Homeward Bound!

Hello from Amsterdam! I have been in this airport in the Netherlands I think 4 or 5 times now, never seen the city, but have sat in this airport a few times. It looks like a great place from the sky. A lot of green and a lot of water.
Well, my trip around the world is almost over. We actually did go around the world this trip with a flight West all the way. From Houston to Detroit...then West to Manila, KL Malaysia, Jakarta, Joburg, S.A. and Cape Town, S.A.
From there to here in Amsterdam and in a couple hours on westward to Houston. I have several more photos to post and some comments about the Cape of Good Hope. We took a final trip down to the bottom of Africa and saw both the Indian & Atlantic Oceans, took pictures of a lot of penguins and some more baboons doing their thing in the midle of the street.
I can't post the photos from here and need to grab a quick bite before my flight out of Amsterdam at 2:40pm for an arrival in Houston at 6:25pm.
Look for a few more posts, including the "move"to Dripping Springs from Sugar Land next week.

Cape Town, South Africa

As I have said previously, Cape Town, South Africa is a beautiful City. On the bottom tip, SouthWest side of South Africa it is located. The bay is in front of you, some mountains, Signal Hill, Table Mountain & Lion Head are behind you and just on the other side of the mountains is the Indian Ocean. There is a colony of Penguins not far from here. I think some of the team has gone down there. I probably should have gone, but wanted to catch up on some rest and some posting and emails. I head out tomorrow night late, 11:35pm from Cape Town for my trip to Amsterdam and a 4 hr layover for my flight to Houston, Texas.

It has been a long trip, seems like a lot longer, and will be glad to get home, but will not forget some people on the trip and the students across this part of the world.

Cape Town Rocks!

What a beautiful Country, South Africa. The last event of Leg 2 has ended and it has been a blast. We have completed the last of leg 2, but God can and will continue to work in His way and His time to His glory. We may have finished, but His work will go on.
The kids of South Africa and the wolrd have rocked the "blog" world. We now know where the internet is more popular than in Ameirca that is for sure. I think in the States, the largest number of blog responses was maybe 200; it has increased from 450 in Manila to 1000 in Johannesburg and Cape Town will most likely surpass that number. I hope you have read some of the student blogs; I have not yet, but will when I return. Cape Town was left with the challenge of praying for and keeping their wrist bands on until October when Mexico City becomes the next destination of the World Tour.
The students were challenged to live a life that makes a difference; to live a life that shouts back to the world in everything they say and do for "one" purpose. To live a life that "shines" the light back on the One who made the world. To live a life for one purpose no matter what.

Oh well, I hope to see some more of the City of Cape Town tomorrow, actually it is 1:00am Thursday morning now, so it is time for some rest. I am sure I will make a few more posts before I hibernate until Ocotber for the final Leg 3.
That final leg begins in Mexico City for a 2 day event; then to Vancouver, CA; Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and finishing up in Sydney, Australia. So, if anyone wants to be a part of the Tour, look up the dates and come and be a volunteer and experience some of the excitement.

I will post some more photos in the next 12 hours.

Cape Town Preparation

Tuesday, August 12, 2008,

After a good nights rest we visited the venue today. It is a veladrome, a bicycle racing arena where the track is sloped in an oval/circle shape and the "infield" is where the stage and the chairs will be placed and a few sections of chairs in the outer ring. It is a venue that could have been nice if it would have been finished and maintained. Apparently, they were hoping to get the 2012 Olympics and when they did not, they never finished or maintained the building.

But, the city of Cape Town is beautiful and I had time to visit the top of Signal Hill to look out over the Cape and the City. Some beautiful shots that I posted only a few with this posting. I finally quit waiting on help from someone else and figured it out for myself since I had some time on how to add some photos to the blog, which I am sure everyone is very pleased, finally. I hope you enjoy "some" of the more than 400 pictures I have taken thus far. Not as many as last time for sure, but I had a lot of help last tour.

Anyway, the last event of this Leg II of the Tour is tomorrow night and I head home Thursday night at 11:35pm and arrive home Friday evening. I fly from Cape Town to Amsterdam, seems I have been there a few times before as a stopping station to somewhere else quite often. It will definitely be good to get home...so I can help my wife, who has been slaving at home trying to take care of things there, get us all packed and moved to Austin (Dripping Springs, TX).

Another post will be sometime Thursday my time, about the event here in Cape Town, S.A. Let me say now, if there is a place I want to return to of all the places so far, it is South Africa. It is much like Texas with friendly people, good food and a wide variety of animals, even bigger than Texas, sorry Texas people.

Safari to Final Stop, Cape Town, South Africa

It seems like we have been on the road for weeks or longer, but it has only been two weeks today. A lot has happened and we will never know the impact on students lives across the globe. According to the blog, there is no shortage of enthusiasm and excitement for what the students have experienced so far.
The SAFARI was very relaxing and refreshing, even if we had to get up before dawn for the sunrise trip. The BIG FIVE is always the goal on the safari's, and we did get to see them all. They split us into three trucks of about 8 persons each...and we seemed to have the most sightings of any of the Big Five. The Big Five for those who may not know are; Elephant, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Rhinocerous & Leopard. The leopard & lion being the hardest apparently. We also saw many of the other favorites as well, mine the Hyenna. We saw plenty of monkeys, baboons, deer/antelope, crocodiles, giraffe's and others. The rules of the safari are clear. We drive mostly on dirt roads looking for sightings. You can NEVER get out of the vehicle or even have your arms dangling out of the vehicle. Some of the animals have gotten use to vehicles and see them as an inanimate object and do not regard them as anything. However, when they see a person, it is a different story. They become very agitated and aggressive for the most part.

To view what it really like, animals that do not care about vehicles and how they hunt and walk right by the vehicles: Go to You Tube and watch this Video that a tourist made that National Gepgraphic has made into a show: Type in "Kruger Battle" and be amazed!

We saw that in two experiences. We were parked at a clearing with a small stream in front of us and a female lioness across the way and there was a foreign couple of guys next door outside their vehicle changing a tire. The female lion became very agitated as she intently watched them. Our guid said she was becoming very agitated and could be across the stream in a couple seconds.
The second time was at the lone spot where we could get out of the vehicle where there were hugr rocks and a plaque where the park, Kruger National Park, was dedicated. We were taking some photos and had been there about 10 minutes when as we were taking pictures a young female elephant approached and came right for us. The guides got us into the vehicles quickly and the elephant moved right to the spot we were and stood there like she was saying get out of here, this is my place.
Anyway, we saw a severl lions that had made a kill the day before and was tearing the skin from a huge buffalo. The lioness had two cubs and we finally saw the huge male laying down in the background sleeping. He was huge. We saw plenty of elephants, all up close and personal. The rhinos were seen late at night after sunset and right in the road in front of us. The leopards were the toughest and most exciting to see. Our truck got to see them twice up close and personal due to good eyes in the truck. We called the other trucks, but it seemed like they always arrived a little late. As you can tell it was very exciting and relaxing to be able to unwind a little bit to get ready for the last event in Cape Town.
It has been a thrilling ride thus far and knowing that God is working in His own way and time is rewarding enough. Well, we have arrived in Cape Town and have a couple days here to get ready for last event and then 1 day afterwards to recover before I head home via Amsterdam to Houston.

Dubai to Johannesburg, S.A.

Well, it has been a long couple of days, but I finally got to unpack my suitcase here in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a 36 hr day from Jakarta to Singapore after that 3 hr layover and the 6 hr layover in Dubai and the the 10 hr plane ride to Johannesburg. But, I am recovered and rejuvenated as I sit in the venue for "JoBurg" on Friday night about 9pm local time. We have about finished up and ready for a full day, 3 Sessions tomorrow and are expecting a "sold out" venue for 6500 Students.

To back up a minute to our trip through Dubai. Since it was a 6 hour layover, several of us went through Immigration and took a trip through Dubai. What a city. We had a friend of someone in the tour who is living here take us out for a couple hours around the city. He said 40 years ago everything was nothing but desert. Just desert tents and camels. Today, mostly because of the Oil, the city has more money than it knows how to spend and it is a beautiful and very clean city. Everything was new. There was of course no building over 40 years old and most were 10 years or newer. New roads and beautiful scenery. They are even making small islands to put some additional buildings on. It was well worth the trip into town to see the sights. We went by the hotel where Tiger Woods always stays and hits golf balls off the roof into the Gulf.

The trip to JoBurg was uneventful and I was able to sleep and dream about the Safari they will take us on on Sunday & Monday after the event all day Saturday.

It has been a fantastic experience of new sights, cities, countries, people and food, as well as see God work in amazing ways and the excitement of the students around the world to come and here Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall & Steve Fee. There haven more blogs to the 268generation.com sight than ever before and the kids have been amazing in wanting to see change on their campuses. The "Ashley" story has been dynamic and well received.

Stuck In Singapore! Cool!

Well, I am currently in the Singapore Aiport, with a 3 hr layover, for a trip to Dubai, for a 6 hr layover. All this happened, the first time on the World Tour, because of a Typhoon in Hong Kong where we were heading after the Jakarta Passion Event was completed. Our flight from Jakarta to Hong Kong was cancelled, so we were at the Jakarta airport form several hours trying to re-arrange 25 people's itinerary. I watched the "Hurricane" heading towards Houston but did not see what it did.

Anyway, Thanks Lindsey for the post, at least I know someone is reading them.

Well, JAKARTA PAssion went off without a hitch. It was an "old" venue and kind of a dump. But, you do not need a nice place to have a great time or for God to work. The venue was changed 5 days before we arrived because it was not big enough. There were about 7,000 kids at this one and they were excited to be there. There were cats all over the venue running around under the stage. I was a little worried about this one, from a Security standpoint, being in the middle of Indonesia where so many terrorists come from and a strong Muslim population. So, I had a bomb squad out to do some inspections along with their dogs. As I thought about it, I realized I was having a Muslim bomb squad check out the venue for us. Oh well, that is what faith is all about. Do all we can and leave the rest to God. Actually, I got to know the Captain of the bomb squad so well, giving him a USA Police patch usually does the trick. He was so interested in US Police stuff, by the end of the night he had given me his "Special Forces" Police hat and a medal of his off his chest. Pretty cool. I did get some pictures and they might get posted in S. Africa, sorry, but they will be here, sooner or later.

So, there is more that I will put on this post, but wanted to get this out before this computer runs out on me and I lose what I have typed. Some interesting things I want to share, but I am definitely hitting some Countries I never dreamed of being in, even if it is only at the airports. Things are going well and God has used this to do some things we will never know. Each city posts more blogs than the last one. Go to 268generation.com to see some of them. I have not been able to even do that yet. Well, at least when we finally get to S. Africa I will be able to "unpack" my suitcase. Then the SAFARI! We are all excited about that! But, it is cold in S. Africa, but the heat we have had so far, we are ready for some cold weather.
I told you there was one additional post Louie has shared about the "Ashley" Story. Now, that he has the "original" journal sent by her dad and brother, Jacob for Louie's birthday, he has read post from April 28th...the LAST post in the journal. It says...oops, time running out, sorry, got to go.
Later!

Back to Back to Back (Not Home Runs)

Monday Evening, August 4th, 5:55pm

Looking at my last post...we had just arrived in KL, Malaysia. Well, just 2 days later, we have already left KL and just arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia. So, you get the picture these first 4 days have been a whirlwind of packing, preparing and finishing the event, sleep (if you can, I have not) and packing again. Actually, I have not unpacked my suitcase yet. Just open it and pull 1 thing out and leave it packed.
Anyway, back to Manila for just a second. To leave Manila, we had to pay $750 Pesos to get out of the country. That equals about $20 USD, but everyone leaving has to pay that, so quite the economic stimulus for the Government.
Well, the venue in KL was great and quite the improvement from Manila. The Country Team people had a great group of people and it went well, Secuirty wise. I will get to the Hotel and hopefully have some photos up in the next day or two, but the Venue was at the hotel in a big ballroom type area. The Hotel was attached to a "shopping" mall, with an ice skating rink and a "Water Theme Park" that was to die for. A wave pool, cable line swing or drop into the pool. A "long" walking bridge across the whole area. Of course, I only know this from taking pictures from a "distance". The closest I got was the window from the venue, where I took the pictures from. No time available to shop or enjoy.
Charlie Hall's Band and guys got there a day early and had some time to look around. They are a great bunch of guys that are really great to be around and so down to earth. Two of them are having babies in the fall, so they will not make the 3rd Leg. Too bad.
The night went very well, again 1 big ballroom makes security and offering much easier. I also had a young Ft. Worth PD officer there and I had him help with the offering, which allowed me to breathe a little easier in worrying about that while at the same time I have to get the band guys and Louie back to Hotel, with 4000 kids standing around the mall. So, we had to take an adventure through the basement of the mall in a smelly and stinky loading and garbage dump area and find our way through a maze of doors so as not to have to walk through the mall with all the kids. The price of being a celebrity. Anyway, it worked out pretty well. I found a path where we came out real close to the hotel and only had to make a short dash to the hotel through the last part of the mall. The event itself went great with some rowdy kids from Malaysia. I guess you guys could listen to "some" of the talk on Louie's podcast from each event. Just go to 268generation.com and look for the live podcasts.
Ok, so we got out of KL pretty fast with about 30 of us tromping through the airports and Customs, always a treat, and on to the plane for only a short flight from KL to Jakarta, Indonesia. The largest Muslim population in the world. Christianity is pretty much frowned or disdained upon may be a harsher word. I am getting ready to go see the venue, which is a story in itself. They had to change venues last Sunday...that is a last minute change which is not a good thing. But, the last one had some issues, plus it was not big enough as there was not enough room for all the students that have signed up.
Attendance in these Muslim Countries so far: Manila, not a Muslim country: 8,000;
KL, Malaysia, 4,000; Jakarta, 6,500 registered already.
So, let me sign off for now, get some food and my normal 3-4 hrs sleep and get back with you when we are heading to "Joburg" Johannesburg, SA.
Pictures to be posted very soon, I think.
I hope I am not missing anything you want to know. If so, let me know in the comments section. The reaction from the students has been fantastic. They have posted more responses, which I have not seen yet, than any event before. Manila apparently had more than 300 responses the day after the event.

KL - Malaysia Arrival

Well, a long day has ended and we have just arrived in "KL" Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am dead tired. Some of the crew went out to Tony Romo's to eat as we were all pretty hungry, however, I am dead tired, I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me. Seems I wake up automatically at 6:15am every morning...even when I got to bed at 1:30-2:00am the previous night. Oh well, just arrived and the event is tomorrow. We have to get up early and will be there late tomorrow and then be heading for Jakarta, Indonesia the next day.
These countries are all very strict Muslim. They look down and restrict Christianity at all levels. So, it will be a challenge.
Got to get some rest.

MANILA Students on FIRE!

WOW! Probably an overused phrase, I am sure, but the kids of Manila were dyn-o-mite! The venue was pretty sad, maybe one of the worst I have ever seen. They had very few, only 2 exit points from the floor. I had them open a couple gates and put stairs in front of them to allow students to get up and out in an emergency. But, when I walked away they took them away and kept locking the gates. So, there were two exits off the floor and there were 2000 people in that area. I know now why you hear of 1000 people dying in a fire in places like this. They also kept locking doors all around the building when everyone got inside. They said it was a "control" issue. I said it was a fire trap. (Could have used another "security" person). However, we got by with no problems and the kids were Brazil-Like. What I mean is they did not want to quit singing and started their own song when the band was through. They were wild and energetic, so full of life, yet very respectful.

There is a semi'additional twist to the "Ashley" Story for thos who know it. For Louie's birthday, 3 weeks ago, The father of Ashley sent him the "original" journal/diary, which had a few more details that we heard. So, the father of Ashley seems to be "softening" or at least not hardening his heart to the message.

Well, it is 0100 hrs here on Saturday morning. We fly out Saturday, today, for Kaula Lampur, Malaysia. So, for now, I sign off. I apologize for no pictures yet, I hope to remedy that, but have had little time to take many pictures. It has rained the entire time since we have been here in Manila.