Planning out the week

I spent today working to figure out the best way to fit everything into this week. The thing is that I have about three days worth of meetings that need to all fit into this week and I'm not sure how to make that happen with everybody's busy schedules. Well, we're waiting to hear back from a local high school tomorrow and that will determine how everything works out. I also spent some time this afternoon working to refine the message that I'm sharing at all of these events. Just doing some tweaking and tightening where it's necessary. Nothing major, just working to make the communication as clear as possible. That will probably keep me busy until I decide I'm done; there's always room for improvements!

Catch up

Since returning from the extended weekend in Cape Town on Monday night, I've stayed really busy getting back on my feet from the teams we've had in and from the two huge youth events we held in just over a week. I think I'm mostly caught up now. I had a great meeting this afternoon with a pastor up the road from one of the high schools we were in. He wants to help out with follow up. So, now we have thee churches looking to get involved with the follow up in that one high school. I'm thinking we could use one more church's involvement, but I'll let you know what happens.

Youth United

Our Youth United event in Soweto was this afternoon at 1PM. Like I said yesterday, there are 1,400 people who attend this school. I'm terrible at judging numbers, but there were a whole ton of kids there. The trio we had lined up to sing fell through at the last minute, but I've heard before that the show must go on. We started off with Name That Tune and The Dating Game to get the kids involved and they absolutely loved it. From there, we moved to the message. This crowd was significantly more attentive than last week's, which I'm thankful for. Kids were challenged to commit to abstinence and I encouraged them by telling them that despite the pressures associated with Valentine's Day, there are hundreds of people their own age around Johannesburg who have made the same commitment. You won't hear from me for a few days; Paul and I are taking an extended weekend in Cape Town. I hope to return with some pictures to post on here.

Still Around

Since I last posted, we took a couple of days off to relax and get re-energized after spending the better part of two weeks on the go with the teams that were here. So, Sunday and Monday were laid back days. Paul and I went to a Sunday night service in order to catch up on some much needed sleep. Yesterday and today were spent in preparation for a Youth United event at a school in Soweto tomorrow afternoon. We're expecting around 1,400 kids again, which is awesome. Please be in prayer that lives will be changed by and intersection with Christ.

Soweto Tour

Today, we went on a tour of the township of Soweto with the teams. Soweto is a township of over 4 million people and it's also currently the third most popular tourist destination in South Africa. It has so much history that is tied to the fall of Apartheid and it has a great feel and culture to it. In Soweto, there is the only road in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners have lived. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela lived on the same street in a "neighborhood" called Orlando West. We visited Mandela's house today as well as a church that was instrumental in giving the youth a place to meet as they planned their next moves against the Apartheid government. The tour is something I've done a few times before, but it's always a helpful reminder for me and I always enjoy it.

Recap

This afternoon, we were in Ephes Mamkeli High School in the township of Wattville. There were around 1,400 students in attendance, which was awesome. The issue was that for some reason, the sound system was only reaching about halfway back through the room. So, all of the kids in the back were talking and messing around the whole time, which obviously made communication difficult. Despite these setbacks, the front half of the room was attentive and responsive as we did the event. We had some games in the beginning and then the band played a few songs before I spoke for a little bit. I wound up tag-teaming it with an area pastor because the kids in the back were listening to him a little better. I felt good about things even though I'm disappointed that we weren't able to have as sweet of an event as we could have, but it's okay. I learned a few things and well over 500 kids heard the Gospel and the call to abstinence.

Youth United

Tomorrow we're doing a Youth United event in a local high school for what we're told will be around 1,000 students. We've been finalizing some last minute details today and I think we're close to all set for the afternoon tomorrow. Please be in prayer for the day and for young people to be open to making decisions that will change their lives. Pray that people would come to know Christ tomorrow.