Yes, in the middle of a very packed tour, I traveled to Peru for a week of meeting leaders and encouraging people through relationship, songwriting workshops and some worship gatherings. It was really wonderful and actually pretty relaxing as the pace of life is simply slower in Southern Peru. One of the most amazing parts of the trip was interacting with a couple of Quechua families from the mountains. I have been to Peru before and though I have been privileged to worship in Quechua villages before, I also know how separated indigenous life and community is from city life and culture in Peru. So I considered it a great privilege to know these beautiful people.

I have a dream. I dream about cross-culture encounters going something like this: "Tell me about what God is doing among you. Tell me of the ways you know His love. Teach me your songs so I can see His faithfulness through your eyes." How beautiful that would be. Ahh, yes, it is a dream. I felt just a taste of it when my new Quechua friend approached me and said, "Dear sister, the songs you are singing are so beautiful. Do you have the words written on paper so that I can take them with me and read them?" We had prepared CD's of live worship recordings enhanced with original recordings and chord charts in Spanish and English, but I knew my brother probably didn't have a CD player. It is likely he did not have electricity. But the way he approached me was so refreshing and inspiring. Internet and mass sharing are wonderful, but I do not wish to loose the weight and power of a single testimony, or perspective, or song.

My friends who were with me, Ben and Robin Pasley, and Tim Thornton, have prepared much more detailed blogs including video-podcasts and lots of pictures on their sites, www.entertheworshipcircle.com and www.theblackthornproject.com. And Brian didn't mind me taking the trip on a free weekend in the middle of the Everything Must Change tour. He said, as long as I had a pisco sour...and I did!

One Down, 10 to Go!

Hey all. I just got back from Charlotte and the first of 11 "Everything Must Change" gatherings with Brian McLaren across the country. We were using a crazy cross section of spaces...here, you see the speaking and music happened inside a traditional church building whereas the bookstore and many workshop conversations happened in "Area 15," a warehouse space leased to artists as well as the Charlotte 24-7 prayer community. And, many other groups use the space, including the Charlotte Emergent Village cohort, which was really the group who pulled the event off locally. It was a cool and interesting neighborhood in the city, historically "poor" and I heard some local Charlotte residents even use the word "ghetto." But the art space was amazing, and of course, there were brand new urban loft condos, complete with corrugated metal and bright color architecture being built right across the street.

Eli Renner, a worship leader and musician living in Charlotte who sang and played bass with me, blogged through the whole weekend and took pictures of the gathering, so you can see more here (elirenner.com).