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                                                          365 Days of Progress

 

December 19th 2024 may be an insignificant day to most but for a small community in central Kansas it marks a day of loss, tragedy and community support. A local farmer, born and raised in Abbyville Kansas ventured away from home and lost his way. Gary Foster was a man of routine and discipline but in his later years his mind started to alter his way of life. On this day only a year ago his usual morning stroll instead started in the early hours of the evening and darkness and confusion soon enveloped him. 

 

Family, friends, neighbors and law enforcement searched endlessly for nearly 5 days before he was finally found. The small town community was woven even tighter as we saw strangers come together to bring a lost man home. The impact from those long cold December days lingered within some of those diligent searchers.  The love and outreach from across the county sparked a desire to want to give back. 

 

January brought a new year and a fresh opportunity to share the idea that had been stirring in our hearts. Ideas of a search and rescue group started floating across kitchen tables and through casual conversations over coffee. As the month went on the conversation grew and soon a date was set and invitations were cast out to meet and discuss this new found mission. Without a second thought all hands were in and everyone agreed that they wanted to try to make something positive out of this recent tragedy.

 

The Thirteen talented people that sat around the conference room held a variety of skill sets yet none of them had ever started a non-profit organization before. Therefore brainstorming began. What kind of group were we wanting to create? What would be our purpose and our goals? It did not take long to agree that we wanted an organization that would work alongside existing emergency programs to help locate and rescue missing persons. With extensive training and a declaration of our faith to back us during missions. 

 

The start up process of any great idea can seem messy in the beginning. There seems to be a dozen tasks all needing accomplished at once and for a few months the team felt a bit lost in all the overwhelming details. But thankfully we had a team member that was able to bring us back together to focus on what really matters. Our most enlightening meeting on May 22nd brought us the creation of our mission statement. 

 

We seek to bring Jesus' love to hurting people by being present in crisis, facilitating community and providing skilled search and rescue services

 

The first and perhaps the most influential decision made as a team was the decision to nurture our little seed of an idea and watch it grow little by little. When fronted with the option to join an existing emergency response team we explored the idea, discussed it and prayed about it for weeks but ultimately we found that we wanted to create something new and grow as a team alongside our new organization. That is when you could say that the real work began.

 

Newton’s second law of motion states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it. Metaphorically the passion of this group was the force needed to get the ball rolling in a beautiful direction and the progress was accelerating rapidly. We had a goal to finalize the organization, start acquiring gear and introduce Seek1 to our community as soon as possible.

 

In July we established some structure by appointing team officers. Our President Doug Yutzty, Vice President Andy Bontrager, Secretary Alex Miller, Treasurer Caleb Roper and our two training officers Nick Gingerrich and Grant Bontrager.  The additional acting board members naturally fell into positions like equipment manager, media manager and Fundraising committee. 

 

After countless applications and emails Seek1 became an official non-profit and we could present our hard work to our community. On September 20th Seek1 made its debut. It was an incredible evening filled with information, community, good food and great music. We were honored to have guest speakers from local law enforcement and live music from the local band Close to Land. 

 

Our next step is to bring in others that are just as passionate about our cause as we are. We had an abundance of people interested in joining Seek1, whether it was to become a trained and active member, a volunteer searcher or someone to be the extra hands and hearts behind the scenes. The process is officially underway to grow the Seek1 group and continue our training. There are big plans in store and so much to learn. It has been so exciting to watch this whole thing unfold so far and the best part is, that this is just the beginning. 

 

Almost a complete year later our group finds themselves in a situation similar to where it all began. Searching the Kansas countryside in the dry, cold December air. On December 11th we were called out to assist in the search of a missing man in Sedwick County. Even though we are all facing bouts of deja-vu, we are thankful that all our hard work has prepared us for this search and any search that may come later on. The search for Ian Shelton is still in progress and we are praying that Seek1 can help bring this man home. If you or anyone you know are passionate about helping find the lost. Please reach out and see how you can best become a part of our mission. 

 

With holidays right around the corner we ask you to pray for those families that have experienced the grief and uncertainty of lost loved ones and hold your family close this season.  Please pray for volunteers and searchers as we continue to comb through the land and thank you for supporting us as Seek1 grows and develops.