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I’m having a rough time hacking out my column this week. I’m not sure what’s up, but I’m experiencing some writers block.
So, I’ll post the couple angles I’ve started with and see if anyone has any ideas. I’ve been trying to write about my trip this weekend on the Guadalupe – but I keep coming to a stand still. So here it is – dry and boring.

This weekend my buddies and I took off on a real spontaneous American adventure.
Now granted, normally the things we do aren’t real adventures, but for some reason things always happen with our bad luck that make them adventures.
And something as simple as floating down a river in a tube can become an adventure for us.
We started the day off planning to leave between 8 and 8:30 a.m.
We left my house on time and headed to the local grocery store to buy provisions for the trip.
We called our “lost” companion and realized she had not woken up until 8 and was still lying in bed.
Strike 1.
After our trip to the grocer, we loaded up on our daily dose of breakfast burritos to satisfy our hunger through most of the trip.
We then filled our vehicle with gas and called our “lost” companion again. I think she was just getting into the shower – thirty-minutes or so after we called the first time.
Strike 2.
We returned to my house to wait for her arrival.
Around 9:30 a.m. our companion finally arrived.
Foul ball, down the third base line.
As we headed out of Belton we cranked up a homerun of a song – “Real American,” Hulk Hogan’s theme song.
Homerun to left field (hence the previous sentence).
As some of you, lucky enough to travel I-35 this weekend, you may have noticed the Harley Convention was going on in Austin this weekend.
While traveling I-35 can often be hazardous to one’s health, watching one of the state’s main arteries thicken with Harley Davidson’s is nothing but enjoyable to my friends and I.
Single to right field.
With AC/DC and a very odd mix of rock and metal booming over the car stereo the two hour trip to New Braunfels flew by.
Another single to right field.
Runners are now on first and second.

With Memorial Day just past, Flag Day coming next week and the 4th of July just around the corner, I was glad to spend my time Saturday partaking in a Great American Pastime.
Now I’m sure many are thinking baseball or softball on one of Belton’s great fields, but we actually headed south to New Braunfels for our adventure.
With a 2-hour drive south, we joined several thousand others as we braved the chilled waters of the Guadalupe in search of fun, sun and relaxation.
And I’m pretty sure we all found it.
It’s not often that you can find a large diverse group of people, age, race and creed – and everyone is so interested in a common goal that things normally divisive is ignored.
Now, granted it may have been the large amounts of hops and barley people were consuming that made people so care-free, but I was impressed to see everyone enjoying each other’s company and having a great time.
I saw seniors, baby-boomers, twentysomethings, highschoolers, pre-teens, pre-pre-teens and everyone in between helping each other down the river, laughing and having a great time.

People keep asking me… “Well when is your next CWF show?”
I keep pointing them to the website: www.christianwrestling.com but apparently — no one follows through, so here’s our upcoming schedule. Hope to see you there.
June 11
CWF WAREHOUSE – ROCKWALL
FREE. 7pm. 331 County Line Rd. Rockwall,Tx. 75087. 214 460-0477.
June 12
Chisholm Trail Baptist Church
300 Chisholm Creek Pkwy. Rhome,Tx 76078 817 638-2574. 6pm.
June 15
CWF Event
Cliff Temple Baptist Church 7pm FREE!!!!!! 125 Sunset Ave. Dallas,Tx 75208 Kenny Cheshier 214 942-8601
June 25
CWF WAREHOUSE – ROCKWALL
FREE. 7pm. 331 County Line Rd. Rockwall,Tx. 75087. 214 460-0477.
July 3 – 4
CROSBY CHURCH
6PM. Each Night. Crosby,Tx. July 4th Fireworks display after the event.
July 9
CWF WAREHOUSE – ROCKWALL
FREE. 7pm. 331 County Line Rd. Rockwall,Tx 75087. 214 460-0477.
July 22
The Extreme Tour
Oklahoma City,OK
July 23
CWF WAREHOUSE – ROCKWALL
FREE. 7PM. 331 County Line Rd. Rockwall,Tx. 75087. 214 460-0577.
July 24
The Extreme Tour
Dallas,TX
July 27
The Extreme Tour
San Angelo,TX
August 13
New Life Worship Center
6pm. 4520 A Old Troup Hwy Tyler,Tx 75707 903 565-5472.

What states have you been to?

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I’m feeling really lonely today. Not too sure why. I feel like everyone’s pulling me in different directions and I don’t really want to go towards any of them. I was told I was a smart ass today.
Maybe they’re right. I don’t mean to be — if I am.
But I know I used to be one with my mom. Dang — I’m a jerk.
So, tomorrow starts a new day. A new chance to change and be changed. And we’ll see where tomorrow takes me.

This is from Phil Humbert serving in South Africa.

Dear Friends and Family,
“For I am not ashmaed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for Salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ Romans 5:16-17
Greetings once again from South Africa! It’s good to finally find the time to send out another letter, and I hope that this letter finds you doing well. We’ve just recently returned from our week off in CapeTown, and what an unforgettable experience that was. It was a great week of relaxing and exploring some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Thank you for your prayers during this time! Our team really had a wonderful time during this week, but in the end I think we were all ready to get back HOME! Also, while we were in CapeTown we got the opportunity to visit a ministry which is in it’s beginning phases. The ministry is called ‘Monte Cristo’, and was funded and started by a fortune 500 buisness man from California. They own a tract of land that I believe is about 250,000 acres off the side of a mountain, which they will be converting into a camp, retreat, seminary, and conferece center. It was exciting to see their vision, and we got to spend a couple of day s with them before heading to CapeTown. We also had the opportunity to visit some local youth ministry outreaches. One of these outreaches was at a youth pastor’s barber shop. He converts his shop into a safe place for kids to come in off the streets on a friday night. There was a DJ, people were break dancing, group games were played, and there was a message shared from God’s word at the end. Let me say I have never experienced anything like that before, but it’s not something I will soon forget!!
We have just started our next learning posture, which is the ‘inviting’ posture. In this posture we are looking at what is God’s invitation for all people, and also how we can be inviting in our lives as Christ followers. During this time we are reading through and studying the book of Romans and the other Epistles, as well as reading a book entitled “A New Kind of Christian” by John McLaren. So for the next several weeks we will be diving into these things and exploring the idea/concept of what it means to live a ‘tasty’ (inviting) life.
Let me catch you up to date with my local ministry involvements! First, I must be honest in saying that I have not gotten involved in the children’s home/safehouse. I felt challenged by God and some of my leaders here to really invest my time and efforts into developing relationships with the local street kids/homeless. This is such a challenge for me, because it stretches me in ways I have never been stretched! I find it extremely difficult to relate and even communicate with these kids. There is a huge language barrier and obvious cultural differences. At this time I really feel called to just BE with them, to spend time with them, and make efforts to get to know them better and learn their stories. I’m still serving them meals once or twice a week in the evenings and setting up soccer games to play with them, but my biggest desire is really to just BE among them. Please pray with me that I would better understand these kids and that I would s omehow be able to relate to them.
I am still involved at the university here with one of my american team mates(Deric). We are currently going to the university on Wednesday afternoons and meet with a small group of students. This time has primarily been focused on sharing our stories and encouraging one another through fellowship and discussing challenging biblical topics and processing through them together! It’s been awesome to see some of the friendships and relationships that have developed as a result of this time. Also, Deric and I are still involved in the volleyball program as well, and have been able involve some of the guys from the team in our discipleship time!
Currently I am working on putting together a VBS type of event for the young kids in the local area here. I’ve still got a lot of work to do in preparing for this, but I am excited about it as I know this is something that God has placed on my heart since I have been here.
As always I would like to leave you with a couple of interesting South African facts:
1. They didn’t have Television in South Africa until 1978….The frist TV show that aired in South Africa was Dallas!
2. Our elevation here in Pretoria is roughly the same as Denver, almost a mile high!
3. Pretoria is the ANT capital of the world….At least I am convinced of this!
Please Pray For:
-Our team: Everyone has been getting sick lately- me being the most recent victim!
-My time with the street kids, developing relationships
-Our upcoming reflection weekend; June 10-12- Drakensburg Mountains.
-Thienus, a young guy that I just met…..He is really seeking the Lord right now, but just needs encouragement!
There is so much more that is happening here that I wish I could tell you about. Just know that God is doing some pretty amazing things in South Africa and I am so blessed to get to be a part of His work! Once again I just want to say how thankful I am to have such an amazing group of friends and family in my life! Your prayers, encouragement and support are such a huge part of who I am and what I do! Thank you!!
In His Hands
PHIL <>< Romans 15:5-6 106 Emily Hobhouse Ave, Pretoria North, South Africa 0182 012-546-9893

This one comes from Amy and Elijah Brown. Elijah is now working on his PhD in Edinburgh.

Dear Family & Friends,
We hope all is well with you & yours. We’re pleased to say that Edinburgh is now breathtaking! Cherry blossoms are a personal favorite, but it’s the culmination of pleasant scents & beautiful pastel colors that are enough to pull anyone outside, despite the weather still being a bit chilly, windy & wet – the 3 Scotland Staples! Praise the Lord for color! Plus, it occurred to me since the last I sent out a newsletter, that Scotland is an island! J So Elijah & I discovered that ‘oceanfront,’ though deserted & not the prettiest that is out there, is a 40-min walk from the apartment! Very nice!
I have had a wonderful first two and a half months. It has been the most refreshing, yet simultaneously fairly near to the most stressing time in my life (taking into account that 25 warrants not much life experience). Maybe bewildering is a better word. And as it were, I have far fewer answers now than I did prior to coming, but all the same, I can testify to pervasive peace in the midst of elusive means. God’s been more than generous with miracles in our lives, and the current is no exception.
The BIG news is that Elijah’s been upgraded from a Masters to a Ph.D. student!!! Praise God for His continued provision! This not only saves at least ½ a year of living expenses in Edinburgh, but saves Elijah the task of having to write a 15,000 word Masters dissertation, as now he GETS to work on a 100,000 word Ph.D. thesis! J (terminology backwards from the States). But the real bonus… it saves us $17,000 off the overall schooling bill! The Univ. of Edinburgh is set up so that their Ph.D. students only pay for the first 3 years. So the upgrade means this previous year’s tuition has now been credited towards Ph.D. work, leaving us with only 2, not 3 more that come with a price tag. Amazing answer to prayer.
I’m going to address the topic of study, with the disclaimer that a future email will better answer the subsequent questions of ‘oh, that’s interesting, but… why?’ or ‘what exactly are you going to do with that?’ Don’t feel guilty (though I doubt you would), I myself had those questions.
THE DEGREE – Ph.D. in Christianity in the Non-Western World
THE THESIS topic – Development of the Southern Sudanese Church in Refugee Camps & Among the Internally Displaced
So that will be the crux of Elijah’s life for the next two years!
I, on the other hand, have been less than successful in finding employment. And three weeks ago as if from above, I knew that, as absolutely of a financially wretched time to know, I was supposed to start writing a manuscript for a book the Lord had laid on my heart. So I’ve given myself to the topic of “Dating God: Finding Your Ultimate Love Before Your Right Love.” This has been quite the task for me, but enlightening & a joy & I’m hoping to be able to wrap it up in a month or two if we don’t go clean broke before then. If you want to know how it is we are going to support ourselves, refer to paragraph two, it’s all in there.
One of the most delightful things E&I have gotten to experience in these few months was the discovery of a Gaelic (native Scottish language on the verge of extinction) church service. We figured we’d stand out a bit, but thought for one Sunday ‘why the heck not’. So we picked a week and suited up for our 30+ minute walk just in time for all of heaven to come pelting down. We arrived a drenched, odorous mess, & they still hugged & kissed us all the same. The Gaelic language is beautiful, but it was their music that transcends foreign listeners to some unknown mysterious ‘celtic’ haven. The closest comparison that we can afford is the Sacred Harp music in the States (mainly Alabama). Both are non-instrumental, both have a lead ‘caller’ or ‘pronouncer’, and in both the voices raised follow what seems to be no identifiable melody, but roughly blend into a ‘calling’ harmonious empowering message, whether the language is your own or not. After the service the fellow! ship with these believers was priceless. They were precious people & the experience comes highly recommended.
One other bit of exciting news is that on the same day that Elijah & I ‘discovered’ the beach, we also discovered… Asda!! Better known in the States as Wal-Mart! Now for you non-Wal-Mart lovers out there, I would like for you to know that when faced with the option of buying a bottle of saline at any other store for $8 (£4), or at Asda for $2 (£1), maybe you can try to understand our excitement. And it only got better when we walked outside & saw 3 buses in a row funnel up to Asda’s entrance! We can bus to Wal-Mart! Now that is exciting! We have a trip planned at least twice a month from here until we leave!
Our last, but certainly not least bit of exciting news is that 6 weeks from now, we are privileged to be hosting family visitors! Elijah’s parents are flying out for 12 days, June 28-July 9. We are already crossing the days off the calendar & making all kinds of fun plans. Pray for them as they prepare for the trip.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory…” Eph. 3:20-21
We love you all dearly,
Elijah & Amy
Elijah & Amy Brown
6 ½ Waverley Park
Edinburgh, EH8 8EX
UK

Since today is Slam day at the paper – and I haven’t had a chance to do much reading or blogging today, I thought I’d share the following e-mail with everyone.

May 31, 2005
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When our pastor and his family returned last summer from a mission trip to Siberia, my heart was deeply moved by their stories of the many Russians who came to know Christ as a result of their ministry. I felt God speaking to my heart about missions, but I said nothing. Instead, I prayed that if He wanted me to serve, I would receive a personal invitation from the mission team leadership about future trips.
Imagine my excitement when Brother Mike Harkrider asked if I would pray about traveling to Russia this summer! My husband David and I both felt God calling me to Siberia to teach the children of Dalmotovo about Jesus. There are 14 members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Temple who plan on going to Russia June 29 – July 13.
Will you spend a few minutes praying for our trip? Ask God to lead us, and pray that we would be willing to follow. Ask Him to protect us and to help us with the logistics of such a huge undertaking. Pray for the hearts of those we will meet and minister to, and ask God to soften and prepare them to hear His Word. Finally, ask God to provide for our financial needs. Funds are unexpectedly slow in arriving, but we know God is faithful.
Thank you for your love and your prayers. I will report back to you on how our prayers have been answered. God is good! I’m excited about what He will do.
His,
Pat Rutland
Immanuel Baptist Church
1401 West Central
Temple, Texas 76504
254 773-2147

My sister Kara, my “Adopt-a-Sister” Kathryn Shindoll, her father Ron Shindoll, and my best friend Matt Lehmann are all going on mission trips this summer and I would ask for you to support each of them in prayer and financially if possible too. Kara will be going to China and the rest will be going to Russia. If you’re interested in supporting any of them financially, please let me know and I’ll be sure you know where to send the donation.
God bless.