Wow, what a day!  64 men converged on San Antonio TX to begin Day 1 of Group 3.  There were men from 9 states and 2 countries represented in this rag-tag army set to work for God, whatever He would lead us to do.  But really, the day began prior to getting into San Antonio.  I was approached by Rick in Ontario airport.  Rick is from Indiana and was preparing to fly home.  He walked over and asked, “what is Power Ministry?”  That gave me an opportunity to both explain to him but also to think for myself, why do we do this? And then later on the plane I was sitting next to Becky who also asked what Power Ministry is all about.  Again, I had the opportunity to explain to her what we are all about… and that being to serve Jesus in whatever capacity he will allow.

Of those 64 men I referred to earlier, there were at least 10 guys for whom this was their very first Power Ministry trip.  I can still recall my first trip, and all of the jitters and curiosities and the feelings of wondering “am I going to fit in?”  “Am I going to enjoy this?”  “What am I doing here?”  But you know, ever since that first trip, I have never considered not coming back.  Certainly the world will throw many things at these guys in an attempt to discourage them and dissuade them from coming back.  We will all need to keep them in prayer all year to keep that from happening.

So why do I come back every year?  Today when we arrived in San Antonio I was greeted by Adam, a brother from Ridgecrest who I have not seen in a year.  Adam said “I have been praying for you.”  And later Alex from Reynosa Mexico walked over and gave me a huge hug and said, “I love you John.”  How could I not come back?

Now we are all in Del Rio Tx preparing for a very short night of sleep.  The van crew is buzzing getting things ready for tomorrow.  The prayer group is praying, also getting us ready for tomorrow.  And the praise team is meeting in the corner discussing how to engage the guys in worship tomorrow.  It has been a full day.  I think I’ll get to bed and get back to everybody tomorrow night.  Thank you all for your support and prayers.  God Bless you all.