As you may know, one of the many reasons I signed up for the World Race was to “find myself”. This includes finding my identity in Christ, learning more about who God created me to be, and what his plan is for my life. I was first introduced to the idea of pursuing a career in ministry when I was about sixteen (thanks to some amazing spiritual directors on a Chrysalis flight I was working). I brushed it off without much thought. However, it smacked me in the face about three years ago and turned my world upside down. I know I’ve been called, and it’s confirmed time and time again. Even though I find assurance in the path God has for me, I’ve recently decided to have a back-up plan incase things fall through. After much thought, multiple days of fasting, and countless hours of prayer, I feel confident that I’ve found the right back-up career.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to be a professional back-up dancer.
From right: Ken, me, Chelsea
That’s right, my back-up is to back-up. I’ve actually already finished a multi-city tour with Juli
ana Pasha. She’s kind of like the Albanian version of Jaci Velasquez. Okay, multi-city may be pushing it, but we did perform in two cities – Tirana (the capitol) and Elbasan (about an hour and a half away). Allow me to back up a little and give you some information about the event. Back up a little. Get it?
ana Pasha. She’s kind of like the Albanian version of Jaci Velasquez. Okay, multi-city may be pushing it, but we did perform in two cities – Tirana (the capitol) and Elbasan (about an hour and a half away). Allow me to back up a little and give you some information about the event. Back up a little. Get it?Josh McDowell was scheduled to lead two massive conferences in Albania. Quite a bit of our time here has been spend preparing for this event. It was planned to be the largest outreach event the country has seen. We posted fliers, passed out invitations, and got volunteered to dance for Juliana. Just a few days ago, we found out that Josh could no longer come because of some heart problems. This posed quite a few uncertainties. First of all, he was the speaker. Kind of a big deal. We weren’t sure if it would be 
canceled, postponed, or if we would continue as planned. They brought in another speaker – Saimir Braho. Coincidently, he was the one choreographing our dance and drama. Apparently he’s a famous mainstream singer turned Christian speaker.
canceled, postponed, or if we would continue as planned. They brought in another speaker – Saimir Braho. Coincidently, he was the one choreographing our dance and drama. Apparently he’s a famous mainstream singer turned Christian speaker. There were already thousands of fliers, cards, and shirts with Josh’s picture on it, so that’s kind of funny.
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The first event was in Tirana. The venue was packed out-probably about 2,000-3,0
00 people. The night was opened with a drama about rejection/love, followed by a performance by Stine (pronounced Steenay). Stine was the main reason most of the high school and college students showed up. Apparently he’s a pretty big deal…maybe like Jay-Z or Snoop Dog…but his coolness level was more like Vanilla Ice. Anyway. He sang a few songs and left, which made a large number of kids leave. This was very frustrating, but we just continued with the program. Saimir sang a little and gave his testimony, as well as shared the gospel. The night ended 
with Juliana and her incredibly talented back-up dancers/singers. The next night we traveled to Elbasan. It was honestly the most nauseating ride I’ve ever experienced. We had to drive over a huge mountain. The ride was very beautiful, it was just really hard to enjoy. The Elbasan event also brought a packed house in a basketball arena. Our guess is 1,500-2,000 people. I was disappointed that Josh counldn’t make it, but I was still happy with the way things turned out. Campus Crusade really did a great job in mobilizing the event. We were blessed to be able to be a part of it.
00 people. The night was opened with a drama about rejection/love, followed by a performance by Stine (pronounced Steenay). Stine was the main reason most of the high school and college students showed up. Apparently he’s a pretty big deal…maybe like Jay-Z or Snoop Dog…but his coolness level was more like Vanilla Ice. Anyway. He sang a few songs and left, which made a large number of kids leave. This was very frustrating, but we just continued with the program. Saimir sang a little and gave his testimony, as well as shared the gospel. The night ended with Juliana and her incredibly talented back-up dancers/singers. The next night we traveled to Elbasan. It was honestly the most nauseating ride I’ve ever experienced. We had to drive over a huge mountain. The ride was very beautiful, it was just really hard to enjoy. The Elbasan event also brought a packed house in a basketball arena. Our guess is 1,500-2,000 people. I was disappointed that Josh counldn’t make it, but I was still happy with the way things turned out. Campus Crusade really did a great job in mobilizing the event. We were blessed to be able to be a part of it.I hope that you’ll all be in prayer as I continue to explore this potential career move. Don’t worry, I’ll give you all free autographs when I return home. :o)
