Into the Deep End

        A few nights ago we flew into Bangkok. We stayed at the YWAM base there overnight and took a 12 hour bus ride down to Phuket. The transportation far exceeded my expectations. The weather is intense humidity, 85 degrees, add in 80% humidity. It’s quite sticky and gross. Cold showers are great. The center we are staying in here is amazing though and far better than I expected.

First night, jetlag and all, I was falling asleep on our way to Patong City in the back of a pick up truck. The environment is unlike any other I’ve ever seen in my life. The spiritual warfare is thick. Night one we had to go to a certain street and it was actually easier than the practice run we had in clubs and bars in Auckland. The countless (20 plus) bars on each street are open air and the music doesn’t make such a dent on your ear drums. Typically, you order a drink and play games with the girls to break the ice, such as Connect 4, striking conversation as you go along. My teammates and I talked to 5 or 6 girls the first night. Their ages ranged from 17-30’s. Some were from a poor part of the country, some from Bangkok. One admitted she didn’t like working there. (Over the last week or so, I've realized most will openly admit this.) A lot of the girls have kids and family to support back home. I hope to form some key relationships and that our team can, by the grace of God, help them to see they have other, better options.

Our second night was amazing as well. A non-prostitute bar allowed another team that is staying here to play a worship set in the bar...in the middle of the chaos. It was quite the sight to see. There is some serious spiritual warfare, stronger in some places than others, it’s hard to describe. Girls are shouting at you from all directions, some grabbing your arms. Last night I saw droves of old, white men checking out the different ‘options’. We just have to remember we are no better. Jesus said not to judge or you yourself will be judged. He loves them just as much as any other. His eyes see their brokenness. It’s easy to become overwhelmed out there. Some of my teammates looked like wide-eyed deer in the headlights out there, I’m sure I did too. It’s hard to think at times, let alone keep in tune with what God is saying to you.

On a happier note, we are throwing a big Christmas barbeque here at the center in a few days. Should be grand. Here are some notes I put down about Thailand as we traveled through Bangkok down here...

Bangkok:

• Humidity hit straight away in the airplane terminal. 
• Rode in the back of a truck. 
• Eyes sting from smog. 
• Sticky. 
• Cold showers feel good. 
• Massive billboards everywhere amidst the poverty and construction. 
• Bathroom fares at the bus station. 
• “Love live the King, he is great!” Did you know he was born in Massachusetts? 
• There are people everywhere. 
• I can't read, write or speak Thai so I feel oblivious to what is going on around me. 
• The King's anthem brought us to our feet quicker than some of the natives.

Phuket:

• I broke two cultural taboos on the bus. I pushed a bag with my foot and put my arm over three ppls heads in about ten seconds. I'm on a roll! 
• Shell and 7 eleven dominate here. It's like subway in Oklahoma; one every town. 
• Did I mention pink taxis? 
• Dogs are honored here so you see them wandering around more than you'd see Buddha or the king. (I've also seen quite a bit of stray monks as well hehe) 
• To every one powerline I'd venture to say there's about 5 phone lines beneath it... There's a lot of phone lines!

Keep us in your prayers. We need them. Merry Christmas!

Outreach Before Outreach

So, I have like 5 minutes...but I wanted to give an idea of how things are going...what at task :)

We are finishing lectures this week, I leave in 7 days for Thailand. This weeks topic is Spiritual Warfare.

My roommate, who is an amazing guy, was in a tough spot before DTS. He just got a job and God is working such amazing things in his life. I'm so excited for him and to think of the vast differences in backgrounds we have come from yet the amazing things we have in common and have shared...I love him and will miss him. He's become like family, as has all the people here.

A guy I met at the community lunches we have every week disappeared a few weeks ago. I thought it was a good thing in the back of my mind. He had mentioned his family lived out of town and that things didn't seem to be going so well here with addictions and such. He showed up last week and told me what a positive influence my time has been with him. It's so amazing what happened through me simply sharing what God has done for me the last two months. He went home for a week or so and mended some relationships with family. He said his father, who used to be closed off and unforgiving, was now humble. He used the word 'peaceful.' Awesome stuff! He said he and another guy who are living in poverty and addiction have been praying for me...for ME! How awesome is that? God is good!

Walking the streets here every day is an interesting experience. You never really know who are what you will run into. I've had some awesome conversations with some people who I am proud to call my friends. I will miss them. Please pray for them...I want to respect their privacy, so they will remain nameless.

We often look at people in a tough spot as "them" or "those people." They are just like us in every way. We struggle with addiction, we struggle with money and everything just as much as they do. We have family issues too! Next time you see someone with a sign on the corner or walking down the street that looks impovershed, STOP! Grab some food with them, give them a snack, TALK WITH THEM! Trust me, it will brighten up your day to hear the pearls of wisdom and perspective that that person will share with you.

This is probably my last blog for now. Here are some prayer requests:
-A mental, physical and spiritual preparedness for Thailand.
-Safe travel.
-That God would provide the funds I need for Thailand.
-Wisdom in decisions.
-Prayer for illness: my Godfather has liver cancer & my mom's good friend has a rare throat disease.

God bless, LOVE YOU ALL!
Sam Tindall

REVELATIONS ON THE HEART OF THE FATHER!

  Where to begin? The last two weeks have been some of the most intense times of my life and outreach hasn’t even started yet. (We leave Dec. 15th, more on that later.) Let’s start with last week. This is quiet personal stuff here, so bare with me if I don’t share everything.

Our speaker last week was Etienne Pieterson and the topic was the Father Heart of God. Ever since I looked at the schedule, I knew this week would be crucial for me. I had a single-mom situation as a child and praise God, my step-father came into the picture later on in life. Hopefully some of the things I learned might help you as well.

(NOTE: A good understanding of unselfish, unconditional love without tolerance, fear, jealousy, etc. is important here. Also keep in mind that our relationships with our parents and authority figures shapes our view of who God is.)

Example: Our concept of authority has been skewed. The government, churches, parents and authority figures seem to impose and almost force things upon us. What is the result of this? We rebel. God gave us authority on earth (looking at Genesis) and He wants to share it mutually with us. He wants to love what we have passions for and co-create with us. Questions to ask yourself:

• Where has authority gone wrong in your life & how has it affected your relationship?
• Are your authorities doing good for you and is their discipline effective?
• God: “Will you come and share My authority?”

What have I learned? I have become pretty self efficient, which is easy for a Westerner, and have not often needed to trust in God. I tend to run to God when something goes wrong, but not when things go right. Health problems, money issues, etc. Self reliance destroys hope and trust in God.

We often have placed no value in ourselves and always push ourselves in comparison to others toward performance. It helps us feel better, or so we think it will. Why does self glorification feel so temporary? One Super Bowl ring is never enough. We are valuable to God, He does not compare us to another. Matthew 10:29-31 tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our head.

One big one for me is affection. Read Hosea, Song of Songs, etc. God continually pursues us, we don’t owe Him anything. “You have to earn my trust” is a incorrect thought or statement. God openly gives us His trust, we should do so as well.

There was some serious ministry time to uproot hurts and bring healing to wounds. The group was in a circle and it was time for release, support and encouragement. I spilled my heart and the story of my childhood. It was hard, but I just told it like it is... or was. It ended up being really great. I came to realize even though I had sung “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” in Sunday school as a child and had read through Song of Songs in relation to how God loves me/the church as recently as the week before, I still hadn’t realized how much he really LOVE me.

Etienne pictured God holding his arms open (much like the father of the prodigal son) and yet I was afraid and ran away. He then described how God wants to embrace me and walk along side me through good and bad. That I’m a son at the feast table, not a slave. It felt like I had had surgery by the end. Everyone came and hugged me and gave me encouraging words. They dispelled the idea that I would be a bad father. It’s all just a bunch of lies we have buried so deep, we need to uproot them.

This last week has been really overwhelming for me, so if you pray for me pray for clarity and confidence. I know where I’m coming from with a lot of the issues I’m working through, I simply am a bit overwhelmed and easily doubting my own sureness. Satan is using fatigue and the “fullness” feeling that I cannot put anything else into my mind and my heart against me.

We’ve had some great news for outreach. We are going to be in Phuket, Thailand. A sex tourism hot spot, a beach and bar town. We are going to be working with an organization called SHE (Self Help Empowerment). (Google it if I don’t put the site on here.) The facilities seem to be beautiful. God is opening doors for possibility. Keep the documentary style piece I wish to do in prayer that God will open doors toward His Will for it.

I hope all is well back home. It’s easy to get lost in the insanity here at YWAM. (The busy schedule, the planning and preparation, dealing with the healing and uprooting and maintaining friendships here and back home.) So please continue to send me emails and updates on how you are doing! I have saved every email to my computer and if I haven’t responded yet, I will!

Last prayer request that comes to mind is finances. I know God’s promises to faithfully provide for me. I don’t doubt that, but there can never be too much prayer for this issue. Thank you SO VERY much to all of you who have supported me. I pray He will bless you all tenfold!

Love,

Sam Tindall

Encouragement

Wrote this yesterday ...on the 27th, so the 26th for you Americans ;) 

Okay, here goes. Hope everyone is doing well. I got up at 5am today and went for a run, for anyone who knows me that isn’t easily done, so thank you to my friend Beck for that. Haha. Hoping to make that a routine, because I love challenging myself physically just as well as spiritually and intellectually... creatively, etc. The 9-6 schedule is a bit rough and it’s easy to just slack at night and hang out with my friends.

I wanted to simply write a blog of encouragement. This morning I started going through Song of Songs. (I am studying it from a view of the Lover as God and the Beloved as his Church.) Last week really inspired me that INTIMACY is key and without that, it’s so hard to keep ourselves on track. Understanding God and his deep, deep love for us is so vital in understanding who we are and our identity. It kind of just falls into place after that. Have you ever reflected on the fact that God has both father and mother qualities?

We are talking about family relationships this week, as well as all relationships in general and I’m starting to identify where I’m strong and where I am week. Patrick Dodson, this week’s speaker, is teaching that we have four vital needs:

Unconditional Love

Provision

(which are mostly developed in us, in a perfect system, by our mothers from ages 0-12)

followed by Destiny and Value

(which should be nurtured in us by our fathers from about 12-18)

We are learning quite in depth on this topic and how the system works.

Yesterday we discussed early details for Thailand outreach. We are unsure on where exactly we are going yet. The “hot spots” appear to be in the south - recovery work, where as prevention seems to be key in the north. Please be in prayer that we will be able to research areas of culture, locations, government, language, etc. as well as a better understanding of the Golden Triangle heroin trade and how this feeds into trafficking in Thailand. I read yesterday that the Thai government passed a law against sex slavery in 1951, but didn’t make their first conviction until 2006. On a good note, there are a lot of YWAM connections in Thailand and hope is not dead. :)

Gotta get to class, but I want to leave you with my verse for the day. I am attempting to learn God’s promises, so the promise today is God will bless those who obey Him:

“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him and we will comes to him and make our home with him.” - Jesus, John 14:23

God bless, take care and please...stay in touch! Shoot me an email or a facebook message and I will get back to you ASAP.

Maori Culture, Intimacy with God and Sex Trafficking Supply Vs. Demand

So it's Saturday the 23rd of October here. We just spent almost a full week in Tauranga, New Zealand about 2-3 hours south east of Auckland. We stayed on a Marae, where the Maori people lived in the past. The last two weeks have been an amazing journey. Hard to believe I’m a month in already...Here are some highlights and personal thoughts...

Week two was with a great guy and talented worship leader and musician. He staffs at another YWAM base in NZ and his name is Josh Menning. His topic was “Knowing God and His Character.” Josh suggested honoring and worshipping God is a 4 step process beginning with thanksgiving toward God. Then praise, sacrifice (when you really don’t want to) and worship.

“There’s a big difference between knowing about God and knowing God,” he said. Another very important point Josh brought to my attention was the fact that a lot of people tend to put God into a box. Their views of Him are limited to human understanding. We have to remember we are talking about the Great “I AM.” He is beyond our understanding at times and the moment we put Him into a box is the moment we stop growing in our relationship with Him.

Last Friday we focused on the justice issue of Fair Trade. It’s hard to sum up fair trade in a nutshell, but basically there are people that are earning menial amounts of money: unable to provide basic needs of food, water and shelter to their families, because companies like Kraft, Sara Lee, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, etc. dominate the coffee industry and are making millions off of slaves. This is not the only industry...products such as wine, cocoa and sugar (chocolate), palm oil, even cut flowers are being made by people who aren’t anywhere near a basic standard of living.

I suggest you watch a documentary called “Black Gold” for the coffee story. 1 kilo of coffee makes around $2.90USD, while they in return get 8 cents. Just because we are living in a first world country does that entitle us to ruin someone else’s life? Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us we should be speaking up for the voiceless and here is your chance. Next time you go to Starbucks or Walmart, demand change. Not in a harsh way, but question where your product is coming from.

Here’s some websites for more info:

fairtrade.org.uk

putpeoplefirst.org.uk

wfp.org.za

peopletree.co.uk - great clothing site

tradeaid.org.nz

We then went and traveled to the Marae. It was so beautiful and welcoming to get out of the city. On the van ride down me and some of the girls discussed our fathers and the roles they played in our lives and how it affected our views on God. We would later speak at the Maori church about this, which I will get to in a moment.

The Maori people did a traditional welcome to us: the leader speaks and welcomes you, they do a song for us and we return the same. We then go ahead and all greet each other one by one. You shake hands, press your foreheads together and touch noses, while sharing each others breath. Anybody need a Tic Tac (or in NZ, a Mintie would suffice)?

The people there were so welcoming and let us stay in the Marae for days. I felt like I was part of the family. In the morning Sunday service Steph spoke on dying to self and living in Christ. Great message, Steph :) Elise, Lesley & I spoke in the evening on God’s faithfulness and the role of a father. The children did special songs for us, a few I got on video. Roydon did a rap with one the guys and a guitarist. The two hours after we spoke were filled with amazing feedback. The church there is an atmosphere of “everyone has something to share.” One thing we rarely see in the States. We heard from a father’s perspective on his love showing through holding three jobs. A mother spoke as well as a twin, which I truly believe in those personal circumstances that Elise & Lesley were meant to be there at that moment for her. :) Amazing atmosphere, I loved it!

On Saturday we went to Mt. Maunganui. No doubt it is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen from the top...seeing 360 around the mountain at the ocean and little islands of New Zealand. The pictures don’t do it justice.

This week we spent at the Tauranga House of Prayer with Aaron Welsh in Tauranga, NZ. The best way to describe Aaron was “INTENSE.” The guy spends four hours a day with God in prayer and worship, so I’d like to think he knows God pretty well. He is my favorite speaker so far, very blunt and straight to the point. We only had three days with them but they were quite amazing.

He spoke on how Western Christian culture tends to speak from the standpoint of “What can God do for you?” We need to look at this picture differently because we worship God for His glory. He spoke on Revelations and how we as a majority tend to push away the Rapture and forget that about 85-90% of the prophecies in the books have come true. (The Jews have returned to Israel legally being a bit part of that.)

I think I may go back to Aaron later, but his basic message was that we need to do everything in life out of a place of intimacy with Jesus. He was full of wisdom, I had REVELATIONS as Bree would say haha. I shall probably write more in the future.

Thursday and Friday we were back in Auckland with Denise Richtie. She is a lawyer who has helped pass laws in New Zealand to get charges placed against anyone who has engaged in child sex trafficking overseas and returns to NZ. She was definitely an activist for feminine equality as well.

She brought some startling figures on sex trafficking and her viewpoint is that we can’t stop the supply because we can rescue all of them and they will just be replaced with a new supply. Her point was to stop the DEMAND of the “supply” - aka little girls and boys. It’s a men’s issue and a cultural issue. Lots of deep psychological roots that take generations to change. Outreach toward men that would want to engage in such things is a lot better because without demand there is no supply.

stopdemand.org for more information. I may add more about her later as well.

Hope all is well with everyone, please message me on here or FB or email. I love you and God bless!

Sam Tindall

Week 2: Sex Shops and Outreach Talks

10.8.10

Hey, everyone!

One update a week is my goal here. Here is a brief recap of the week. We had a guest speaker in Phil Cunningham. He’s not related to Loren by the way. We had quiet the overview of the justice issues this week. Poverty, human trafficking, fair trade, etc.

Phil is a cool guy who has an awesome campaign to help spread awareness of justice issues. This month of October he has a prayer each day of the month and each Monday is a challenge to action: things like fasting and different things. 

stepsofjustice.org

So, yesterday we did this scavenger hunt thing around Auckland. My team went to a youth center and found out the current things happening in the juvenile systems here. A recent law passed on the first that allows them to dig deeper and look into the overall situation going on instead of just the offense the youth makes. We got a tour and prayed for them.

We toured the rich side of Auckland and had some interesting cultural questions to ask. We went to a mosque to talk with people there and unfortunately they had a funeral. The final place we had to go to we could not find, but the most interesting time had to be the sex shops.

We had to find out how the legalization of prostitution affected their business as well as the recession. We split up into a group of 2 and one of 3 and had an interesting experience. The female store attendants both turned me away from questions. The males answered our questions. We were also supposed to find a prostitute and ask her how much “full service” costs...! We didn’t see any out and about around 2pm, but apparently you can find them on the back alley ways. We prayed over the red light district here. On a side note, the “rich” side of town...Ponsonby Street intersects directly with the red light “bad” side of town - K’ Road. 

On Tuesday we watched a movie called “Call & Response” it has some good artists in it -- Switchfoot, Imogen Heap, etc. It covers the wide range of slavery issues in the world as well and is quite heart breaking.

So we had to chose our outreach locations this week. Here were the two main options:

1. South Africa: sex trafficking recovery, cerebral palsey kids home, etc.
2. Middle East: (either Israel or Jordan) teaching English, working in refugee camps
3. Wild Card (would have to be lead by students): Thailand (sex trafficking recovery) or Vanuatu (working to build water tanks, etc)

My heart hasn’t changed and I want to work in sex trafficking recovery even though Cambodia isn’t an option, Phil our speaker has connections there which could very well come into play later. So, I chose 1) Thailand and 2) South Africa (we had to give two choices).

Hope all things are going well back home, please send me emails...notes...facebook stuff, etc. I will try to update as much as I can but the internet situation here is really poor and I may lose touch at points.

Random note: I’m excited to start working on “All Around Me” by Flyleaf for worship soon HEHE!

Rough Times

Thing have been rough here...I wrote this blog at the beginning of the week and since then we have all given our testimonies and some people have some really rough stories. It's heartbreaking, but God is going to use it to REACH PEOPLE! Praise God. We are taking a well deserved break this weekend. I'm SICK of people and the city at times, so I'm looking forward to seeing what is apparently "the real New Zealand". Here's an update from Monday:

9.27.10

Today is the first day of lecture phase. Josie basically said today was our “last chance to go home” if we couldn’t handle it here and on outreach. I am wondering how I am going to guard my heart enough to be sane when I go home, it sounds like her S. African team saw and experienced some crazy stuff (i.e. inside brothels) I’m also thinking of what kind of creative ways I want to tackle the assignments. “You’re the movie guy!” I want to show what else I have up my sleeves. We wrote out our expectations and goals not only to affirm them in our minds, but to look back on them after the DTS and see our growth and new found perspective. Here are mine, please lift them up into prayer:

1. Consistenty be led by the Spirit.
2. Come out sane, with a fragment of my heart still remaining.
3. Build & grow in teams to be a support system for each other.
4. Allow God to enter into my heart where I may have hurts, insecurities or fears.
5. Have visions like the YWAM founder Loren Cunningham.
6. Be able to find a story to tell visually - ie. documentary - and know it is what God wants me to tell.
7. Expand my passions for new gifts I have yet to discover.
8. Be better w/ intercessory prayer/gifts of the Spirit.
9. Bring a smile to the face a hurting person/child.
10. Feel like I made a difference -- big or small.

hey everyone!

Hello! Hope everyone is well! My journey is complete here to New Zealand. Go figure I'm sitting in a coffee shop with 9 girls on our computers. The weather is not what you would expect. It's about 50 and rainy right now...not what most would think of New Zealand. I will get some pictures up when I can. The wind here is intense, the umbrellas cannot handle it. We have a few days before school starts so we are looking to go to the zoo and museum, figure out a church to go to, etc.

Everyone here is pretty cool. So far we have briefly told stories of why we are here, inbetween jet lag. Random things that have caught me off guard:

-parrots flying around outside
-cars on the opposite side of the road
-tea time (this is an english country)
-latte vs. flat white coffee
-random birds flying in any open window...eating fries in the mall.

I will update more with some pictures nad stuff later. We are limited with internet access. I need to prep an email list still so if you did not give me your email at one of those points, send it to me here: stbtome@msn.com

God bless, love you all!

PS. The flight was horrible, 13 hours and difficult to sleep sitting up. (or on the tray for that matter)

Hike Journal

The following was an in depth journal from our hike to raise money a few weeks ago. It ended early, but it was a good experience. I wrote them on my phone so they may seem like a text message. haha.

Heading out. This picture really brings out how much weight we actually had on our backs. WHAT WERE WE THINKING?

Today sucked. As well as yesterday. Even harder than me and Matt anticipated. First day we got pretty exhausted around the 5 or 6 mile mark and set up tent and went straight to bed. Second day, Matt's quad started locking up on the hills. I was in a negative mind frame. Matt almost puked. He felt bad but I knew I wasn't far from his ails. We wanted to take solice in the beaver site we had found as a quick surprise two years ago, but happened upon a smaller one and decided to set up shop. We then hear on the radio there are flash flood warnings from midnight into tomorrow evening, so we set up for that as well. 

The trees right below us show how steep the Hellacious Overlook really is!

Foggy day.

Superior was always a welcome sight.

We ended up getting a much needed day of rest on day 3, waiting out the rain. Read some of the Word, had some discussion, etc. I had a vicious game plan for the next day. Althought we planned on 12 miles a day that just doesn't seem likely in any scenario without taking into account weather, Injuries, getting much needed water and food, equipment malfunctions and not to mention will power. High hopes and not being smart about bringing food I don't need to cook lead to a bad mood early in the trek. The rain left things slippery and eventually we stopped, I ate and Matt prayed for me. Things were moving along pretty good til we came upon a part of the trail that was washed out, which left us with a huge rock for a descent. We made it down by removing the packs and sliding them down. Somewhere in this process, likely when lifting Matt's pack, which is heavier than mine, I slightly hurt my back. The reaggrivated injury made the rest of the trek difficult. I used some bengay and kept going. We both were dead by the next camp site even tho it was roughly 1pm. We ate, set up tent and went to bed. Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to make another 17 days out here. 


Sunday, day 5. Why do I always feel the need to say "today sucked"? Well today we went the wrong way down a road the trail intersected with and ended up a mile down when locals told us so. it was rough and my mood wasn't helping. I really felt like quitting at this point but its not really an option. I realized the real goal of seeking God out here really wasn't getting met. I told Matt tommorow is a spiritual day of rest. That, along with getting in the right direction on the trail, seemed to lighten the mood. 


Day 6 started early with me going off down the trail to pray. I found myself dealing with stuff I had been holding back from God. I felt Him say to "go back on the trail." I questioned detail: how far, do I bring my pack, does Matt come with? Nothing. Matt didn't seem to have a similar word so I packed up and went back on the trail talking with God. He showed me physically and metaphorically the path I was taking in Areas of my life. I remembered far back to when I was a different person and even to my childhood. God pointed out some good things to me and emphasized something I had been refusing to learn. Righteousness. The hike went well but my back started hurting pretty good. We made between 4 and 5 miles before I had to call it a day. We went to bed early in preperation for the rain. 

The river was refreshing.

Day 7 we got up early. 530. Wind and no stakes in the ground equals bad news. Add some rain and its time to move out. We moved well but my mind was preoccupied with my back pain. On a break I opened up to Matt about feeling in warfare about it and we prayed for God to let us know when the right time to call it a day would be. As we entered the state park we witnessed a beautiful waterfall, two to be exact. It felt like a reward for all the work we'd put in. By this point I asked Matt if he felt like he accomplished what he set out to Do. He said yes and on top of that I was trying to convince him and myself that we could stop at the next campsite for an extra day or two if we had to. "it's better than going home," I said. But the knots were piling up and the tender spot in my mid back I previously thought was gone by now had turned to a pain of enough severity that I was pulling the right shoulder strap off my trap muscle just to continue through the park. As I prayed God would allow me to continue, I had a quote from a YWAM book I am reading come to mind. "God cannot use a proud man." took some wrestling with God but I finally told Matt what was happening and we called it. 

The Devil's Kettle

It was like a reward for all the pain. Haha. Beautiful.

We found the phone in the office and waited five hours for a ride. We made around 32 of the 235 miles. We may have left early, but we came out a lot better than when we went in. Oh and don't worry, Old country buffet made up for any caloric deficit incurred from strenuous foot travel. ;)

A third waterfall.

Here's a rarity: Matt with facial hair.

Hey

This will be my blog when I have something to write...so BOOKMARK this page and check back soon :) Thank you for your support and prayer.