He’s talking to his friend Gerard from the Philippines in the Johannesburg airport.

Here are a few shots from outside my front door this morning. It is winter here and it has been cold, overcast and raining for the last few days. It was nice to wake up and see sunshine this morning.

The last picture is the guest house we are staying at.

We started the MILLION LEADERS MANDATE CONFERENCE today and had a great time. God really moved and used us to speak into the lives of these leaders. It’s so amazing to be a part of this bigger, global story of God. Every time I am out of the country I’m challenged by the things God is doing and saying to His people.

This morning, I spoke to them about the foundation of leadership. WHO you are is more important than WHAT you do. The tendency in ministry can be to begin to operate from a place of performance or ambition or competence. We must always be careful to keep our foundation built upon relationship, service or worship. It’s easy to find a few gifts or talents that work for us and then we live off those. We do ministry in our own strength. In the end we’re really not living our lives out of worship for Him.

On a side note, I got to go for a nice, long, relaxing run yesterday (about 6 miles) through the Durbanville Vineyards. Running is just as much preparation for me as anything. It helps me settle down and clear my head. Then Mario and I spent the afternoon at the church setting up for the conference.

I have not slept in 2 nights…. that’s frustrating…. especially at 3 am. Yesterday I caught up with some naps through out the day, but today, I had to be up at 5 am and had no breaks. Hopefully I’ll be so tired tonight, I will crash.

On even more of a side note, the new Hillsongs United cd has an incredible song on it called “From The Inside Out.” They are playing it constantly down here. It could be one of the best worship songs I’ve heard in the last few years.

Here’s a shot of the church that is hosting the conference and one of me teaching this morning.

Christo is our EQUIP contact here in Cape Town. He has 5 kids. 3 of them went with us to the coast yesterday. The fist picture is them building a sand castle with Mario. The close up is Joshua.

I had a good first day here in Cape Town. Mario and I attend Urban Edge Church in the morning. I made a few observations about church:

1. Australia is teaching the world to worship. They did a bunch of Hillsongs music.

2. The church had a young feel with a lot of young adults. I think this is a trend we are seeing more and more of in the global church.

3. Generally, churches just aren’t very friendly. We had one person say hi to us. Even after they introduced us from the stage, nobody talked to us.

We spent the afternoon down at the coast. The mountain you see in the background is Table Mountain and just beyond that is the Cape of Good Hope, the southernest most point in Cape Town, but not Africa.

Mario and I are chillin’ at the Columbus airport waiting for our first flight to Detroit. He discovered the wireless internet signal and is trying to use Skype to call people. It’s something to watch him speak Spanish very loudly into his laptop. It’s something else to watch all the people watching him speak Spanish very loudly into his laptop.

The good news: I had an overweight bag that I got checked without putting it on the scales. The lady picked it up and said, “Oh yeah… you’re good.” The bag weighed 63 lbs when I left the house this morning. Score.

Time has been short the past few days. Preparing for 2 sessions and getting everything packed plus trying to spend time with my family has taken more hours than I had.

Here’s a list of books I’m bringing with me on this trip. We’ll see how many I get through.

I am finishing:

On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins.

Thinking Like a Director by Michael Bloom

I also brought with me:

Chazown by Craig Groeschel

Winning by Jack Welch

Come Thirsty by Max Lucado

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

It Came From Within by Andy Stanley

And of course the Eyewitness Guide to South Africa.

I leave in less than 48 hours for Capetown, South Africa. This trip had a recent new development as a result of last weeks events: Bennett is not going with me. His number one priority is to be home with his son and family right now. So… he asked me to teach his lessons. I’ve got a lot of prep to do, a lot of packing, a lot of shopping, a lot of thinking.

I’ll give you my book list later today or tomorrow.

The movie Hotel Rwanda opened a lot our eyes to the intense tradegy of genocide.  It moved me in a way to want to make a difference.  To help make sure that never happens again.

But it does… and I don’t want to hear about it after the fact in a well-produced movie.

The Darfur region of the Sudan has been under watch for 3 years now.  Since 2003, 400,000 people have died, 2.5 million have been displaced and 3.5 million are at risk for starvation.

Every month, as political efforts stall, 15,000 more die.  UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Darfur, “little short of hell on earth.”

Here’s how you can help:

Some good friends of mine, Gary and Kari Sammons help put some of these resources together.  Here is a letter to the President.  All you have to do is put your name in it. Here’s a letter to your Congressman.  You can get their name and address here.  This simple stuff makes a big difference.
You can also download some pre-made postcards from Million Voices For Darfur.

You can also educate yourself.  There are lots of resources and links.  Here are a few:

Save Darfur and Darfur Genocide are two of the leading sites.

You’ll find a ton of articles at Genocide Intervention.

Also Human Rights Watch.

I am headed to Amsterdam today at 6.30 pm. I arrive about 8 am tomorrow morning. And from there I head to Joburg.

I have to check out of my hotel soon, so I’ll probably go hang out at Starbucks. I may go and try to buy a pair of tennis shoes.

Thanks for the nice comments about the pictures. My wife IS beautiful.

You’ll hear from me later.

I leave tomorrow for Catalyst and I will be in Atlanta until Saturday.

I leave Saturday evening from Atlanta to meet up with our Lead Pastor in South Africa.

He is doing some leadership training with EQUIP (John Maxwell’s Non-profit).

I will be flying there and back by myself.

10 hours from Atlanta to Amsterdam.
10 hours from Amsterdam to Johannesburg.

12 hours from Johannesburg to London.
8 hours from London to Detroit.

I am taking 5 books, 2 iPods, 1 Shuffle, my laptop and I’m thinking about buying an extra battery for it.

I have a long layover in London so I may get out of the airport and take some pictures.

I’m disappointed that I don’t have a layover in Amsterdam. I would love to go get coffee at a local cafe. Marijuana is legal there, so I heard you have to be careful what you ask for. That would be cool.