Since I got home . . .

Jenna, Chelsea and Gina (There were about a dozen grads from BVBC this year...almost all of them graduated with honors).














Me and Joe


















I did finally make it home. I arrived in Gulfport last Wednesday morning and killed time most of the day by seeing Prince Caspian. Later that evening I managed to sneak onto the floor at the Gulf Coast Coliseum to see a bunch of the Gulfport High School Grads lining up prior to graduation. The last few years I was a youth minister in Gulfport I was always able to score "Teacher's Passes" to sit on the floor with the Band and the Faculty and Staff. Longevity has it perks. So does being sneaky I guess.

The next day I got a much needed haircut and went shopping for a tie to match the Bridesmaids dresses for the wedding. On Friday I saw the new Indiana Jones movie. Definitely not the best; but not bad. It was fun. Friday night was the wedding rehearsal and dinner.

About the wedding: Her name is Amy and the lucky guy is Stevie. Amy grew up in another church in Gulfport but started attending "605", our Wednesday night student worship service during her 10th grade year in high school I guess. She later joined Bayou View Baptist Church where I was the Student Minister. Amy graduated near the top of her class which says something about her maturity and drive and seriousness. When I met her she exhibited those same qualities in her pursuit of a meaningful relationship with Christ. Week after week I would receive non-verbal (and oftentimes verbal) feedback from her as I could see in her face that "she got it". She has always been that kind of kid. She is soft spoken and beautiful and sweet like nobody's business! My wife Kim adored her. I think she met Stevie pretty early in her college career. He's a great guy. A youth minister. He has an amazing gentle and compassionate spirit. After the honeymoon this week, he'll return to First Methodist Church in Clinton (what a cool name for a town) and she'll begin Medical School!

Amy & Stevie














Me and Allie...notice how well that tie matches!


















Performing weddings has been one of my favorite functions as a minister. It's all the more special when you get to watch someone grow up in so many ways. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend than to have the best seat in the house for their wedding.

After the wedding, I hightailed it north to Vicksburg where nearly ALL of my family was gathered for Memorial Day/Birthday get together. It was pretty fun to see everyone. I've been hanging out with my family since then.

I took a small road trip yesterday. How's this for productive: I had lunch with one of my former youths that now works for the MS Baptist Convention Mission Mobilization Department yesterday. I also got registered to be on Staff for MS Super Summer- the best camp ever! After that I drove up to Yazoo City and visited with my friend Kathy whom I had not seen in 25 years! Then I drove back to Jackson and saw Marissa (another former student) at the Coffee Shop that she works at. Finally, I had a late sandwich and Sweet Tea at McAllister's with my friend Camille (An MC student that was in Greece with me back in March) and her boyfriend Andrew.

Today I drove down to Pineville, Louisiana to visit my niece and her family and to retrieve my Bicycle (it's been living here since I went to Eastern Europe.)

Homeward Bound- Amended!!!!

I wrote this blog earlier tonight...about 6 pm Eastern Time...thinking I was catching my flight home in about an hour. Then they cancelled my flight and rescheduled me for 8:20 pm tomorrow night!! That, my friends, is unacceptable.

I managed to talk the airline into a discounted hotel room for the night. Then I traded tomorrow nights ticket to Jackson for a morning ticket to Gulfport. So that's my plan. I'll be in Gpt at noon tomorrow.

I'm almost home. I'm sitting in Charlotte, NC enjoying free wireless internet and Starbucks waiting on a weather delay. My flight to Mississippi will be about an hour late. At least I know why my flight is delayed. I think 6 out of 8 flights in the last 2 weeks were late!

Another thing... it's practically impossible to find free wireless internet in overseas airports. I've been in 8 of them in the last 2 weeks. I say...a country whose airports don't offer free wireless internet should be included in the Axis of Evil. It's criminal.

I arrived in Charlotte about 3:30 this afternoon from a 9 hour ride from Frankfurt, Germany. It wasn't a bad flight. Ya gotta love those big Airbus 330's. Two seats side by side on the outer rows and 4 in the middle. That means you never have to crawl over more than one person to get to the bathrooms.

I was met in Charlotte by my WorldRace sweethearts Katie, Tana, Christy and Courtney. They took me to Cracker Barrel where I enjoyed Sweet Tea and the Sunrise Sampler Breakfast.

I'm going to my brothers house in Vicksburg tonight. I'm going to Gulfport High School Graduation tomorrow night. I have an appointment (much needed) for a haircut in Gulfport Thursday and then wedding activities Friday and Saturday in Gulfport. I'm officiating the wedding of Amy Loflin and Stevie Jones. Whoohoo.

I'll go back to Vicksburg after the wedding Saturday to be with family for Memorial Day and then try to get some studying in for speaking at WorldChanger and some Kayaking done until about mid-June.

I'm still waiting to hear from the Insurance Company charged with clearing me for service with the International Mission Board. Everything else is complete. If they clear me before June 15 then I'll receive an invitation to go to the interviews in Richmond at the end of July. You can pray about that for me.

If for some reason, I don't get an invitation then I'll probably go to Ukraine on my own in August. Time will tell.

Passion World Tour in Kiev, Ukraine

I feel so privileged to have been there. I went to my first Passion event in Ft. Worth in 1999. I've been taking students ever since. The music, the worship, the speaking...the movement... has been as much a part of my life over the last (nearly) 10 years as it has for the students it was intended for.

I knew instantly- the first time I heard there would be a "World Tour" and that Ukraine would be a part of it, that I wanted to be there. I'm so fortunate to have been able to work my trip around tonight.

I spoke with my Ukrainian friend Oleg Vasilevsky (who translated for Louie tonight) a few weeks ago and he correctly guessed there would be perhaps 4000 in attendance. As recently as just a few days ago on the Passion Blog, Louie admitted there was no way to know...it could be a 100, or a 1000 or more. Earlier today, one of the "crew" told me he was hoping for at least 2000 to make it feel like there was something of a crowd. It was apparent right at 6:00 pm when the doors opened that there would be that many and more. With each stop of the nearby Metro-Subway, a new wave of students entered the square in front of the Sports Palace. They kept coming well after the worship began at 7:00 pm.

I wish I could report in detail about what happened inside the palace tonight. Alas, I missed most of it. My job for the day was Security. I rotated with about 8 other guys (all Ukrainian students I think) watching one of the Stage Doors and the Entrance to the Green Room. I opted to spend most of my time on Guard Duty to allow those guys to be a part of the worship experience.

I can't complain though. I spent the whole day watching the Passion Staff - Louie and his wife Shelley, Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall and Matt Redman as they went back and forth. I met guys and gals from all over the country that were spending their vacations to do what I was doing...to just simply serve and facilitate this event. I met missionaries and students. I got a cool t-shirt. It was a great day.

I even got to visit with my friends from Birmingham- Randy Hall and his daughter Madison. They were traveling with a group of students from Lugansk... some of which I met back in April when I visited there.














Super Amazing Day for Kiev. I overheard one of the Ukrainian Stage Hands saying that there's never been anything like this in Kiev. I bet there's never been anything like it in any former Soviet country. And this much I'm sure of...it was a great crowd...but it wasn't all the people Jesus has in this city. It was just a sampling.

I "heard" the highlight of the night was probably the closing song- God of this City- when the crowd sang the chorus in Russian. It's a prayer and it's so true: Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city. The movement got a boost tonight. I have a feeling some of those kids will never, ever be the same again.

Yes, I Jumped from the Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar, Bosnia

Sometime late last year I bought the Lonely Planet Guide to Eastern Europe. I knew back then that I wanted to visit the Balkans- especially the former Yugoslavian countries. There aren't many pictures in a Lonely Planet, but one of the pictures in my edition was of the Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar. It's about 68 feet high and was built in the 1500's. According to local legend, daring young men have been jumping from it since the very beginning to impress the local gals (which are really beautiful by the way). According to the guidebook, the Mostar Diving Club oversees jumping nowadays- they charge 25 Euro and you get a certificate. I knew when I read the article that I wanted to go for it. I guess I missed the part where it said "daring YOUNG men...." The article didn't say anything about cowardly middle aged guys!

Anyway, I made it to Mostar last Saturday afternoon (May 10). After I found a place to stay, I started wandering around in the Old Town when I first laid eyes upon Stari Most.

Sure enough, there was quite a crowd on the bridge and there were several scantly clad local Divers (guys with speedos) hanging out and working the crowd. What they do is take up an offering from all the gawkers and then they jump. And of course, they are happy to take your 25 Euro if you're "daring" enough...or stupid enough to fancy that you can imitate them.







I only saw one guy jump on Saturday. He made it look pretty easy. Actually, he looked like a Navy Seal or something to begin with. I kept coming back to the bridge all day long trying to decide if I was really going to do it. I messed around and waited to late though because they quit diving about 6 pm. I told of the divers I'd be back the next morning and he gave me one of those, "yeah, right" looks.

So I woke up Sunday morning and made my way back to the bridge. I was catching a 12:00 noon bus to my next destination, so I really didn't have time to think about it too much. After a few minutes of staring at the water, I told the Diving Club guys to sign me up.

This would be a good place to say this: There aren't enough Attorney's in Bosnia. If there were as many Attorney's in Bosnia as there are in the States this wouldn't be happening long before someone would be sued like crazy. I didn't sign anything. The only preparation I received was when they poured 2 liters of ice cold water on me before I jumped to get me acclimated. It had crossed my mind that the water would be so cold upon impact that I'd open my mouth to scream and then drown. Little did I know that the coldness of the water was the least of my worries. They guy loaned me a short wetsuit and instructed me to drop down feet first and keep my hands at my side or covering my crotch.

I climbed over the edge of the bridge where the bystanders were all whispering "honey, come watch this old guy...he's going to kill himself." I don't know if that's exactly what they said...it was in Serbian and my translation is a little rough.

I never was any good at mathematics. You'd think I would be... I took most of my math classes in high school and college TWICE! You're welcome to figure out the exact numbers if you like...I know the speed of falling objects is something like 32 feet per second for the first second and then squared each second thereafter until you reach terminal velocity which is maybe 200 mph for a freefalling skydiver. I wasn't high enough to attain terminal velocity...in which case hitting the water would have been just like hitting concrete.

I figure my speed was maybe 45 mph and I was freefalling less than 2 seconds. What was I thinking when I was on the bridge? I was thinking..."ok, I can do this. Other people have done this. I can do this. All I have to do is take a step." And I was thinking...what about holding my breath? The guy told me not to hold my nose, so I was a little concerned about that. I was wondering should I take a big breath before jumping or just before I hit the water? I was wondering if I'd hit the bottom of the river (supposedly 15 feet deep).

As best as I remember it I took a big breath and stepped off the rail and I remember thinking, "man, I'm dropping fast". I remember being very tense...I don't know if that helped me or not. I think it contributed to my whiplash hurting so bad. I didn't remember looking down as much as I was, but they got one picture of me and I'm looking down all the way...that's why I felt like I landed on my face. Because I did!

I got off balance about halfway down and was leaning forward and to my left about 10 o'clock when I hit the water. My hole left leg from the but to my calf is one BIG bruise. My tailbone still feels like it's broken. My nose was making funny clicking sounds when I moved it from one side to the other all day. I busted my lip on the inside at the top of my gums. I think the rushing water got under my top lip and pulled it up over my head as I was going down the water. I may have hit the bottom with my left side, but I don't remember doing so.

I remember coming back up pretty easy and having plenty of breath. I remember breaking the surface but then going into a slight bit of panic as I started swimming back to the shore. After a few seconds I realized I was probably going to live and that people were clapping from me from the bridge and the shore... that's when I pumped my fist in the air. That probably looked cool until I made it to the shore and begin washing the blood out of my mouth. That's when I could hear people saying, "see, he almost killed himself" in Serbian as they were walking away in apparent disgust.

Somewhere in the world there is video footage. A Serbian Broadcaster was there and filmed it and they interviewed me for some tourism thing afterwards. I wish I would have taken a picture of my face right after I got out of the water...the fat lip and red face was extreme!

But all's well that ends well. I survived. I would have regretted it if I hadn't done it. My name is supposed to be on a webpage, but it's in Serbian and a little difficult to figure out (www.mostari.ba) and I dont' think they've updated it since last year!

Moldova and Beyond. . .

It's been an eventful couple of weeks. I finally shook the respiratory infection (mostly) and I've been traveling a good bit.

I finished out April and began May by joining the International Teams Staff for their annual staff retreat in Sibiu, Romani. Sibiu was designated as a European Union Cultural Capital last year (which I suspect is just a way of creating a tourist environment) but it is a cool town. It was originally settled by Saxons (Germans) several hundred years ago it is evident in the language, food and architecture.

Just outside Sibiu is a really large National Cultural Park of sorts- a 120+ acre park where the government has relocated and restored over 100 dwellings from all over Romania. It's like going to Cades Cove but with much older buildings and much bigger. Entire villages are recreated in some cases.

The retreat was really good. I was hesitant about going or staying the whole 4 days; I was itchy to get on the road again. But I'm glad I stayed. It was restful. We enjoyed sweet worship and prayer times and I got to see everyone one good last time before leaving.

So, last Sunday the team and I parted ways. I found a micro-bus headed from Sibiu to Brasov that cost about $2.00! I spent 2 nights in Brasov and managed to find my way to Bran Castle (think Dracula!). I love castles. There was actually a bigger and better castle nearer to Brasov but I didn't have time to go there.

On Tuesday I figured out how to get from Romania to Moldova via bus. It costs about $28.00. I got into Moldova about 1opm Tuesday night and found a taxi driver that found me a hotel. I bought a SIM card for my phone Wednesday morning and called my ministry contact. He sent someone to pick me up and I joined a church team from Helena, Montana for 2 days on a church construction project in Orhei, Moldova. While in Moldova, my contact arranged for me to spend 2 nights with an awesome young couple finishing up some school requirements for their mission program at Bethany College in the twin cities. They are preparing for full time work in Eastern Europe in the future. Staying with Alexander and Mary and their two daughters Autumn and Jade was definitely a highlight.

I'm sitting in the airport in Chisinau, Moldova now. It's already been an adventure today. Today is Victory Day and the airline office was closed this morning where I was supposed to pick up my tickets. Alex helped me get a taxi to the airport thinking I could get the ticket there. Nope! But the airport figured out that the airline office in town opened at 1:00 pm, so I found the 25 cent microbus back to town, found a taxi to the airline office, ate pizza served by the prettiest girl I saw in Moldova, got my tickets, lucked up and got on the right microbus back to the bus station, then found my #165 microbus back to the airport! And here I am...headed to Vienna and on to Sarajevo tonight. I'll stay at least one night there...I'll try and figure out how to get a bus or train from there to Montenegro tomorrow.