IM BACK!

Saturday Evening I arrived back into LA from Germany extraodinaire ... Had a GREAT time! Trying to summarize highlights is always a difficult thing so, let's see where do I begin? As I mentioned previously I went over with 5 fantastic guys who are good friends and absolutely incredible musicians! We arrived into Schwabisch Hall ...what a beautiful little hamlet in Germany ... I so wish that i had a digital camera to show you pictures - perhaps one day. There is a small Vineyard Church led by Martin/Heike Buchwitz in Schwabish who are an incredible family with fantastic kids! They hosted a conference that we were all a part of and it was cool cause we arrived a couple days earlier and were able to really check out their town. So very quaint - it felt like we walked into a Shakespeare novel (with a german twist;) or period piece of sorts. Met some really cool people at this conference and the Lord really deposited some deep pieces of truth in the area of worship and justice.

Martin was our driver/host and took us everywhere throughout Germany to Hannover, Speyer, Haiger and then into Berlin. Marc Pusch joined us from Vineyard Music Canada ...ahhhh...gotta love some more Canada into the mix! Each of these places held some unique experiences and connections that were purely divine.

Lots of pictures, laughs, team bonding moments and way too much beer was drunk! Now don't get the wrong idea here;) The German culture looks at Beer as the equivalent of water ... hence that most 16 year olds in Germany are holding a pint wherever they go... that is the drinking age. Definately tried out a whole variety of German Beer! Hey, when in Rome (Germany) do as the Romans (Germans) do!:) Anyway, the various churches treated us very well and it was so cool to see how the Lord moved in ways beyond our human inginuity. Love it!

Berlin was really cool! 30, 000+ filled the Berlin Stadium a day of worship hosted by Noel Richards with hundreds af artists, dancers, etc... Our guys did amazing!!! Other highlights were Delirious and Matt Redman for me personally as pretty much all of my day was spent with David May and the help of Marc, we sat in a merch tent all day and might I add the whole time we were in Germany the heat was unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like 38 celcius plus and the germans don't have airconditioning (except for the occasional vehicle) nor do they believe in fans!! We thought we were going to die... For real ... funny as Californians we thought we were going to die!!! We are spoiled with our AC.

Our last night in Berlin...Bobby, Ari and I decided to make an all night excursion and tour Berlin throughout the night till 7:30AM next morning! Totally fun... and the guys got fantastic pictures!! The artwork over in Germany - so beautiful!

Those random facts that are mentionable about Germany:

-"Jorts"- Germans love to roll their jeans up thus creating "jorts" ...seriously I have never seen so many jorts in my life. David May took many a hilarious picture and the creator of this new term
-Water with Gas- Yes, that is what they call it! And let me say for some that is exactly what it created - GAS that is. I love sparkling water ... but WARM sparkling is pretty disgusting, leading me to where the heck are all the ...
-ICECUBES ... no such thing anywhere - except McDonalds! I milked my Coca Cola Light (aka Diet Coke) with ICE like never before!!! You ask for ICE they give you ICECREAM! YES... I tried that a few times. Now, I LOVE ICECREAM but, not every time I try to order a drink. I still cannot remember the actual german word for ICECUBES. Talk about a good laugh...watching sheri act out "ICECUBES"....
-FANS-They don't know what this is???? I have never sweat so much in my entire life!
-BEER- "Yes, please all the time!" is a german's motto. What? Drink water? What for? Side Note: Beer is actually cheaper than ordering water in restaurants. And trust me - you don't want to drink tap water over there.


After the team part of the tour was over David May and I travelled to Heidelberg for a couple days. David spent 9 months over there in School and oh my gosh...what a beautiful place! Honestly felt like we walked into a storybook. David took me to his favorite places and we frequented many a cafe/restaurant. It was very cool!

Then we spent a few days with my family in the Bonn/Cologne area which was sooooo cool! David swam laps with Gaby (my cousin) 2-3 times a day in the local watering hole (or as they call "lake") Seriously so HOT there ... We walked through Cologne and then also went to Bonn area with my last night at a big fair/festival in Bonn and the most amazing fire works display over the Rheine I have ever seen!

My Family ROCKS!

So, now here I am back in LA for a few days and getting ready for another trip up north to Canada on Thursday (27th) for 10 days to hit up Calgary, the Street Invaders Crew and EPIC Posse! Looking forward to this trip tho' I have to say these few days since being home (3 days to be exact) is somewhat of a whirlwind!

Ok, I think that I am done "reporting" for now. Will keep posting as it all comes...