American Samoa - Day 1

Friday 6/25/2010
9:32 p.m. ISLAND
3:32 a.m. CST

IT HAS BEEN A LONG BUT AWESOME DAY!

It is amazing how I feel right now. Full of about every good emotion you can have. My first day with the people here has been great. My first day really started last night, but I knew then I was were GOD wanted me to be as soon as we were through customs and outside of the airport. I was standing there when a group of high school age kids walked by, and said, "Hey Coach." This caught me off guard and amazed me all at the same time. These kids have never seen me, but yet they knew who I was because they knew what group of people I was with. Better yet, you could hear the excitment in their voice because we were here. Needless to say, I was completely surprised, and didn't get much sleep last night because I kept thinking about that encounter.

1ST DAY OF CAMP
To be honest I was a little nervous, but was soon calmed by the voices of the kids. Before we got started all of the kids sang a 'vesper,' which is a praise song. I thought this was cool to see the unity between teams, and it sounded really good. These kids have amazing voices, and sounded amazing.

Practice went well. I know that GOD showed me a lot about the type of people I was working with today. While working with my group, I could see how passionate, and respectful they are. I just thought it was cool, because I don't think we see much of these two traits practiced at the same time in our culture.

HUDDLE GROUP
During this time, I really took most of the time giving a testamony. Mainly to let the students know about me, and explain to them what GOD has/is doing in my life. I probably rambled a little, but had tons and tons of emotions going through me at the time.

THE REST OF THE DAY. . .
after both camps was great, and also a good time to rest from the previous day's flight.

Tonight we had dinner that was provided by a local church. It was neat, because their is another group of people here doing disaster relief at the same time. It was good to share that time with the others that were here, especially since they were also from Tennessee. Dinner was great, but the best event happened was right before we had the blessing. The pastor from the church led us in a hymn of 'Because He Lives'. I have heard/sang this hymn many times, but this time it was different. It is hard to explain, but I just knew that moment in time was something special. While singing, I got goosebumps like never before. I felt this experience was another example to me to assure me that I was in the right place.

Day one has been great. We have the next two days off from football, I can't wait to see what will happen next. I pray that GOD continues to bless me and our group with new and exciting experiences throughout the week

Goodnight and GOD BLESS!!