I am writing this update from Barnes & Noble in Birmingham, AL. It’s been a CRAZY 10 days and this has been my first opportunity to really update you! We will have lots to share from our time down South – the past few days have been spent visiting friends and family, watching my little brother graduate, and meeting a very special little girl! More on that later though…
For now, let me update you on our first week down here, which was spent in White, GA at Training Camp!
For those of you who don’t know, Training Camp is a very important time for our World Race participants. These missionaries are going to serve in 11 countries over an 11 month period. It is so important that we equip them well before they go out! That’s what Training Camp is all about; preparing them emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually for their 11 month mission trip to serve the nations.
The World Race has sent out over 550 participants since it began in 2006, and the number continues to grow! This week we helped prepare another 130 participants to go out and share the love of Christ around the world!
I also helped Rusty with this video about worship. If there is one thing World Racers know how to do well, it’s WORSHIP! We were led this week by Jonathan David Helser and his band, and it was incredible! It’s an amazing sight to see almost 200 people (160 participants plus staff, coaches, and volunteers) worshiping God with reckless abandon!
With Rebecca Herndon – she and I both led Real Life teams to J-Bay, South Africa in 2008!
Our last day at World Race Training Camp :: Hanging out with William Miller. What a great guy!
(Ms. Tina, this picture is for you! 😉
Prayer Requests :: Thank you so much for your prayers during our ministry time last week! We ask that you PLEASE continue to pray for us as we travel around the South. We have a speaking engagement tomorrow at Antioch Baptist Church and will continue to meet with friends, family and supporters for the next week. We have been looking forward to this trip but we’ve really had some struggles this week – – we locked the keys in the car with it running, Rusty injured his back, I have been having a lot of trouble breathing and some bad headaches from my neck issues, Rusty got stung by a wasp and had a swollen arm for 3 days….then he had an allergic reaction to some laundry detergent, and to top it off I now have a very painful stye in my eye! Soo…needless to say we are fighting discouragement and not feeling 100%. If you could pray for HEALING, PROTECTION, and PROVISION we would really appreciate it!
Oh my goodness, Ericka and Rusty- you made my day!! I love it that Will got to spend time with you guys!! I know he was blessed- can’t wait to hear all about it. We’ve been at Gulf Shores for a few days for my nephew, Jeremy’s beach wedding. And guess what, Ericka? You’ll love this! Since he and his fiance are both big time Auburn graduates, they had an Auburn themed wedding, complete with orange and blue everything! We even sent them off under Auburn shakers instead of blowing bubbles or throwing birdseed. And yes, I do have a picture of me shaking an Auburn shaker- I guess the love of a nephew is greater than the love of a team???? Anyway, I’ll post it so you can laugh at me, as long as you don’t use it for blackmail purposes!! One of these days we all will meet! Thanks again for the shoutout!