GX International In Kilmarnock

Last Thursday evening was the last night of Impact World Tour in Scotland. As usual the last night is reserved for GX International (skaters, bikers, bladers, dancers, etc.). Well, it just wouldn't be right if there weren't some kind of challenge once again.

The day started out early as many of us gathered to help set up the skate park in the venue. There were many tired looking eyes as the previous evening with Island Breeze ended not too many hours before. Soon everyone got moving and we forgot how tired we were and focussed on the job at hand. We had to have a full size skate park built by 12 noon so the skaters could have enough time to get a good feel for it. Well, we came real close as most of it was in place just after noon before lunch.

While we were building the skate park one of the local youth leaders informed me of a plot he had heard that there were a bunch of kids planning on showing up with knives and they were going to try and cause problems during the alter call. So, we had a brief meeting with those overseeing security and put a plan in place to beef up security a bit. That meant more police and strategically positioning security personel and once again using the guys from TX for an extra security presense. The police were also instructed to not allow trouble makers in the door. Apparently, they know who they are. Well, aside from one guy who flashed a knife in the bathroom (he was thrown out immediately) nothing happened and many people once again gave their lives to Christ that night.

All in all we had over 600 recorded commitments out of approximately 6000 that heard the gospel at all the different events. Normally, 7-8% is the average for western developed nations. New Zealand had about 8% but we wern't quite that optimistic for Scotland because we had been told over and over again not to expect much. I am going to be very skeptical about the skeptics from now on because God is much bigger than any of our preconceived negative notions. 10% is amazing considering much negativity in the beginning here and that is probably a low number as we are being conservative because we don't want to sensationalize anything.

After the show, I had to take the kids and Betty back to the Ywam base, get the kids in bed and then head back to the venue for an all night tear down. Actually, we were there till 4am which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The next morning, Erin woke up at her usual 7am so we didn't get much sleep and I was one cranky dude all day and we weren't finished yet. We went to a celebration dinner back at Fenwick hall. I was definitely not in the mood for that but after we got there and saw some of the teams for probably the last time, heard some testimonies and shared communion together, it was well worth it!

Tonight, we have one last time to gather with some of the people who were involved with the tour. Frank made a video from the footage Jeff got which we will watch and I'm sure we'll hear more testimonies as well. Its so cool to see the encouraging faces and stories of the locals!

I am feeling though a real sense that it is time to move on and report for our next assignment God has for us. I'll share more on that tomorrow. Actually, it might not be until Wed. because a nice family from Kilmarnock has opened up their house near Inverness for us to go away for a couple of days. It's really out in the boonies, about 20 mins from Inverness so I'm sure there's no internet there which will be good to get away from for a few days. Inverness is on the north side of Loch Ness so we'll be on the lookout for 'Nessie'. On the way up Sunday morning we plan to stop off at a Calvary Chapel for church if we make it in time. This is a church that was planted about a year and a half ago by some people that came over from the states and they have over 150 people attending there which is amazing in this country. Hopefully, we'll make it on time and I'll report on that as well.

Till next time, may God bless you all richly.

Here's a good verse to ponder as well.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." - Phil. 4:8