Fun in Colorado

Last night was the kick-off for the big conference. We had a short meeting and then a "county fair" for everyone. It was so much fun with the kids. Here are a couple of videos that we took at the carnival. Here is one of Zach and Isabella enjoying the pony ride.

Here is Zach and Isabella at the petting zoo:

Greetings from Colorado

Hello all. We are in Colorado now at our staff conference. Things have been going well after our 12 1/2 hour drive to Kansas last Saturday, we spent the night with my grandmother. My dad was there too, which was great to see him. We then went 6 and a half hours more on to Fort Collins the next day. We've been staying in a hotel the last 3 nights. Tomorrow we'll move to an apartment and be there until the 26th when the conference is over.

Last night they showed the CM2007 video we made about the conference. I wanted to let everyone see it as well. You can click on the video below to load it up.

DMZ Visit

On our day in Seoul we decided to take the DMZ tour. I knew about the Korean war of course, and about the problems with North Korea now, but I didn't know many of the details. Our trip was very educational and pretty amazing. We started out at 7:20AM when we were picked up at our hotel. We drove out to the DMZ zone which is only about 45 min from Seoul.


Here you can see the green zone is the DMZ, and the lower white dot is Seoul.
We went first to a station where we had to transfer in to a bigger tour bus. We didn't actually go in to the DMZ, but in to the citizen control line area that is just before the DMZ. There have been no humans in the actual DMZ for over 50 years. They say it is now the only place where the wildlife is untouched.

Before we left on the tour bus, we looked around the station. There were several monuments there and the one and only rail bridge between the north and south Koreas.

They have had one train cross between the two koreas, but hope to make agreements to allow the trains to run through the north and on to the China and Russian rail lines. We toured a rail station that is big enough to handle large numbers of people, but currently not in use at all. There is a real hope for reunification in the south and they are building the infrastructure to make it possible.

Here Liza and I are standing on the "Freedom Bridge" which is the bridge that thousands of POWs crossed at the stop of the Korean war. It is now walled off and there are banners and notes across the wall.

Next we went in to the military controlled area and went to tour the 3rd infiltration tunnel. This was a part of history I didn't know anything about. This tunnel was discovered in 1978 and was being dug by the North to prepare to invade the South. They had dug all the way under the DMZ and were close to getting beyond it. It was designed to move a division an hour in to the south.



We rode this little train down in to the tunnel. It was 300 meters down through such a small opening that I had to duck my head. It made me a little ill. When we got to the bottom, we walked back inside the tunnel all the way to the wall that the South built to close off the tunnel. It is now watched 24/7 by cameras to guard against invasion. When we were at that point we were actually about 75 meters directly below the DMZ


We couldn't take pictures inside the tunnel, but found these on the internet. You can see how low the ceiling was. I had to duck to walk down it. It was really pretty claustrophobic and I was glad to get out again.

Here are Liza and I in front of a unification monument. Even in the face of aggressive acts like building invasion tunnels, the south is still hopeful for lasting peace and eventual reunification.



Finally we went to the observation post where we could look across the DMZ in to North Korea. You can see it here, though it was pretty hazy. We had a great time and learned a lot on the tour. I'm really glad that we go to go!

Divine appointment

On the last night of the CM2007 conference, I went looking for our normally reserved "press" seats near the front of the room. When I got up there, someone had removed the reserved signs. However, there was an Indian man on the end of the row and he had two seats next to him that he offered to Liza and I. As the evening was progressing, I started thinking about the Indian staff couple that Liza and I have supported for the last 10 years (I joined their team in 1997 before Liza and I were married.) I asked the man if he knew Manbahal and Elizabeth Horo, and he said, "Yes! They are here!" I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen him in 10 years, and I had never met his wife. I met him in Colorado at CSU during the 1997 Staff Conference.

I looked around at the 20,000 people in the room and thought, "how will I ever find him?" It was the last night, so I knew the chances were not good. So, I prayed and asked that the Lord would give us a chance to meet before we had to go. Honestly, I didn't really expect Him to answer, which is foolish. Liza and I went back to the hotel and met an Ethiopian staff woman on the way over. We stopped in the lobby to continue talking to her, and as we were standing there, 4 Indian women came in the door. I looked at their name tags, and one was Elizabeth Horo! I couldn't believe it. I said hello and showed her my name tag and she was very surprised. She gave me a big hug and then I introduced her to Liza. Here are some pictures of her below.


We later got to see her husband as well and they gave us a huge bag of gifts from India. They have two kids and live in Eastern India. They brought 33 students with them from their area and we got to meet several of their students before we left. They live on about $1000/month but the last I heard from them, they only had about half of that coming in. Raising support in India is not easy. If any of you would like to support them (even $5/month would be a big blessing) please let me know and I can help set it up.

Now Liza and I are in Seoul at the airport getting ready to head back to Houston. We can't wait to see our kiddos. We've had a great time, but we've missed them very much! Yesterday we went on a DMZ tour and got to see North Korea from the observation post. Once I have a chance to download pictures, I'll write more about the whole trip.


Here is a picture of Liza and I on the train to Seoul. We would appreciate your prayers for us to have safe travel home! Thanks!

Funny Cultural Stuff

There were a few funny things that we ran across while in Korea. One was the juice we received with breakfast one morning. I couldn't read any thing on the bottle, but I got a clue when I saw the little logo at the bottom left...

Note the Corn.

Have you ever had corn juice? I hadn't before this trip, but I figured I had to give it a try. It was much more watery than I expected. It basically tasted like drinking water flavored with corn chips... or maybe corn flakes. One drink was enough for me. :-)

Here was another funny thing we came across. Koreans are VERY serious about recycling. We had to separate everything every-time we would throw out our trash. McDonalds had about 6 different places to put the various parts of the meal. The problem was, it was all in Korean, so we usually just had to guess what went where. When we got to the train station, we saw this set of cans. We were a bit puzzled.

I still have no idea what they mean by "pet" that would go with cans and bottles. We checked for any discarded hamsters, kittens or puppies, but didn't find any.

It's over

Hello again. The conference is over and we took the bullet train to Seoul today. The last day was a great day. We had quite a few more interviews, went to the press conference, and interviewed some of the top leadership of our ministry.

Here is Liza with Matt and Rocky working hard. Liza has been our chief producer and interviewer for the entire week.

Here I am working one of the cameras. We were interviewing a student who came from South Africa.

Here I am when we were about to interview some Germans. After so many interviews I was starting to feel a little crazy.

The last meeting was really great. The speakers were very good and the praise time was amazing once again. At the end of the night the top winners from the talent compitition that happened at some point in the conference ( I didn't even know about it) preformed once again. Here is a video I took that shows the crowd reaction to a song being sung by two very talented Koreans. The effect of that many cell phones was actually cooler than the song being sung. :-)
Click the play button to watch the movie.

Check out the conference

Hello again from Korea!  If you'd like to see any more of the conference (I recommend George Verwer from July 3rd) you can see it by clicking here. You can watch archive videos from the last few days, or watch it live.

Today we did 15 interviews and began making big progress on actually editing together a video to show on July 15th at our national staff conference in Colorado. It has been so much fun to meet with students from every part of the world and hear their stories. Today we heard from students from South Africa, Japan, Mexico, Venezuela, Kyrgyzstan, and the USA and taped interviews with our Director of Affairs for West Africa and the Global Campus Director for CCC. It was quite a day. We also celebrated the 4th of July by going to Outback Steakhouse and singing "My country tis of thee" to our English friend, Andy Adkins. He was thrilled (and began singing "God save the Queen" which he assures us is the proper words to that tune.)

All in all, it was a good (but very rainy) day. Tomorrow is the last day of the conference. I can't believe it has gone so fast. Liza and I will go on the 6th to Seoul and stay until the 8th when we'll fly back to Houston. I'm looking forward so much to seeing Isabella and Zach! 

CM2007 video and update

Here is a little video (with not great sound) that I shot on my phone tonight during the meeting. This is really for Isabella because she loves this song. I know she'll say "Oh Oh! Chris Tomlin!" when she hears it.

Today was another great day at the conference. We filmed about 8 interviews and got a lot of video put in to the computer for editing. We also heard lots of great stories.

One of the great things, especially for those from poor cultures, about this conference is that CCC Korea raised the money for all in-country expenses. When you figure in transportation, housing, sightseeing, food and more the Koreans have worked very hard and raised a lot of money to make this conference possible. I have heard that every student and staff and many many churches worked together to raise the money. One student went on a quiz show and dedicated all of her winnings to the conference, she beat all the other participants and was able to tell what she was doing with the prize on national TV. They showed the clip last night.

Today we filmed students from about 25 countries saying "thank you" to Korea in their native language. I took it back to the room and edited it right quick so they can show tomorrow. Most of what we are doing here is long term, so doing this one little project was very satisfying.

There is a lot going on and we are trying to film it all. Keep us in your prayers as we spend time with students hearing about what God is doing in there lives. As you can imagine this many Christians in one place from all over the world is not only a logistical nightmare but there ane many security issues, please pray for all that stuff. Pray that students will learn from one another and hear from God about what he might call them to do to reach all the unreached of the world.

More from Korea

Things are going well here in Busan. This conference is amazing. Last night we had about 20,000 students in the room for the opening night of the main conference. It was really amazing.
The worship time was fantastic with students from over 127 countries. There was a Korean cultural presentation then the parade of nations. It was so cool to see all the students from all the countries.. Then when it was over, the lights came down and fireworks went off. I've never seen indoor fireworks before at a crusade event. :-)

We then heard from the founder of Korea CCC and the current national director. Then they invited Vonnett Bright up (the wife of Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade) and had 20,000 people sing happy birthday to celebrate with her. She said it was the best birthday of her life. Here are a few more pictures. At the request of Isabella, I made sure to get some pictures of me in here this time. :-)

Here I am waving a flag as a procession of flags comes the aisle. There was confetti flying all over the place and raining down on us.

Here is Liza enjoying the night.

Here is the main stage with many of the flags that were marched up from the back by region of the world.

Liza and I enjoying the night.

Here is a picture from the side of the room. You can get a bit of perspective on just how big the room is and how many people are in the room.

One of the women from Africa singing along with students from Korea and other countries.

Prayer request from CM2007

Hello again from Korea. We heard about this tonight and prayed at the conference. (have you ever prayed with 20,000 people? Wow.) Then there was an email when we got back to the room, so I thought I'd post it here and ask for your prayers as well. Thanks- Chris


Dear Friends,

I am writing this e-mail to request your prayers for a difficult situation we are facing in our region.

There are approximately 41 of our associates in prison in a South Asian nation and their trial is expected to begin on July 3.

It is our desire to challenge at least 41,000 people to pray for the 41 dear ones in prison when the trial starts.

Would you please join us in praying that:

God will fill their hearts with the joy of the Lord and His peace that surpasses all understanding, while they remain in prison.
God will continue to use them inside the prison, as He has already, for the salvation of many more souls. He is doing mighty things!
The word of the Lord in Luke 21:13-15 "It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony… for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute," will become true when the trial starts.
The judges will be overcome with a deep sense of righteousness, justice and fear of the Lord.


The trial can last for at least a month. I have limitations in communication due to security reasons, but I will try to keep you informed.

Thank you for standing with us on this important matter.

Anonymous Director of Affairs

CM2007 in Busan, Korea

Hello from beautiful Busan, Korea. We've been here for a couple of days now, and it has been really amazing. There are students here from over 127 countries and there are about 7,000 total here right now. Tomorrow more that 13,000 more Korean students will join us and I can't even imagine what it is going to be like. Already it has been so cool. Just walking down the hall and seeing people from Albania, Swaziland, Togo, Ukraine, Argentina, New Zealand and more is so much fun. Knowing that they are all Christians here to learn more about starting movements in their countries and going to other countries to start movements on un-reached campuses makes it even sweeter.

You can see more about the who all is at the conference by clicking here.

Here are a few pictures from our time here so far:

This is the main stage. It's in a room big enough to park an airliner.

It's hard to get a feel for how big the place is with pictures.

A little glimpse of the range of nationalities during praise and worship.

Liza having lunch with a group of Indonesians.

Some Africans eating lunch nearby. We have boxed lunches and dinner provided for all 18,000 people. It's really quite amazing. Today we had big macs for lunch, but then a box of something I couldn't quite identify for dinner. It was good... but a bit spicy.

A hillside in Busan. This city is the second largest in Korea and is very beautiful.

The outside of the convention center.

Liza eating dinner with a Kenyon. If you look carefully at the food in the lower right of her plate, you'd see the tentacles of squid. I avoided that particular part of the meal. :-)