Final Preps Continue

We'll see how well this actually works out, but my plan is to keep a blog here throughout my entire touring experience with the ACC.

For those of you who don't know, I'm flying to Uganda on August 6th to meet up with 22 kids who will soon be considered to many, the latest African Children's Choir. To be technical, the 32nd African Children's Choir since the initial choir in 1984. If you ever hear me say "ACC 32", that just means, "African Children's Choir - 32". I'll also be meeting up with 3 African adults who will be touring with us on the road. Their names are Frank, Patrick, and Dorene. I will not be the only Western presence on the team either, come August 25th, most of the rest of my team will be arriving in Kampala as well! All in, we'll have 22 kids and 10 chaperones (3 African, 7 Westerners).

Why am I leaving so early, you ask? Well, I guess that comes with my position. I've been asked to be the Tour Leader for this Choir. Basically, that means that I'll act as the road manager (for you band lingo friends that are reading this), who oversees the flow of the tour. Everything from the practical face to face connections with venue hosts to working with my team and building into their lives! I'm SO excited for this opportunity.

In the past, I've worked with groups that have been quite close (touring for 50+ hours in a 15 passenger van will do that I guess), but I've never worked with a group that will be travelling this much and is ALWAYS together. There's really no escaping each other when we've all committed to this for the next year (plus some) of our lives and we travel on a bus. Needless to say, your prayers are welcomed.

I say all of this on human terms. You must know that I strongly believe that God has used people like Marci (my boss and the Choir Manager for NA tours), Mike (Volunteer Coordinator) and others to form this team. It is already evident in getting to know my team more that God is at work! Praise God!!

I started packing last night ....
I'm shipping off one bag to Chicago (many thanks to Sarah's (Product Manager for the tour) parents for driving it down) this week so I guess it should be packed. It's so hard to judge what I'll be needing for the next year of my life. Living out of a suitcase for that long was certainly not the major selling point for getting involved, but hey, it'll be worth it!

With my bags getting packed and the time getting closer and closer, this is finally becoming a reality. What once seemed like just a future happening is now becoming the present.

Please continue to pray. I'll try to keep prayer requests updated on this site (look along the right hand bar down the side) as well as our tour schedule! Stay in touch too. I'd love to hear your comments on anything that may come up here. You can find my e-mail on this page, or you can just leave a comment on this site here.

Here we go ...