Hi there! This is Caleb, the guy that is not Dan. So we are in Nazareth at this moment and have been since Monday. We have been given plenty to do over these last five days, working with our host Fady Hana. The Nazareth Hospital let Fady have a Vacation Bible School in their chapel and we helped throughout the week with the kids. Let me tell you, they are a great bunch of kids. Even though we spoke one or two words of Arabic (ex. Shoo Kron= Thank you, Zachi Potata= Tasty Potato) we managed to have the time of our lives. From crafts time, drama, basketball, football, and of course singing we were able to praise God no matter what language we spoke. Of course it was helpful to have translators :) . One day we got to go on a "field trip" to a place called the Nazareth Village, a place that was created to imitate what life was like in Jesus' day. It was like an interactive museum with actors herding animals and demonstrating different things, we got to make sweet bracelets. The leaders were especially helpful. Mainly Fady and a Pascal, a woman our age that quickly became our friend and fit into our group.
Thursday was our first concert in Hifa where we joined up with the Encore Continentals. Pascals mother arranged the concert in an amazing auditorium where three or four churhes came together to watch our joined performance. It was such a fun night and the Encore group was great (it was our first time seeing their whole production).
Then Friday came. This was probably the best day so far for us and for the kids. We started off with the regular Bible hour and then it was off to the....water games! We had four stations of games to get the kids as wet as possible. I don't know why any of us thought we were going to remain somewhat dry because by the end of the games we had all been drenched. Mainly due to all of the children charging us with buckets of water and stealing the leftover balloons. Later that evening we had a show where we performed, but it was mainly for the paretnts of the kids to come see what they have been doing this whole week. There is one song that is safe to say is EVERYONE'S favorite. I dont have the words with me but we can post them later. Anyway, this song had hand motions that we brought to the next level.
Well today we are having a half day off to see Nazareth before we go to our concert tonight. Thank you all for praying, God has been doing amazing things and we are having an awesome time! God Bless
Caleb
Friday, August 8, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Tonight we had our first concert at Moore Park. We were told yesterday that Encore would not be able to perform and we jumped on the opportunity. We arrived at three, set up the equipment and prepared for the show. Nerves were bubbling, hearts were racing, and God was beginning to take over as we entered the stage. The performance was greatly received and many people approached us afterwards explaining their long lost connection to The Continentals. We met people who saw tours back in the early stages of this ministry. It was a uplifting night. The church was very supportive.
Afterwards we had a barbecue at Patty's house. We had a feast. Rice, ribs, steak, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, some spicy dish, and lots lots more. It was amazing. We have been blessed with people who have taken the time to drive, feed and house us this entire week.
We are very excited to leave tomorrow for Israel! We know God is in control and we are looking forward to many opportunities where we can share Christ with the people of Israel. Please pray for God to open the hearts of the children we will be ministering to at the vacation bible school we are going to be working at. Also pray for people to be drawn to our concerts throughout the week so that the word may be spread to as many ears as possible. God has shown himself to us in various ways this week . . . mostly in ways and times were we least expected it. This week has been crazy, misleading, and confusing. But soon enough we will see God's plan for this. We are in high spirits and waiting on God to lead us into his Holy land. We are just so excited to be a part of this ministry.
In Christ,
Dana Smith
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We (including God this time) have a plan!!
Hi! This is another member of the Strike team, Sandy. I am actually the one responsible for our passports being in transit so late in the game. But I guess God has a plan for our mistakes. In any event, here's the story continued.
When we realized we were not going to be able to go to Ghana because of the astronomical change in cost for delaying our flight, our leaders started to brainstorm. The Encore tour is going to be headed to Israel so it was on the list of possibilities. When they asked about it, the airline people told them that it would be a much smaller fee to transfer the tickets there. This morning our leaders were in prayer asking if this was of God or Satan trying to thwart our plans. And so the Continental staff people decided to call the host in Israel, Abraham to see if it would be possible for us to come with the Encore tour. When that occurred, after having been told of the situation the Abraham immediately responded, "This is of God." And so it seems that we had our answer. He went on to explain that he has had to turn down churches that wanted to host tours because he couldn't overbook the Encore tour. And the hotel in Israel that is reserved was set-up originally for 30 people and the Encores have 23. Also as people were praying for our tour and for God to make clear the plan for it, they were led to a verse in the bible that reflected remaining in the original plan. And while that would seem like Ghana was the original plan, actually Dan and Ashley's original plan for this team was to go to Israel. And so as of this moment, we have tickets for Israel purchased for Sunday. Until then we will stay in California further prepare our program and our hearts for ministry.
Even though we are not headed there anymore, we are going to continue to be in prayer for Ghana and ministries that are prepared to happen there and we ask that you join us in that.
Until next time, peace and grace be with you all.
When we realized we were not going to be able to go to Ghana because of the astronomical change in cost for delaying our flight, our leaders started to brainstorm. The Encore tour is going to be headed to Israel so it was on the list of possibilities. When they asked about it, the airline people told them that it would be a much smaller fee to transfer the tickets there. This morning our leaders were in prayer asking if this was of God or Satan trying to thwart our plans. And so the Continental staff people decided to call the host in Israel, Abraham to see if it would be possible for us to come with the Encore tour. When that occurred, after having been told of the situation the Abraham immediately responded, "This is of God." And so it seems that we had our answer. He went on to explain that he has had to turn down churches that wanted to host tours because he couldn't overbook the Encore tour. And the hotel in Israel that is reserved was set-up originally for 30 people and the Encores have 23. Also as people were praying for our tour and for God to make clear the plan for it, they were led to a verse in the bible that reflected remaining in the original plan. And while that would seem like Ghana was the original plan, actually Dan and Ashley's original plan for this team was to go to Israel. And so as of this moment, we have tickets for Israel purchased for Sunday. Until then we will stay in California further prepare our program and our hearts for ministry.
Even though we are not headed there anymore, we are going to continue to be in prayer for Ghana and ministries that are prepared to happen there and we ask that you join us in that.
Until next time, peace and grace be with you all.
We've got the joy, joy, joy, joy....
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support... we'll post as soon as we have definite updates!
God Changes OUR plans and makes HIS plans happen
As of yesterday morning we were getting ready to leave California and head over to Ghana. We had worship in the morning (and the Encore Continental group that is with us prayed over us - which was so amazing to see these prayer warriors at work), we had our "dress rehearsal" where Dean watched and gave his input (there was a 5.4 earthquake during that by the way), we packed up all of our personal belongings and equipment, had our prayer time with Dean and were ready to go. We packed up the van and headed to LAX around 5pm.
There is one slight catch though. We didn't have our visas and passports yet. They were supposed to have arrived yesterday, but they didnt. I dont know the exact details (this is Samantha not Ashley, so im partly clueless to details) but basically our visas and passports had to be air mailed to us THAT DAY and were going to arrive at the airport at 9:40pm and our flight was to leave at 10:50pm. It was completely possible, but we were going to be cutting it close. We arrived at the airport around 7:15 and just waited. Since our flight to JFK was technically an "international" flight they needed our passports so we couldn't check in until we had them.
Well, Patty and Katie were waiting where the plane with the visas/passports were to arrive. They were going to grab our passports/visas and RUN LIKE THE WIND to get them to us. It's around 9:45 and we still haven't heard if they've gotten them. We have to begin our check-in by 10:05pm otherwise we can't get on the plane. It's kind of tense, but we were all doing really well. At about 10 we know the plane with our passports/visas has landed and they're just waiting.
Ashley Scott (the A.D. for this strike team) talks to some of the airport staff and they allow us to check our baggage. They definitely did NOT have to do that so we were extremely grateful. We get all of our baggage checked, we have our tickets and we are waiting are just waiting on our passports/visas. Its about 10:15pm and the airline is basically going to hold our plane to make sure we get to go. They were some amazing people let me tell you. Ashley gets a call or a text and we find out that they are RUNNING with our passports/visas. Katie arrives in just a few minutes completely winded and we are all SOOOO excited. Patty runs in a little behind Katie and is crying tears of joy that we got everything in time. "We're going to GHANA!!!", we yelled.
Then Dan (our director) says "These are NOT our passports!!" It was a moment of complete shock. The embassy had sent us the wrong passports/visas. We couldn't get on the plane without them. A group of us prayed and prayed for our group and the trip then. At that time we could definitely tell that God did not have plans for us to go to Ghana. We got all of our luggage back and just sat while Dan, Ashley, Katie and Patty took care of things at the desk trying to figure out what to do.
Right now we are back in Oxnard, CA. We ask that you pray for Wisdom for us in deciding what to do. There are some alternate plans taking place (not sure of the details), but please pray that this little bobble in the road won't bring us down. We are firm in the belief that God has a reason for all of this and has a much BIGGER and BETTER plan for us.
There is one slight catch though. We didn't have our visas and passports yet. They were supposed to have arrived yesterday, but they didnt. I dont know the exact details (this is Samantha not Ashley, so im partly clueless to details) but basically our visas and passports had to be air mailed to us THAT DAY and were going to arrive at the airport at 9:40pm and our flight was to leave at 10:50pm. It was completely possible, but we were going to be cutting it close. We arrived at the airport around 7:15 and just waited. Since our flight to JFK was technically an "international" flight they needed our passports so we couldn't check in until we had them.
Well, Patty and Katie were waiting where the plane with the visas/passports were to arrive. They were going to grab our passports/visas and RUN LIKE THE WIND to get them to us. It's around 9:45 and we still haven't heard if they've gotten them. We have to begin our check-in by 10:05pm otherwise we can't get on the plane. It's kind of tense, but we were all doing really well. At about 10 we know the plane with our passports/visas has landed and they're just waiting.
Ashley Scott (the A.D. for this strike team) talks to some of the airport staff and they allow us to check our baggage. They definitely did NOT have to do that so we were extremely grateful. We get all of our baggage checked, we have our tickets and we are waiting are just waiting on our passports/visas. Its about 10:15pm and the airline is basically going to hold our plane to make sure we get to go. They were some amazing people let me tell you. Ashley gets a call or a text and we find out that they are RUNNING with our passports/visas. Katie arrives in just a few minutes completely winded and we are all SOOOO excited. Patty runs in a little behind Katie and is crying tears of joy that we got everything in time. "We're going to GHANA!!!", we yelled.
Then Dan (our director) says "These are NOT our passports!!" It was a moment of complete shock. The embassy had sent us the wrong passports/visas. We couldn't get on the plane without them. A group of us prayed and prayed for our group and the trip then. At that time we could definitely tell that God did not have plans for us to go to Ghana. We got all of our luggage back and just sat while Dan, Ashley, Katie and Patty took care of things at the desk trying to figure out what to do.
Right now we are back in Oxnard, CA. We ask that you pray for Wisdom for us in deciding what to do. There are some alternate plans taking place (not sure of the details), but please pray that this little bobble in the road won't bring us down. We are firm in the belief that God has a reason for all of this and has a much BIGGER and BETTER plan for us.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Ready... SET....
OK so now its really almost here... Wow, its only our second day of rehearsals but let me assure you that our 2 days has seemed like, well a week. We did a lot of choreography yesterday, like I'm not sure that I've ever danced so much in my life! All glory to God, after 48 hours we have a program well in the works for being ready for presentation... our last 2 days have been like life in fast forward. We meet in Ventura on Saturday, ate dinner and then sang through all of the songs.. Yep. WELCOME! Had a group devotional time and passed out. LIke I said yesterday and today have been 2 days of very intense rehearsals but I'm so proud of our whole team... at the same time pray for all of our bones and body parts. I dont know about everyone else... but I'm sore! Our small team is an extremely talented bunch, love them all already! No doubt we are a force to be reckoned with with Jesus on our side. As I was realizing all the opposition and challenges that we face to be doing Gods work everyday I was reminded of Hebrews 12, and how it talks about the opposition that Jesus faced, surely he had way bigger problems. I'm thankful to know that in the times that seem out of control to us, that we know they are opportunities for God to be in control and to again prove himself faithful. Each one of us are here because God is a faithful God and has big plans for all of our lives, and the lives of each person we come in contact with them! Thanks for your continued prayers! We need them every day!
Prayer Request: We still have a couple details that need to fall into place for our team and program and as we are flying tomorrow, well we pray that they happen quickly, pray for continued protection of our bodies and our health but also our attituds and unity for our group. We know that we are stronger together as one :)
OK time for me to go night night, hopefully our laundry is done!
Ashley
oh yeah and here is our itinerary!
New Schedules of Programs
Arrival date: 31st July 2008 at 8:20am
Trip to the Central region 11:00am
August 1st
Dunkwa D/A Methodist School – Morning (start time- 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Dunkwa District Hospital, just after the morning program (Children’s & maternal wards) Donations
Dunkwa Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 2nd
Abakrampa D /A Methodist School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Abakrampa Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 3rd
Nyamedom D/A Primary School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations are books, pens & pencils
Nyamedom Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 4th
Cape Coast Central Hospital – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Children & maternal wards) Donations
Visit to the Cape Coast Castle
Visit to the Elmina Castle
Relax for our trip to the Ashanti region – kumasi.
August 5th
Kumasi Childrens Home – Morning (start time – 9:30am) (Exclusive; donations of bags of rice, maize and etc)
Adwenase Football park – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 6th
Sepaase D/A Primary School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Sepaase Church of Pentecost, Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film (twi) & evangelism) start time 3:30pm
August 7th
S.D.A Hospital - Morning (start time – 9:30am) Children & maternal wards) Donations
Community Outreach with Alive bible Church & Temple Court Church - Evening (film & evangelism) 3:30pm
August 8th
Mim D/A Primary School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Kumasi Culture Centre – Afternoon
Kumasi Zoo – Afternoon
Relax for our trip to the Greater Accra region.
August 9th
Christ Harvest Sanctuary – Morning (Volta Region) (start time – 9:30am) Gospel outreach in a community.
Door to Door evangelism - Accra (3:30pm)
August 10th
Performances in two churches (One at Ashiaman and the second in Tema)
Door to Door evangelism – Tema (3:30pm)
August 11th
Trip to one of Ghana’s finest beach resort, ‘’ THE BOJO BEACH RESORT’’ – Morning
Visit to the Ghana art centre (For those who will love to shop some African garments and collectibles) – evening
August 12th
Team prepares to fly back to California for their upcoming 40th Anniversary.
Prayer Request: We still have a couple details that need to fall into place for our team and program and as we are flying tomorrow, well we pray that they happen quickly, pray for continued protection of our bodies and our health but also our attituds and unity for our group. We know that we are stronger together as one :)
OK time for me to go night night, hopefully our laundry is done!
Ashley
oh yeah and here is our itinerary!
New Schedules of Programs
Arrival date: 31st July 2008 at 8:20am
Trip to the Central region 11:00am
August 1st
Dunkwa D/A Methodist School – Morning (start time- 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Dunkwa District Hospital, just after the morning program (Children’s & maternal wards) Donations
Dunkwa Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 2nd
Abakrampa D /A Methodist School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Abakrampa Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 3rd
Nyamedom D/A Primary School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations are books, pens & pencils
Nyamedom Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 4th
Cape Coast Central Hospital – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Children & maternal wards) Donations
Visit to the Cape Coast Castle
Visit to the Elmina Castle
Relax for our trip to the Ashanti region – kumasi.
August 5th
Kumasi Childrens Home – Morning (start time – 9:30am) (Exclusive; donations of bags of rice, maize and etc)
Adwenase Football park – Evening (Jesus film in (twi) plus a one on one evangelism) start time – 3:30pm
August 6th
Sepaase D/A Primary School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Sepaase Church of Pentecost, Community Outreach – Evening (Jesus film (twi) & evangelism) start time 3:30pm
August 7th
S.D.A Hospital - Morning (start time – 9:30am) Children & maternal wards) Donations
Community Outreach with Alive bible Church & Temple Court Church - Evening (film & evangelism) 3:30pm
August 8th
Mim D/A Primary School – Morning (start time – 9:30am) Donations of books, pens & pencils
Kumasi Culture Centre – Afternoon
Kumasi Zoo – Afternoon
Relax for our trip to the Greater Accra region.
August 9th
Christ Harvest Sanctuary – Morning (Volta Region) (start time – 9:30am) Gospel outreach in a community.
Door to Door evangelism - Accra (3:30pm)
August 10th
Performances in two churches (One at Ashiaman and the second in Tema)
Door to Door evangelism – Tema (3:30pm)
August 11th
Trip to one of Ghana’s finest beach resort, ‘’ THE BOJO BEACH RESORT’’ – Morning
Visit to the Ghana art centre (For those who will love to shop some African garments and collectibles) – evening
August 12th
Team prepares to fly back to California for their upcoming 40th Anniversary.
Friday, July 25, 2008
ITS ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!!
IT'S almost HERE!!!!
Saturday July 26th has crept on me like none other! The months and weeks have passed and I no longer have the security of arrival day being far away. I AM SO EXCITED. Our team will be meeting here tomorrow for a very intense 3 day rehearsal camp so please pray for safe travels! We are all so excited to get started and get out to Ghana. No doubt our first couple days together will be very INTENSE so please pray for safety, health, strength and good attitudes for us all. Dan (director) got to Ventura on Wednesday and we have been able to do some further planning and practicing (choreo mostly) and resting to get ready to go! We don't fly to Ghana until Tuesday July 29th but no doubt that will come quickly as well. Until then we will be working really hard on putting together a program that will change lives on our side of the world and in Africa. Thanks for all of your continued support! We appreciate all of you praying for us and checking back here!Here are the names of the team!
Dynamite Director Dan
Amazing Ashley
Fantastic Samantha
Energetic Jennifer
Stellar Sandy
Captivating Caleb
Adorable Allison
Delightful Dana
(i hope to post our itinerary on here before we leave!!!)
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