Briefing in Dallas!

We had a great briefing this weekend in Dallas with all of the Cru Red River Region (OK and TX) international summer projects. It was incredible to see teams going to Greece, Russia, Italy, Ethiopia, and "East Asia". It takes an unbelievable amount of resources and support to make these trips happen! Thank you for all of your support. It was a testament to God's power seeing the number of students able to go overseas this summer to spread the freedom of the gospel!

Over the weekend there were several hundred of us preparing our hearts by meeting in small groups and as a whole. We discussed everything from conflict management, dealing with the internal team-stresses of living together overseas, to expectations and how to respect and embrace other cultures. It was great being able to prepare our hearts and plan for the next four weeks we'll spend sharing our faith.

Mark Osborn and I then drove back to Tulsa to get ready for his brother's wedding this weekend. Our team flew out this afternoon to prepare in Russia for next week and the weeks to come. But Mark, myself, Jeremy and McCall won't fly out until next Sunday, so we'll all reunite next Monday in Moscow!

It's exciting to get ready and know that this opportunity is finally approaching. Please pray:

---that God would be preparing conversations
---for safe travels
---that David and Jessie's wedding would go smoothly
---that God would prepare our hearts
---that we would be overwhelmed by the gospel and it's freedom, hope, peace, and joy!

Love you all,
Stephen

-----The gospel is GOOD news, and at it's core is freedom-----