Friday, August 29, 2008

Little Drummer Boy


For those of you who read this entry and you have small children - be encouraged.

For the longest time growing up, I was not sure just where Ben Worley would "hang his hat" so to speak. He was active, creative, fun, entertaining - all those things kids are and should be. The only sport I ever thought he might be interested in was soccer, but it was way more about running up and down the field and bossing people around and that became boring after awhile.

All of this was good, I might add.

It wasn't until just a few years ago, he started hanging with some friends and they started a band - a band which needed a bass player. I was thrilled. Everyone needs a bass player. There are never enough bass players in the world.

So, Ben takes lessons, becomes a pretty darn good player, and go figure - makes the Franklin High Marching Band as the bass player in the pit.

I am still wrestling with a bass player in a marching band. (they just didn't do those things in my days!)

Well, when marching band season ended, and someone talked him into auditioning on "tenors" or "quads" or whatever you want to call those (4) drums you have to strap onto your body and play in perfect time/rhythm while moving around.

He did just that with the Winter Drum Line, and practiced on his own for hours a day - never having to be asked by anyone to discipline himself to practice faithfully.

That led to his auditioning for this year's FHS Marching Band - not as bass player, but as drummer boy on the "tenors".

The photo above was taken at this year's band camp, and tonight Ben Worley will march with these drums strapped to his body for the very first time at a Franklin HS football game half-time show.

I would have never guessed that years ago as I watched him run up and down a soccer field and boss people around - that it would lead to a different kind of "running up and down" a field bossing people around! (drummers always boss people around!)

My video camera will be rolling......

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Films and Living Legends


Tonight I had the privilege of co-hosting a pre-release screening of the new film about Billy Graham entitled, Billy - The Early Years.

You can read all about it HERE

It was a neat experience to not only view the film in it's very rough, unfinished form, but then to hear from the film's producer, Larry Mortorff and Billy Graham's daughter, GiGi.

Several special guests were present for the screening including Michael W. Smith and Melinda Doolittle (who perform the closing/credits song for the film).

For me, personally, the highlight of the evening was sitting next to my dear friend, Bill Graham (Billy Graham's first cousin) - former staff member at my church and current 30+ year member of Brentwood Baptist. Bill is a treasured friend..... quiet, funny, endearing, and in love with life. He has a very unique "cameo" appearance in the film. Not only is he the person shown at the very beginning of the film and the very end of the film - walking.......he also plays the part of the older Billy Graham near the very end of the film - and yes, if you blink, you will miss him!

Tonight, he showed me a photo taken of him when he was 15 years old. He is holding Franklin Graham in his arms. What a photo!!!

Mark your calendar - October 10 - go see this film - it is a sweet and sincere attempt at telling a very important story of the how it all began for a man who simply desired to follow the call of God on his life - and through the years, thousands would come to know Christ because of this man.



In the words of his daughter - "Who could have ever expected all of that from a simple farmer from North Carolina?"

Isn't that just like God?

Thursday, August 21, 2008

August 21, 2008 - What A Day!

I'm not sure I can do justice attempting to blog with words and photos to describe this day.

The short version:

1. We took Matt to college (Samford in Birmingham, AL) today.
2. We returned just in time to attend Open House at Franklin High to meet Ben's teachers
3. Seth had a great friend say nice things about the film he is making.
4. Elliott's latest video is beyond hilarious and entertaining.

The Worley boys just keep bringing great joy to this world!

Here are some photos of the "taking the boy off to college" experience!

The Journey Begins - (literally as the sun was coming up, I drove behind his loaded-down Jeep)


Matt's Dorm Room Desk - (God, please make this boy study!)


Matt's Bed - (creative comforter made from his t-shirts by his grandmother!)


His First Official Day Of College - (standing in front of his dorm)


God only knows what is next. For today, I can't find enough ways to express my gratitude to God for allowing me to experience the incredible joys of these young men and where they are in their journey. College, high school, parenthood - all just trying to find their way and make their mark for the glory of God.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Front Porch Photo


Why do "first days of school" keep flying by?

It is truly hard to believe we only have one left on the front porch for first day of school. (our tradition each year - first day of school front porch photo)

Granted next Thursday, we will find a way to capture some kind of photo of Matt on the campus of his new "home" for the next however many years, but I really am still trying to figure out when these little boys grew up?

I love Ben Worley and his gigantic personality that manifests itself in so many beautiful and entertaining ways. (would I have ever thought about wearing bright green pants to school?) The words that come out of his mouth and the creativity that flows from him are only exceeded in quality by the depth of this kid's love for God and people.

My life is blessed with 3 amazing sons and now an incredible grandson. We get a couple of more years with a "front porch" kid around the house before he heads off to God knows where.

I guess then I will have to beg for front porch photos of Elliott!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I Couldn't Help Myself


This is a legitimate cover of a choral collection songbook.

In my profession, I see hundreds of these on an annual basis. Most of them make sense and are based on either a very well-known song included in the collection or based on the actual name of the musical.

When I pulled this one out of the box, I laughed and couldn't stop.

First of all, I get it, so that's not my issue.

I guess I was just a bit shocked that someone would use this terminology.

Might one assume that a publisher would publish a book entitled, "Difficult Songs For Fat Sundays"?

(Hey, it's late and I'm tired, and I have bored you to tears with blogging about South Africa!)

Friday, August 08, 2008

Cape Town - Some Photos

Here is a "visual" taste of our trip!


Nashville Airport waiting to check-in......


Shane "get me off this plane right now"........


Boggs and Shane doing sound check.......


Doug and Doug - (maybe all tech guys should wear hard hats?)


Capricorn Building - (one of Living Hope's newest buildings - also, the location of a new church plant in that township)


The Gang At Cape Point - (yes, that's G-boy in the middle!)


Guys - In Studio With Lana - (11th grade CCFm Music Maker "winner")


Guys - In Studio With Mxolisi - (singer/songwriter/guitarist - CCFm Music Maker "winner")


Guys - In Studio With "Tabernacle Of Love" - (CCFm Music Maker "winner")


Old Castle Brewery - location of Dockyard Studios where we recorded the "winners"


Doug and G-boy - (Gordon, our driver became a part of the gang!)


"Deadliest Catch" Ship docking - (just kidding - actually, it certainly is a ship that could be used in that show - it was docking in Hout Bay where we had dinner on Monday evening)


Crazy Carry-On - (I named this photo because this guy carried this "stick" on the plane as we boarded in Cape Town to return home, but they confiscated my bottles of water that were sealed by the merchant where I purchased them in the secure area of the airport - go figure!)


Gang At The Team House - (when you stay at the Team House, this is the obligatory photo-op!)


Gang With Team House Staff

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Cape Town - Final Day / Travel Home

I am sitting on the floor in the gate area at JFK Airport trying to remember yesterday since we just cleared customs after having been on the same plane for (18) hours. Actually, besides dealing with ridiculous check-in procedures in Cape Town, the trip home was rather painless.

Our final day in Cape Town was bittersweet as you can imagine.

John Thomas came over to express his gratitude to us for our work. (We were the ones thanking him for allowing us the privilege of being with him and all the work he and his incredible team are doing.)

G-boy took us to the Waterfront (huge mall, etc....) so Doug S. and Shane could buy d'jembes - (sp?). G-boy knows his way around Cape Town unlike any person I have ever traveled with! He took us exactly where we needed to go to get the things we wanted to purchase.

It was difficult to say good-bye to the Team House staff and everyone else we worked with. G-boy was really sad to see us go, and we felt the same about not being able to spend anymore time with him. I look forward to seeing him again next time in Cape Town.

Thanks for your prayers for our trip. When I get home, I plan to do one final "Cape Town" blog featuring photos and captions.......

If you have been reading this, and have not been on one of our short-term partnership mission trips to Cape Town, I urge you to prayerfully consider it. I am fairly certain that Avril will want us to bring two separate music teams next year.

I can't wait to see who God brings together for those trips....

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Cape Town - Day 6 - Tuesday - August 5

This morning, we took the tour of Living Hope and all their related ministries.

Mike Talley did a great job condensing what is normally a much longer tour to accommodate our schedule. I realized today that no matter how many times I hear about and witness first-hand all the ministry areas where Living Hope is involved, I am stll moved and humbled at the challenge of ministering to so many people in such dire need.

From Masiphulelele where 50,000 people live in horrible conditions - to Ocean View where people were forced to move there by the government years ago, and are still angry for it - to Muizenberg where Living Grace feeds at least 100 homeless every day at noon - to Capricorn where Living Hope has just built a new building and Fish Hoek Baptist is planting a new church there - to Overcome where the government made the land available to anyone who could establish a “dwelling” to do so, and 6,500 “shacks” were put up in (3) days by people needing a place to “dwell”. The conditions are as you would imagine - horrible.

In the midst of this overwhelming reality of poverty, HIV-AIDS, oppression, and despair, God is moving in and through the people of Living Hope to do just that - bring hope to people. The Health Care Center (formerly known as the Hospice - the name was changed last year when 92% of the people who were admitted to the Health Care Center were walking out!) is an example of how God is moving and working to heal people’s diseased bodies. Next door to the Health Care Center is the Living Hope headquarters (so to speak). After touring all the other areas, we went upstairs to see the newest of ministries - sewing and computer training. We entered a room where (5) people were sitting at computers learning skills, and at least (10) women were sitting at sewing machines being taught how to sew. Job skill training is so important for people living in these surounding townships.

After lunch at The Team House, and a brief bit of down time, we headed up the West Coast to a community called Melbos. Tonight, we led a one-night, condensed workshop for a small in number, but very large in response group of people from a fantastic church called, The Fellowship. This church is yet another church plant of Fish Hoek Baptist (King Of Kings Baptist Centre). The pastor, Rob Lucas is a larger than life wonderful man who completely captured our hearts.

Boggs and Shane led a time of worship that was nothing short of amazing. I continue to be in awe of how God is using these two men to lead in Kairos on Tuesday nights at BBC. Michael is way more than a gifted worship leader in terms of his musicianship which is extraordinary. Tonight, he revealed more of his heart, his sensitivity to the moving of the Spirit in the room - it was a beautiful experience of worship that seemed perfect for the time and place and people present.

Following the time of worship, Boggs and Shane taught a class on vocal technique combined with some general worship leading concepts while Doug and Doug had the audio guys in the back talking shop about audio ministry. Then, we came together to watch both groups function as they would in a worship setting on a Sunday. The church’s worship leader, Ryan is a “surfer boy” - no kidding. The dude is evidently quite the surfer. He is also a really good worship leader. He got up with his team and led while we gave encouragement and some simple suggestions here and there. The people present love to worship. The church is exploding in growth. They have (9) prayer meetings a week. They would not let us leave. We arrived at 6:00pm and we finally got away around 9:30pm.

On the hour drive back home, the majority of our conversation in the van centered on how God had moved in our midst tonight. It was strange because going into tonight, we really did not have a good sense of what would happen. None of our previous teams had ever done a one-night workshop. Avril could not be with us this evening, so we were “on our own”. Boggs said it best in the van coming home - “God’s presence is a gift” - tonight was truly a blessed gift........

Monday, August 04, 2008

Cape Town - Day 5 - Monday - August 4

Another perfect day in Cape Town - weather-wise, of course.

We had the joy of spending the day with our good friend, Matt Allison. (Karla and I first met him in July 2004 on our first visit.) Matt is a multi-talented individual - artist, songwriter, music business guy, studio owner, and quite the recording engineer. (He just finished engineering a project involving some of the biggest names in music here in CT - all coming together to honor Nelson Mandella. The project will be mixed in NY this week - evidently will be quite a big deal when released here in the next few months.)

He owns a very "vibey" recording studio called Dockyard Studios in the heart of Cape Town. It is nestled on the 3rd floor of what is evidently a very well known building in CT called Old Castle Brewery. Matt is such an entrepreneur, and he did great finding this location and making his studio a wonderful place to work.

We spent the day recording the (3) CCFm Music Makers Workshops "Winners". We chose these (3) from the (36) people we critiqued on Saturday at the workshop. (This whole "recording the winners" is an important element of our mission and purpose for bringing music teams to CT to help develop local talent so that hopefully these artists can have their songs played on Radio CCFm sometime in the future.)

Our first guest was Lana Fredericks - an 11th grade girl - precious, innocent, and what a voice! She sang "On My Knees" - recorded by various artists including Jaci Velasquez. We recorded her to a pre-existing track. We will bring it back to America and replace the pre-existing track with a brand new track. She was so thrilled to get to sing in the studio - her first time. Her mom was with her, and I pray this was an experience she will never forget.

Our second guest was Mxolisi (Kolisi) - a 29-year old singer, songwriter, guitarist who recorded his original song, "Always". The basic guide track that Shane and Boggs created was amazing. After Mxolisi recorded his vocal, we recorded him playing Boggs' guitar. Already we have a great track upon which to build. Mxolisi was also so thrilled to be in the studio - a first-time experience for him as well.

Our final guests were a 5-voice group from a church about 90 minutes from CT. The name of the church and the group is "Tabernacle Of Love". They sang a beautiful worship song entitled, "God Is Here". The song is one of those ballads with a "Brooklyn Tabernacle" feel to it. The group was there with their worship pastor and a few friends - again, a first-time experience for them. (Based on this group and the fact that our drummers workshops this weekend were led by a "kid" from their church, I think I need to visit this church sometime in the future!)

At the conclusion of each session, we took pictures, and we will be sending them back to these folks (via Matt Allison) in the weeks to come.

Once we return to America, we will get to work on completing these tracks and making them "presentable" for radio use here in CT.

I have always loved the "studio experience" because at the end of the day, you almost always come away with a great feeling of accomplishment. You have something to show for the hours spent, and usually it is something creative, something that did not exist that same morning - at least not in the form that it is by the end of the day.

I know this - there are (7) people living in the surrounding communities of CT tonight who had the experience of a lifetime today - an experience that brought them joy, a sense of purpose and accomplishment, and a genuine sense of hope.

That may be a perfect day in CT after all........

Cape Town - Day 4 - Sunday, August 3

If there is such a thing as a perfect day (weather-wise) in Cape Town, today was that day. The fact that it was Sunday made that all the more wonderful.

We worshiped this morning at John Thomas’ church - Fish Hoek Baptist (also known as King of Kings Baptist Centre). Worship was led by Melissa Shaw and team, then after viewing a 6-minute DVD on the gospel outreach that will be going on at the Olympics in China beginning this Friday, we prayed for the Olympics. I guess I never thought about praying for the Olympics, but considering the hostility in that country towards believers, it certainly opened my eyes to the upcoming “all the eyes of the world on Beijing” and the importance of praying for God to somehow be honored even through that event.

John preached a wonderful sermon on knowing the specific will of God in our lives. I am always challenged by his sermons. During his message, he spoke of recent UN statistics on HIV-AIDS released this past week, and once again, the largest populated area of the world infected with HIV-AIDS is South Africa. There’s certainly something to pray about.

After worshiping at KOK, we proceeded down the road 5 minutes to the township of Masiphumelele. Many of you who read this have been to Masi. One can never forget their visit to this township - a community of many thousands living in horrific living conditions, extreme poverty, with HIV-AIDS, drugs, prostitution, crime, and little, if any hope of any kind of life outside this small world of despair.

On the main street of this township is a small Baptist church. Inside this church you will find maybe a hundred believers gathered for worship which begins promptly at 11:00am, but really doesn’t get “started” until about 11:20am as more people arrive and the music/worship gets more energetic, passionate, louder, and infectious. I love this church, and I love their choir - always have - always will.

They used an overhead projector to help their people evidently learn a new song. It was in Xhosa, so I did not know the English translation. Doug Sarrett had one of the (3) new fancy hand-held digital recording devices with him - (we bought them to bring here to use, then leave them with CCFm Radio so they can use them for remote interviews, etc.....but they are incredible for music as well) - and he recorded all the music in the service. I can’t wait to bring these songs back and give them to Steve Hindalong to consider using them on the Masi Choir CD project that we are working on. (Steve is the producer of the CD)

We did not stay for the sermon because Pastor Diba primarily preaches in Xhosa, so we would not understand him.

We left Masi and headed towards Cape Point - (Table Mountain National Park - where you can visit the southwestern most tip of Africa).

On the way, we stopped in Simons Town (probably one of my most favorite places anywhere in the world). We ate calamari by the ocean, and walked around on the main street where there are buildings there built in the 1800’s. Simon’s Town is where the South African Navy Headquarters are.

Further south, we stopped to view and enjoy the penguins, then onto Cape Point. It was a perfect day to view Cape Point except for one minor issue - gale force winds. No joke. There were warning signs up all around. The winds almost knocked me over several times. It was crazy!

We got plenty of great photos/video of baboons, and enjoyed the time of leisure after two intense and long days.

Dinner tonight at The Team House was great as usual, and Boggs, Shane, and Sarrett were in rare form even for them. They had everyone almost spitting out their food or snorting it out their nose - these guys are ridiculously funny! G-Dog and Jakes joined us for dinner and the fun!

Afer dinner, G-Dog took all of us except Shane (he stayed back at The Team House to begin working on the tracks we will use to record the (3) winners of the CCFm Workshops from this weekend) to Mike & Pam Talley’s house to be able to access the Internet since as of this writing (Sunday night), our Internet service has been down since Friday morning!!

We had a great visit, and returned to The Team House to get back to work on tracks. it is now 12:55am, and I can still hear Boggs and Shane working away - these guys are great - I am not sure our new South African friends we will work with tomorrow truly understand the quality of professionals they will be working with. It really does not matter if they understand that or not - what they will walk away from the studio with at the end of the day tomorrow is a greater sense of hope and encouragement that their gifts matter, and that some fun and energetic guys from America care about them and want to serve them in whatever way they can to encourage and support them - even if we may never meet again this side of heaven.

Cape Town - Day 3 - Saturday - August 2

We keep getting up when it is stil dark, and leaving in the dark. I hate that only because the view from The Team House is so stunning in the daylight.

The drive to and from our workshops venue is over Table Mountain, so that view even in the early hours of the morning is sensational.

We started our morning today with breakfast at 6:45am and we arrived back at The Team House at 11:00pm.

As best I can, here is a capsule of our long day:

Avril drove us today to give Gordon (or G-Dog or G-Boy as our team has affectionately named him) a break from driving. On our way to our venue, Doug Sarrett asked Avril what most South Africans think of Americans? Her answered stunned every member of our team. Without hesitation, she responded with “they think Americans are right up there next to God”. In other words, they hold us up in extremely high esteem. It was sobering, humbling, and just another wake-up call to remind us of why it is so important that we come to this place and offer ourselves as servants, teachers, and missionaries. (Please don't read into my last comment any hint of arrogance or "they really need us over here" mentality.)

Just after Avril answered that question, we stopped in a township called Capricorn - another area of living conditions that are just not anything that any human being should have to live in. At Capricorn, we picked up 4 kids who have the most amazing story. All of them have become a part of a music outreach program called Mobile Music Academy where a small team of volunteer music teachers go into communities like Capricorn and teach kids music, positive self-esteem, and most of all, that Jesus loves them and He can give them hope even in the most hopeless of situations. This truly incredible program was the brain-child of a Belmont Student named Chris Dorsey who spent his summer working with Avril and team at Living Hope and developed this ministry on wheels.

When they got in the van with us, Avril had us all introduce ourselves to get to know one another, and immediately the kids began to sing songs they have learned. Avril told me privately that they didn’t know any of those songs before MMA came to them this summer. All the kids have also become Christians this summer. Only one of the kids lives with their biological mother. Avril wanted these kids to experience the workshops today as well as have them sing in tonight’s concert. (more on that later)

Our day was full of workshops and critique sessions. Boggs worked his butt off leading worship, then two guitar seminars, followed by two songwriting sessions, then he and Shane “hosted/m-ceed” the concert this evening.

Doug D (or double D), Sarrett, Shane, and myself split into two separate teams and between us listened to (36) different people sing/play in a room while we “critiqued” them. I can’t begin to write adequately about this experience, but know this - these people are immensely talented, fearful, and very discouraged. We did everything within our power to build them up, encourage them, and push them to keep doing what they are doing and not give up. These people don’t want record deals - they want hope. They want someone to believe in them - to believe they might have something to offer to God with their talent.

Near the end of our critique sessions, Mauritia walked into mine and double D’s room - she walked directly up to our table (most stood as far away from our table as possible), and proceeded to say the following:

“I don’t know why I am in here because my singing sucks. I just really need your help. Will you help me?”

How’s that for an introduction? She proceeded to open her mouth and sing acappella an old song called “In Him I Move”. I had never heard this song, but the song stunned me, and her sweet, innocent, lovely, and engaging voice filled our church classroom. It took all I had to keep it together as she ministered deeply to my soul.

When this beautiful 11th grade girl finished, she stood there, and we were all silent for a minute until I broke that silence with a question......“Why do you think your voice sucks?”, I asked. She replied, “because my friends tell me so.” My heart broke even more. I told her to get new friends - honest, I did. Double D and I proceeded to lavish every possible word of encouragement we could. She then proceeded to ask a series of vocal technique questions - she was SO hungry to learn. I pray we planted seeds of perserverance and encouragement in this young girl. She was and is so deserving.

These are the kinds of stories that take place when we bring music teams to South Africa.

Tonight’s concert was (according to Avril) one of the best she has ever been a part of. We had (12) local artists perform, including the kids from Capricorn - the people loved every moment of it. Boggs and Shane were great hosts, and it was a fitting conclusion to our weekend of workshops.

Our drive home was over-the-top silly.........during our past few days, G-Dog has been teaching us phrases in Afrikans. One of those is how to say, thank you. It sounds like “buy a donkey” - honest.

So, tonight as we were approaching a road-block where every car was being checked for either DUI, drugs, and/or if the vehicle was stolen (that should tell you about the neighborhood we spent our weekend in), the guys suggested several different phrases that G-Dog should say to the officer as he checked his license, etc.. I suggested he say “buy a monkey”. I was so tired, I did not even realize what I said - I thought G-Dog was going to pee in his pants. He could not stop laughing even as he pulled to the officer.

The rest of the way home, we exchanged lines and phrases and utter sillyness - mission trips bring this out in every team, but most especially with this group of guys - my goodness, I have never laughed so hard....

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Cape Town - Day 2 - Friday - August 1

My apologies that I have not blogged - our accommodations' internet service has been down since Thursday night. I will try to update as much as possible in this and subsequent posts.

Day 2 - Friday, August 1 - Quote - "4 Seasons In One Day" - Gordon, our driver.
Today's weather was interesting and warranted this quote - from clouds and cold weather to hard, side-ways rain to beautiful sun and warmth - all in one day - the first day of August.

Our first day of workshops at Belhar were really good. Boggs and Shane opened the day leading praise & worship. I had forgotten just how responsive the people of Cape Town are in worship. We all agreed - oh how we long for the passion, emotion, and energy of these people would somehow "spill-over" onto our congregations.

Boggs and Shane led (4) consecutive sessions on Vocals. These two guys were magnificent. They are an amazing team. Everyone was talking about their classes - why not - they are skilled, compassionate, sensitive, and just downright funny!

During these (4) sessions, Doug & Doug led (4) consecutive sessions on Audio. They had the perfect size group with which to work because it allowed them to be on stage to observe as well as most all fit into the tech booth to observe and learn.

The thing that always fascinates me about these workshops is how God moves works throughout the day - and if we are listening and paying attention and being sensitive - we adapt and change accordingly.

Today's final sessions were a perfect example combining the vocalists with our tech group to emulate a SundayAM sound check/rehearsal and a "sample" worship segment. It was wonderful to watch everyone learn from each other.

Since Gordon (our driver) lives in Belhar, Avril (our host and sponsor) drove us back to The Team House with stops at a music store and Pick-N-Pay (grocery store). The visit with Avril was fantastic.

side note - no one on our team wants to sit up front in the van because of the strangeness of sitting on the side where Americans sit when we drive - except the driver sits on the right side over here and drives on the left side of the road.

Dinner at The Team House tonight was relaxing, and we had nice visit Jakes as well. She is such a great Team House host because she is genuinely interested in the teams who come over here.

I have laughed heartily and often with this team that God has assembled. Sarrett, Shane, and Boggs are relentless with non-stop humor. I thought Jakes was going to fall on the floor tonight when the 3 guys got on a roll. Laughter is amazing medicine.

Today was another reminder of the incredible work and influence that Radio CCFm has on the people of Cape Town.

An unexpected moment today was a visit with Pastor Timmons - the pastor of the church that is our host for the workshops. He has been pastor of this church for more than (15) years. He is warm, personable, humble and engaging. When asked by Avril, he told the story of how their church building was built. It took them 15 years because it was built totally on faith by the members of the church – spending most every Saturday literally constructing the building one section of it at a time – debt-free. He told me how they borrowed power from a neighbor’s house using a long extension cord, and borrowed water from another neighbor’s house when they had to mix concrete.

What a testimony to this community, not to mention of people’s faith and the body of Christ coming together to build a meeting place for the people of this community to gather to worship God.

(note – for those of you who have been to John Thomas’ church, King of Kings Baptist Centre, this church in Belhar is a slightly smaller version of King of Kings – and just as nice on the inside).

Since I am at a friend’s house using their internet service, I need to close for now.
I hope to catch up on blogging tomorrow........