Rach and I are heading off in the morning for a 4 day hike in the Drakensberg mountains. The Management Committees from this coming years teams are going along with a guide and a member of the office staff. We will do some team building exercises and a lot of walking. Its going to be great. I will get some pictures up with when we get back. Cheers.
Chris
Merry Christmas!!!
Rachel and I are enjoying our day before we get back to training in a few days. We woke up and had a great pancake breakfast and are going to go to a movie this afternoon (I love going to the movies on Christmas). I would give up the movie though to watch some football though. Oh well.
Last night we went with some friends to a small methodist church on the outskirts of Jo'burg for a Christmas service. It's funny that we love this little church because if you can think of the stereotypical traditional church, this is it. Full of old people and lame music, but there is something about the preacher that draws us there. He is this down to earth guy that speaks so beautifully about God in a way that is not flashy or trying to be a rock star or anything else that makes churches so cheesy. He said something that was great. He said that Christianity isn't about trying to morally superior to everyone in the world or being arrogant about having some understanding about God, rather Christianity is just about accepting the gift of love, forgiveness and healing from God. It was simple and great. I needed to hear that. It's so easy for me to make God and Christianity my "work", but it was good for me to hear that God loves me enough to come to Earth and die for me. Because he loves me, that's all.
Merry Christmas.
Chris
I have never really been a huge fan of county music. I have lied many times and said that I hate it, but honestly while I'm not a huge fan, there are times when it's ok to listen to a little country (however, it is never acceptable at weddings when there is a slot in the program where the brides cousin gets up and sings some sappy country song while we awkwardly all stare at the two folks getting married as they just lit a unity candle and are making little chit chat and secrets which I can only assume are about sex or how crazy their parents are acting).
Anyways. Tonight I came home and started singing a mid 90's country song called "That Ain't My Truck". I don't know where it came from or how it was raised from the depths of my mind, but it was there and it made me laugh. It made me laugh on 2 levels: 1-It's a stupid song about a guy who goes to his girlfriends house and find a different truck in her driveway, sad I know. 2-I love the image of some redneck hick in the mid 90's driving around in his 4x4 crying and singing this song over and over while it plays on repeat in his cd player. I mean come on that's funny. Stupid hick. Hahahahahaha. Try to find the song, its really great. Perfect for karaoke. Cheers.
Chris
For you who didn't know Rachel collects fingernail clippers. Not just normal ones, but collector clippers. She counted them today and she has over 80 pairs of clippers. They break down into different groups: American Cities and States, Foreign Cities and Countries, Pictures (which are nail clippers with different pictures such as butterflies, sunsets or bass fish) and Novelty (which are clippers that are shaped and look like something else, like a ladybug, violin, alligator or race car (thanks Sean Ihrig). Just thought I would let you know. Cheers.
Chris
Right after it gets dark there has been a storm rolling in over the past few nights. I don't know if its the change in temperature after a really hot day, or some change in atmospheric pressure that I can't feel, but Guinness gets really excited. She comes alive and starts acting crazy, goes outside and runs around and starts barking at everything. I think she is trying to scare off the coming storm. However, a dog can fight as hard as he or she wants, but nothing that dog can do can stop the storm.
In life there many storms that attack and many times we fight and fight against them, but they still come. It can be an accident that cripples someone, a divorce, a cheating spouse, a best friend dies, cancer. Thats life. It's not pretty, but it's life. As humans another thing that we seek is someone to blame and many times that blame gets put on God. As a christian and more than that, as an "ordained minister" I feel people look to me and expect me to be able to have all the right answers, but what I have come to realize is that there are not clear answers to all life's questions. The other thing that I am learning now as I get older is that I don't have to have all the right answers. If I don't know, I don't know and thats fine, because that uncertainty is part of life as well. It just breaks my heart when people hate God because they have unanswered questions about life. And the more we chase these questions, that have no answers the more it's like we are barking at the storm.
Man, I wish I knew everything. Because I would write a book that everyone would buy and I would be rich and have a helicopter and a custom chopper built on the Discovery Channel with an airbrushed picture of my book on the gas tank, but I don't. I am just an ordinary guy who hopes that everyone realizes that there is a God and decides to live their life for God. I don't think it right for people to be to stop asking questions, but there just are some huge "I don't knows" out there and It's in those "I don't knows" that we see that there has to be something bigger than us, something with the answers. Just thinking. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I were watching a TV show, Grey's Anatomy, tonight and the show is set in Seattle. There was a closing shot where 2 of the characters were in a park walking on a pine straw path within a maze of towering pine trees. It was beautiful. I love the that area of America. When we were touring with Traveling Mercies we performed at an even in Portland, OR each year and I must say those trips to Portland were always a highlight for me. The scenery, the people, the city, the mass transit system, the coffee, it's a fantastic place. If you ever have the opportunity to visit that area I highly recommend it. From Oregon up to Seattle and onward to Vancouver. I would love a chance to go back sometime. I hope that becomes a reality sometime. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel and I bought a Christmas tree last year to decorate our house. It wasn't a typical green tree, it was a Christmas tree shape made out of sticks and twisted twigs, really cool. Well, when we got back from Europe we were going to get the old tree out, but noticed something strange. Our Christmas tree is being hollowed out by termites. If you listen closely you can hear them eating away. So needless to say the tree is going out with the trash tomorrow (Tuesday is trash day for us here if you had ever thought to yourself, 'I wonder when Chris and Rachel Holohan's trash day is?'). So no Christmas tree this year, maybe next year. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel and I bought our first TV today. We got a Christmas present from a host family that we stayed with in London and used the money to get a TV. It's nothing fancy, but It's a ton better than what we had. We were borrowing this little bitty TV from a friend that we work with and you couldn't plug a DVD player up to it, so it wasn't the entertainment hub of the home. So anyways just thought I would express my excitement. I can finally play my Playstation that has been collecting dust. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel is sleeping on the floor next to me as we sit waiting during our 7 hour lay over in Dubai. We landed about 3am and are leaving at 1015. Then it's a 8 hour trip and we are home. I can't wait.
This Airport is more like a mall than an airport, but that doesn't make 7 hours shorter. I think I am going to pull up some rug next to Ray and catch a few zzzz's before our flight. A guy that looks just like Borat walked by a few seconds ago. Oh well. Cheers.
Chris
This will be my last blog from Europe. Rachel and I are leaving tomorrow to go home and will arrive in Jo'burg Thursday afternoon. Please pray we have safe travels and things go smoothly at the airport. This has been a great mission trip and I am so glad we were asked to be a part. Cheers.
Chris
Friday night was our last show. The crowd received it well and I think the team did a great job with the pioneer tour into Europe. Rach and I have a few days off before we fly home, we can't wait to see Guinness. If you have any questions about the tour please feel free to email me. Thanks again for all who financially and prayerfully supported us on this mission trip. Cheers.
Chris
One of the really difficult things about working with C-Kruis is that we are so far away from friends and family and it's especially hard around Christmas. I was thinking today that a couple of months ago Rach and I were trying to get home this year for Christmas. It was a really hard decision to not go to the States, but there was just no money for a trip now. It's tough. For me it's been a year and 3 months since I left and it would be nice to see family and friends, but soon enough.
Rach and I are planning on going home in June. Rachel's sister is getting married and it happens to be in my hometown, so it seemed wise to wait for then to go visit because all our family will be in one place at the same time. Please pray for Rach and I to get that extra money for the trip. It will be about $3000 just for the plane tickets. I really would love if someone knew someone that gets discounted tickets or works for an airline because I would love to go home more than once every year and a half. England is making me homesick a little too. Most everything here is how it is in the States and the things that are different are similar to South Africa. So, I am feeling a little homesick for both. Hope you have a great holiday season. Cheers.
Chris
One observation that I have made about Europe is that there is hardly ever a sunrise. The only thing that makes waking up when it is dark ok, is when you get to see the sun come up. On this tour and especially in Brussels I woke up while the sun was still down and what I noticed was, because of the cloud cover, it just gets light, as if there is a dimmer switch somewhere and over the span of a half an hour someone turns the knob slowly and there you have it, its day time.
I love sunrises. A few years ago Traveling Mercies spent a summer in Arizona and I would get up early to go mountain biking. Well, when I stepped out of the door of my house I could always see the first light of day peaking up over the horizon. It was beautiful.
Another thing I secretly love is getting up really early to go on a trip. I like to leave before the sun comes up so that you can enjoy the sunrise with a nice cup of coffee driving down the highway. I mean come on, thats great.
Oh well, sunrise of no, this tour so far has been great and we have seen some cool places and met some cool people. Even though it seems like there is a giant lamp shade of cloud cover over europe, its been amazing. Cheers.
Chris
We left Brussels yesterday for the journey back to London. We made it through customs fairly smoothly and after a long day we finally made it. Brussels was exhausting so we are taking today just to relax. It's raining outside, which I think is nice for a relax day, and Ray and I are about to get get some lunch. Hope you all have a great day. Cheers.
Chris
This week we have done a ton of work. From School shows during the day where we are up at 4am to night shows where we don't come home until 11 or 12. It has been a great week though and Brussels is a beautiful city.
Being in a city where I can't speak easily with people is tough. Many understand and can speak a little english, however most are french and can't speak english well. So one day after I got stuck trying to ask the man if there was jelly inside the pasty or if it was cream (turns out there was nothing inside, just bread) I started thinking about the language we speak as christians. We have a whole vocabulary that many people wouldn't really understand. We throw around words like worship, praise, psalm, trinity, blessed, holy, scripture, propitiation etc... and there are many people who understand as well as I understand french or they may recognize words like I do with Dutch, but can't full grasp what is being said.
I finished my work week here in Brussels by helping lead worship at a small new church that meets in a bar/cafe. It was a little weird because there were about 15 people who knew that church was going on and about 12 people who were trying to enjoy a drink, but didn't know that they were at church. (It felt a lot like FUEL's Red White and Brew fiasco). While we where sitting there and the leader guy with a trucker/bike mustache was talking about Psalm something something and Worship being a spiritual connection with God and I was wondering that if any of the people were listening at the tables would they understand what was being said. So I tried an experiment. When Thapelo (a girl from C-Kruis) and I got up to sing I tried to treat it like a concert because some of the people that didn't know they were at church turned to watch the "act". So I was talking about art and music and how every person is made with different needs and abilities like need for love and the ability to create. It would have been easier to say that we are created in the image of God, but I was trying not use Christianese. I have to say it was difficult and I failed, I reverted to some church words because I have never really thought out some of the concepts outside of the church vocabulary.
The night ended well. Thaps and I left right after we finished singing and one of the men (that didn't know he was at church) came and spoke with me to see if we were doing any more "concerts" in Brussels. He said that he liked what we did and his friends would love to hear us play more. It made me sad because if we were staying a few more days he would have a party and have us come play, it would have been a great way to meet some new people and probably get some free food.
I believe in God and that Jesus was God in the flesh and that he died for our sins so that we can believe in him and have eternal life. I want everyone to go to heaven. I hope at the end of life we see that everyone gets to go to heaven or that any one that believes anything (Jesus, Buddha, Yoga, Easter Bunny, Veganism) goes to heaven, but I don't think that will be the case. It makes me sad. It also makes me sad that a lot of people might not go to heaven because they didn't understand me when I say "Jesus died so that we can be washed in the blood" or any other common Christianese phrase and write Jesus off before learning the jive.
I pray the church here (and everywhere else for that matter) can learn to love and use a language of love that all can understand. It would be cool if we all go to heaven. Cheers (that means good bye [and thank you in England]).
Chris
Last night I really thought that I could be an actor in the movies. I was watching Jersey Girl and it's crap. My Noah from Revelatte was far from award winning, however I really think I have the chops to pull something like that. Oh well. Cheers.
Chris
Rach is part of a group that is dancing tonight at a function that I wasn't invited to. So I am at home relaxing and I found a fun website. Check it out. www.linerider.com
We received an email from a teenage girl that saw our Homecoming show in London. The show hits on the issue of pain and our reactions to the pain of life. The main character deals with her pain by cutting herself. Self injury is a growing problem where people of all age groups deal with emotional pain by some physical form (cutting, pulling out hair, scratching, biting, burning with cigarettes....). Well, this girl in London said that she has been cutting for a long time and didn't know that it was a thing that other people did. She said that the way we spoke on the issue really got her thinking and for the first time she isn't cutting and is dealing with her pain. Just wanted to pass that along. Cheers.
Chris
Today we worked with a church called The Well and they are 4 smaller groups that meet in separate places and once a month they have a large gathering for worship and teaching. C-Kruis did the worship and a dance during the gathering. We met on the top floor of a 4 story brewery/restaurant right on the Grande Place (pictured above), it was so really cool.
After the service my friend, Piet and I went out on the square and I played guitar while Piet made up songs in afrikaans and we danced and tried to earn a little extra Euros. Well, we gathered a crowd and started making jokes on people and there was a buzz growing in the crowd. Then the Brussels police showed up and informed us that we were not allowed to do that and we had to quit. So we picked up the shoe, that people threw money in, and everyone cheered, because people like seeing other people get in trouble with the police. We played for only 10 or 15 minutes and received 5 Euros. Not bad. Cheers.
Chris
Belgium is a country that speaks two languages, French and Femish, which is like Dutch, which is where Afrikaans comes from so I can read many of those signs and mildly understand when I hear it. However, Brussels is a French speaking city, so I can't speak to anyone. So here I am an American guy trying my best to speak Afrikaans in hopes that the person I am speaking to doesn't speak French, which they all do, who in turn hates me because I can't speak French like all people should be able to. I bought some waffles too. Cheers.
Chris
We left yesterday afternoon for Brussels from London. We took a bus from London and in Dover took the ferry across the English Channel to France, then we eventually made it to Brussels early this morning. It was a nice trip, 9 hours, but felt pretty quick. We worked all day and haven't seen anything yet, but I can't wait. I did see a prostitute in a window, but not the historic parts yet. We are showing at an arts festival tomorrow. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel and I are hanging out with our friends Flaps and Amanda at their friends house near London Bridge, it is a beautiful area. Rachel cooked us all supper and we are going to be just hang out tonight.
Rach and I moved host families for this week and we are staying in a home that doesn't have internet so I will not be able to blog much. I will try to get updates out when possible. Cheers.
Chris
Tonight's show went well. There were only about 25 people in the crowd, which was a little disheartening, but I think that some people were touched. I pray that they return for tomorrow night's show and bring friends with them. It was a long day and I am spent, the commute each way is about 1 1/2 and its wearing on me. Cheers.
Chris
We had a long day of rehearsals in preparation for our shows this weekend. We are showing Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the CCiL church in Hammersmith, which is in the south east part of London. Its a small venue, but I think it will work great. It's late and I am off to bed. Cheers.
Chris
It's a little cold and rainy today so I think I may do something I have not been able to do yet. I am going to starbucks and I am going to get myself a cup of coffee. I am so excited and I think it will serve it's purpose and make a cold, rainy London day a little better. I hope you all have a great day. Cheers.
Chris
We had our first 2 shows on Sunday night at the Stratford Old Town Hall theater. The crowd was small for both shows, but from what was said afterwards I think that people were touched. We are spending this week preparing for our shows Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Hammersmith at the CCiL church.
Most of the people on team moved host families this week. Last week Rach and I stayed with a great young couple from South Africa named Altus and Soleen. Today we moved further out of town to stay with a Annete and Buk. They are so nice. We have been blessed to stay with great people here in London.
Please keep praying for this tour. There are a lot of people in London that are broken hearted and have a lot of pain in their life. Our shows are touching on the pain and I think that we have a great message of hope that I want others to hear. My prayer is that they come and that we can do all we can to invite many people. Cheers.
Chris
When we were on the plane coming here I got up to use the bathroom. I stood, stretched and made my way, swaying as I walked. to the middle set of bathrooms. When I got there this little Asian woman shot out of the room and suprise me. I hate that feeling, like you are both about crash into one another. Typically when this happens my eyes get large, my pupils dialate and I juke to one side to avoid the colission. However, This time there was no way of avoiding contact and after we bumped into each other I did something I have never done before. I quickly said, 'uh, sorry' and then I bowed. I really did standing in a plane on its way to Dubai, I gave this little Asian woman a quick Mr. Miagi bow. I think it was just instict from too many movies, oh well. Sianara.
Chris
It is cheaper to travel around London if you start your day after 9:30. So we have been sleeping in and having really late starts to our day because it saves money. Well, today Adriaan and I have go fetch the van/truck so its up at 6:00 and on the tube by 8:00. The sun comes up later too. So I am sitting in the small flat, having my tea at 6:30 and its still dark. It's a beautiful, dark, cold London morning and I am a little nervous about getting the van and driving around the city, but it will be fine. Hope you day is well, please pray for us here. Our first shows are Sunday night. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Guys,
We had nothing to do today so Rachel and I woke up late. I awoke sick, but after throwing up I felt much better. My luggage is still not here so we went on a mission to find me a little bit of clothing. We found a couple of shops that had great deals so I got 2 t-shirt for £1 each (less that $4 total), one that says something about Italian soccer and another classy one that says Hawaii Copacabana. The deal of the day was the pair of Levis 501's that Rach found misplaced on the sale rack that were supposed to be £56 ($106) that we got for £8 ($15.20). I also found 2 pairs of boxers briefs thrown in a bin that the guy let us buy for £.75 ($1.35), I hope they didn't belong to anyone, they looked clean and anything is an improvement from my friend Piet's silky boxers that are a size too small (silky doesn't stretch, I could barely bend over). Tomorrow is another nothing day for us so we are going to see the lighting on the Christmas lights on Regent Street. Will try to get photos up. Cheers.
Chris
We made it here yesterday morning, hung out during the day and led worship at church last night. Then we met our host family and tood the train 'home'. Slept forever and now ready to wander our nighborhood. They lost my bag on the trip. Meaning I am typing this in my buddy Piet's underpants. Will write more when I know more. Cheers.
Chris
We are leaving this afternoon for London. The band plus Piet, the sound guy, and Rachel, my wife, are leaving today. We fly our to Jo'burg at 2:15 this afternoon and arrive sometime Sunday in the UK. We then rush to a church where we are leading worship at the evening service. I think that we are going to be dead tired, but oh well. I am going to be getting a SIM card for my cell phone when I get there. I will post the number when I get it.
For the trip I wanted to get a new hiking backpack. There are some good deals here where a great pack cost about $150. It's a lot of money, but will last. However due to there being no extra money for a new backpack, I got a old South Africa army backpack from 1984. It's not that nice, but it will do the trick. The other thing that made it a great offer was that it was 20 Rand. That comes out to a little less than $3. It ain't pretty, but holds stuff and thats the point.
Please pray for our trip and that there are now problems with customs. Can't wait to get there. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I have a chair in our bedroom. Its the chair that came in our second hand living room suite we bought last year when we moved in our house. Its a tannish color chair and isn't the most comfy thing in the world, but its mine and thats good enough for me.
Right now Ray is getting ready for the end of the year dine. Guinness is sitting on the futon mattress by our bedroom door, watching Rachel run around getting ready for the dine. And I am happily sitting in my chair in the corner of the bedroom with my feet propped up on the bed thinking, "I like my chair".
On tour I adapt very well to my surroundings. It doesn't bother me to stay at our host families homes and relax in their living room and sit in their chairs, but it's not mine. I don't even think about my chair when we are on tour, but when we get home the wonderful memories all come flooding back and its the first place my butt finds rest from the road.
So thats my chair. I'm still sitting in it now, if you were wondering, with my feet propped on the bed. Rachel is somewhere else in the house doing something else and Guinness has followed her. There is a lot I could be doing now. Getting ready for the dine tonight or packing for our trip to London tomorrow. But I think I will sit here a little longer and enjoy my home while I am still here. Cheers.
Chris
For you that don't know I grew up mostly with my aunt Pat. Growing up my mother and I had a bad relationship (which has become really good over the past few years) and when I was in jr high I moved out of my moms home and moved in with her sister Pat. For me Pat was a savior, she took me in and treated me as her own child and loved me as much a person can love another person. We were parent/child, but beyond that we were great friends.
Well, 3 years ago Pat died of cancer and I miss her so badly. I don't think there was a person who didn't like Pat or could say that she didn't make them feel special. Today will always be a sad day for me, but I know that she is much better now. I hope that I can be half the parent that she was to me. Cheers.
Chris
We are doing our last day of rehearsals today for the London/Brussels tour. Ray, the band/tech team and I are leaving Saturday and the rest of the team comes each day until Wednesday. Please pray for us for safe travel and for no problems with customs. We are still trying to raise extra money to cover the fee for the trip, if you are able to help please email me and I can get the information to you. Thanks.
Chris
It's my Nanny's birthday today. I love that her birthday is on Halloween, its so funny to me. Well, hope you all have a great day and Nanny, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Chris
I am a little pathetic at times. Ok, a lot of the time. I am a little afraid of everything, wear a mask to look like I am super confident. At the same time I am a little scared that people will see through my thin mask and realize that I am really just faking my way through life most of the time. Fake it till ya make it, right?
I would love to do adventure races, but since I hurt my knee a couple years ago on a frozen lake in Minnesota I am a little scared of the pain in my left leg.
I would love to be a "real" musician and have people hear the music that I write, but I am a little scared that people will find it to be total crap.
I would love to preach more, but I am a little scared that I will run out of stuff to say and that the stuff I do say will be uninspiring. And who wants that?
Why is it this way? Why am I full of doubt about myself these days? I work with a lot of 18 and 19 year olds and their self confidence oozes everywhere. When I was 18 I was so full of confidence in myself that I bordered on being an arrogant bastard. But today I just wear a thin, cracking mask of confidence to shield the fact that I feel utterly clueless.
In the States I would get upset at times when we would work a conference and there were special youth ministers that were treated as VIP's because they had a large youth group. I started thinking how we have become so arrogant in ministry that we have lost touch with the humble servant that we are to be serving. It had become about clothes and lights, stage presence and how much merch we moved. Of course Jesus was the reason we were doing what we were doing, but was it the main reason or did we want to be featured in a magazine or asked to perform with bigger christian celebrities?
I think the "biz" got to me and I wanted nothing more than to run away from that life. However, in my running I think that I ran so far past the world of humble confidence and into a world of self-hatred and insecurity. Brennan Manning writes in Ruthless Trust, "Humble men and women do not have a low opinion of themselves; they have no opinion of themselves.". In my insecurity, I am just as focused on myself that if I wanted everyone one to see how great I was.
I want to be a man that does great things for God and if the things I do aren't great, well at least I gave it a hell of a try. I no longer want to be a scared little boy crying at day care watching his mother drive away. I want to do my best all the time and if people don't like it, oh well, it's not for them anyway. I want to run the race, write the song, and inspire the masses. I want to get off my lazy butt and make the most of this life that I am faking my way through right now. Most of all I want to take this mask off because it's not me and I want to reintroduce myself to me again. We used to great friends. Live your life the best you can and stop wasting time being scared, even if it's just a little. Cheers.
Chris
Guinness is huge. She has put on a lot of weight since getting "fixed". Besides being huge, she is intimidating to people that she wants to scare. However, there is one thing that scared Guinness, a small child. There were these kids hanging out by our house today and Guinness was freaked out. She is used to adults, but talking, walking little people is too much for her. A second little thing about G is that she ate our little garden, the little one that blogged about a few weeks ago. Even the tree, how does a dog eat a small palm tree? I don't know either, but she did. Oh well, we still love her. Cheers.
Chris
On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.
Chris
On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.
Chris
On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.
Chris
On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.
Chris
This is our last week of tour, we are in Ficksburg, a small town on the Northwest Lesotho border. We have had an amazing year on tour so far this year and have met some great people. I really think that the shows reached many people and I believe that we had an impact on all that came to our shows. We will be home on Saturday, then we have meetings next week before leaving the following Saturday for London. Please pray for Rachel and I for energy, its been a long tiring year already and with the Europe tour ahead we need a lot of pray to not get burned out. Thanks.
Chris
We left beautiful Cape Town this past Sunday morning and drove 2 hours inland and then took a left drove and hour towards the border of Nowhere. We are in a farming community this week called Op Die Berg (On the Mountain), There is a church, a farming store and a small grocery store. Thats it. However the farmers in the community are paying for the kids of their workers to come to the shows this week. They are busing them in from all around and last night there were about 400-500 people crammed in this little church hall. It's so much fun, we have chairs in the back for the adults and the students sit on the floor and the floor is packed with people. This is probably the first time any of these kids have seen a show with live music, lights and dancers. You can see the excitement on their faces. Its a beautiful area with great people. I hope the rest of the week goes well.
Chris
We made the long trek to Cape Town and its such a beautiful city. We have a "sport afternoon" every week so we got to go to the beach the Monday afternoon. The water was so so so cold, but it was still fun. The show on Sunday night went really well and we are preparing now for tonight's show, Homecoming. The band is set up and sound checked, all the props are ready, we are just about to have Focus, where we prepare mentally for the show, and then we wait for the show to start. I think the show will go well tonight. Hope your evening goes well. Cheers.
Chris
When I was in college, especially my first two years at Florida Christian College, I would get horrible heart burn. I had it when I moved to Tennessee in '99 and then it just went away. I get a little bit from time to time, but nothing like it used to be. Well, tonight I made myself an egg sandwich and POW it hit me like a stacks machine. I could barely stand up. So I crawled in the Corolla and headed down to the store and got some antacids. It was so horrible. I noticed that the worse the heartburn is the more you talk to yourself. The whole drive I was trying to burp and kept muttering stuff under my breath. Perhaps its just me, but I have noticed a similar behavior in a friend of mine. Well, that was my evening so far, just waiting for 1:30 so we can leave for Cape Town. Enjoy your evening. Cheers.
Chris
We had our Thursday church again at Flap's house. It was nice. There were a few less people this week than last week, however many of the people were new, so thats nice. I met a man named Paul. He is 37 and is tough as nails. He does off road Triathlons and all this crazy adventure stuff. We had a great time talking and hanging out. A friend of mine, MX, was there also. He is a youth pastor at a huge church here in Pretoria. It was nice to talk to him because his band practices on Thursday nights so we thought he would never get a chance to come and have church with us. So we all hung out and had wine for a while and then Flaps gave a message about Jesus. It was so nice. Rachel and I left after the message and didn't hang out any more because we leave for tour Saturday morning at 0130. So we are taking advantage of being home. Right now I am in the chair in our bedroom and Rachel is sleeping in the bed with Guinness next to her. Shortly I will kick Guinness out and take my spot back. Enjoy your evening. Cheers.
Chris
Please pray for our theater in London. The Stratford Circus Theater denied our second application to perform on their stage. They don't allow religious groups to perform there. There are people there that are looking for us a new venue. Its sad because this was a great theater, but something will work out. As soon as I have a schedule I will let you all know. Cheers.
Chris
Flaps, the CEO of C-Kruis, has been wanting to start a church for the past few years, but it just wasn't the right time. Well, we had a meeting to discuss it several weeks ago and the time is right now. So last night we had our first "church" meeting. What Flaps was wanting was more of a time where people could get together and meet other people. So for our first meeting we had a cheese and wine night with a short sermon. The night was great. There were probably about 35 people and we all mingled and had bread, cheese and wine and talked and met new people. This went on for about an hour maybe longer, then we all went out side and Flaps gave a message and then we were done. It was so refreshing. I am really excited about our "Church" and who may end up coming and what God may do through His people getting together and spending time together. Please pray for our little "church" that our lives will be changed. Cheers.
Chris
Flaps, the CEO of C-Kruis, has been wanting to start a church for the past few years, but it just wasn't the right time. Well, we had a meeting to discuss it several weeks ago and the time is right now. So last night we had our first "church" meeting. What Flaps was wanting was more of a time where people could get together and meet other people. So for our first meeting we had a cheese and wine night with a short sermon. The night was great. There were probably about 35 people and we all mingled and had bread, cheese and wine and talked and met new people. This went on for about an hour maybe longer, then we all went out side and Flaps gave a message and then we were done. It was so refreshing. I am really excited about our "Church" and who may end up coming and what God may do through His people getting together and spending time together. Please pray for our little "church" that our lives will be changed. Cheers.
Chris
Flaps, the CEO of C-Kruis, has been wanting to start a church for the past few years, but it just wasn't the right time. Well, we had a meeting to discuss it several weeks ago and the time is right now. So last night we had our first "church" meeting. What Flaps was wanting was more of a time where people could get together and meet other people. So for our first meeting we had a cheese and wine night with a short sermon. The night was great. There were probably about 35 people and we all mingled and had bread, cheese and wine and talked and met new people. This went on for about an hour maybe longer, then we all went out side and Flaps gave a message and then we were done. It was so refreshing. I am really excited about our "Church" and who may end up coming and what God may do through His people getting together and spending time together. Please pray for our little "church" that our lives will be changed. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I have been in our house for almost a year now and we have had nothing in our back yard, except pathetic grass. It's mildly embarrassing. However, we are in business now. We came across a little extra money and decided it was time to start investing in our garden. We bought some little leafy bush things, 2 taller reddish, leafy bush things and a small palm type tree and bordered in our porch today. Then on the way home we fond a pile of bricks on the side of the road where someone had torn down a house. So we took some bricks, painted them and bordered our new flower bed with them. It was a lot of fun working on something to improve the house, on the road we don't get much chance for that. So that was our day. Hope everyone is well. Cheers.
Chris
Yesterday we had our Europe Tour orientation meeting. We had been working so hard on the shows and it was exciting get information that we were all wanting. The band (and Rachel) will be leaving SA on the 4th of November and arriving around 1200 in London on the 5th. We will then rush like crazy people through customs and on a bus that will take us to a church where we are leading worship for the 2 night services. Its a hectic start to the tour, but we are excited. Then the whole team will be doing shows around London for 3 weeks at various venues and on the 25th of November we have our last performance in London. Then we pack up and the next morning we drive to Brussels, Belgium where we are doing worship for the evening service there. The band will be leading worship at least one time every Sunday. From Brussels we go to
Amsterdam for a performance then back to Brussels for another performance before heading back to England for our final week of performances. We end our performing on the 9th of December and Ray and I will be leaving on the 13th and arriving the next day sometime. We are excited because we are used to performing in school halls in small towns and in Europe we will be performing in nice theaters. Please be praying for our tour and for the people that we are going to meet. Also for the Stratford Theater in London where we hope to do several of our shows, they are still approving our application because we are a religious organization, they may not let us show there. We really believe God is going to do an amazing work through our tour in Europe. Please also pray for our finances, Ray and I still are in need of about $900 to cover just the fee of the tour, not including personal money. I will keep you updated with any more information. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel and I are in the process of rehearsals for the Europe tour at the end of the year. We spent 2 days rehearsing all day long and now we are doing dress rehearsals with all the dancers and band. The team for the tour looks really good, we are using all front-line dancers so it makes all the productions look tight. Oh the title of this blog, yesterday I was laying with Guinness and I went to give her a little kiss on the head and she moved and I kissed her eye ball. Pretty gross, a little salty, but mostly gross. Talk to you later.
Chris
Today we were doing auditions and one of the guys didn't show up, so we had some time to kill. In that time I listened to an old Pearl Jam album, VS. While I was listening, I was telling a friend of mine that Pearl Jam was the first band that really got me loving music. I had enjoyed music all my life, but I believe it was purchasing Pearl Jam's album Ten that really began the process which made me fall head over heals in love with music. There has been a lot of other music that has inspired me, but buying that album at Turtles Music in Tallahassee, Fl has had a bigger influence in my life than I would have ever imagined. I hope you do something today that inspires you for the rest of your life. Cheers.
Chris
we are still busy with auditions and it makes for long tiring days, but I am loving meeting and getting to know that people who may be on my team next year. Well, one of the things that makes its worth it is that we make the person act as if they were a baby rhino protecting her young from us, the intruders. It never lasts more that 30 seconds, but it is always so funny. I love it so much. Well thats all from here. Cheers.
Chris
Back in Pretoria everyone. We are in the midst of Auditions for next years teams. Ray and I were both selected to be on the audition committee , which we are excited about. Please pray that we get some really great people for next years teams. Cheers.
This Friday it will be one year living in South Africa. The time has flown by, I can't believe it has been that long. We have one more week of tour before we are working at the office for 2 weeks. It will be nice to be home for that time. We are in a suburb of Jo'burg called Brakpan and it seems like it is going to be a good week. The stage and set up is really nice and I am looking forward to the week. We end this week on Thursday instead of friday and we are going to visit the other team for their Rock Show on Friday. I think that our band is going to go and play some songs at their show for fun. Its fun performing so close to the other team this week. Hope all is well. Cheers.
Here is a picture of Guinness on our bed trying to eat Rachel. She was unsuccessful. Hope all is well with you. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel has a good friend that is on out touring team called Kerrey. Kerrey is an American girl who is from Atlanta, GA. Well Kerrey and Rachel have given themselves nick names. Rachel is Ray Ray and Kerrey is Kay Kay. I obviously hate these names. So next time you think of Rachel just think of our entire touring team calling her Kay Kay. Cheers.
Chris
Sorry for not updating my blog in ages. However, I am happy to say I am back in the game. The South Hemisphere is doing well, we are having a nice mild winter and are looking forward to spring. We just finished a week in Bloemfontein and will be in the Pretoria metro area this week and I am looking forward to being near enough to my home that we can go home on the weekend. Hope all is well with you all. Cheers.
Chris
Hey,
Things are going well, here is an update: Jana is visiting, but leaving tomorrow morning, we are back on tour, I have had dreadlocks for a month and things are going well with them, I was chosen to be Tour Leader next year, Guinness started menstrating (I didn't know dogs do that, but suprise for me), and after dropping Jana at the airport we will return to the touring team in New Castle. Thats about all, talk to you later. Cheers.
Chris
Hey all,
We are home from our week-long mission trip to Sekororo, a township in the Limpopo provence north of Pretoria about 5 hours. We, a team of 8, helped out with a church that was having a week revival/youth meetings. We had a great time and got to meet a lot of great people. Rachel's mom arrieved on Monday and came up to spend that rest of the week with us. We had a great time and as always it's nice to be home. Cheers.
Chris
We are on a break from touring for the next few weeks, however, that doesn't mean we aren't busy. I am so excited about this next week, we are going on a mission trip. We were supposed to be going up to Zambia for a "Beat the Drum" outreach. It is an outreach that teaches about AIDs in the schools and small towns, its a really cool program and I am so sad that we can't be a part of it this year. Please pray that they will have a great trip to Zambia this year, they were in Swaziland a couple of years ago and had a very effective ministry. Well, we have broken the big teams up to teams of 8 and we will be splitting up and going to different places for the week. We are not supposed to have a great deal of information to where we are going, it's a suprise. Rachel and I are heading a team that is going 4 hours away from Pretoria and we are working with a church that is having a revival and a vacation bible school. We were told we are doing some music and drama workshops and helping with revival music. Thats about all we know. We will just see what happens when we get there. Please pray that all the teams have a great week in their different locations doing their different jobs. There is no cell service where we are going so we will be unreachable from Monday until Saturday night. Hope you have great week. Cheers.
Chris
We are on a break from touring for the next few weeks, however, that doesn't mean we aren't busy. I am so excited about this next week, we are going on a mission trip. We were supposed to be going up to Zambia for a "Beat the Drum" outreach. It is an outreach that teaches about AIDs in the schools and small towns, its a really cool program and I am so sad that we can't be a part of it this year. Please pray that they will have a great trip to Zambia this year, they were in Swaziland a couple of years ago and had a very effective ministry. Well, we have broken the big teams up to teams of 8 and we will be splitting up and going to different places for the week. We are not supposed to have a great deal of information to where we are going, it's a suprise. Rachel and I are heading a team that is going 4 hours away from Pretoria and we are working with a church that is having a revival and a vacation bible school. We were told we are doing some music and drama workshops and helping with revival music. Thats about all we know. We will just see what happens when we get there. Please pray that all the teams have a great week in their different locations doing their different jobs. There is no cell service where we are going so we will be unreachable from Monday until Saturday night. Hope you have great week. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Everybody,
This past week has been hectic here in SA. The Management of both touring teams along with office staff have a big week of meeting called MMM (Middle Management Meetings). We take a detailed look at everything that envolves training and touring and we discuss how to make C-Kruis better. Well these meetings start at about 0830 and run to around 2200 at night. Alot of really good stuff has been discussed and there have been some changes that I really think will improve C-Kruis as a ministry. I will admit that I am looking forward to tomorrow being a day off. Hope you are all well. Cheers.
Chris
Well.....Today I was at the mall with my beautiful wife, we went to see a movie, and I was a little hungry for lunch. I went to this hot dog place and ordered a chili dog, which I have not had since we have been here in SA. When they gave me the chili dog I saw there was no chili on the dog. The line was long now so I decided to eat the plain dog. Well as I bit into the hot dog I realized that when they say "chili dog" they don't mean a hot dog with chili on it, they mean a hot dog with chili peppers cooked into the meat. How strange is that? Peppers cooked into the meat? Crazy. Well I ate the devilishly spicy hot dog and can't wait for the indegestion to kick in shortly. Oh....yep......there it is....feel the burn.....feel it.......thats what I'm talking about....is that the best you got.......bring it sister...... Oh well, another time of me not knowing what is going on in this wacky place. Have a great day.
Chris
Well.....Today I was at the mall with my beautiful wife, we went to see a movie, and I was a little hungry for lunch. I went to this hot dog place and ordered a chili dog, which I have not had since we have been here in SA. When they gave me the chili dog I saw there was no chili on the dog. The line was long now so I decided to eat the plain dog. Well as I bit into the hot dog I realized that when they say "chili dog" they don't mean a hot dog with chili on it, they mean a hot dog with chili peppers cooked into the meat. How strange is that? Peppers cooked into the meat? Crazy. Well I ate the devilishly spicy hot dog and can't wait for the indegestion to kick in shortly. Oh....yep......there it is....feel the burn.....feel it.......thats what I'm talking about....is that the best you got.......bring it sister...... Oh well, another time of me not knowing what is going on in this wacky place. Have a great day.
Chris
Today is our 4 year anniversary!!! I can't believe we have been married for 4 years now. I know it's not that long in the grand scheme of life, but it's still long. I am head-over-heels in love with my beautiful wife and look forward to this next year. We were talking about how in only 4 years of marriage we have gotten to do some really cool things and see some really cool places, we moved to the other side of the world and have a house and a dog. I am pleased with life right now and look forward to each day. I think that is a huge blessing and I know that Rachel plays a huge part in me feeling that way, I am a lucky man. Hope you have a great day. Cheers.
Chris
When Rachel and I got to SA we spent all our money on getting our house and car and all the little things that come with moving around the world. One of the things that we couldn't purchase was a bed. So we borrowed a bed from a friend of ours, who had one in the garage, and that is what we have been using since. On our second week of tour in Jo'burg we stayed with a family whos son runs a foam factory and they make beds. So Rachel and I got a killer deal on a new bed. WOOHOO! Now we have our own queen size bed and are sleeping very nicely. Hope you are sleeping nicely in your part of the world. Cheers.
Chris
Rach finally got to go to a chiropractor the other day for the first time since we have been here in SA. For you who don't know, Rachel's spine looks like a treble clef. On the way back from the doctor we saw a mall that we have never been to, so we stopped to walk around and check it out. As we were approaching the mall from the north parking lot I saw a green “way” (pardon) on a sign sticking out from behind a pillar. The font looked like something I had seen before and as was got closer we saw there there is a flippin' Subway restraunt in this mall. What???Subway??? Yep.....Subway. So Rach and I had a nice early lunch, Rach- Club, Me-Meatball. We washed the meal down with a couple of chocolate chip cookies (another rarity here). I am just so excited to know that within 20 minutes of our home there is a little piece of America just waiting to serve me a footlong sandwich. Plus in this mall there is an olympic size ice hockey rink, for some strange unknown reason. Enjoy your day and I will enjoy mine. Cheers.
Chris
Rach and I are home from our 1st African tour cycle. We spent 5 weeks on the road and it is nice to have a break. We are going to be on holiday for a couple of weeks and then we start 4 weeks of work here in Pretoria. We don't hit the road again for several weeks. We will be in the Free State for the next cycle which is really cold in the winter, so that is going to be tough. We were in really warm areas the past few weeks so it has been nice. Here in Pretoria it gets pretty cold at night, but the days are not bad at all. We will see how that keeps up for the remainder of winter. Its great to be home. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Guys,
We finished up our week here in Phalaborwa last night with a really good Rock Show. There were about 300 people and the crowd had so much energy that it made the show great. Today is our day off and we are supposed to do nothing, so that is what Rachel and I are going to do. We are going to sit around the house and watch movies and do nothing. We drive to Ellisras tomorrow. Its about 5 hours away and it is right nean the Botswana border. Talk to you soon.
Chris
Hello Folks,
We are in the midst of our 4th week of tour. We are in a town called Phalaborwa (pal-a-bore-va), located in the north eastern part of South Africa, right on the border on the Kruger National Park. We are enjoying ourselves and Rachel and I have a great host family this week. We are staying a little guest house in the back yard of some people from the church. Its great to have some privacy and to be able to get away and be alone. The other day we, the whole team, drove to a dam to see if we could spot any crocodiles or hippos. Well, as were were driving back we saw a ton of elephants on the side of the road. There were probably 15 of them and they were just walking by this little stream, it was crazy. One of them was really close to the road and we just sat there next to it in the car, just checking him out. It was so cool. It was just funny seeing them on the road, not in a park, walking on public property. The week is going well and the shows are being recieved really well. There are some really cool testimonies of how we are really hitting home with a lot of the students at the shows. This week wasn't booked until 2 weeks ago and I am glad that we are getting to minister here in Phalaborwa. Hope all is well with you. Cheers.
Chris
I would like to tell you about last night because I think that people back home don't think that we live a "normal" life because we are in SA. Well... we had the night off to do some packing and get ready for tour and Rachel and I were hungry, but neither of us wanted to cook and deal with the dishes. So there is this service called Mr Delivery that will pick up food and bring it to you for a small charge of Like R17 which is a little less than $3.00. Well, I called Mr D and they were backed up and the delivery time was like 2 hours. So, I called in the order to the restraunt and when I went to fetch the food I brought Guinness with me. So there I am on a nice cool South African autumn night driving to the Lotus Thai with Guinness. I picked up my food, ran in the grocery for some eggs and headed home. Pretty normal night huh? See that is just an example of how we live a normal life here. Just wanted to assure everyone that we are fine and life is good. Hope you all have great day. Oh yeah, the Thai was good, not great, if anyone knows of a good Thai place let me know. Cheers.
Chris
Here are our tour dates:
April 30-May 6: Bronkhortspuit
May 7-12: Jo'burg
May 14-19: Mokopane
May 21-26: TBA
May 28-June 2: lephalale
July 23-28: TBA
July 30- August 4: New Castle
August 6-11: Harrismith
August 20-25 Bloemfontein
August 27- September 1: TBA
September 3-8: TBA
October 2-6: Klerksdorp
October 9-13: Brackenfell
October 16-20: Worcestor
October 22-27: Mosselbaai
Please pray we can book up the weeks that are not booked yet. Cheers.
Chris
We are at the end of training and we have not had a chance to do a dress rehearsal for our Rock Show on Friday nights. So we loaded up all the band stuff and sound stuff in one of the trucks we tour and drove around to where people were rehearsing and the sides of the big truck open up and we did a suprise Rock Show for our team. The idea was good, but right before we went our drummer had to go to a meeting and when we got there we realized almost everyone was gone working in other places. So we ended up playing with me on drums, no bass, and about 12 people watching. It was quit a schlep to load everything, but it was a ton of fun and I think the people on team enjoyed it. Tour starts Sunday. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Guys,
I just heard some news that hurts me. I got an email from a guy I haven't spoken with in a long time. He was telling me that he was working at a church and that the church was having major issues and he got fired and then the pastor that fired him got fired weeks later. now this guy is working for the government just to pay bills and is wanting to do ministry again, however he is a little burned out right now and needs some time "away" from ministry. How many people have stories like this, being burned out with ministry or been burned by a church. Whats the deal? What needs to change? Why is so much hurt coming out of churches? I know that we are all sinners and we aren't going to be perfect, but do we really think that or are we just finding a "spiritual" excuse? I just know so many don't want anything to do with Jesus because of the way we treat people, not just people in general, but other christians, not to say the way the church treats "sinners" (e.g. gays, muslims, drunks). I just hate to think the thing that scares me the most is working at a church. I know not all churches are like this, but enough are for it to be a problem that needs looking at. I hope my friend finds a place soon where he can be himself and do what he feels God has called him to do. Cheers.
Chris
I was looking at a South African christian magazine today called Truth. There were 2 pictures that I kept looking at that are on my mind. One was a picture of a Hillsong United worship service, with cool lighting, great sound and expensive insturments. The other was picture of a man with some sick poor children in Kenya, the kids were dirty, sickly and hardly dressed. The thing that got me was that in this magazine these 2 pictures were only pages from each other, but they are worlds apart in real life. I was thinking which of these pictures is "right"? Which of these 2 pictures is what God wants? Which of these 2 pictures most looks like Jesus? Are both of these pictures "right"? Are the people at Hillsong doing what God wants them to do and is the man in Kenya doing what God wants him to do? Just makes me think. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Guys,
We have a few more days until we start tour. I am so excited about getting on the doing the work we have been training for. This past week has been the infamous Skyne (skane) Week, which is dress rehearsals. We spend one day polishing up stuff while the other team rehearses and then we go. We got home after 0300 on 3 days. It was so tiring. However, running the shows over and over made them great and we are ready for tour. I will post our tour schedule when I get a copy. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Friends,
I am in the hunt for winter clothes and I have an issue. I can't find any quality thrift stores in this beautiful land. For you who don't know, I am a big fan of second-hand clothing, I would guess that 75% of my shirts and tops were used when I purchased them. I hate the idea of spending lots of money on clothes, I personally think it is such a waste of funds. However, without good thrift stores I am forced to go get clothes at the mall. I went the other day and found one nice shirt for $10, so I am on my way to a nice warm winter. If you have never gone thrift store shopping I would highly recommend it. Just looking through all the racks for that one perfect shirt is great. I would stay away from the underpants though, thats a little gross. Have a great day.
Chris
Hey everyone,
For you who didn't know. I love tattoos. I think tattooed skin is beautiful. Well, I was at the mall yesterday and when I was leaving I stopped by the tattoo shop to see if anything was going on. In the chair getting tattooed was a small young black woman probably around 30. She was working on a oriental style full sleeve on her left arm. The tattoo looked great and the woman was tough as nails because she looked so calm and relaxed. As I was standing there I realized that the arm being tattooed was badly scarred, I could tell from a section that was only outlined. It looked as if this woman had been badly burned at some time. I am glad that now this woman has something beautiful in the place of something that she probably thought was horrific looking. Just another reason I love tattoos. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Guys,
Yesterday Rachel and I were at this store called Jet looking for cheap winter clothes and I saw a banner that broke my heart. Like most shops, Jet has a program where you pay a small amount a month and you get discounts. The thing about Jet's club is the program doesn't help you purchase clothes or get discounts of vacations or anything like that, it gives you discounts on funerals. If you were to look at this from a distance it seems comical, however the truth of the matter is there are so many people dying in southern Africa from HIV/AIDs that these programs are all over the place. What we have here in Southern Africa is an epidemic where millions of people have AIDS. There is a bordering country called Swaziland and they say if nothing is done against the spread of AIDS that is something like 50 or 60 years only 10% of the country will survive. It is staggering. One of the problems is lack of knowledge. We have heard of HIV/AIDs for the past 20 years, however there are many people in this country that has never heard of it. There is a campaign now to spread information about HIV/AIDs, but it is not everywhere yet. Check out: http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/appeals.nsf/stable/olr_home there is a lot of information about the HIV/AIDs crisis in southern Africa. Please also consider the problem in your own town. American's don't know so much about the problem, but there is a growing number of cases in the States. I am not just talking about NYC or San Fran, it is a growing problem all over. Just something to think about.
Chris
Hey folks,
There is something that some of you may not know about me. I have a crack-head like addiction to coffee. It's not really an addiction, however it is a pure, heart felt, love. I love coffee so much for the remainder of this blog I will type the word in all caps. That's love. Well the other day I finally found a place that serves a really good cup of COFFEE. I was so giddy. They serve the COFFEE in a paper cup with lid that makes me think that I am holding a cup of Starbucks, it's not Starbucks, but close enough for South Africa. So I am trying this COFFEE on the way to the movies and decide to put the cup in my man-purse and just stroll on into the theater. I am walking between the concession stand and ticket counter when I feel a warm sensation on my butt. I look to make sure it is not the hand of a stranger and notice that my cup of COFFEE has spilled in my man-purse. This is not good. So I continue walking like nothing is happening with this bag dripping COFFEE all over the place. There is a trail behind me of brown drops all over the floor. I hand my ticket to the short older black man that takes the ticket like nothing is wrong and walk straight to the bathroom to clean up this situation. I cleaned what I could and went and enjoyed my movie, reeking of COFFEE. Not the normal COFFEE breath reek that I carry on a daily basis, this was more of a submerged in COFFEE reek that was detectable from several feet away. After the movie I went back a purchased a second cup of COFFEE that enjoyed and yes I can say I have finally found a good cup of COFFEE.
Chris
Rachel got to fly to America and suprise her 2 sisters this past week. Both of her sister just got engaged and her one sister, Kelly was flying to Atlanta to visit her other sister, Lynnae, to go wedding dress shopping. Rachel was very sad that she was going to miss this once in a lifetime event. So she talked to members of her family and mine and raised enough to fly in a suprise them. So last Sunday her sister gets up to answer the door and there is African Rachel standing there. It was a great suprise and they got to spend a great week together. I was sad to be on my own, but I was glad that she got that chance. Thats all.
Chris
Hey,
C-Kruis is part of a fellowship of ministries in SA called Service Year for Christ. Once a year all these ministries come together for a retreat/conference called Family Festival. Well this year Family Festival was held at one of the minisries base of operations in Jeffery's Bay. It is at the beach and we had the best time. There were teachings and sessions with worship and some great speakers. Plus we got to meet and mingle with the other Service Year ministries. We arrieved back in Pretoria on Friday night after the long 12 trip and now are back at work rehearsing for the new show called Kate and Terri. I must say that Pretoria doesn't have the appeal that Jeffery's Bay has, but I must say Guinness was very glad to not be with the dog-sitter any more.
Hey Guys,
I hope all is well with you in the States. The past 3 weeks have just been so hectic. We are learning a new show called Homecoming and this show has all live music. So the band has been working like mad to get the songs perfect for the dress rehearsal. On top of that were in the process of getting new music written for a new new show that we are starting this week. So as music producer I was stressed to the gills. I am glad to say that the Homecoming stuff was learned and went off great and that all the new songs that we wrote are going to work for the new show. Woohoo!!!
Hey Guys,
As of March 8th Rach and I have been living in SA for 6 months. I can't believe it has been that long! Time has been flying by and so much has happened. Thanks for your prayers and support. Cheers.
Chris
I was thinking about the poverty situation here in South Africa and it has to be so overwhelming for the government trying to get a hold on it. Then I was thinking about how so many people drive luxury cars and live in huge houses and still there are so many people in the world that barely survive. Why is that? People who have more than what is needed chalk it up to God's Blessing. Where does that put the poor people? In God's wrath? To add to this question I was thinking what is the churches role in this whole thing? What are we really doing to combat this horrible plague that hits so much of the world, even in America there are people who don't know where their next meal will come from. I am just asking and I am not saying that everyone who has money is greedy and doesn't care about the state of the world. Rachel and I are paid by people who give money each month and without them we would be wondering where are next meal would come from. I was just thinking what about Acts 2:42-47, where people were selling stuff to make sure people were ok, that their needs were met. Imagine you bring a person to church and someone asks how they are doing, and really means it. Plus, think if this person was tight on cash and couldn't pay their mortgage, what if they told someone and that person helped them out? What would go through this persons head? I think they would have better understanding about the love of God. I think I found something that demistrates this perfectly. It's called Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I know it all comes down to ratings and to Sears having mad advertising, however go with me here. What if the church was like EM:HE? What if the local church knew this family was in need and they were having a really tough time and decided to makeover their home just to showed they they cared? Can you imagine? There may not be some sexy carpenter named Ty with his shirt off remodeling, rather, a fat hairy pastor named Dennis. I am not saying that the church needs to go and do some crap version of the show and use it as publicity to show how giving they are, but just sincerely wanting to help someone that needs help. I'm just thinking, thats all. I have no perfect answer, just trying to do some brainstorming on how we can look more like Jesus. Cheers.
Chris
Hey folks,
I have been going to the gym lately and the other day something happened that made me feel like a total wuss. A little background, men want to be macho. We enjoy being a little more "manly" than the guy next to us. We want to lift more, run faster, and have more facial hair than the next guy to prove that we are more of a man. Well, the other day I was at my local Virgin Active and after a great workout I was pumped and feeling a little more manly. So, I showered and after showering I walked over to the sink area, with my towel around me, to shave. I wet my face, lathered with my shaving cream and began shaving. The razor I was using was pink because I was using one of Rachels so that set me back a little in my pursuit to be the most macho man. As I am shaving this guy comes to the sink next to me. This guy is freaking huge, like a pro body builder. So Its me (pale, no muscles) and this guy (tan with HUGE muscles). He begins shaving with a black razor and no shaving cream. So here is where we are; at the sink, me with a pink razon and shaving cream and this guy with a non-pink razor and no shaving cream. So I lost. This monster of a man won the compitition hands down. I was humbled. Have a great day.
Chris
Hey,
C-Kruis released a CD last year called Dag en Nag (Day and Night). It is a great CD, even though its Afrikaans and I can't understand it, it sounds great. Well anyway, we were selected as a finalist is some afrikaans christian music thing in the category of new artist and will take part in the award show on Saturday. Its going to be fun because we get to perform at this big church in Jo'burg and if we win it will be a good bit of money that we can use for the music department at C-Kruis. I am sorry that I don't have a ton of details, but I don't know too much more than what I have already said. All I know is it's a big deal and will be boring for me because I won't understand anything during the whole show.
Chris
Hey Folks,
I hope you guys have a brilliant, loved filled, Valentines Day. We had a Valentines Ball on Saturday night down the street from the training facility. It was a great night, all the ladies were all dolled up and the guys were looking sharp, much better than they normally do. We all had a great dinner and dance and just enjoyed the night. Cheers.
Chris
Hey,
We are all up and running with C-Kruis. There are people dancing, playing music and acting all over the place. People are shuffling back and forth to teachings and it is a bit hectic. I am happy with my band. I have a great lot of guys who are very talented and have a passion for music, which makes my job easier. We have our own classes and today Rach started teaching us theory. She had a great class and I am glad to say my band finished assignments before the other band, GO RED TEAM! Yesterday she told me if I were to act up in class she would give me push-ups, 60 I think. So lets just say I was a sweet little school boy. I shaved off my beard last night so that would help with the school boy look. I look like I am 15 years old. Everyone at the training facility made fun of me. Besides me being made fun of, life in the Republic of South Africa is going well, busy, but well. Hope all is well with you. Cheers.
Chris
Today was a big day for South Afica Cricket. We just started a series of one day matches with Sri Lanka and Australia and we beat Australia today in Australia. That is a very tough thing to do. Australia is the best team in the world and to beat them on their home pitch is great. For more information on all South African sports, including Super 14 rugby that will be here before you know it, visit www.supersport.co.za. Cheers.
Chris
Hey All,
Since we returned from Adventure Camp things have been crazy. The past 2 days have been spent in Storytelling. Storytelling is where everyone on team gets 8 minutes to share their life story. Good times, bad time, whatever. That is your time to open up to the team and it was great. It was great to see how God has been in the life of our teammates. Also, how many have a horrible things happen in life and have not let that get them down with God and how it fuels their fire in terms of ministry. It is great to work with a ministry where it is safe to be open and exposed. After Storytelling we have been working on castings where a panel, me included, see everyone in C-Kruis and checks their drama, singing and musical abilities. It is a long process, however we are almost through and will begin casting roles in the, budifferent shows soon. Things have been great and we are loving where we are. Cheers.
Chris
Hey,
We had a great time at Adventure Camp. We are on management so we mostly observe and get to know the team members. However, the team members are put through a very tough series of tasks that helps them to build a feeling of team. It is very hard though and they have to go for 4 days on little sleep and little food, but they all survived. Rach and I had a great time. We took Guinness and she enjoyed being out on the farm running around and getting into trouble. I hope you are all well. Cheers.
Chris
Hey Homies,
We are in the swing of things at C-Kruis and I could use a holiday. We started on Monday with leadership training and have been going about 15 hours a day. I am whipped after a few days. It has been the Leadersip of both teams here at the facility and the rest of the people arrive today, it is going to be crazy for real. There are going to be a ton of people with almost 80 new teammates and parents, it's going to be nuts. The teams, minus leadeship, leave tonight to get started with there Adventure Camp. Team leadership leaves tomorrow morning, which is a lot better than leaving at 11:00 tonight. We are so excited about the students showing up and the traing time that is beginnning now. Please pray for us, for strength and for endurance throught the next few months. Have a lekaar day man.
Chris
Hey Folks,
Happy New Year!! Sorry I have not blogged in a while. We brought in the new year with some people that we work with and had a great night. I must say that it is strange to be sweating when you do the count down at midnight. I guess it wouldn't be strange if you were at a dance party or a skating rink or something like that, perhaps playing indoor beach volleyball. Never the less summer is happening in full force and we are all just trying to stay cool with open windows and cups of coffee or hot tea. These people and their hot beverages, woo! I hope that you all have a great new year and I pray that this year we will all be able to listen to God and answer his call in our lives. Cheers.
Chris
