Outreach.

We are going on our week of outreach starting tomorrow afternoon. There are a couple of reasons we are doing this particular outreach this year. 1
1.For the community- We will be hanging out with the kids and teens in the township, We will play a series of hour long movies in the evening and speaking on social issues here in SA and we will perform a stripped down version on our show Gajima on Friday night.

2.For the team- This week is a chance of our students to live among some less fortunate people that live in the same country as them. We will be camping at a church in the township which will be uncomfortable because its winter and will be really cold each night, but thats what it feels like for many people who live in small tin shacks. We will be walking everywhere, many people in this country don't have cars or money for buses so they walk very far everyday for food or water. And we will be given R7 ($.99)a day to eat on, which is average for where we will be staying.

We will also get to go help with an AIDs hospice that visits sick and dying people in their homes each day.

Please pray for the team for safety and that minds and hearts are opened for people who are not as blessed as many of us. Please pray for the community that lives can be impacted and changed by something that happens this week. Cheers.

Chris

Re:Verb

Once a month our "church" meets at my boss' house for a night of cheese, wine and hanging out. We are a small group of people, but its nice. Tonight a couple in our group blessed us all with a ton of sushi. It was great. Being on tour we don't get to go to Re:Verb often, but it was really nice having some sushi with friends and the Flaps gave a message. You can download it at www.reverberate.co.za
Cheers.

Chris

Gettin' Pumped

When I moved to SA I started working out. While traveling with Traveling Mercies I got sickly large. I didn't notice, but it was time to get fit. Well, this year started crazy. We just got back from Europe, I was music producer and tour leader, I was exhausted. So I didn't get back in the Gym.

So this training I lost any muscle gained last year and put back on some weight I had lost. Then we come to America for 3 weeks and lived in up on fast food and sugary drinks and it was wonderful. It was so wonderful I put on extra weight, like 7 pounds of good old processed americana.

Now, its back to the gym. Hittin' it hard, early, when its dark and cold. Its been nice feeling active. I think I have already dropped my holiday from my belly, now its time to work on the rest of 2007 that has been hanging on for dear life. Hopefully if I work really hard I can look like one of the characters on American Gladiators, like Laser or Nitro. Dream a little dream. Cheers.

Chris

PS
I always dreamed of being on American Gladiators and after I won every competition by kicking the guy off the climbing wall or getting all my balls in the little containers that wobbled buy never fell down or the joust, I would show how gladiator-like I really was by kicking butt in the shooter game where the gladiator, maybe Turbo, would shoot tennis balls at me, but always missed because I rolled just at the right time, then I would shoot the bull's eye with my dart from the cross bow or bazooka (or sometimes for extra drama I didn't hit the target until the last station, the tennis ball grenades). It was so cool when I won....in my dream.

Mmmmmm.

Rachel and I are in the process of trying to plan for the future. The road must end someday I suppose. We love working with 13thFLOOR and don't plan on leaving, but I was just looking at some other ministry possibilities today.

Well, I really like the west coast and was checking on some ministries in California when I got a craving for fish taco. Obviously there are no great little fish taco stands here so I decided to make up my own recipe.

I made homemade wholewheat tortillas, wild rice, and a fish/veggie mix. They turned out great. I don't really experiment with cooking too often so I was pleased.

If you want the recipe feel free to email me and I'll try to remember. Cheers.

Chris

Bath Day.

It was bath day in the Holohan home today. We gave the dogs their baths and that is always a mission. Guinness isn't too bad, but Damar gives us a little trouble. We get them in the bath tub and use the hand sprayer to get them rinsed. Then I keep spraying them with warm water as Rach scrubs with soap(side note:we are both in our beach attire). Then I give them a steady stream of treats to persuade them to stay in the bath and not run around the house. Guinness goes first, then Damar. Its a taxing job, but well worth the effort to have nice clean dogs. Cheers.

Chris

Team Week.

During the tour year we come back to the campus in Pretoria for Team Weeks. Well, this team week we had a time called "Conversations". Its where every member of the team spends 10 minutes speaking with every other person on team, all 40. Its a time for people to get things off there chest and say good things and things that bothers them about the other person. It is such a great time for the teams. I really appreciate the openness that is encouraged from the ministry. It's hard at times, but over all helps to build the team stronger. Cheers.

Chris

Old Friends.

Ray and I spent last night with the Kitts. They are old friends of ours and it was great seeing them. The McGuires also came over and it was just a blast hanging out with all our peeps that we haven't seen in a while. We had Wendy's famous pesto pasta with cookies and milk for desert. Fantastic. The night was ended with a little reality tv. Sometimes I really miss the suburbs. Cheers.

Chris

All Patched Up.

Ray and I got our fillings today. She went first and when she came out she couldn't speak clearly. It was so funny. Then It was my turn and I didn't think it was so funny. It's nice to have the teeth fixed. Cheers.

Chris

Date.

Ray and I went on a date today, it was fun. We went and saw a movie, ate Reese's Pieces, played Ms. PacMan, ate Cold Stone ice cream, walked around the mall. FUN.

While we were playing Ms PacMan there was a couple down from us playing another video game. They were around 30, I would guess, and while the woman and man were shooting plastic pistols at the monsters that were taking over the world she was holding a baby in her arms. I thought it made a beautiful picture. A smiling young women defending the life of her defenseless daughter from the radioactive creatures. I wish I had a canvas and some oil paints. Cuz I would have Bob Rossed dat shiz fo' show.

We are going to my moms for dinner tonight. Ray and I are fixing our world famous fried ravioli. We learned the recipe from some crazy NASCAR loving, red neck Italians living up in the mountains of Arizona. Thanks Kris. I am looking forward to it. We can't purchase the proper wrapping in SA, so its my first real batch in a while. I love them so much it makes me ache.

Tomorrow we are going back to the dentist for our fillings, we each get one. I am not looking to forward to that, however it will be nice to not carry the decayed part of my tooth around with me. Just another filling to go with the rest, I swear I brush my teeth, I swear.

Cheers.

Chris

Going Well.

Our visit in America is going well. We are trying to relax where we can and running around to see people at lunch and in the evenings. We are hoping to go visit my dad in Illinois this weekend and then see people in ATL and Savannah before flying home for work.

I hate that this trip is so short. There are things I want to do and people I want to see that just can't happen. Well maybe in 2 more years I can see those people. Cheers.

Chris

Big Sunday.

Now we can begin our holiday. From landing here on last Thursday our lives have been full of hectic wedding stuff. The wedding was Saturday, it was beautiful, congrats guys.

Yesterday I got to preach at Capital City Christian Church (CCCC), my home church. It went well. The more I get to communicate the things of God from stage the more I enjoy it. I had to wear a tie, which I have not done in a normal life situation since December 2004. I had to go purchase clothes for church so I would look "nice".

Then after church we went and ate lunch with some of our friends, Tim and Suzy Bomgardner, that were in town from NYC. After lunch we went and played blaster boats (pic above). It was a blast (pun intended, sorry Zoid). They shoot this little stream of water at your "enemy". It looks fun and nice, however I got freaking soaked. I hate being wet and I was drenched. So we played with our friends and then they went back to NY. Cheers Friends.

Then finally, last night we spoke with the missions team and a few other folks about what we are doing in our ministry. It was cool discussing what we do with people from our church.

Now we rest. We have dentist appointments today. Then more rest. Cheers.

Chris

In Tallahassee.

I made it. I was awake for 44 hours before my first night sleep. The wedding is today and it will be nice I think. It was raining this morning, but seems to be done for a while so hopefully it will be nice for the outdoor wedding today. Cheers.

Chris