I no longer have to worry about back problems after carrying all my stuff around the world because all my bags are being stolen. This morning during breakfast our team put all our bags together down stairs and went to sit down at a table. To get down to our bags you had to walk past our table so we figured all our stuff was safe. On the way up the stairs we passed a nice looking lady all dressed up that went down took my bag and walked out. Candice saw her walking away with my bag, but was distracted by another man that was pushing her out of the way. By the time I went running down the street after the lady she was lost in the crowd. Thankfully I still have my passport and my bank cards. I lost all my shoes, Bible, journal, clothes, stock of toiletries from the United States, and other random things. The good thing is I only have a pair of flip flops and one rolling bag left so it should give our team an advantage on race days. Tim Weisemann wrote a nice blog today asking people for prayer. It is very nice that despite the bad days I am surrounded by great friends!!
Our team is staying at a wonderful church in a very nice part of town. It feels like we are in a nice part of downtown Portland. We are going to be working with an international school here and our contact will also be taking us on a tour of the city. We should have a fun week and be able to get rested up before leaving to South Africa on Tuesday. Thanks for your love and prayers!!