Sheri McConnell: July 2006

Thursday, July 27

Canada Here I Come ...

Woohoo ... well, it is ahappenin! I am leaving this afternoon for the homeland! The good ole' red and white ... C a N a D a! At a sudden turn of events the Street Invaders Posse' invited me up to the mothership program in Eston, SK. This is the program that I have been directing. It is absolutely fantastic and YES, I am biased!

So, the plan is that I leave today arrive late into Calgary (just before midnight) my dear sweet brother is going to pick me up and I am going to crash at his place for the night where I get to visit with my family ... amazing little nephews for a bit tomorrow morning. Then off I go to Eston, SK. where I will leading the Leadership Development Training for all the Team Leaders. I am there with the gang until August 5th. Then I head back to Calgary for a very brief time with my Epic Family. Saturday Night a party is being thrown and then Sunday Night I will be sharing with the Epic Fam, leading into Monday, Aug. 7th where I am heading back home to LA. As you can see it is going to be a whirlwind of a trip and as much as I wish that I could see so many of you with individual time to boot - I just don't know how it all is going to happen. With this trip, time is definately not my own.

Here are some prayer points ...please.

*Tuesday afternoon I took Bailey in for his yearly vaccinations and he is not doing well. Barely walking, hardly drinking, in alot of discomfort. The vet said the symptons could last 24-48 hours. Well, it has now been a good 36 hours and still no major improval. Please pray for him! Im stressed cause he is staying with a good friend of mine here who has a very busy active household and to put him in a totally new environment makes me a little nervous. He really needs healing!!!!

*Pray for my preparation and ministry time at Street Invaders. I am teaching 4-5 sessions leaders only and then preaching in the main meeting Wednesday Evening, August 2nd. That I would hear and communicate the heart and ministry of the Holy Spirit to these young people and adults alike.

*Pray for significant connections during this time ... I am so looking forward to seeing my dear friends and really believing for some key moments together encountering the realness of genuine friendship and all the beauty it holds. That because my time is short and full of activity that those I am needing to connect with would happen and be set up by Him just perfectly!

Safety, health as I travel and don't get much sleep!

These are the main pray bulletins right now.

Love and warm affection to you all.

Blessings
Sheri
Sheri at 9:39 AM
2 comments

Tuesday, July 25

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...
Sheri at 5:45 PM
2 comments

Sunday, July 2

Deutsch Land Here I Come ...

HEY Friends ...

Time is tick tick tickin' away ... Tuesday Morning July 4th I am heading off to GERMANY! Yippeeeee. Fun Times will be had by all - count on it!

We are flying out the morning of the 4th to Atlanta, GA. and then departing the evening of the 4th for Stuttgart. We arrive into Stuttgart on the morning of the 5th. Where we will be picked up by some new friends and our itinerary is as follows.

July 5-9th : Schwabisch Hall
July 9-10th : Hannover
July 11-12th : Speyer
July 12-13th : Haiger
July 13-15th : Berlin
July 15-16 : Schwabisch Hall
July 16-18th : Heidelberg
July 18-22nd : Bonn/Cologne Area

I am flying over with David Ruis and our Band/Team - a bunch of great guys ... and the plan is to do worship nights/concerts/art workshops/ministry from the 5-13th in all these various locations with Vineyard Communities and then when we hit Berlin we are working with an organization called "Calling All Nations" www.callingallnations.com (check it out) where we will be filling the Berlin Stadium with thousands of worshippers (approx. 30,000+) worshipping our one true God! The stadium that Hitler used to do all his rally's in. The last part I will be hanging with a good friend checking out Heidelberg where he went to College -with of course many laughs! And then the finale' is seeing my most amazing family in the Bonn/Cologne area who I have not seen for a loooonnnnggg time! Approx. 5 years.

So, it is going to be a full couple of weeks! Appreciate all your prayers while I am on my little adventure. I won't be taking my comp with me so, therefore won't be blogging for a couple weeks but, get ready for a full report upon my return!

Blessings to you all ... and as they say in Germany (perhaps not spell it this way;)

Chuse


sheri
Sheri at 9:55 PM
8 comments