile

4 Rounds for time: thanks @Ginsu for noticing I left this vital piece off.

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Mole Skin:

This past Sunday in Church we looked at Mark 5:35 – 45.  The story takes place in the Decapolis region a group of cities that were very pagan.  It is the story of a man that was demon-possessed for years and he was uncontrollable.  The short shorts story is, when Jesus visits the area this man approaches Him and Jesus frees him and as a result, Jesus is immediately asked to leave.  As Jesus is climbing into the boat the man now free asks if he can go with Jesus.  Jesus tells him NO.

How many times has an answer to your prayer been what you feel is unanswered or maybe a flat out no and we wonder why would God do that?  In this case, Jesus tells him to stay and tell his story.  Remember the area is extremely pagan not a place friendly to anything holy or righteous.  Over Jesus’s remaining time on earth, He visits the region two more times.  On the second visit there is a small group of people that come to hear Him and follow him.  The 3 visit is one of the times He feeds 4000.  Now the Bible does not come out and say what happened but I wonder if this man sharing his story is what led to so many people ultimately coming out to hear Jesus teach and many of those follow Him.

So when we get a “no” it may just be that God has a bigger plan.  We all have stories to share even if we think we don’t.  Stories of how we have benefited from F3 and more important stories of how has been at work in each of our lives.  We need to share those stories, there is ALWAYS a bigger picture and we never know how God may use our story to accomplish His story.

As always, it was an honor to serve and work alongside you men this morning.

Hot Mic out.