On The Road Again....

So we begin, Winter Tour 2007. Where DO we begin…Maybe I’ll back track a bit. We just finished up partnership drive, a great time of year for everyone at the ministry. Our team had a good growing experience through the partnership drive. Calling people you have never met or talked with to ask for a partnership (i.e. continued support) is a difficult task. We learned that we need to step outside of boundaries, get out there and just do it! I particularly enjoyed the experience, it really stretched me, and gave me a chance to talk and connect with some really neat people. We wrapped that up on Thursday…Friday, we had a prep day for tour. We took care of last minute things that needed attention and cleaned up the ministry (the norm before heading away for a while).

Saturday Morning (01.20.2007)…4:15 am, my alarm goes off [insert groan here]…paralyzed by my impulse to stay in bed because it is way to early to be moving, I struggle to shut my alarm off…4:17am, my alarm goes off again [insert longer groan here]…I grasp for air as I jolt with the pounding of my incessant alarm, shutting it off again…4:18, once again…I begin to remember I set my alarm to snooze about 30 times so I would wake up…why……

I left my hosts about 4:45 to make a quick stop at Super America before I pick up the troops…MUST HAVE CAFFEINE!!!! After quickly picking up the girls we make our way to the ministry, quickly pack the luggage and pull out around 6:15…[still thinking too early]…after 2 hours to Carver, MN, everyone wakes up as we stop for breakfast at the funny farm (My Parents). We have a wonderful breakfast, and the question comes up to snowmobile…Can we please? The snow is so nice and its beautiful out and…ok, well take the sled out for a bit…everyone got their chance to ride and we gave Carolyn a nice white-wash (since in the states, she had been curious about what it was…)

After Many hours in the van, we make our way to Farmersburg, Iowa, which is where we are residing until Friday Morning (01.26.2007). We have met a lot of neat people so far and are truly blessed by the churches here, especially Pastor Bruce Hanson. He is doing so much for us. We have played two public schools so far here and they have both been exhilarating!!! We are having a blast and everyone is really excited for all that is to come...

Until next time…this is Adam (take me to your leader) Falkenstein…signing out...._____

yeah, winter tour!

Winter Tour has been off to a great start, thanks to the amazing people here in Iowa! That's right, we've spent the last few days going to some places near Farmersburg (for those who know where that is) and we have been so blessed by the people here. Talk about hospitality! Thanks, Pastor Bruce and all those who are here taking such good care of us.

On a more personal note, I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for me and my team this tour. I have definitely had my personal triumphs and defeats, but more than anything I am ever dependent on my ever present Jesus. Taiwan began a process in me that I am excited to see the Lord continue. One of the biggest lessons I started to learn (and I emphasize started to learn) was about letting the Lord be my everything. Overseas, in particular, holds a challenge in that I can't just jump on the cell phone or into my car to go see or talk to anyone I want. I have my team, which is a blessing, but what happens when they aren't able to meet my needs? I have always believed that the Lord is enough, but never in my life has that been so challenged as it has been since my start with CTI. The Lord is the only one who can love me the way I need to be loved ALL the time, and I desire for the Lord to be my everything. So, as this tour progresses, I look forward to the many challenges ahead in this area and others, though of course I won't be excited about the trials at the time, I know I will be thankful for them later.

So, that's it for now. I hope this finds all of you well. Keep checking back for more updates from all of us more regularly, as we have access (which in some places I'm sure might be a challenge, but we'll do our best!).

Blessings,
Tiffany

And we're off again....

Hi there families, friends, supporters, and others interested in how CTI 14:22 is going!

We are doing well. As Tiffany mentioned in her post, we are just finishing off our 3 week stint of Partnership Drive. On alternating nights, we and team 21 hit the phones between 6 and 11pm (to catch people in all 4 time zones). We had over 1200 numbers (I think!) to ring and had a goal to raise $20,000 for CTI. We have our last shift tonight and have just a few more numbers left. People have been giving very generously and so far we have received around $16,000.....some of that in real money, most of it in pledges. And quite a number of people have said they want to give, but are praying about how much, so we're expecting more to come in the next few weeks as people decide and send in donations.

Praise the Lord! He is providing. We're expecting to have a large amount of Summer team members this year - hopefully 6-8 teams (60-90 people), so every bit counts! Thank you so much to those who have supported CTI this Partnership Drive and also in the past. As a current full-timer, I can see it making a difference.

And let's not forget the prayer support, which is just as important! Bright and early (actually, it will still be dark at 6am....) on Saturday morning, we leave for our Winter Tour. It will be a whopping 10 weeks of driving, playing concerts, connecting with people, and sharing Christ's love. I'm sure you can imagine all the things we'll need prayer for!

*safe travel
*healthy bodies and adequate sleep
*servant hearts towards those we minister to out on the road and also towards each other
*team unity as we continue to bond as team mates and family
*enthusiasm/strength/encouragement/refreshing for the times when we're drained and need to refocus on what God has called us to

Thanks and God bless. I hope we will be more diligent to keep in touch with you all via this blogsite this tour, so keep checking back each week!
Carolyn

life in Willmar

We have been back in Willmar, as Josiah wrote before, for a week now and we're having a great time. Partnership drive is here and we're having a blast connecting with lots of our supporters, and we're getting some rehearsal time in and getting reaquainted for the new year. I must say, I did enjoying seeing people back home and getting a chance to actually sleep, but it is also good to be back with my CTI family, to be back in the swing of things here and getting geared up for winter tour. I'm excited for all the Lord has in store for the next step of our journey.

So, not too much new here for now just wanted to touch base. I hope you have all recovered from the New Year celebrations, it was more than a week ago afterall... ;-) More to come soon!

Blessings,
Tiffany

Willmar Once Again

Back in Minnesota again. Just got back from Urban 06. Urbana is a HUGE missions confrence with a bunch of speakers and different ministries represented at hundreds of boths in a huge confrence center. There were about 22,000 people who attended! David Lanning(CTI president), Melody and Beth(recruiting department), Jimmy (CTI Alumni), Ruthie(from the other fulltime team), and Carolyn and I went to represent CTI. We had a both set up and recruited people for at least 6 hours straight every day! It was crazy! There were so many people there. We also had an audition room set up. The first day I recruited all day, which was hard cuz I am so not used to talking that much. But it was quite enjoyable getting to chat with so many different people. The next two days I switched off half way through the day in the audition room, and the last day I spent the whole day in there. That day Carolyn and I auditioned 49 People! And David Lanning auditioned another 16! All the days combined we auditioned I think 120 people. (my number may be slightly off) We also got 400 some short applications from people interested in our ministry! So praise the Lord! We are hoping to send out 6 to 8 summer teams this year. please pray that we would be able to utilize the opporitunity we have here, and that the right people would join us.

This is me and Luke(CTI Alumni) talking to someone at the recruiting booth

This is one of the sessions in the Edward Jones Dome. I think Rick Warren was speaking this night

shout outs and overviews

For those who haven't heard, we have arrived safely back in the States! After many, many hours of travel and a day that never ended (we did gain back 14 hours afterall), we arrived safely back to greet the staff and our counterparts who'd gotten back from Bolivia. It was a bittersweet occasion to say the least. We are glad to be back, but we will for sure miss Taiwan too.

Much has happened in the month we've been gone. I know the Lord has continually stretched me, and I'm sure the rest of my team, out of our comfort zones and blessed us tremendously in the process. Sandra, our translator, was one of the most amazing gifts to all of us by far! We are priviledged to have gotten to spend a month with her and are going to miss her very much. I also wanted to give a shout out to all the other YWAMers we came in contact with. Thank you for your passion for the Lord. Your desires to serve Him are truly inspiring and we can't thank you enough for all that you are doing there and all that you did to bless us as a team. And to those who came out to see us at our concerts in Taiwan, thanks for being such great audiences! We had a blast and pray for you all.

On average we did 2 concerts a day, though we were spoiled and had a few days off to go shopping, do laundry, go to Taipei 101, whatever we wanted. We played in universities, prisons, school, parks, churches, just about anywhere that would let us in, or out as the case may be (we played many outdoor concerts). Overall, it was an amazing experience that can't quite be captured on paper. Nonetheless, there will be many stories to come. So, keep checking back for more. For now, though, thanks for the continued support. We greatly appreciated your prayers as we were overseas (even though we weren't able to communicate directly here) and now while we're back in the States. You guys have been wonderful! I hope this holiday season is treating you well!

More from Taiwan

Here's another post via e-mail from Tiffany:

So, we have less than a week left here in Taiwan and I can't begin to tell y'all how amazing it has been. Oh the stories we will have to share once we can access this site agai But for now, I wanted to share with you something I was challenged with earlier today.

I've been reading through David Crowder's Praise Habit. I thought it would be appropriate and I've heard it's a good book, so I brought it along. Let me tell you, a-mazing! It's been very challenging and encouraging for me to go along with my devos. Being a worship leader himself (in Texas, but also ever heard of the David Crowder Band?), it's been great to have some insight related to praise in this time when we're doing music often (that is our foot in the door for ministry, right?). Moving along, in this chapter he's been talking about Psalm 50--go check it out for context, and here's part of what I read:

"He states that He doesn't find fault with Israel's blood sacrifices. But then He begins to question. He asks why He should want them? Did He not creat the bull and goat? Do we think he is hungry and in need of them to feast on... Then after this rhetorical line of questioning, He makes what I think could be a defining statement for our understanding of praise. The sacrifice God is looking for. . . praise.

What?... Let's try to reframe GOD's address and perhaps make it cut a little more for our moment.

'I don't find fault with your singing of songs. But do you think I'm in great need of music? Do you think it is too quiet where I am? Did I not make the air molecules to vibrate and dance in such a way to let melody float from here to there? Do you think I am in great need of hearing these songs that were my breathings in the first place?' "

Ouch. Now, don't get me wrong, God's rebukes are definitely loving. It's things I believe wholeheartedly but then lose sight of in the midst of travelling from here to there and doing two to four shows a day (in Taiwan two to three). I want so badly to sound great for the Lord, and then I lose sight at times of what or Who I'm doing this for in the first place. I've been challenged lately that while I want to sing well for the Lord, that's not what's most important. Sharing the love of Jesus is what counts, loving on people is first priority, and if I'm so wrapped up in the music and how much I want to praise God just through that, then I'm really missing the point of why I'm here. Our ministry is more than music, and if my heart's desire is to truly live in such a way where praise is my habit, then I need to get beyond the music and learn to praise Him in the midst of every day life. Singing does not equal praise, and while I've known that somewhere in my mind, it's a great reminder especially for this season in my life.

Anyway, that's all I've got for you for now. I hope all of you are well! We'll be state-side again soon, so keep those prayers coming and keep checking back for updates. -Tiffany

Brief update from Taiwan

Tiffany sent this along for me to post:

Greetings one and all! We have not intentionally neglected any of you, our faithful readers. However, we do not have access to this website, thus we have been remiss.

Our time in Taiwan has been good thus far, we have had no casualties and few illnesses to speak of, so that's a praise! We are halfway through our trip and wishing we could have shared more with you up to this point, but there will be many stories to come! So, you'll just have to wait in hopeful anticipation till then. For now, we appreciate your prayers and support. Stay tuned for stories, more pictures and all kinds of goodies from our trip. Thanks for your patience and sorry about the technical difficulties.

-Tiffany on behalf of 14:22

Safe arrival...

An e-mail from our contact in Taiwan, received this morning, lets us know that the team has made it safely (albeit tired!) to Taipei!

Keep looking here for updates, either from the team or from us here in the office.

Hello Taiwan!

It's come up quick, but we are back in Willmar and preparing to head off overseas for a month. It has been a whirlwind so far and we are excited about all the Lord has in store for our international tour! Just wanted to touch base before we headed out and say thanks for the prayers. Keep them coming!

Yeah, Nyssa!

We are currently in Idaho, having a wonderful time. We've been here for four days now (well, four nights at least, so technically today would be day five) and we're having a fabulous time. Our hosts are taking wonderful care of us!

I just wanted to give a shout out to The Lighthouse in Nyssa, OR. What a wonderful church family! We were all blessed to meet and spend time with the people there. Our team was given the opportunity to take over service and lead worship, do one of our dramas and give two testimonies. Each person in the congregation was an absolutely joy and blessed us tremendously. Thanks, Lighthouse, for everything! It has been a pleasure.

Comments

I'm not sure why, but all of a sudden I had 26 comments to moderate- some a week or more old. So there are some new comments on some old posts for everyone's reading pleasure.

Hello world

It was brought to my attention last night that in our busyness, we have neglected to mention on here where we are going internationally. So, without further delay, the winner is.... *drum roll please* TAIWAN. Our team will be leaving in less than a month for one month's time to work with a YWAM base there. VERY exciting. Be sure to stay tuned!

Closing of the Prison Tour

Well yesterday we had our last concert with Prisoners for Christ. For the last two weeks we have been traveling around the Seattle area to a bunch of different detention centers, rehabilitation centers, and prisons; doing between 1 and 4 concerts a day! Prisons have become one of my favorite places to play. We have had our most lively interactive crowds at prisons, and our most "singing to a brick wall like" crowds. Either way it has been a really good excperience just knowing that most of the people in the room aren't Christians, and you know that the've had some not so good things going on in there lives. Going into these places we were able to be one of the few outside influences on the prisoners. Through the many prisons I've been in and out of in the last couple weeks, we have seen God doing work through us. We've seen people laugh, sing along, cry on several occasions, and have had people ask us some good questions.

-We played in a juvenile maximum security cottage one day, and afterwards they let us spend time with the kids. I got to talk with quite a few of the guys, and one of the girls there actually asked us to pray for her, so the girls on my team got to pray with her.-Another day we went to a rehab center (where the prisoners go shortly before they are released back into society.) We just brought acoustic guitars in and sang some songs with them, including a few songs by request. The people in charge there had us stay an hour past when we were supposed to leave, just because the guys there talked and interacted with us so much. Which appatently they have a hard time getting them to interact with anyone.

-Then just last night we played at another juvenile center. I actually have family in the Seattle area (the Taylors) and they met up with me and I took them to prison! Aren't I a nice guy. Yeah we were able to get two more passes for them and they came in and watched the concert. The concert went very well. Most of the kids were pretty receptive to it. After the concert we were allowed to shake the kids hands. One of them asked us were to find the story of peter denying the Lord three times. Another kid asked my to write a note in his Bible for him. That was pretty cool, I just wrote a note encouraging him to keep following after the Lord. Also after the concert the Chaplain informed us that the Lord had really touched one of the counselors who was in the room that night, through our service. He said the music, the drama, and just the way we interacted really made an impact on this counseler. Apparently the guy had kinda been on the edge, really struggling with his faith, and the Chaplian said he thinks our ministry may have saved a marriage that night. It's always neat to see the direct results of the Lord using us.

Signing off

Time for another blog :-)

Well hello and g'day everyone. I thought it was about time I did another blog so here goes......

We've been kept very busy the past week and a half. Leslie, our Prisoners for Christ contact, has been taking us to all these prisons and detention centers around the Seattle area. We've been doing 2, 3, sometimes 4 concerts a day, and traveling lots in our big green van. Most nights we haven't gotten home until 11, 12 and even 1am sometimes. So I think it's fair to say we're all pretty exhausted right now! We'd really appreciate your prayers for energy, enthusiasm and also health. A few of us have been fighting the deadly cold/flu thingy that loves small, close groups of people.

The prisons and detention centers have been an eye-opening experience for me. I had no idea what they were like, but now I'm getting used to all the security and seeing the inmates in rubber flip-flops and orange overalls. Do Americans call them overalls? Just wondering. Those all in one suit thingys where the pants are joined to the top. Anyway, they're not very flattering. It's hard to imagine sometimes these people are actually criminals. When you get the opportunity to talk to them, most of them seem pretty ordinary type people. It's kinda weird knowing you're being watched by security cameras all the time. We walk through corridors and have to wait for every door to be opened. By the time we get to the door, it unlocks by itself because the security people can see you're there waiting to get through. I'm glad they let us through! Prisons are not very inviting.....just in case you were wondering! Lots of cement.

Well well, enough reflections on prison life. Time for some well earned rest I think.

Goodnight.

Mosaic Ohana!

We seem to be lacking in our blogging abilities lately, so thought I'd step up to the plate and take a shot at it, yet again. We're still in the Seattle area, been keeping super busy with Prisoners For Christ (thanks, Leslie, for hooking us up ALL over the state), which has been amazing. It's different absolutely everywhere we go, but it's been a blast. We've also done a couple school chapels (what's up, NSCS and SCS?!). That's been a blast. My father had us over one night for two fabulous meals, we've also gotten to lead worship at a church in the area. Needless to say, it's been busy but wonderful.

On a more personal note, I also have gotten to see my family, which is always important, this being my hometown and all. We just spent the evening with my small group, or at least most of the team did anyway. What a blessing! The welcomed all of us with open arms, as is the New Hope way, and blessed each of us tremendously. Thanks for being so wonderful, friends! It was wonderful to see you once more.

Shocking Illustration

This is us learning how to play the best game ever invented..

This is us about six hours later, discovering the full potential of this amazing device!

Simply shocking

So I'm out spending a week on the road with the team in splendid Seattle...

After spending the morning with the awesome kids and staff of North Sound Christian School (congratulations to all of you who sold lots of magazines & stuff...) we spent the day hanging out with Tiffany's dad, who cooked us up two amazing meals.

But it was the time between the meals that will be remembered, for during that time, we were introduced to what we can only describe as the "shock game." Forget the hot tub, puzzles, various wooden parlor games, Jenga made from 2X4's and pick-up-sticks on the scale of lawn darts... this one had us all captivated.

It goes down like this: up to four people grab one of the game's removeable metal handles with a button on top. A red light in the middle of the game flashes while a nerve-wracking and altogether musically non-pleasing theme song blares on for a random amount of time. The light eventually turns green and the music stops... at which point you are supposed to press the button on top of your handle. If you're the last one to buzz in, (or if you jump the gun) this thing shocks the eyeballs right out of your head.

It's got two intensity levels, and an "extreme" setting where EVERYONE gets lit up when the light turns green except the first person to press their button.

We played this game for hours. I don't know why.

Christian and Josiah definately pushed the envelope with some of their more "creative" handle-holding techniques. I suspect some video footage might be posted here eventually.

These boys aint right...

yeah, Pacific timezone!

So, we're not exactly in my hometown yet, but we have officially changed timezones and are now in my home state. Needless to say, I'm really excited! In less than week I'll be home and introducing my wonderful team to many of my friends and family.

In the meantime, here we are on the eastern side of Washington, meeting more wonderful people. We did back to back concerts tonight and had a crazy (in a good way) responsive audience. It was definitely exillerating. It's been neat seeing our team grow more and more in the weeks we've been together, through work and through play. We're learning more and more about each other and I have definitely been challenged in my relationship with the Lord. He is growing all of us individually and together. Words can't begin to desribe all the Lord has done and is doing, but I'm so thankful and blessed to be part of this ministry for this year.

Finally, Internet access!

Finally, I'm able to get online to do a blog! I've been without internet access for a week which is why I haven't blogged for ages :-)

Well we've been having a great time on tour so far. I'm loving the long drives in the van - especially really early in the morning....I got some great piccies on Adam's camera this morning of the sunrise. I'm also loving meeting all our amazing host families! You guys who have housed us and welcomed us into your homes have been such a blessing! This ministry would not happen without your generous hospitality, so thankyouthankyouthankyou!

I've particularly enjoyed the highschool chapel services we've done. You highschoolers really get into it and your energy spurs us on! Looking forward to many to come :-)

bye for now,
Carolyn