Thankful

I can count on one hand the number of times that I have been scared on a plane. Nervous, yes....jittery...sometimes....but almost never scared.

Last night, I was afraid. I was so excited to come home from South Africa. We had a really productive and FUN time in Durban with new friends Merieke, Mary and others. However, after traveling for a month, I was just excited to get back home and be in cell phone range again. I confess that much of that is because I want to be back in contact with my team members from TOUR A. Anyway, once on the plane, they told us that the flight would be 15 hours and 45 minutes. I was shocked! That is by far that longest flight I have ever been on.

Once we were in the air, it became very clear that it was not going to be a restful flight. We were in the last row and there was so much turbulence that we were literally shaking for about 14 hours. There were moments where the jolting was so strong that I would wake up from a shallow sleep and pray until I could drift back off. They changed altitude several times, but apparently the Atlantic Skies were not happy to have us.

I am SO happy to be back in the states. When we landed in Atlanta, I said "THANK YOU JESUS"...out loud. Troy just nodded. I don't think he was able to doze very much. I know for certain that God is not finished with us yet! We could have been fishy food in the middle of the ocean, but God brought us back to earth. ;-)

Perhaps it is so that I will still be around when my Cub (Amanda Sanders) moves to Denver in January?! There is a plan...I know it!

Blessed to be alive!!! ;-)

South Africa

No matter how much I travel, I find delights wherever I go! We arrived in Durban, South Africa on Monday afternoon and we were greeted by Edmund and Preethiek. They were HILARIOUS!! They took us to our favorite place in SA....Kauai!!!! OH MAN!!! This place has the BEST smoothies!! We were SO excited to have our African favorites! (We discovered this place when we were stuck in the Johannesburg airport in February. We decided that Tambo International Airport has the best food court in the world.) ;-)

We arrived at the Church complex and were greeted by Mary, Jasmine, Merieke, and Auntie. They have taken care of us so well, and Troy has been in constant banter with Mary since we arrived.

Yesterday, we visited the primary school on the edge of Bottlebrush. This is the slum that most of the feedings and outreach take place in. We met with the Principal of the school who invited us to do whatever we wanted. Then, we went to the University to check out the gym. We reserved the gym for the camp next summer.

Today, we had to the honor of preparing and then taking meals to the children in Bottlebrush. I have seen a lot of poor in my time, and this place is definitely a slum. We gave the children a meal and then walked around a bit to get a feel for the place. I was so taken with the way that they live life. You cannot walk into a place like this and NOT be touched. We have SOOOO much! I left feeling truly blessed.

The Kids waiting to receive their small meal.

The mall overlooks the slum. Kind of ironic.... There are government housing dwellings that are pretty structurally sound. However, mixed in among them are shacks that are crudely built and pretty unstable. If you look in the background of this picture, you can see some of the shacks.

France

Guebwiller, France

God is so good. We arrived in the quiet little town of Guebwiller on Saturday night and just finished our camp today. The guys finished tour with a 3-1 record in games and the girls went 4-0. So proud of all of them and their GREAT attitudes. I TRULY have never led a better team!!!

Sunset above the mountains

One of the Side Streets in Guebwiller

Ball Handling Station

Rebounding Station

Sharing our Stories

The camp in France

Our girls team after the game that they scored 100 points in!!!

There it is Folks!!! In living color!!

Grace

"My GRACE is sufficient for you. For MY power is made perfect in weakness."

Over the last few months, I have recognized my weakness more than ever. No one is perfect. NO matter how many years you have been a Christian, no matter how long you have been in ministry. We all NEED God. We ALL have moments of weakness when our flesh takes over and we make mistakes that feel unforgivable.

Our response is the catalyst that sends us deeper into despair OR catapults us into the wonder of Grace.

I have recently been thrust into the chasm of God's grace. I do NOT deserve it because I was a BRAT all summer. I responded to my circumstances out of woundedness and selfishness and found myself in need of repentance and a swift kick of correction. I repented, and GRACE came in....Literally.....Like a FLOOD. I am overwhelmed by all that God has responded with.

Our tour team is a BLESSING beyond my ability to describe. Their respect for their leaders is unsurpassed. Their love for each other is like I have never seen, and their willingness to be teachable and CHOOSE the right thing is a wonder. I have never led a team like this in all of my years of being in ministry. They are a GIFT from the LORD. There is no other explanation.

Our week in Romania was great!! We had 88 kids overall. About 3/4 of them indicated that they wanted to receive Christ at the end of camp. We are BLESSED!!!! The YWAM Cluj staff were amazing once again, and we enjoyed our time there immensely!!!! Troy and Amanda did AMAZING as the commissioners for the gyms, and the team gave all they had to make the week amazing!!

We were able to relax on Friday in Budapest, and then traveled for 14 hours yesterday to arrive in France. This morning we participated in a church service here and look forward to our second camp starting tomorrow.

Here are some pictures to give you an overview:

(The camp in Romania)

(Crossover Champion Angie Al-Shaar- NBA Gym)

(Crossover Champion Raul- NCAA Gym)

(Signing Autographs....Haha!!! Who would've thought??)

(Julia LOVED Spradley!!! The little ones called him "Sparkley" ;-) )