Another E-mail From Brock

Here is the only word I received from Brock yesterday and it looks as if I might not hear from him for a few days because they don't have internet where he is going. This is the brief update he sent:

i have been filming for 11 hours .. long day .. now we drive to gallilee . . a 3 hour drive . . i am leaving jerusalem . . safer place . . i am feeling much better but not quite 100% .. i ate a meal today .. gotta go .. hurry .. talk in a few days .

E-mail from Palestine

This is the e-mail I received from Brock yesterday:

i am actually in palestine .. the safe side .. the hotel is great . winston churchill stayed here .. not today tho .. i saw a girl carrying an m-16 walking down the street .. it is just like you see on tv .. remindes me of when i was younger and watched kids throwing rocks at each other on the streets here .. i didnt know why they were fighting .. still dont .. but the cab driver tried to explain .. i dont have a clue what he said .. evrything is in hebrew here .. many speak english but not as well as i need .. a stranger at the airport lent me his phone .. he knew i was lost .. the driver was late for pick up .. i had not exchanged money yet .. i didnt read hebrew . or speak it . some of the english words i saw made no sense .. so i did not know how to contact anyone .. ya know i was in a fix and i was feeling very sick .. i am tired .

talked to the medic again he says i am looking better .. he gave me water and toast. the toast is supposed to neutralize the acid..? ok i am disappointed i am missing out on a great hotel restuarant...the bbc people said this is their favorite hotel in the world...we will see bout that .. it is nice tho .. i just dont think i can eat..

tomorrow we leave at 630am . to see jesus tomb and where he was believed to be executed .. and something else .. i forgot .. well .. i am very tired it is hard to see the screen on the computer . so i will go .. not sure when i will email again .. we will film all day tomorrow .

Safe Arrival

Brock is in Isreal. He's still very sick though. His stomach and neck hurt. There is a medic there that is looking after him. Pray that he feels better as he will be taping all day tomorrow.

Still in Flight to Isreal

Yesterday, right after I posted the last blog, Brock said that he started feeling much better, so thanks for the prayer. His stomach is still aching a little.

He flew out of JFK at about midnight last night. He will arrive in Tel Aviv at 9:45am our time and 5:45pm their time. I'll let you know when I hear from him. Last time, they began filming immediately, so it took him a while to be able to e-mail me.

He said that at the airport, he went through so many security checks. They took his bags from him for a few hours. He was also just about stripped searched. They questioned him several times. I guess he looked a little fishy travelling to Isreal by himself and with a passport that was only a few hours old. He had an escort until he was on the plane. Isn't that funny? They had him guarded the entire time.

Passport Update

Brock has a passport in his hand. The company came through and got it to him within a few hours. However, he is still feeling very badly. His stomach hurts. He's achy and his neck is stiff. His sinuses are acting up as well. He's just being hit with everything! Pray that he will feel better.

Brock's Flight to Isreal

Pray for Brock today. He leaves the house at 4am, flies to Newark, NY, and then drives to Manhatten. He has an apointment with "It's Easy" to get him a new passport. It seems a little strange, because he has to bypass the front desk in the passport building and go to this office and call a cell phone number. However, we have no choice. This company has guaranteed a new passport in one day. Then, if all goes well, he will leave for Tel Aviv at midnight. Pray that he gets that passport. The producers of the show were somehow able to change Brock's nonrefundable tickets to leave later that night without penalty.

Also, Brock is feeling very sick. He has battled fever all weekend. We don't know if the sickness is due to exhaustion or a virus. Just pray that he will feel just fine and get ample sleep on the plane.

FX Results

Over the last two nights of FX, there were about 1,700 people in attendence and over 260 people made decisions for Christ! That equals over 400 lives were changed here in Illinois during our visit. Everything worked out. For our lights, we needed 2 six foot pieces of metal tubing. Jeremiah, from Chaos on Wheels, had a couple of the exact sized pieces we needed sitting on the floor. They were "extra," so we were able borrow them to hang our lights. Last night, both the bus and our truck were running. We turned everything off in the whole school and were able to draw enough power to run the show. The decision to move the event inside proved wise, because it was cold the first night, raining the second, and very windy the last. Brock said that these three things are his worst nightmare when it comes to outdoor events. It was a great Freedom Experience!

The Frangrance of Rain

I'm sitting in our trailer as the rain is coming down. I feel as if the sweet fragrance and the gentle drops are a reminder to me of God's sovereinty. You see, we were praying for rain. We were supposed to do our event outside at a festival. Since the forecast called for rain, we decided to move it indoors all three nights. However, yesterday and today, we have not had a drop of rain until now. We wanted rain so that the people who set up everything outside wouldn't feel slighted and that students would choose our event over the festival.

A lot of things went wrong today. The band's bus will not start. Our battery on our truck keeps dying. Brock lost his passpot which he needs to fly to Isreal Sunday morning. The building didn't contain enough power for our equipment, and we lost the peices which hang up our stage lights.

Brock stopped everyone who was helping set up the show and gathered us around to pray. After the prayer, one guy said that we must place it completely in His hands. My mom had just told me on the phone that I place too much on my shoulders. After I pray, I need to turn it over to Him which means not worrying about it anymore.

He hears our prayers. It may not always be a smooth ride and may not be exactly the way we want it, but He is always in control. I need to give Him that control.

When I came out after we finished praying and saw the rain which was an answer to prayer from yesterday, I felt the Lord. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Best First Night of FX

Your prayers worked. I began feeling more and more positive as the day went on. The school assemblies were easy. Illinois youth are very mature and polite. We always enjoy an Illinois crowd.

The set up was the smoothest I've ever seen. There were zero problems. Normally, there are numerous difficulties. Brock and I even had a little time to spare where we were able to go in the truck and take a nap....a two hour nap!

There is a young girl from our home church that joined us this trip to help out. She took a nap in the afternoon as well. When asked what she thought about the first day, she said that it was tiresome! She actually took my place in assisting Brock in a couple of the school shows. She has been a big help as well as the regulars that came to help from our office. They are becoming pros at the Freedom Experience.

We moved the event indoors due to rainy weather. The crowd was big for a first night. The gym was 80% full (probably about 650). The audience was very attentive. The show went on without a hitch. It was probably the smoothest performance we've ever had on the first night of FX. 154 people made decisions for Christ! What an awesome night!

Discouraged

Pray for us. Both of us are rather discouraged. We begin an FX today that is outside. It stormed all day yesterday, so who knows what will happen? We leave at 6:45 this morning to do school assemblies and then set up, do the show, tear down, and return to our hotel at around midnight. Tomorrow, it's the same thing. Then, I thought that Brock flies to Isreal Monday, but I just found out that he might have to leave on Sunday. This means that we have to leave after our show Saturday night and drive all night long in order to make his flight.

The spiritual opposition has already begun. Remember how I told you that several of the Livin It team were in car accidents last week? Well, I had a little fender bender while Brock was gone for Livin It last week. Then, yesterday, the side of the trailer got scraped up. Neither one of us has ever had anything like that happen. All in one week is not fun.

I was also looking at our summer schedule and it is rough. Since our road manager didn't work out, we will be going it mostly alone. The girl that was supposed to travel with us the entire summer will only be able to be with us for a couple of weeks.

I know that this is negative, but I feel defeated before we even start. I'm tired. I'm getting too old to work all day and drive all night only to work again. Please pray.

Music Showcase

Last night, we did something a little different for us. Brock hosted a music showcase. This particular showcase was introducing Fervent Record's artists to Word Records. It was fun because we knew alot of people that were participating. Jupiter Project was there filming and the bands performing included Inhabited, By the Tree, Big Daddy Weave, and Barlow Girl.

Brock performed some fun, volunteer tricks in between acts. The crowd really had fun. Also, since Brock knew the bands, he included some extra little tidbits about each band during his introduction. For Inhabited, he talked about how we have performed together and we've placed them on some stages with really tough audiences yet they handled it like pros. Brock informed the crowd that By the Tree shares his love for motorcycles. Before Big Daddy Weave took the stage, he told the story about when we first met them at a student conference. Super Chic and Phat Chance were at the conference as well. Brock explained that I actually called them Big Fat Chic! Brock hinted at Barlow Girl's excellent double performance at the GMA Awards as he introduced them.

At the reception following, they had a chocolate fountain. It was a great night!

Answered Prayer

Friday, I spent the day praying and fasting. My main prayer was for Brock's meeting with the producers of the television show. When Brock gave me a positive update on the meeting, he made the comment that we needed to get everything taken care of at home because we were about to get extremely busy. So, I began praying about that. Who could I pay to cut the lawn that I trusted and where would I get the money? Who could pick up the mail and pay some bills that cannot be taken care of on the road? These questions turned into worry and later...stress!

At church, we are going through a study by Rick Warren called 40 Days of Community. Sunday during our small group time, we were talking about being a servant to people within our church. At the close of the class, our teacher directed us to take on a project of service for somebody in the church. They placed a few ideas on the board and one of them was to help us out in some way. Brock said that the way we needed help was in upkeep of our house while we were gone for the summer. To my surprise, this is the project that the group decided to do. I listened as they talked about how they would take turns mowing the lawn and getting the mail. One friend is a CPA and said that she could handle the bills with no problem. One couple decided to be the leader of the project. I was so overcome by relief and gratitude that I began to cry. The whole group prayed for us as we leave to do a lot of ministry in a lot of places. By the end of the prayer, lots of people were crying. They were touched because I was touched. It may have seemed like a small task for them, but it was a huge service to me.

Friday, I prayed for two things...the meeting and the upkeep of our house while we were gone. The Lord answered both of those prayers. However, the one that moved me to tears was the smaller of the two. Why? I think that it is great that the Lord totally has a hand in this TV show and this shows His power by making His name famous on the Discovery Channel. But, the fact that He cares enough to work out the small details of my life shows His love for me. He displayed this beautiful love through my wonderful small group.

Peas and Carrots

Yesterday was our six year wedding anniversary. Last year, Brock surprised me with a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cozumel. It was amazing! This year, we went to 6th Avenue skatepark and ate at the Melting Pot...not quite as exciting as last year, but easier on the pocketbook and less time consuming.

Brock and I have been on so many adventures in our six years. We've lived in five different houses as well as on the road for two years. We've been to 41 states, Australia, Canada, the Bahamas, and Mexico. We've had 17 different vehicles or trailers of some sort. We've performed over 1,000 shows together.

There has been some bad experiences as well (especially theft related) but we will not talk about that today. I wouldn't want to do life with anyone else. It's almost as if Brock and I were made for each other. We are both so different from everyone we know, yet we are so much like each other. We're like peas and carrots...

My Mom

I heard Dr. James Dobson on the radio the other day talking about raising a stubborn child. He said that people are born stubborn and you cannot change it. The only way he suggested to deal with it is to focus on the good qualities about being strong willed. I think that my mom did a great job steering my stubborness in a more positive direction. She encouraged me to be independent and driven without allowing me to run over her. She was so patient with me. You've got to understand! I'm really strong willed. One day, my mom actually pinned a note on me when I was in pre-kindergarten that said "I dressed myself."

She never let me use the phrase "I'm bored." She beleived that you should find something to do with your time, not rely on others to keep you entertained. This is so helpful to me today because in this career, there are many occassions where I have time on my hands.

My mom is never bored. She is always the life of the party and is up for fun every time. One of my mom's gifts is hospitality. Sometimes, my friends would stop by my house even though I was off at college. I'd call home and my friends were eating dinner with my parents.

Mom has so many wonderful qualities that it would take me all day to talk about it. However, the most exceptional trait about mom is her love for the Lord and people. I can remember her serving homeless men food out on our front porch. I've seen her lead people to the Lord on more than one occasion. I watched as she demonstrated how to be an awesome helpmate to a Godly husband. Thanks mom for everything.

An Update on Livin It and the Meeting for the TV Show

Livin It went very well. Seventy one people made decisions to follow Jesus! Brock will be at another Livin It show today in Savannah, GA.

The meeting with the producers of the TV show went extremely well. The executive from the Discovery Channel really liked Brock. Brock told her and the other producers about some of his ideas for new illusions. She liked the ideas so much that the Discovery Channel might possibly buy the illusions for us and use them in the show. Pray that this actually happens. The illusions they spoke of purchasing would equal about $20,000. This would really bless our ministry.

Lately, Brock has been talking with this organization called Christian Blind Mission International. It's a cool ministry that collects money to cure blindness in third world countries. There is a surgery costing only $35 that helps cure the blindness that is inevitable in these countries due to malnutrition and poor health care. When Brock told the producers that he knew how to heal the blind, they were very excited. They might fly to India and film one of these surgeries. This would help CBMI get so much publicity! Pray that this happens as well.

Fasting

Today, I am fasting for Brock's meeting with the producers of the television show about the miracles of Jesus. I know that I don't fast enough. I'm reading the book "Prayer, The Key to Revival" by Paul Cho for the second time. Paul Cho is the pastor of the largest church in the world. They had 500,000 members when he wrote this book in 1984. He loves Americans because we are the ones who initially brought the gospel to Korea. However, he does hint that we are not very disciplined in our prayer life. His accusations must be true. He spends hours daily in prayer. We have trouble having a daily 30 minute quiet time.

I think that one of the disciplines of prayer that we, as Americans, have the most trouble with is fasting. We love to eat (myself included)! We've got such great food here! However, many Godly people have fasted from Moses to Jesus to Paul to Paul Cho to P.O.D. (I read in a secular magazine that P.O.D. fasted for their album "Satellite" to be a success.) It should be part of our prayer life in some way.

I never really thought about fasting until I met Brock. He went on several fasts as he was beginning this ministry trying to seek direction from the Father. The long fast he did in 1998 not only led him in how to develop this ministry but changed his life as well. It seems like you can hear God more clearly during a fast.

Paul Cho says this about fasting in his book: "If we can combine this intense natural desire [to eat] with our natural spiritual desire for communion with our spiritual source, then what results is a much greater intensity: this is the purpose of prayer and fasting."

Prayer

Brock said that while he was in Malta, he could feel our prayers. When I first started blogging, I didn't really know why I was doing it. I simply felt like the Lord wanted me to blog (that sounds funny when you put it into words). Now, I realize that this blog has created a prayer community. The Lord has really been working intensely in our lives. I believe that power comes from prayer. Thank you so much for the prayers. We can feel them.

If you have a prayer need, feel free to ask us. We would love to be praying for you as well. You can always e-mail me or comment.

We need more prayer right now. Tomorrow, Brock is meeting with all of the producers for the show about the miracles of Jesus. They are ironing out the script. It is a big deal because one of the executives of the Discovery Channel will be involved. Two of the guys from our office, Gresham and David, will be there as well. Pray for wisdom for Brock, Gresham, and David. Also, pray that the script will still claim that Jesus was the Son of God. Thank you so much for praying.

Livin It Tour

Brock will be leaving tomorrow to speak on the Livin It tour. Livin It is a dvd put out by the Louis Palou Association which combines skateboarding and born again actor Stephen Baldwin with the gospel message of Jesus Christ. The dvd has received such great success that they have decided to take it on tour. We are very excited to be a part of it.

We had the whole Livin It team come to Nashville back in February as Brock and the other Livin It speaker lead in training. These young athletes have a great heart for the Lord and are eager to spread His name to this generation. Stephen Baldwin, Tim Byrne, the King of Kings skateboard team, Chaos on Wheels, as well as Brock will be involved in the tour.

Like FX, they have already experienced spiritual warfare. Last week, Stephen Baldwin, King of Kings, and the director of the tour all were in car accidents. They were in totally different places in the country, but it happened all on the same day. I don't think this was a coincidence. Also, there is probably more warfare to come.

Please remember Brock and the whole team this week. Tomorrow, their show is in Atlanta and Saturday in Augusta, GA.

Learning That I May Be Part of the Answer II

While I was standing outside of the mall Sunday afternoon, I saw a young girl crying rather hysterically. Usually, I would just pray for her, but after hearing my dad's sermon and Brock's words, I decided to approach her. "Are you okay?" I asked. "No, I need to use a phone," she replied. So, I handed her my cell phone.

I listened as she and her boyfriend had it out on the phone. After she finally hung up, she told me briefly what was going on. She was from another state visiting her boyfriend and they had an argument. He left her at the mall with no car, money, or phone. Danielle was her name. Danielle did not know what to do.

After she told me her story, he drove up in a fancy convertible. She was probably no older than 21 and he was at least 50 years old. It was so sad to me. However, I acted and helped her by offering my phone. Who knows what she would have done if I had not. I'm learning that I need to not only listen to God, but I might need to act as well. Sometimes, their need is something physical like a hug or a phone. It was so easy to allow the girl to borrow my phone. It also was not difficult to simply ask what was wrong. Now, I can still pray for Danielle's spiritual life.

Tell me about some of your experiences where you were part of the answer. You can e-mail me or comment below.

Learning That I May Be Part of the Answer I

My dad preached a sermon the other night about prayer. He stated that most Christians have a problem with listening to God. He also said that after you listen, you may be part of the answer. This made me think. The majority of the time, I just pray for the person and that is the extent of it.

Yesterday, during the service, I came in a little late. I had to slip by a lady in order to sit by my friends. As I passed by her, I felt as if she had a need. She did not look needy. She was a well dressed lady probably in her 50's. The only odd thing about her was that she was by herself. She looked like she should have friends and family surrounding her. I began to pray that the Lord would show me her need. At one point, in order to display the importance of affection, our pastor had all of us stand up and hug each other. I hugged my friends as we all were laughing and hugging. Then, I glanced over at the lady and she was just standing there by herself. I ran over to her and threw my arms around her...not one of those side hugs with the two pats on the back but a full on embrace. She said, "Thank you." When I sat back down, I just knew that a hug was what she needed. I don't know why. After the service, I walked by her to leave and she said, "Thank you again for that hug. That made my day!" I told her, "Ah, you are welcome."

Later, as I was telling Brock, I told him that I was part of the answer! However, I could have done more. I was so awkward when she thanked me. I felt as if I should have said more. My close friends and family would not agree with this, but I'm not a good talker (the disagreement would be because I can talk a lot!). Brock said that I know what to say. I wanted to know why she needed that hug. He said to just say it! It will only be awkward the first few times.

So, yesterday afternoon, I was at the mall and I saw a girl just crying her eyes out. This is getting too long. I'll continue it tomorrow...