Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement over the past couple of months during my surgery recovery. I have officially been cleared from all of my restrictions and am back at almost "normal" speed again. I still have physical therapy that takes some time, but it is minimal. We are ramping up all of our chaplaincy activities and planning as we prepare for the Fall season. 

Before I was released for driving a few weeks back, I was blessed to have some officers and chaplains come by the house to "release me from house arrest," at least that is what it felt like. We were able to catch up and almost be normal, even if I couldn't turn my head. They all got a good laugh "with" me, but in all seriousness, it was a blessing to be with everyone and get out a little. 

I have devoted much of my last month on building systems and preparing many details for our Fall activities. While many of my fellow chaplains prefer not do many of the administrative tasks, God has given me the ability to organize things intuitively and efficiently which removes a lot of the burden off my fellow chaplains. This has also continued to help Serving the Shield grow across the country. 

Now that I am back to driving, I am back at the agencies and getting back into routines again. I am grateful to be back in the patrol cars and briefings. 

On a sad note, we had to say goodbye to our dog Aspen. She developed cancer over the past few years and things has progressed where she was not comfortable any longer. We had a great 13 years with her and were blessed to have her as part of the family. 

If you would like to join our prayer and financial team, please click on the link below and select Give to Chaplain Travis Akins from the dropdown. 

Serving The Shield / Rocky Mountain Police & Fire Chaplains Update
This Fall we are gearing up to lead trainings across the country. We currently have trainings on the books for Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, and are in the planning process for Michigan, Missouri, and potentially others. We are excited to see how God continues to open doors and provide support for our responders. 

We had a Firefighter fall during a training exercise and it caused significant injuries. Please be in prayer for his recovery and his peers who treated him at the accident. 

We also lost another firefighter from injuries sustained about a month ago at a wildfire in western Colorado. 

We have chaplains supporting these teams and families. Please be in prayer for all those engaged. 

Please be in prayer for these upcoming trainings/events:

Chaplain Essentials Training (Wyoming) - Sept 18-19
Chaplain Essentials Advanced Training (Wyoming) - Sept 19
Struggle Well Exec Leadership Training - Sept 22-23
Basic Chaplain Training (Colorado) - October 9-10
Marriage Retreat - Oct 16-18
Two-Day Advanced Training (Colorado) - Nov 13-14
Chaplain Basic and Advanced Training (Arizona) - Nov 17-19
FEMA Courses - Self Paced
STS Annual Conference - April 21, 2027
STS One Day Advanced Training - April 22, 2027