August 3 Update

Today we went to Maitland High School to present to a student body of 1400. Marj Saint Van Der Puy used to pray, "Lord prepare me for what you are preparing for me!" Well the rude audience at the University of Technology yesterday was preparation for our audience today at the high school. The kids were crowded into a gym and seated on the wooden floor, shoulder to shoulder. It looked like a blue carpet of kids. We agreed to two presentations, back to back, so all the students (learners as they are called) could attend. The first presentation included Grades 10-12. The noise during the entire presentation was unbelievable. At times you couldn't hear the sound and the team couldn't hear the sound track. The team persevered without missing a beat. I talked to the principal afterwards and told him we didn't know if we wanted to present for the next group of kids, due to the rudeness of this first group. He apologized and felt the next group, being younger, would be more attentive. We talked it over with the team and they wanted to do the presentation. I told the principal we would honor our commitment and asked him to place his teachers about the room for kid control. I also told him that if it got too loud and disrespectful that we would have to stop the presentation mid stream. He felt that was fair. We fervently prayed asking God to use us to communicate the message of this story and to control the kids. About a quarter way through the noise began to swell and half of the 500 in attendance were having a talking party. But the kids in the front of the room were attentive. The noise became so loud that I waited for the reader's theatre to conclude (this is where we tell the entire story from Life Magazine). We were about 8 minutes from the end and Donna and I agreed it had to end!!! I got up in front of all these kids and with some effort finally got their attention. I thanked the kids in the front for being attentive and reminded the rest that this was first time in 11 years, after presenting in 8 countries, that we ended a program before the actual ending. I tried to be as tactful as possible. The principal took the microphone and briefly apologized, reminding us that it was difficult for these kids to focus for 1-½ hours. Our presentation is only 65 minutes total and we were in minute 57 when I stopped it. God is in control, using His Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who actually listened. I had two boys come up to me afterwards and patting their hearts, thanking us for sharing this story. They want to contact us via our AAC website.

You can imagine it was discouraging for the team and the leadership. We are studying 1 Peter for our team devotions and we have been discussing suffering and trials in the Christian life. Well today our knowledge of His word was tested to see if we could apply it. I truly believe God is pleased with our response and attitudes. We are very proud of this team as they continue to tell the story no matter how intense the distractions. Thanks for your continuing prayers. We needed them today.

Donna's cold/cough is getting better. The rest of the team continues to stay healthy. Thank you Lord!

God Sighting:
- Focus of the team (they seemed oblivious to the noise) on communicating the AAC story in spite of the noise and disrespect. Christ was their audience; an audience of One!

At any cost,
Dave for Donna and the Team