Weather Update.

I blogged this morning about the cold weather in Jo'burg. When I wrote it was cold, but the promise of warmer temps through the day made it ok. Well, it got colder as the day went on and as I stated before there is no heat in the buildings. So we did a show tonight in a small hall with probably 100-150 people wrapped up in coats and hats (due to the freezing air [I am amazed anyone came at all]) while the band was nice and bundled on our little band scaff thing and the dancers froze in their t-shirts and other costuming.

My bass strings were like ice, but our rock was warm as the blood that flows through my beating heart, or whatever. Cheers.

Chris

Flipping Freezing.

Yesterday the temp was 1 low 12 high. Today it was -3 low and 12 high (Celsius). I know that doesn't sound too cold, but here it doesn't get this cold typically and there is no heat in the buildings, so I am freezing. I found a storage closet in the basement of the church where we are showing at this week thats a bit warmer. I hope you are warm. Cheers.

Chris

MOYO.

Tonight we did a team social at this super cool restaurant called MOYO. It's this super cool "aftican" themed place. I must admit that I haven't seen anyplace that looks like this in the "wild", but its still super cool.

It was also one of our girls birthday today, Jolindi. Happy 20th birthday!!!

It was also the official announcement of our newest couple on team. Lelo and Andri have been working through the 13thFLOOR system of dating and have had many talks with me about relationships and commitment and blah blah blah and tonight we got the chance to announce them as a couple. They are great together. I will get a picture of the happy couple soon.

Jo'burg is going well. I think is going to be a lekker week. Cheers.

Chris

4th Week.

We are in Roodeport this week, its a suburb of Johannesburg, and I think it is going to go well. The hall that we are showing in is small, but i think its going to be a great week. Our contact people are really nice and helpful which is a great start to the week.

Last week we were in Polokwane and the week was fantastic. There were almost 500 people at all the shows and a lot of people were touched by our shows. It was a great week.

Our host family this week is also cool, I just finished hanging out with them and Ray and I have our own room with our own en suite bathroom. Cool baby. There's also a nice sitting area in our room with a couch and chair. Its flippin nice.

Cheers homies, keep it pimped out on hiz fo' shiz.

Chris

Happy Birthday Me.

I turned 28 on the first of May. I can't believe I am 28. I know its not that old, but to me it sounds so old. I am also starting to wonder if I am looking old. I will watch a movie or TV show and if there is a 28 year old person I always think I look a lot younger than them, but maybe I don't.

I think this problem is compounded by the fact that I work with a team of young people where 75% are between 18 and 21. If you aren't good at math, 18 is a DECADE younger than me. When I started driving at 15 my piano player was 5. Thats nuts.

Oh well, thats part of growing up. Cheers.

Chris

Back Online.

I called customer service today and spoke with a nice young man that helped me get connected to the internet at last. Its nice to be human again. Cheers.

Chris

The Hills Have Eyes.

We had a movie night last night and on the recommendation of others we didn't see Spider Man 3, so we went and saw The Hills Have Eyes 2. Rachel hated it. Some people liked it some thought it was horrible. It was gross, I secretly loved it, don't tell Ray Ray. Cheers.

Chris

Happy Mothers Day.

Happy Mothers Day all you hot ladies. Sorry I forgot to write this the other day. I am a bad child/grandson/nephew. Cheers.

Chris

Tickets.

Ray got her ticket for our trip to America at the end of this month. We have been down in sponsorship several hundred dollars each month so we don't have the money now for my ticket. If you would like to help me come home to see family and my sister in laws wedding please email me. This is a issue that Ray and I need prayer for. We are struggling in our attitude toward our ministry right now. Not ministry as in our job (thats going well, we love our job), but why we are always just making it finacially and when we get ahead a little we loose support. It has happened for the past 6 years this way and I don't understand it. Please pray for our contentment and attitudes. Thanks.

Chris

No Internet.

I am going freaking nuts. Ray got a new cell phone and I can't get it to work with my computer to get on the internet so I can't check email or blog or do any mindless crap. Its so frustrating. All this stuff has happened and I can't share it will you like the racists or the satanic spot that we found. I know, big stuff. Hopefully I can get it working because I want to let you know what is going on. Cheers.

Chris

Nelspruit.

We are in Nelspruit this week, its a beautiful part of the country on the eastern side near Mozambique. For some reason the crowds are really small this week which is a bummer, but the shows are going well without any problems which is nice for the second week of tour. Hope you are all doing well. We will be going to Polokwane next week and then back to Jo'burg after that. Cheers.

Chris

New Vehicles.

We purchased new tour vehicles this year, we are super excited about them. They are Toyota Quantum's and have our new 13thFLOOR logo on the side. I will get a picture of ours with the logo when I can.

Ray and I are going to be touring in the Corolla, but we don't get a nifty logo on the side of our car. Oh well. Cheers.

Chris

Crazy.

Just a quick hello. We don't have internet right now, I am sorry I haven't written lately.

We had the longest work day ever a few days ago. We started Monday morning at 7 am and finished Tuesday afternoon. We worked 30 hours straight. I was so tired and I got 2 new eye wrinkles.

We go on tour Sunday, I am pumped, pray things go well.

Will write on a regular basis soon I hope. Cheers.

Chris

Hectic Time.

Hey people. I haven't been able to blog for several reasons and I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

We are in Skyne (pronounced 'skane', its Afrikaans for 'shine') Week at 13thFLOOR. Its our dress rehearsal week before we head off on tour. Its so busy, its 8 days where 1 team skynes all day (7am to about 2 am) and then the next day have rehearsals all day and then do the next shows skyne the next day. We have tonight off, so we are going to go to bed about 7 or 8.

The shows are looking good, I am getting a little nervous about tour coming up next week. Our first show is next Sunday night at 1830. I expect things to go well, but with a team of 41 anything can happen. Please pray for my friend Lelo he hurt his foot really bad last night. He is one of our best actors and hands down our best hip hop dancer, it will be sad not having him in the shows. He went for x-rays today and its not broken so hope he will be back in action soon.

I hope I will be able to blog more. Hope all is well with you. Cheers.

Chris

On The Road Again.

Here is a look at our first tour cycle:

4/28-5/6: NG Pretoria West
5/6-5/13: NG Nelspruit
5/13-5/20: AGS Polokwane
5/20-5/27: NG Wilgespruit Roodeport
5/27-6/3: Middelburg-Wes

If you know any cool places to check out in any of these towns let me know. Cheers.

Chris

Gijima

Our Thursday night show this year is called Gijima (run or chase in Zulu), its about chasing after life and how our choices determine our destination. It is multicultural, just like South Africa and we are hoping to have a multicultural audience for the shows.

Most of the churches that book us are white Afrikaans churches so to get our Thursday night audience to be multicultural we are going to rent a bus or 2 and get high school students from the closest township and bring them to the show. Please pray for us that this goes well. With the problem of racism being very strong, I am praying this goes smoothly without opposition from the churches. It's going to be a big stretch for some of the people here.

I love the picture though. Imagine a show about South Africa, with all its diversity, followed by a time of worship where the auditorium will be full of white and black people praising the same Creator. I love it, it makes me smile. It may be the first time a particular church has had non white people worshiping within their walls. Beautiful. Cheers.

Chris

Big Day.

We are crazy busy this time of year. There are dance rehearsals, actors rehearsal, production band rehearsals, rock show band rehearsals, voice recordings etc....but today while running around my sound man, Bart, taught me how to weld. Yeah, I fused 2 pieces of iron into one mighty piece of steel. Thanks Bart. Cheers.

Chris

A Great Blog.

Mark Oestreicher is an amazing blogger. www.ysmarko.com. It's worth a few minutes a day checking out his site. Trust me. Cheers.

Chris

Direction.

I love Grey's Anatomy, I think the writing is brilliant. It has gotten me thinking though about life direction. I watch these characters that are on a good career path (I know its fiction, but just go with me) and I wonder where am I heading. Ray and I are about the same age as the people in the show and I don't feel we have this road ahead of us that will lead to my final destination career wise.

However, I don't have a final career chosen in my head. I feel called to minister, but I think I just don't know what that will look like. I honestly don't see myself being a preacher at a church. Perhaps I will be, but today I just don't see that ever happening. I just wish I had a picture in my mind of what I want to do in 30 years so I could begin walking that path. Just thinking. Cheers.

Chris

Congrats Pieter.

My friend Pieter Swarts is madman (he's tall, hairy and from Namibia). He just ran the Two Oceans Marathon. I would be proud of him if he just ran the normal marathon, but last weekend Pieter woke up early, put on is running gear (shoes, tank top, tiny shorts) and ran 56Kms. Thats like 35 miles!!!!

He was telling me about it and that the race has hills that are miles up and down. I drove the same route last year to go "whale watching", it took forever and I was exhausted, he must have wanted to die. Congrats Pieter. Cheers.

Chris

Holiday is Over.

Rach and I just got back from our planning meeting for the rest of training. Each day is full of rehearsals and voice over recordings and other tasks until we go on tour April 29th. Its going to be hectic, but the teams will make it. I am looking forward to tour. The first few weeks are crazy, but after that its pretty smooth sailing.

It was a nice relaxing holiday. We watched the 1st season of House (a tv show) and about half of season 3 of Grey's Anatomy (another tv show for you who live in Siberia and have never heard of this series). Grey's Anatomy has great music, its worth watching to hear the music.

Our next little break will be in June and Ray and I will be in the States (hopefully). If any of you know someone who can get discounted airline tickets or buddy passes or owns a boat we can take or some other form of affordable transportation please let us know. I keep staring at the amount we need to pay for the tickets and it doesn't seem to be shrinking. Cheers.

Chris

Happy Easter.

Today began with an easter egg hunt that Rach organized. She made paper eggs, wrote clues for me and Gio (a girl from team that is staying at our house this week) and sent us on a hunt for our "prize". It was fun.

One of Rachel's clues was a word scramble. I will put the letters up here with the clue I got and the first to get it wins a special African prize.

Clue: 3 words
Letters: lnblcbonniehgjelseo

Today is also the last day of our holiday. It ends tonight with a production/schedule meeting for the last 3 weeks of training which includes the highly feared week of dress rehearsals. Then I start back with my 0630 tour leader meeting tomorrow. I hate the end of holiday. Enjoy your easter. Cheers.

Chris

Guard Dog.

Last night Guinness played her role as guard dog really well. At some point in the middle of the night I was woken by Guinness barking like crazy at something outside our house. Its such a startling thing to be woken by your dog. I am glad that we have her. Then I realized what she was barking at and I was a little less impressed with her guard duty, it was a cat. There is this cat that has been visiting our house at night and she hates this intruder. I guess I am glad that it was a cat and not a thief, however if it is only a cat I would rather sleep. Good work Guinness scaring away that dangerous cat, good work. Cheers.

Chris

Mr. Fix It.

There are times in a man's life when he feels more like a man. 1)When he can grow a proper mustache 2)When he holds a woman (not a relative) in his arms 3)When he fixes a household appliance for his wife (soon beansy, soon). Well, today I feel like a man.

Our LG WD-10160FU (washing machine) has been not working properly for a while and I called to have a repair man come fix it, but I would have to wait till Tuesday because of the holiday weekend.

So I stared down the LG WD-10160FU and said in a slow rugged voice, "son,(pause) looks like it's time to dance". It would have been more dramatic if I had a cigar in my mouth, but I did't, I did have coffee though which is tough-ish. anyways, so I did a little research on the "net" and found out the problem with my machine. Then I took care of the problem and now my LG WD-10160FU is in perfect working order. Your welcome Ray Ray.

The thing that makes me feel less like a man and more like stupid moron is that the machine wasn't broken at all. Apparently.....the child lock became activated and that was why it didn't work. However, I did press the 2 buttons (at the same time) to disengage the child lock, so technically it works because of me and my research, so the technically I fixed the machine, so technically I am still a man. That was a close one. Cheers.

Chris

Rusty Hook.

Rachel and I stayed with a great couple last year when we toured Jo'berg and tonight they invited us to come eat dinner with them, so we did. They took us to this place called Rusty Hook, its a cool little restaurant located on a pond with a thatch roof and a great vibe. It was such a nice blessing. We ate and talked and had a great night. Cheers.

Chris

The Greatest.

This morning I was washing dishes and between sips of coffee from from new coffee maker, I was thinking "what is the great verse in modern rock music?". I thought for a while and a then it hit me, it has to be verse 3 of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive".

I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back
I play for keeps, cause I might not make it back
I been everywhere, still I'm standing tall
I've seen a million faces an I've rocked them all(GREATEST LINE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I lay in bed at night and think what was it like when time stood still and Mr Jon Bon Jovi penned this verse. Was Jon sitting at home playing around on his piano? Was Jon driving on the George Washington Bridge that leads from NJ to NYC? Was it a spark of genius in the studio when the producer asked him to come up with a 3rd verse because the song just needed a little more. I wish upon a star that I may have this stroke of genius come upon me some day.

I'VE SEEN A MILLION FACES AND I'VE ROCKED THEM ALL! Amen.

Sunday.

Sunday is always strange for me. I am on holiday and I still have that Sunday afternoon dreaded feeling that my weekend is over. I think it started in high school and continues on today.

Sunday was also the day of the week when I met Rach. I know this because it was at church before leaving for camp. I was wearing a tie, it was one of a handful of time she ever saw that.

On a Sunday in high school something happened that impacted me even to today. I was driving to our evening service at church and on the side of the road was a person that appeared to be homeless with a bloody foot. This person was barely walking up this hill on the sidewalk by the road, like struggling up this hill. Well I had this thought that I should stop and help this person, but this other thought flashed through my mind as the justification to not stop, "I will be late to church". I drove on for another 1/2 mile then felt so convicted by not stopping that I started crying, turned around went back to help this person. When I got there he or she was gone. I am so embarrassed by this story.

I think this event showed me how church goers are not always following Jesus. If I say that I am desiring to look like Jesus and live my life like him, then on this day I was nothing more than a liar. This event made me decide that if I am going to follow Jesus then I going to give my whole life to this. I am not saying that I don't screw up from time to time, some days it seems like theres more screwing up than following, but I made the choice that I can't half-ass this Christian thing. People have been doing that for too long and I believe that is a major thing that pushes people away from God. Sad, but true.

Sundays have meant a lot to me. I pray they continue to be a day of inspiration for me and everyone in the world. Today I went the movies and saw Wild Hogs, I want a motorcycle. See it's inspiring. Cheers.

Chris

My New Coffee Maker.

Ray and I stopped by a charity shop today and as I was complaining how the 2nd hand shops here suck I came across this chrome and red coffee maker. It was a diamond in the rough. It was pretty nasty and was taped together so there was tape goo everywhere, but after a good cleaning and several runs to get the pipes cleared out, it works great. Cheers.

Chris

Sweet Young Man.

Here is a picture of my short hair. My friend also trimmed my beard today so I look a bit presentable. Don't fear that will change in a few months. Cheers.

Chris

Art Night.

There is an American girl on my team named Kaitlin (I have never spelled her name, so if thats the wrong spelling, sorry) and she loves art. We met her when we were touring Belguim.

Tuesday night is an off night during training and she held an art night on the campus and it was great. People sang songs and painted and did other artsy things. She also started an art wall on the porch where we eat meals and I am so impressed with the talent we have in 13thFLOOR. Good job Kaitlin. Cheers.

Chris

Be Grateful.

A friend of mine found a free internet connection at a cafe inside a grocery store so this is my new favorite place to get work done (props to Warren). Its a crappy connection, but still free and it's in a grocery store so I can pick up some milk, bread or tampons if I need to. Very convenient.

Anyways I sitting here enjoying a mediocre cup of coffee and Ray's mum messaged me and in this message she brought up how she would like some Taco Bell when she gets to the States (she lives in Saudi Arabia) and I almost got depressed thinking how badly I want/need/desire/lust for/crave/would kill for Taco Bell. There are not words that can express this deep need for this, I am on en emotional roller coaster thinking about this. I am half way between tears of joy in anticipation and curling up on the floor in the fetal position not being able to continue with everyday life. Don't even mention Chick-fil-a, I may freaking go ballistic on Joyce (the sassy woman who works in the cafe at the Super Spar). That would be bad because she knows me and thats nice. I mean, I would hate to freak out about missing my American fast food and throw her in a shopping cart and crash her into the rack of condiments seeing bottles of All Gold Tomato Sauce and Mrs. Balls Chutney scattered to and fro while Joyce shakes her head wondering what just happened. None of us want that.

Be grateful for your easy access to some of lifes wonders, like Grilled Stuffed Burritos and cups of Pintos and Cheese. Cheers.

Chris

Meeting.

Today we had our first management committee (MC) meeting concerning tour and it went really well. I really love my MC and I am getting so jazzed about tour. There are a million things that need to be done to get a tour week to run smoothly and we addressed many of those things. From week schedules to who packs truck after Rock Show on Friday nights to who buys fabric for the front of the stage to make it look nice. I really am proud of our team, they work so hard and I know they will do great on tour. Cheers.

Chris

Muse.

I went to rent a nice dramatic DVD tonight because I wanted to mess around with recording some nice mellow instrumental music. I ended up walking out with Talladega Nights. Not what I had planned, but I love Will Ferrell. He's so funny. Cheers.

Chris

Boo Ya Sucka.

Thats right baby, all the inhabited continents. Thanks Argentina for showing a little love. I realize some people get like 2500 hits a day and I get between 6 and 14, but still they are well spread out, makes me happy. Cheers.

Chris

Too Late Now.

I have wanted dreadlocks since I was young, I always thought they were great. So a little over a year and a half ago I made the choice to grow my hair with the intention of forming them into dreads. So about 8 months ago I got my hair all knotted in sections and let it go with the intention of growing for 5 years. I have fine hair so the dreading was slow, but the progress has picked up recently. They were messy and frizzy and I liked them. However other people didn't like them and felt it their civil duty to say things like, "I don't like your hair" or "you look horrible" you know typical nice things like that. Why would people feel its ok to do this? People say this kind of crap to me all the time. I never walk up to people and say. "you're fat" or "your shirt looks stupid" or "you dance like a deer thats been hit by a car and didn't die, but has broken 2 legs and is trying to walk". Whats up?

A philosophy I have is "I don't want to hear about it". Fine, you don't like something I did or said or the way I sang that song, why must you tell me? Please just let me be.

That said, I cut my hair last night. I now have a nice clean hair cut to go with my Rev. Holohan title that is on my movie rental contract at the DVD shop. I think it was a bad Idea. I let others pressure me into not being myself and thats bad. I would advice one of my students to be strong in what they like, but I failed. I just couldn't take it anymore. I made an emotional decision that now I kind of regret, but its too late, can't change it now. It's a nice haircut though, my female vocalist Giovanni did it for me.

I am sad now. I threw away over a year and a half of growth, patients and wonderful frizz so "I don't have to hear about it". Oh well, my Nanny will like my hair better now. Cheers.

Chris

Man That Would Be Cool.

I am not a person who likes to waste money on stupid crap, though I end up doing it a lot. However one of the things I would love to own is a huge pepper mill. You know, the thing they bring around at the Olive Garden and people who think they are cool say, "Mmmm yes that would be nice, (guys starts grinding while they wait 2-6 seconds then old up their hand), thats fine, thank you." And I am not talking about a sissy little pepper mill, I am talking like a life size replica of Magic Johnson Pepper Mill, where you turn his head and perfectly ground fresh pepper sprikles down on my seafood portofino. I just think it would be cool. Cheers

Chris

Welcome to the 1890's.

The power was off all day yesterday. I had huge plans. I was going see a movie with my wife, then drive home and make a great pot of coffee and say on the love seat and watch TV show dvd's with Ray all day until the last moment that I have to rush to my little home studio and finish a little work for Monday. However, this ruined my plan. So this is a break down of my Sunday.

Went to movie with wife (there is this deal where we can go for R7, thats just under a dollar, wicked sweet). We saw The Pursuit of Happyness (i know its old, hey its a freakin 3rd world country, you are lucky we have roads and pants and we aren't riding around on camels and killing wild game with spears for summer). It was good, but depressed me a bit in the fact that it kind of says that money will make you happy. I want to be super spiritual and say I don't feel that way, but the thing that gets me down most in life is money, so I guess I can't be self righteous. Though I do believe there has to be more.

Then, I went home and got pissed because the power was still out. At this point I was blaming the power outage for me not being able to do my work, when I was just upset because I couldn't lay on the love seat and watch tv.

Then, I took a luke warm bath, because the water in the geyser began to cool from the power being out, and read some of my historical romance book that Ray got me hooked on (thats right beansy, I am hooked on the books the NV women were going on about, its nice).

Then, in a towel, I ranted a bit because the power was off. At this point the sun was setting and I was getting a little worried about not getting my work done.

Then, the sun set and we got out the candle and realized our 4 candles aren't a great source of light.

Then, we went in search of a shop that may be opened to by oil for our oil lamps. Which is difficult on Sunday because stuff closes really early here, like 2pm.

Then, we drove around and looked for an open shop that had power, now we realized the power outage was on the whole north eastern section of Pretoria.

Then, we found oil for the lamp, went home, filled the lamps, walked around the house with my old school lamps like the kid in Where the Red Fern Grows and I laid on the couch and read my historical romance book. I did this for a while and finally went to bed.

Then, as I was falling a sleep the power came on, I know because the fan in our bedroom came on and I had a lekker night sleep.

That was my Sunday, much more involved than it was supposed to be, but hey it worked out. Got up early and had my 0630 Monday morning meeting. Another week begins. Cheers.

Chris

Ugh.

Yesterday was 13thFLOORS (previously called C-Kruis) Guys and Girls day. The girls spend the afternoon and evening doing whatever it is that girls do when then spend time together, I imagine lots of giggling and nail painting. I am not sure, but Rach went to girls day wearing dancing gear and came back in a black dress with her hair looking nice, so whatever.

We guys went and did a much more masculine thing, we played rugby and drank beer. It was nice. However with this being the first rugby I have played this year, I am so stiff, it hurts. It was a good day though.

I am very excited too because this is the first weekend that Ray and I don't have to work this training. There is always something to do, actor rehearsal, writing music, preaching at our church service thing......but this weekend I am going to do nothing and go see a movie I think. I have about 45 minutes of work to do, but that doesn't really count, its easy. Hope you have a great weekend. Cheers.

Chris

Always Strange.

As an artist I am self conscious. It is so hard to play something to somebody the first time, its ok if I think its cool, but if its only goodish to me then its tough. Well I finished all the new production music for the new show. 7 songs of various styles. There's rock, rap, dance/techno, afrikaans country, poppy, but today they started reheasing on my songs, so all over the campus my music is blaring while people dance. Its pretty cool. I love my job. Cheers.

Chris

What A Deal.

There is a sale at www.guitarcenter.com now where they are selling a Gibson Les Paul 52% off the retail rate. It's a $1700 guitar for $800. I know its a lot, but its a killer deal on a killer guitar. If someone reads this and feels moved to bless me, thank you in advanced. I own a great bass that a sponsor helped me purchased, but I don't have a great guitar, making proper music takes proper gear and this would be a dream to own and play. Cheers.

Chris

Ain't Love Grand.

My friend Chad got engaged to his girlfriend, Rachel, last week. Congrats guys, I am so happy for you guys. Cheers.

Chris

Happy Birthday Lelo.

Tomorrow is my friend Lelo's birthday so we had huge bash at our house tonight. It was a surprise party, which I think never works, but tonight I think it did. The 4 Management Committee guys went out for dinner and then we they dropped me at home I made up a reason for him to come in and all 40 people from our team were crammed in my kitchen, it was great.

My girlfriend in my freshman year of college through me a surprise party, but I heard her speaking on the phone about it so I had to pretend that I didn't know. I wonder if I ever told her that I knew. That was my 19th birthday, that seems like ages ago.

My biggest surprise for a birthday was when my Aunt Pat drove up to ATL for my 24th birthday party. I knew I was having a party, but when I walked in she was sitting in the corner of the porch. It was very special to me because it was the first road trip she had taken by herself and she died later that year, so it holds a very special place in my heart.

Happy Birthday Lelo. I look forward to touring with you again this year. Cheers.

Chris

Quotes.

I read 2 quotes today that broke my heart. Firstly, "It's easier to get sex on the street than a hug in a church". Secondly, "I'd rather face God with an abortions than the church with a pregnancy".

Is this true? Take a second and think of your church and people who need help. The first quote was from a young gay South African man. The second was from a young woman. What would the reaction be if we met these people in the context of our christian life?

I don't know the answer, but how can we love like Jesus, where he loved the woman caught in adutery enough to not have her stoned, but also love to tell her to go and sin no more? How do we live that line of grace and obedience? Just a thought. I pray that the world can feel more love from the church. That people will know that Jesus' love is real. Cheers.

Chris

Hi, Nice To Meet You, So What Do You Think About Black People?

One of the things that shocks me every time is the amount of open racism here in SA. I know there is racism everywhere, however the way people talk about it takes me back. It has happened all over this country, we meet a new person or family and within 10 they are asking us about "blacks" in America and how "it" (racism) is there and how bad it is in SA to be white. I am just shocked. Of course it isn't everyone, but I hope so badly that this country can heal from this division.

We met a young girl the other day, just a kid, and she was telling us about her dance class and in her telling us of this dance class felt the need to tell us that there were 2 black kids in the class. However, she used a really harsh racist word to inform us. It just blows my mind.

I hope that nothing I do adds to the problem of racism in this world, I am so aware of the pain and isolation that it causes now more than I have ever been. It breaks my heart. Cheers.

Chris

Good Bye C-Kruis, It Was Fun.

As of yesterday Rachel and are no longer working with C-Kruis International. We have had a nice time, but it is time for a change. The change has nothing to do with us quitting our jobs, rather the corporate name of C-Kruis International will be changing to 13thFLOOR. The reason for the change is C-Kruis is an Afrikaans word, that many who read this blog don't know how to pronounce and we are changing in time for our launch of the ministry in the UK. The ministry that has been going the the States is called 13thFLOOR and we decided to take a easier to remember name. Its going to take a lot of effort to get the corporate change done, but we are excited about where the ministry is heading and hope that this is the beginning of a great new chapter in the history of this ministry. Cheers.

Chris

What Should I Do When I Grow Up?

I am struggling with the idea of what to do for the rest of my life. I am loving what I do now, but I know I can't tour forever. Well, let me rephrase that, I could tour forever, but Ray can't and I don't want to be on the road with kids or miss them growing up because I am gone all the time.

I am loving my music production and I think that I could work here in the office at C-Kruis working on music production and I think that is something where I could really grow and impact people. I am just so confused because I think it would be great, but the idea of getting up everyday and going to the office, then coming home everyday for the rest of my life seems scary. I think that I am trying to find where my niche in ministry is. I love the music, but I want to impact people. Please pray for me so I can have a clearer picture of what I am "meant" to do.

Cheers.

Chris

Beard.

Just after the new year I shaved my beard then me and a guy I work with, Tertius, thought we should grow our beards for the extent of training (end of April). Well, here is how its going. Sorry for the bad picture, its rays camera phone. If you want to rub my beard you can for a small donation. Cheers.

Chris

Home.

We are home. I am exhausted. We left early this morning, drove 7 hours to Bloemfontein, had a 2 1/2 hour meeting, drove 5 more hours home. This week I thought would be nice and relaxing, but ended up full of meetings and other commitments. I am tired.

The whole week ended up good though, there was great times of worship and many people learned a lot about themselves and God. It also cool meeting so many people working in ministry here in SA. We are doing different things in different places, but all serving one God and that is amazing.

I am going to rest tomorrow morning, but I have to get to work in the afternoon. My music for the new show is not finished. I was supposed to work in J-bay, should have not slept I suppose.

Cheers.

Chris

J-Bay Day #3/Goal Met.

Well, I said that I was in need of a break and a sunburn. Today my goal was met. It was my first day off in weeks and I am in a bit of pain.

Ray and I spend the day together on the beach with friends. I played cricket with the guys, it was fun. When it was my turn to bat they laughed at me because I took a baseball stance with the cricket bat (which I think looks like something you could row a boat with, or use as a cutting board), they were not laughing for long when I send the ball soaring like Sammy Sosa with a corked bat or Jose Conseco on 'roids. It was fun. This was part of the 6 hours in the African sun which led to my super rad burn.

The worship service tonight was cool. Ben spoke about our generation and things that he thinks are fears that keeps us from doing Gods work. 1-Fear of Brokenness (our own and other peoples) 2-Fear of exposure (putting ourselves out on the line) 3-Fear of Death. I think he is right. We are so caught up on comfort, convenience and getting "ahead" that we do ministry as a second thought. He gave a time for us to think of our own fears. I think that a fear I have that if I could deal with I would be more able to be used by god, is the fear of security. A vision that I see sometimes of myself, that scares me to death, is this picture of me homeless, alone, toothless and rejected by everyone that sees me. I believe in the devil, I believe that he would love nothing more than for me to quit ministry and get a job for the sole purpose of making money (I had a better hourly wage in high school). I know that this is a vision that he puts in my head to try to get me to quit, but there are days where this fear of security (financial mainly) is so strong I honestly consider leaving the ministry. It's sounds so stupid in black and white, but its true. I pray that god continually gives me the strength to continue to do what I feel he called me and gifted me to do. Please pray for me.

The week is going well. We have tomorrow then we leave before the dawn on Friday for the trek back to Pretoria. I will be glad to get home, I miss my dogs. Cheers.

Chris

J-Bay Day #3/ Homey Shoutout.

Today, weather wise, was much better. Not too warm, but not cold and no rain. I think tomorrow will be brilliant.

Our band led worship tonight again for the night session. It was a time where there were several stations set up around the church and we played while people could spend the time doing different "activities" like have elders pray for you or confessing sins or meditating on god's awesomeness or worshiping in song. I think it was good. We played for about an hour, it was long, but I think the night was great for some people.

Because of the worship stuff the past few days and the fact that this is supposed to kind of off for the MC from the teams, Rach and I are taking tomorrow off for a nice relaxing day. We haven't had a day off in a few weeks so we are due. She is the admin girl for this week so she has been swamped as well.. I am hoping the sun is nice tomorrow and we can just go swimming and get wicked sunburns, yeah baby.

I made a footnote on yesterdays blog (a first for me) regarding the fact that I want hundreds, no thousands of people to read my blog everyday and that I might get as many as 14 on a strange day when several people wrongly typed in my domain and they were actually were looking for garden advice or a used car. I would like to say there are several people, friends/family/a few people in Asia that I don't think I know, except my friend Andrea from high school, I hope you are happy. I really appreciate anyone taking the time to read my blog, Its fun for me. Thanks for your effort.

I having received the huge response that I was hoping for when I asked for someone to sponsor me fund for a recording studio. I really have a huge expectation that god will bless this need. I honestly believe that music may be my area to impact the kingdom. It's a passion that grows more and more with every breath I take to the point sometimes I sit around smiling with a stupid grin on my face thinking about the fact that I get to play music soon. When you get 5 guys playing perfectly on time, doing their part to create something that can stir a mans spirit, its breath taking. I am proud of my band, they have been working really hard for the worship stuff this week. I think I may take them for a beer tomorrow, they earned it.

Please pray for me with this music desire. Ray and I won't be touring much longer, this may be our last year, which is a bit hard on me. However, I could really focus my energy with C-Kruis on creating great production music and I would love that. We will see what the future holds, right now I have more than enough on my plate without thinking to much in the future.

I hope you have a nice day. Thanks again peeps who read my blog, poor spelling/grammer included. Cheers.

Chris

J-Bay Day #2.

I would like to give you an update on the time here in J-Bay. As you would remember yesterday, if you were on of the few people who read this blog(***See Footnote***) you would know that the weather was crap yesterday, well today it is worse! When I was in high school a hurricane hit down the coast from where I lived and we didn't get super bad weather just a good bit of rain and wind, thats what it was like today. Like 200 km's down the beach a hurricane was hitting the town of George (where my friends Daniel and Elzette live, I miss those guys.) So it was raining like a mug and freezing like its the middle of July. I sat in a meeting soaked to the bone in a hoodie that was soaked like a sponge, I was not content, I was grumpy. Oh well. I went and bought a cheap, crappy jacket that I hope lasts at least 4 days and some socks that come up to my calf and have colored stripes at the top, not cool old school stripes like you would buy at Urban Outfitters for $30 a pair. So, I am warm now in my house, with my crappy jacket and make-me-look-like-a-pathetic-loser socks. I am more content than earlier.

Besides weather info the fest started officially today. All the groups arrived and we had a worship service tonight and our band got to lead worship. I want to write a blog about leading worship one day. I started hating worship music a couple of years back, but ironically enough I am getting many chances to lead in various places and I love the platform of music to reach people and minister, I think it is great now. So I think that went well. My boss, Flaps, gave a little message about Moses (I wasn't paying much attention so please don't email me and ask specifically what he said, I have the attention span of a 7 year old, I hope Flaps doesn't read this either and punish me, I would feel bad if I disappointed my boss [I honestly only said that so he would think I am a sweet good man rather than a man that lets his mind wander during sermons to stupid stuff like how I can make my coffee turn out better from my french press, which I don't think I can, its near perfect, Juan freakin Valdez couldn't produce anything better himself, bring it Juan you wanna show down, I'm game, bring it viejo amigo.]). So everything went well.

I hope all of you throughout the world, are doing well. Please email me sometime and let me know how you are doing, I am interested. Cheers.

Chris



***( I have a friend named Suzy, her sister has a blog, she averages like a million hits a day, ok not a million but hundreds, I get like 12 on a huge day, how can I get more? Maybe if I were more interesting or wrote more about government or used big words or discussed 18th century celtic poetry. Whatever, I like that I have people that check my blog, makes me feel important, thanks mom and Beansy.)

Thats Doesn't Seem Right.

I went to sleep last night at 12:10, I woke up at 3:55, I fetched our friends to drive to J-Bay at 4:45, I drove the Corolla for 12 hours and 22 minutes to the bottom of the world and it's freaking FREEZING!!!!!!!!

Its supposed to be the last stretch of summer before autumn comes, however nobody told mother nature concerning the weather in this wonderful land. I surely hope it warms tomorrow because it will be hard for me to get my much needed sunburn through my hoodie (that was worn in The Hydration Method by Patrick Snow playing the part of Josh Kindell [was that the kid's name?]) standing in the wind and rain. Oh well.

We arrived safely and I am excited about the week.

Also, I am making my band grow beards and not cut their hair so we look tough as nails as most of todays top worship bands do. The slight problem is that nobody, save me, can grow a beard. They each have a dozen or so hairs spread somewhere on their face. I will hand it to them though they are sticking in there and giving it the old college try. I think we are sexy.

I really hope the sun comes out.

The waves were huge today, there was some storm off in the Indian Ocean and it caused the surf to be up. I think I might just have to show these people what world-class belly surfing looks like....if it warms a bit of course. I mean I may look tough as nails, with my cool beard, but I'm just acting. I'm just a scared little boy that needs a hug......from a freakin' polar bear.......thats how tough my beard makes me....bring it on cold ocean and strong winds......I will battle against you to prove I am a true champion of all things belly surfing. Boo-ya!!!!!

I am sorry for the last paragraph, I have no idea what that was about. I am tired, it's late, and I need sleep......and sunlight. Cheers.

Chris

I Am Hooked, I Need A Digital Sponsor.

I used to consider myself a bit old school. I prefer black coffee to mocha whatevers, guitar rock to boy bands, Pearl Jam "Ten" to anything else they did, though I love "VS" as well it's a great albulm, (I know, thats not too old school, but relatively speaking students I work with now have never heard Pearl Jam "Ten", shame), I like beards and I think one of the greatest things if for a man to build his house with his own 2 hands, whatever. All that to say, now I am in love with computer/synth/dj/techno music. I am writing new music for a new show and I like all my music to be heavy drums and guitar. I didn't even want a keyboard player in my band. But this new show is to be more urban so I am having to write different stuff then I typically would produce on my own. It's great. I own a cheap, stripped down, crappy version of Reason (computer software that can be used to build drum loops and virtual synthesizers) and I stole my teams synthesizer for crazy sounds (I had to write an Indian dance-groove song, major sitar baby) and I am having a blast. I love hearing the music I want in my head and its not just old school heavy guitar. My issue is I don't have a huge salary to buy gear. I can do a much better job with writing production music for C-Kruis if I had a good studio set up and not just trying to make the best of what I have. If any of you out there has a heart for electronic music or arts ministries in general and would like to sponsor me to help build up my studio please contact me. I want to take my music and my ministry to the next level and I think if I had "proper" equipment I could do that. Please pray for this need of mine. If was in medical missions people wouldn't find it funny that I wanted someone to donate an x-ray machine, please don't think it funny that I am asking for music equipment when music is a major part of my ministry. Please pray that the new shows music turns out well, I am almost done. Cheers.

Chris

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Ray and I shipped my coffee make from America and when it got here it was broken, it was a great machine, "I miss you Mr. Coffee ISTX85". So I kind of gave in and started drinking the instant coffee that 99% of people drink here, it was easier. I have to admit there is some decent instant out there, I bought the good stuff. Well several weeks ago I quit drinking instant coffee. I have my french press, that was purchased for me as a replacement for my Mr Coffee ISTX85. Well, last week my french press fell over and cracked, it didnt break all the way so I continued on in a state of coffee bliss. Then yesterday I was cleaning the little french pretty and it broke for good. It just fell apart in my hand, jagged glass. I was so upset. So I tried to make coffee today in a travel mug. I ground the beans, put them in the travel mug with the hot water, let it sit for a few minutes, shook it up, them poured it through a metal filter (from the deceased press). It was a hassle, but worth it. I am going to get a new french press at the mall today after I go to the bank. Cheers.


Chris

Mmmmm J-Bay.

This has been an exhausting 2 weeks. We don't live by normal office hours, we work the whole time we are awake. It's been so busy. We are writing a new show so on top of my normal work load I have been composing and recording new music anytime I have free. So its up at 5:30-work-go to bed at midnight-repeat. However, we leave early Sunday morning for a festival with other ministries in SA at Jeffery"s Bay. It's a small beach town on the Indian Ocean. As Tour Leader I don't have many responsibilities so I get lots of time to relax and get sun burned, I can't wait. We are leading worship the first 2 nights and thats it. Save me J-Bay. Cheers.

Chris

Just Thinking Today.

Today Rach and I were at the campus doing rehearsals and somebody came by and did something that was funny or strange, I can't remember exactly what it was, but I just though how great it is to work with so many artists. From my 17 year old keyboard player who loves playing classical music, but is loving to experiment with the synthesizer, to the American girl that joined team after we met her in Brussels where she was hoping to go to college and has just a great mind for visual art and painting, to the guys and girls on team that can dance like angels. I love working with the people I work with and for the ministry can brings all this together to tell people that God loves them. Just a thought. Cheers.

Chris

Hey Guys.

I haven't blogged in a few days, just wanted to say hi. We are in a hectic bit of training right now. We are learning a show called Lil' Me, it was written for 13th Floor, so its the first time we will do it here in SA. The music is great, but tough. Its going to be crazy, but will work it out. I will let you know how it goes. Rachel is at a late rehearsal tonight so she wont get home until about 1130. I hate when she has to work so late. Besides crazy work stuff, we are doing well. Cheers.

Chris

Valentines Ball.

We have a Valentines ball every year with C-Kruis. Tonight we had the dinner/dance at a lodge just down the street from our house which was nice. We were supposed to have a mask to wear, I am not sure who's idea that was, but whatever. Well, Ray and I went looking for masks and I liked this one. It wasn't the traditional feathery mask or Phantom of the Opera mask, but I though it was cool. I liked it because it was kind of a mask of me, red hair, black glasses. The evening was good and I enjoyed my mask, however it made my forehead sweat so I only wore it for about 5 minutes at the beginning. Have a nice weekend. Cheers.

Chris

Ray Ray's Day.

Today is Rachel's Birthday. I must say that I think that every year that rachel gets older the more beautiful she gets. I cant wait till shes 80, ooohhh yeah. Happy Birthday Rach.


Chris

My Name Is......

I was looking at a friend's Myspace page yesterday and he listed in the "people I would like to meet" section that Jack Bauer from 24 is the person he would most like to meet. Then a friend of his left a comment saying he loves 24 so much that he bought a puppy and named it Jack Bauer. Well, Rach and I have recently gotten hooked on 24 like some people get hooked to crack or diet pills and I was so impressed that this guy named his dog Jack Bauer (which is quite bold and Jack-Bauer-Like) that I wanted to name something of mine Jack Bauer. So I looked around the house to consider what to give this great name and my eyes locked on the perfect object. My Starbucks coffee grinder. I mean its sexy in design, like Jack Bauer. It's made of metal so its tough, like Jack Bauer. Its a little loud and over bearing at times, like Jack Bauer. It's always there when I need it, like Jack Bauer. And most importantly, it always, always, always gets the job done, just like freaking Jack Bauer. I feel like a new man now that I too have something that is special to me named after the man I would most like to be (list in order of importance: Jack Bauer, Ben Harper, Abraham Lincoln). I heart life. Cheers.

Chris

Welcome Home.

Rach and I went to pick up Damar yesterday, I am so glad to have her home, she's a great dog. She broke her right back leg so that leg is splinted up and wrapped so it looks like a cast all the way up to her hip. I don't say this much, but its cute. She looks like a pirate with a peg leg. I know that she is happy to be out of the cage that she has been stuck in for a week. We have to bring her to work with us for the next 3 weeks, to keep her away from Guinness so they don't play to hard. It's nice to have the family back together. Cheers.

Chris

Grace.

Today we spoke about God's grace at Reverb (the church we are starting) and at Face to Face (the touring teams church thing). Grace is like when you get rewarded for something and you didn't earn it. So when God loves us it is grace because we are all sinners and because of us being sinners he should have nothing to do with us. But the coolest thing is, he does love us and will always love us. Pieter spoke tonight about how nothing we do makes God love us any more or less and that is such a great thing to know because it takes the pressure off of us. God loves me, its great. Thank you God for loving me even though I don't always love you. Cheers.

Chris

Perspective.

I taught a class the other day on spiritual disciplines and when we spoke about service something cool happened. Usually when I speak with people about serving others there is always a feeling of us serving them. I dont think this is healthy, but in the situations that I have been in it has been like that. Like, my youth group from Tallahassee, FL driving to Mexico to help work in a village. One of the guys of team is named Pule (poo-lay) and he was saying how he used to live in a shelter and have groups like ours come in and bring them food or clothes and how it was nice to get stuff, but once he wanted to know what it was like to give stuff and help people. So he and a couple of his friends took the stuff that was given to them and took it to some kids that were living on the street. He was saying how it blessed him so much to help someone when he was always the one getting help. Its cool to see a guy who doesnt have much at all trying to help others because he understands they need help. I wish I could be more like Pule. Cheers.

Chris

Damar Update.

Damar had her surgery today. I spoke with the surgeon earlier and he said it went really well. He put wires or something in the leg to mend the bone. They though it would be a metal plate so hopefully this makes it a bit cheaper. He said we can bring her home in a few days and she will have to be isolated for 3 weeks from Guinness so it can heal. Thats not going to be a pain in the butt. He said that she should make a full recovery and not have any lasting problems, so thats good. We are aloud to go visit her tomorrow afternoon. Please pray us about the money. We are planning on going home in June (my first time back in the states since moving) and this was most of our savings for that trip. It will work out, it always does. Cheers.

Chris

This is Funny.

Was introduced to this today. Obnoxious at first, but grows on you fast. www.askaninja.com

Chris

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!!!!!

Ray just got back from the animal hospital and was informed that the surgery for Damar's leg will cost between R4500-R5000 ($625-$694). I don't know what we are going to do. We could technically kill the dog and get several others to replace her for the cost of the leg operation. Crap.

Chris

Oh, That Sucks.

Yesterday one of the greatest things in my life happened yesterday, then got shot to crap. I was working in my office at home on my sermon for last night, my feet were propped up on my desk, I had a cup on nice coffee, I was reading Exodus and the dogs were laying on the floor by my chair. Then they started playing and wrestling, which is norman, and then something went wrong. The next thing I know Damar is crying and screaming like I have never heard before. So we took Damar to the vet and found that Guinness accidently broke Damar's back leg around the knee area. The vet couldn't do anything about it and the animal hospitals were closed because it was Sunday so we had to comfort a puppy with a broken leg all night. Poor girl. She is off to the hospital now with Ray. I hope it turns out well and that it doesn't cost too much money.

Oh, That Sucks.

Yesterday one of the greatest things in my life happened yesterday, then got shot to crap. I was working in my office at home on my sermon for last night, my feet were propped up on my desk, I had a cup on nice coffee, I was reading Exodus and the dogs were laying on the floor by my chair. Then they started playing and wrestling, which is norman, and then something went wrong. The next thing I know Damar is crying and screaming like I have never heard before. So we took Damar to the vet and found that Guinness accidently broke Damar's back leg around the knee area. The vet couldn't do anything about it and the animal hospitals were closed because it was Sunday so we had to comfort a puppy with a broken leg all night. Poor girl. She is off to the hospital now with Ray. I hope it turns out well and that it doesn't cost too much money.

Come on Rio.

This is the map of where people check my blog. As you can see there are people from everywhere except South America. I was asked to check someone's blog so they would get a dot on Africa, so I am asking if you could help me with my lack of South America dot-ness. Thanks for your understanding and help. Cheers.

Chris

Training Update

Rachel and I have a long weekend now which is really nice after a month of training. Training has been going well, we have been really working hard and have one of the shows done for tour. We had our dress rehearsal earlier this week where we spend about 6 hours going through the 1:20 show setting everthing right where it is to be and getting every detail worked out. Then we do a normal run or 2 just to make sure we are able to remember everything. It went well and I am really excited about seeing the team come together to make the show work so well. The band sounded great too so that makes me extra happy. Everyone is gone now for the long weekend, but will be back Sunday night ready to start work on the next show. Hope you are all well. Cheers.

Chris

Great Movie.

Rachel and I watched Blood Diamond the other day and it is a beautiful movie. It's one of those stories where you feel there is no hope in the world, however the acting, filming, setting, etc is all wonderful. I think it is worth watching. Cheers.

Chris

Jesus.

I got to do a teaching called Know Jesus the other day and it really got me thinking more about who Jesus was. I think that so many people who want nothing to do with Jesus really have no idea who he was and there are so many misconceptions about Jesus that its easier just to bugger the whole thing. I honestly think that one of the things that makes people think Jesus was super cheesy was how he has been betrayed so poorly in “christian” art. There is this town near Pretoria that we toured in last year that has a painting in the office of Jesus walking on water. He is wearing a perfectly while robe and has his hands out to the side with his thumbs turned downward. Go ahead, put your arms out and see how silly it looks, see its ridiculous. He also looks like he is floating. Why is Jesus always floating?

In the class we looked at the human side of Jesus along with the divine side of Jesus. We looked at different snapshots from his life and tried to look at Jesus as a real man and not just the arms out, thumbs down, floating Jesus. There is a picture that I love where Jesus goes to a 12 year old girls house who had just died. Jesus walks in the room where the girl is, bends down besides her, takes her hand and says “little girl, get up”. I loved this because it is such a tender moment between Jesus and this little girl. I imagine him taking that small lifeless hand and feeling the warmth come back. I imagine him smiling as she opens her eyes. It was just a beautiful picture of Jesus as a real man, a man with emotions, friends, hunger, thirst, good days, grumpy days, being tired, etc. I think we the church have done a poor job of teaching who Jesus was. If you are a person that doesn't want anything to do with Jesus because of “christians” that you have met, I would like to encourage you to try to get to know Jesus on your own, look beyond the floating Jesus and look at the man. Cheers

Chris

My New Band.

My band got to play the other day for the first time and I think we sound pretty good. Some of the guys have never played on a click track before, but they are so close to being on time that it won't be long. My drummer is this kid who has never owned a drum kit before and has only played on borrow drums or at friends houses and he is really good. We have a drummer instructor that is amazing so I think this kid is going to be a brilliant drummer once he gets a little direction. I am super excited about his potential. Our female vocalist is a girl from Quincy, Ill named Giovanni. She is great. Plus, her voice is beautiful, so that pumps me up. So basically I was nervous about losing my band from last year, but I think we are going to sound great, after lots of rehearsal time. Cheers.

Chris

Afternoon Meltdown.

It has been so hot in the afternoons that I honestly thought I my flesh may melt off and puddle under my skeleton and fry like an egg on the hot african soil. Ok, perhaps not that bad, but its just been nasty hot. There is also no AC at work or at home here so that adds to the heat. I look forward to a nice cool drive home in the the air conditioned Corolla. Oh well, it will cool down soon, April. Cheers.

Chris

I Am So Sorry We Don't Have A Picture

Rachel and I have been discussing the possibility of getting another dog so that Guinness has a friend while we are at work for 16 hours somedays during training. So yesterday we went shopping. We drove out to the farm where we got Guinness, but they had no puppies. Then as we were driving home a friend of ours called and said that the pet store in the mall had great dane pups. So we left the farm and drove to the mall and found a beautiful little great dane puppy. She is harlequin (black and while like a dalmatian) and is so cute. Her and Guinness get along well, even though Guinness knocks her over and slides her around the tile floor. We are still deciding on a name. We started calling her Damar, which was the name of Rachel's dad and grandfathers photo shop in Savannah. Its a combination of her grandpa and grandma' names (David+Marian=Damar). It was said as a joke, but kinda fits. Other possible names are Andi, Hannah, Holstein (for the cows). Let me know what you think. I think I like Damar, however we have not made up our mind. I will get pics asap. Cheers.

Chris

Good Bye Friend.

Some of you may have met my friend Mike Depina at some point. He and my mom met when I was a kid and starting dating and they eventually moved in together. Mike has been part of the family forever. Well, he got sick a little while back and his liver became really swollen, like big enough to poke his stomach out. They checked him in the hospital and there was little they could do so he was moved to hospice where he died last Thursday. It is really sad for me, Mike was a great man and I hate that I never got to see him again. Please pray for my mom, they haven't been a couple for a long time, but they still lived in the same house and assumed they would grow old together. She will miss him terribly. Cheers.

Chris

Storytelling.

At the beginning of training each year we have a day and a half of storytelling. Basically it's time where each person has 8 minutes tell the teams their life story. They can talk about good things or bad things, but typically its a time where people can really open up and share something personal with the teams. Today we went through most of the team and some of the peoples stories break my heart. I am so saddened my the number of girls on team that have been molested or been abused by a parent, relative or friend. Its so sad to see the self image issues that many of the students on team have and how they handle these issues through some sort of self-injury or eating disorder. It breaks my heart to hear stories of people that were abandoned by their parents. The good thing about it though is it shows the teams that nobody's life is perfect and we all have been through something and God has been there to bring us through. I am so happy that C-Kruis doesn't try to fake a perfect face for people, that we are a group of broken, hurting people trying to rely on God's strength to get us through life's crushing. I love the honesty of the team members. Cheers.

Chris

It's a Boy.

Our friends Flaps and Amanda (Flaps is the CEO of C-Kruis) had a son yesterday. They are the proud parents of Ricado van der Merwe (pronounced ree-car-doo-fun-dare-mare-va). He is healthy and has hair. Cheers.

Chris

Back in the Game.

We are back from Adventure Camp and starting training this week. The teams did well and after several days of hectic camp they are back and stronger. Our A.C. is pretty tough on the students, but they made it and we are proud of them. Cheers.

Chris

Off To Adventure Camp.

We have been doing our leadership training this past week with the Management Committee and the Team Leaders and today the rest of the team with be arriving. It's so fun to see the looks of fear on the faces of the new team members. It is also really exciting to see these young 18 year olds who will some day be the leaders of this ministry. I was so impressed during auditions with the character of some of these young adults and after spending time with the leaders this week I am very excited about the team this year. We will be back late Monday night or Tuesday. Cheers.

Chris

Pictures of our Hike.

Happy New Year.

Happy 2007!!!! Ray and I got back from our hike late afternoon on the 31st and had the most boring new years I can remember. Rachel fell asleep about 11:50 and I was laying next to her reading. When I heard the fireworks going off downtown I nudged Rach with my elbow and said, "happy new year". She woke up, rolled over, and asked what I said. After I repeated, "happy new year", she replied, with her eyes have closed, "happy new year" and went back to sleep. It was kind of pathetic.

Oh well, the new year is here and we are starting with our leadership teaching today that run from 8:30 and run into the night. It's fun having the leadership from both teams together. We had a braai (cook out) last night and are ready to get this years training going.

Happy New Year. Cheers.

Chris

Walk In The Wood.

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

We Don't Have Football, But We Have Pancakes.

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

Ain't My Truck.

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

Rachel's Collection.

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

Barking at the Storm.

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

The Pacific Northwest.

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

Oh Christmas Tree.

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

Merry Christmas Us.

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

Home.

We are home. It's nice. It's been a long time. Cheers.

Chris

Almost Half Way Home.

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

Almost Home.

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

That All Folks.

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