New Territory in Egypt

Directly after our last show Sunday at the first festival we took a 10 hour bus ride to Upper Egypt with the skaters, illusionist and strong men.  It was a bonding experience as we were all exhausted yet tried to keep each other cheery as our driver constantly got lost, turning this intended 6 hour trip into a memorable 10 hours.

The Monday festival in Upper Egypt was the first ever in the area.  It was a hectic day but once things got rolling some great ministry took place.  We did 2 combined shows with the skaters, strong men and UniShow and it flowed well.  Many accepted Jesus and we had a special prayer time with individuals afterward.

After a quick dinner on the bank of the Nile, we loaded the bus again and headed back to Cairo for a much more direct and uneventful trip.

Tuesday's festival at the Cave Church hosted nearly 20,000 people in Manshiyat naser Cairo and was an unexplainable experience.  We all considered it a privilege to be the first to ever do performance outreach on the Cave Church grounds.  Each performer in our group did 3 shows throughout the day on different "stages".  Since performers have never shared in this area before, the people were very excited to have us there.  Their aggressive enthusiasm was quite overwhelming and some of us feared for our safety as crowds closed in for pictures and autographs and just to touch us.  Fortunately, our Egyptian church friends were very mindful of our well being throughout it all.  The Gospel was shared numerous times at each venue and we saw much evidence God used it to touch people's hearts amidst the chaos.

God is truly doing mighty things in Egypt.  What a privilege to be a small part of it!  Please pray for the thousands who heard about Jesus this week through these events.

Bubba performing the human helicopter. 

Andrew crushing unopended pop cans.

Residence of Manshiyat naser.

Manshiayt naser

Show at the Cave Church

People choosing to follow God.

Dustin with the Cave Church priests.

God is rocking in Egypt!

Our 4th trip to Egypt was amazing!  In 5 days we did 11 shows for 20,000 people, plus millions viewed coverage on satellite TV throughout the Middle East.

Friday through Sunday was the festival we've done previously and we saw a record attendance of 30,000 total.  Past years the head religious leader Egypt's largest Christian denomination has denounced the festival telling people if they attended they couldn't take communion.  This year no such announcement was made.  People bused in by the thousands from all over Egypt.  Tickets to the festival were such a hit that they were being resold for profit and tickets were being counterfeited.

There was lots for people to see: skateboard demos, strong men, UniShow, illusionist, bands, billiards trick shot artist, freestyle motocross, art gallery.  And lots for people to do: high and low ropes course, zip line, food court, skate park, climbing wall, kids zone, team sports.

We prayed with people throughout the day after our shows.  Each evening everyone would gather in the stadium for a rally with music and a local pastor speaking.  This evening session is broadcast live by satellite throughout the middle east.  Thousands gave their lives to Christ for the first time.  It was incredible.

Dustin Mallory tearing up the skate bowl.

Terry Russell amazes the crowd with Team Faith freestyle motocross 

Mike Massey during his interview for Sat7.  He performs brilliant billiard trick shots.

High ropes course is a popular activity at Wadi.

10,000 people gather for the evening rally in the stadium.

Count it Right

During the three days of 2010 Count it Right Festival, 22,500 people attended and over 6,000 indicated decisions to follow Christ! Millions more throughout the Middle East watched the festival via satellite TV.

It was an exciting year with more activities and performances for the attendees than ever before.  In this country, festivals of this nature and retreat centers of this magnitude don't exist so it was quite a draw for the thousands that came.

We performed twice daily with a prayer time after each performance for individual's needs.  Many were impacted by the message of God's love and care for them.  We also enjoyed reconnecting with fellow performers, organizers, volunteers and attendees whom we have been getting to know over the past 3 years.  As we all parted ways, it wasn't "good bye" it was "see you next year."

We thank God for the way He prepared hears for a great harvest of souls and transformed lives.  He again blessed the vast efforts of the hundreds of leaders and volunteers from the church who organized this festival.  It was a great privilege to partner with them to bring the gospel of God's love to the people of the Middle East.

Check out the video on this blog post of an evening rally in the stadium.

Dustin making his grand entrance on four wheels.

 

Terry the motocross stunt guy.

Josh airborne 

Big and Burly - it took 2 teams of strongmen
to test the strength of Dustin's structures.

Victor hyping the crowd before crushing an unopened can of soda.

The crush!

Sandy Land

Day one of the Count it Right Festival 2010 saw 8,000 people and a ton of activity.  We performed twice with BMX/skaters from Boarders for Christ and two strength teams from the USA and Scandinavian.  Also, performing throughout the day were martial artists, a Brazilian jujitsu team, billiard trick shot artist, an illusionist, dramas, freestyle motocross and music.  There is also a health clinic, high ropes course, arts tent, kid’s zone, zip line, McDonalds and Smiley’s for attendees to choose from.

The gospel was shared multiple times throughout the day and again in the stadium at the evening rally, which is broadcast by satellite to millions throughout the Middle East.  We saw thousands respond to the message and receive Jesus.  We are excited for two more days of exciting ministry here.

The desert surrounding the Conference Center

Welcome!

BEFORE

AFTER

Packed stadium for the evening rally

Team XTreme - sledge hammering bricks
on a man's chest who is laying on broken glass.

Boarders for Christ doing a 360.

God at work in Egypt

We had the amazing privilege of participating in an outreach festival in Egypt December 5 - 7, 2008. Kasr El Dobara Church in Cairo has a conference center called Beit El Wadi where they host events year round. It is an amazing facility with various sport courts, zip line, high ropes course, lap pool, a huge stadium that seats over 7,000 and beautiful hotel. They also have the largest/most effective rehab treatment center in the Middle East on campus.

We joined performers and volunteers from around the world for this huge 3 day festival where 7,000 people attended daily and 60,000 people viewed the evening session by satellite in hundreds of churches across Egypt. Another 500,000 watched daily on SAT7 TV across the middle east. Thousands gave their lives to Christ each day! It was breathtaking.

Dustin tore it up on his unicycles in the UniShow, Team Xtreme broke bricks and flipped cars with their brute strength, Justin Flom wowed crowds with his illusionary artistry, Boarders for Christ jumped cars and 12 kids in a row with their skateboarding stunts, James Lee and Josh got crazy with marshal arts. Each of these talented performers had one message: "Jesus wants to change your life like He changed mine!" It was a truly unified team and message that God used to bring many to Himself!

We prayed with many people to receive Christ. In the picture Dustin is praying with Danny who said he will never be the same after hearing Dustin share about the need to forgive those who hurt you.

There was a wonderful group of volunteers who were super helpful making sure we always had water and meals and kids to ride on Dustin's shoulders. Basem was a huge blessing as Dustin's translator who took seriously Dustin's testimony and the gospel message and made sure it came across loud and clear.

We praise God for the work He is doing in Egypt and the privilege of being part of it.