I have stared this report four times and hope I can get through it this time.  At church this morning the first song was “All Who Are Thirsty” and that started the tears flowing . I just could  not get the children we held, danced and sang with out of my thoughts.  Our trip was beyond what we had hoped and the Lord was with us all the way.  We saw lives change,  joy for the moment and hope in the eyes of every child. When we arrived at each performance, the audience was not sure who we were or what we were going to do.  All it took is one three high pyramid with Mo falling into Jared’s arms and they exploded in applause, laughter and cheer. Each location was “Our favorite”.  It never failed that one child would grab our hearts and leave an everlasting impression.   

Our team was awesome.   They did a total of 34 performances in 15 days.  Despite the aching ankles, legs and shoulders they gave each performance 100%.   The added element of Matt and Rachael singing was terrific and teamed up with members of the Eksderde team on several numbers. Besides the  laughter, ostrich rides, and feeding the elephants, the opportunity to demonstrate the love God has for everyone will stay with each member for a lifetime.   

The bond we had with the Eksderde team was immediate. In a short two weeks we became a very close family and leaving our friends was very hard.  Many tears shed by everyone and several of us continued on the plane.  Our hope is that we will see them soon and continue our disability awareness ministry together.

I took over 2000 pictures and Jared championed the video camera.  It will take a while to go through everything but I hope to put all the photos on the Internet where everyone can download those they want.  There is a media day Wednesday and I’m sure Jared and I will have something put together. 

We also want to express our gratitude to our familes here at home.  Without their continued support and love of Break the Barriers and the Barrier Breakers this lifechanging experience would not have been possible.  We love each and every one of you. 

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We are soooo sorry for the delayed update but we have had a very difficult time connecting to the internet.

Since the last update much has taken place.  The day we did 6 performances was fabulous. There were 3 elementary schools , 1 high school and 1 residential care facility and 1 church.  The children were awesome and the teachers were so happy to have us perform. What the team loves is to bring kids into the performances and they do it so well. 

It is late and I really want to send some pictures.  I will get back tomorrow evening.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Oh my Gosh - What a day of making memories - riding an ostrich, performing at a special needs adult center and high school.  The residents at the center were sooo great.  When we perfromed ”I See Jesus in You” each team member had a partner and danced together - smiles , laughter, hugs and yes a few tears.  The guys perfromed on the lawn to many oohs and ahs. The evening was a perfromance at a high school. We were asked to have an altar call and God spoke to nearly all in attendance.  IT WAS MORE THAN AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! Around 75% responded.  Our Taylor gave her testimony, Jared H and Jared S did as well.  We are so proud of the team.  Keep us in your prayers today-we have 6 perfromances Schoemanshoek and Buffelsdrift both elementray schools, Vergelegen K-8, Bellingnhof SR Greef and Marian Swanepoel both residential centers and then a church in the evening.   Love to everyone.   (PS: Just tried to send some pictures but their format would not read ours - we’ll keep trying)

We’re staying at an ostrich farm.  It is beyond anything we’ve seen.  After breakfast we head to our first school.  We have two today and “6″ tomorrow!!!  We feel all your prayers, keep them coming.  We love you all and feel blessed to have your support.  We’ll try to download pics this evening.

The trip was long but so worth it.  Andre met us at Cape Town Airport.  Our first night stay is at The Colosseum Hotel. It is beautiful even if all we see is the night lights.  Tomorrow we get to see some of this beautiful city - then we hit the pavement running to our first performance Sunday. We will try to send a few pictures of the sites we see tomorrow.

We are off to bed to get a good night’s sleep.  It is very late and of course we are tired.    Blessings to all our families.