Thursday: Team XTreme

Thursday morning brought Andrew back to K-Rock Centre first thing in the morning, and found me visiting with Julia and her girls. We had breakfast together, and had many interesting and fun conversations... turns out we had a lot in common in our up-bringings, and what God had accomplished in our lives. Andrew came later to pick us up for lunch.

Team XTreme was prepping to do their performance this night, and it wasn't hard to pick out who they were : ) These are the "muscle men" that break a tower of bricks with their elbows and bend iron bars with their teeth and hands... and for all their hugeness, they have hearts of gold. One of the members, I found out, was always known as the "short chubby kid," and never knew he could build massive muscles, until he and his wife adopted one of their foster children who was physically and mentally handicapped, restrained to a wheelchair. He started lifting weights, trying to strengthen his back so he could lift her. He discovered his hidden talent, and Team XTreme, and it was a perfect fit. His whole family tours with him! Another member became a Believer on the New Zealand Tour that Andrew had done 4 years ago! Apparently this guy was just passing by when he saw the show and stopped by out of curiosity. He ended up giving his life to Jesus, and started touring with them immediately after!

I took the children to the stadium, where we spent the rest of the evening. Judith and her boys, Donna Ross, and my little crew made for good company. I was feeling a little disappointed with not being able to go downstairs and do some "hands on" work. Donna seemed to sense that, and she spoke to me of how she had felt that way. She said she had come to realize that her being everyone's cheerleader was a very important task, and really did mean a lot. She said that there would be times where John would be so tired and working hard, frustrated with something that had popped up, and all he had to do was look up, see her smiling down at him, and he was suddenly re-inspired and refreshed.

Andrew and Marcail at Front of House, just before Show Time!

Marcail looking down from our suite. She has on an adorable little harness. I know some people don't like the idea of a "leash," but I do : ) especially in such a crowd! It worked out SO well!


Here is Donna (holding Marcail) and Judith (holding her son David)

Finally the show started at 7 pm! It was a fun show for sure, and I was even more amazed by the simplicity of the testimonies that were interspersed throughout their "feats of strength." Their message was very simple: "This is where I came from before I knew Jesus, I came to know Him and found purpose and meaning for my life, and He wants you to know Him, too." Some of the men had stories of having a hellish life before knowing Him, and others were brought up in Christian families and loved the Lord all of their lives. It is incredible to see how He has united us all in His Body, regardless of where we have come from!

When the alter call was given, swarms of people came down from their seats. Seeing people give their lives to Jesus made my heart swell, and I felt so honored to be a part of this. The stats are that about 3,300 people heard the gospel that night, and 347 people filled out information cards for follow-up and discipleship.



The show was incredible, but I wasn't able to capture any of the REALLY cool stuff; I was always a couple seconds too late or too early : ( Sorry!