From Africa!! (1st post)

We are here!!!! Well, actually we have been here for about 3 days now, and I don't even know how to explain to you all how amazing this trip has been already!! I can't believe we are here. I could really spend the next 2 hours writing about how in awe we are of just getting to be here. I can't put it into words, as we have just been learning a whole new culture, seeing a whole new (absolutely beautiful) country, and already making great friends. I will breeze through the first few days here and get to tonight, as we finally got to lead worship! So the flights. Wow. We flew from Arkansas to Atlanta, Atlanta to Frankfurt (where we had an 8 hour layover) free vacation! Frankfurt to Africa. Total time in the air, about 20 hours. Both the flight to Frankfurt and the flight to Africa were through the night, so we had 2 nights of sleeping on airplanes! Needless to say we were pretty tired when we got here. We got in at 5:30 in the morning, and by the time we got to where we are staying it was about 8:00. We were all ready for bed, but fought through and stayed awake so we could get on the right time schedule. I don't think anybody on this team has ever gone to bed as early as we did that night. I stayed up later than everyone, and I was asleep by 7 pm. So day 1 here is still a little bit of a blur. lol. So day 2 was just a lot of learning, seeing, meeting about the youth camp, rehearsing, meeting new people, etc... Learning the culture has been a blast. And again, we all were in bed pretty quick again that night. So now for today! Rehearsed again, a lot, and actually, finally got to lead worship in Africa! And all I can say is wow!! It was a very special night. The students, adults, everyone, walked into the room passionate, loud, and ready to go after God in worship! I have rarely played in a place that started out with this much energy and excitement. It was unbelievable! I think the worshipers blessed us more than we blessed them. So, here was our set list for our first worship service ever, in another country.

Let God Arise

Take It All

On Our Side

Mighty To Save

Jesus Messiah

Your Name High

God Is Bigger

From The Inside Out

How He Loves

Our God

Healer

Pics to come!!!

windhoek, namibia, africa in 3 days!

it's true, we leave on monday for namibia! we all are so excited for the trip and can not wait to see what God has in store for us while we are there! we have just recieved our schedule/itinerary for while we will be there and it looks like we will be busy doing something everyday... with about 3 or 4 days off to explore the city! while we are there we hope to update the blog (almost) every night with pictures and stories from the days events. we also hope to get posted either on the website or this blog some pdf. files of our itinerary that you can download. that way you will know specific things that we will be doing that day that you can pray for!

thank you everyone that has supported this trip either finiacially or prayerfully! we all are so grateful for this opportunity to go to africa and spread the love of Jesus!

ruthie allen

Africa support update #5 (late!)

Hey guys, I know it's really late, and this is more like the update for April than March at this point, but I wanted to send a really quick update and let you guys know that it has been a busy but amazing 2 months of being on the road. God never ceases to amaze and keep us in awe. I want to let you guys know how fund-raising has gone to this point. The last time I updated, which was the beginning of February, we were at $5,649 and I am absolutely amazed to be letting you all know that at this point, with about 21/2 months left to raise money, that total is now at $11,800!!! Praise God!! He is doing it! It's not always on our timing, or how quick we would like to see it happen, but He is faithful and will provide EVERYTHING you need to do what He has called you to do! Check back on the 1st of April for another update, maybe not another number, but a more detailed description of the financial situation, flights, shots, and some specific prayer needs. We are in desperate need of all of these things listed, some of them quickly. So I will do that on the 1st of April and give you guys some information on all that stuff and let you guys know where we are at and how it is going! Thanks for all the support and prayers!

Africa support update #4!!

Alright, here we are at our 4th update. Again, I am a day late. Most of you guys probably know that we are pretty behind in the fund raising process at this point, as I updated a little bit in the previous post, but I do not want to mull over that at all here. I do want to first of all give Praise to God for what He is doing and what He has done. God is good regardless of how fund raising goes. We are leaving this thing in His hands, and His hands only. That being said, we had a terribly slow month fund raising, but I do want to thank Shiloh Christian School here in Springdale, because we would have gotten no money toward Africa this month if it wasn't for them!! So thank you all who were a part of the Shiloh chapel service that gave. You raised $200 to help support our trip! Which brings our total raised to $5,649. Thank you all who are praying and supporting and getting the word out! I do want to say again, that we are thankful for every one of the dollars that has been raised so far. I want to stress that God is in complete control of everything, from the galaxies to our Africa trip, and every situation in our everyday lives. He is sovereign, and He is not in Heaven right now at a loss for what to do, or worried, or wondering how to make this happen, or having to figure it out, or anything even close to that!! He is in complete control of it, which means, that $5,649 by Feb. 2 is exactly what it needs to be! And I believe that, especially since hundreds of people are soaking this trip in prayer. Thank you all again, and please, praise God today. You were created for it, and He is worthy of it. In Christ,

Chris Allen

Help Get The Word Out! (7 people in 7 days)

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing great. As you can see, the title of this post is "Help Get The Word Out," which I want to explain, then encourage you all to do. As you know, we are going in June to South Africa to tour and share Jesus. We will be over there for about a month. I know this is not new information to most of you, especially if you have been following this blog, but what I want to do here is share my heart with you all. We are way behind schedule on our fund-raising to get to Africa. As most of you read on the last update, we have raised right around $5,500, which we praise God for greatly!! Now, as awesome as that is, we were hoping to be somewhere around $20,000 at this point so we could at least go ahead and book flights. The times we are needing to travel, there and back, are peak flying times, which is making flights fill up extremely quick, and since there are only two ways to get to where we are going, everyday that we don't book is another day that the only available flights may fill up. So basically, the bottom line is that we are in need of $15,000 in the next week or two. Yes, you see that we need to get the word out!! We need to get the word out that we are going to Africa, and that we need support. So here is what I am asking everyone to do, especially if you are a follower of this blog or keep up with it. I am asking everyone, in the next 7 days, to find 7 people and do 2 things with each. 1. Tell them about our trip, this blog and either show it to them or point them to it 2. Ask them to pray about helping financially supporting our trip. Now, please hear my heart on this, I know this may put some of you in an awkward spot and it may be asking you to do something that is way outside your comfort zone. I also know that it may be weird to ask someone who doesn't know us or anything about us to help donate money for our trip to Africa. I know all of this, but am also convinced that as I pray over this post and this trip, God Is Bigger than all of our fears and concerns!!! He is bigger than awkward situations, He is bigger than name recognition, or anything else!! And I fully believe we will see Him do some great things! So again, 7 people in 7 days, 2 things each. It's one person a day for one week. It won't be that bad, and if you are an overachiever go ahead with as many as you want! God can do this, but I fully believe that so often, He sets it up to where the church is taking care of and providing for the church, and His provision comes from His people. And please remember, it is for His kingdom. It is not because we want to take a trip to Africa, we are going to shine the glory of God in that place and share Jesus! So here we go, let's see what He does! I will update everyone again this time next week!

If you want to send a check, please make it payable to Chris Allen Band and mail it to
1107 Wilma Lois
Pasadena, TX 77502

Africa Support Update #3!!

Alright everyone, I will make this a short update. I am a day behind, so I apologize. It has been a crazy crazy, but great, Holiday season. I love Christmas, (but that is a whole separate blog, so I won't go there right now). So, for the update. I am really excited to announce that we are starting this new year with $5,449 in our Africa fund! Again, praise God!! Every dime is from Him, and is extremely important. Thank you so much to all who have given and are helping with prayer support. You are all a blessing!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy new year! See, or speak to you all, soon!

chris allen

Africa support update #2!!

Alright, here we are with our 2nd support update for the trip to South Africa. It feels like it's been forever since the last update, but it has only been a month. I want to say thank you to everyone who has joined us so far in supporting this trip either financially or through prayer. We cannot do this without you guys and you are all greatly appreciated. You are having a huge hand in Glorifying God across the globe, and that is exciting. We are thrilled to see what God is going to do in the next 2 months. It is true, we are not going to Africa until June. So why the focus on the next 2 months? Well, most of our support to this point has been through donations from churches that we have played at. Well, during this holiday month, and the month of January, we will not be on the road at all. We are taking a break for the holidays, and then in January we are moving to Springdale, AR (Which will be talked about more in a later blog). So when I say that we are excited to see what God will do in the next 2 months, I mean that we are still trusting that support is going to come. From where you ask? Well, God knows. I want to say, on this update, that as much as I wish we could personally ask for support from all of you, we just can't. So who knows, maybe it will be through people reading this blog, or seeing the facebook page, or by friends who know us. There are thousands of ways God can provide, the exciting part is going to be watching how He does it. I'm sure He is going to blow our minds yet again, the way only He can. So, finally, the update!! As of right now, Tuesday, Dec. 1st 2009, we are excited to have $4,900 in the Africa account! Praise God! So again, to do the breakdown for you, that means we have $35,100 to go, which is awesome. Thank you again to everyone who has donated in the last month!! See you guys later.


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