We are currently driving through rain and thunderstorms. Please pray that the Lord leads us to somewhere where it is not raining this afternoon so we can share the Gospel. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Tomorrow (3 Aug) the TACO team hits the road for a tour in western Turkey. Please be in prayer for safe travels.

We want to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as we go so for this tour, while we are headed in a general direction, our plan is to stop in towns along our path as the Spirit leads. We will do several shows a day. Please pray for clear direction as we go.

We want to share the Gospel not just from the stage but everywhere we go. Please pray for divine appointments with unbelievers who are ready to hear the message.

The team is in a very religious area of Kyrgyzstan, where there has previously been racial strife.  Ask God to open hearts amongst both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks there.  Pray protection for the team as well.  Thanks!

The team in Albania spent Thursday to Saturday rehearsing music, dance, and "The Gardener" drama. They had a lot of things to organise before they could start performances and they've been grateful for David, the tour leader, who has provided them all of the time and resources they've needed to get their performance ready. They have also really been enjoying the devotions they have been doing each day, focusing on Colossians. It has been very relevant for the work they are doing in Albania.

Yesterday (Sunday), they had their first performance in a village called Cërrik, which happens to be the most radical Islamic area in Albania. A local church planting team from a network of churches worked with them. This main partner of Taco's has a vision to have a church in each of the 98 villages in Albania. Taco has already helped plant 17 of these churches.

There had been some rain as the team was travelling, but thankfully it ceded once they reached the venue. However, as soon as they had finished setting everything up, the rain returned in full force. There was already a large crowd who were waiting undercover for them to start. After a lot of prayer and talking with the organiser, they decided that rain or shine the show would go on. They had a crowd of 300+ people wearing hoods and huddling under umbrellas. It was amazing that despite the and and off rain during the show it went really well and almost all of the crowd stayed for the entire show.

Please be praying for the people in Cërrik that they would seek God through what they saw and heard in the show, and that these Islamic radicals would become radical about Jesus.

If you can please continue to uphold our team and the local Albanian believers in prayer that God would give them good health, boldness and opportunities to share the good news with those who haven't yet heard it.

Well Hello There!

Thursday we drove to Kara-Balta for an evening show organized by a local church. We performed on a permanent stage in a park in front of a government building. We were told not to share openly from the stage and to be careful because halfway through the KGB was asking questions about us. A few hundred people came and enjoyed the show.

Afterward we learned that the church people were mingling in the crowd during the show, sharing Jesus and inviting people to church. One church member said he talked to 15 people. We talked to and prayed with 2 teen believers who said it's not easy to be a Christian in a Muslim country. Another young man from the church said he sees how much God loves them because we came to them all the way from American and other countries. He said a fire was lit in them through our performance and he realizes that if we can come from so far away to share God's love, they can use what they have to share with their own people. A Christian family came who have 28 kids: 4 of their own, 24 adopted. They only brought 8 kids to the show but we were excited to meet such a special family. The parents are involved in leadership ministry at the church and beamed with God's love.

Unfortunately Chris was not well again on Friday and stayed home to rest. Our show that evening was on dirt in a Bishkek park and before long we had a layer of dust on everything. We were told this was a closed event which we've learned means here that we can share the whole Gospel as long as it's from a personal perspective. Dustin did just that and people listened intently. This event helped the local church connect with their community. They handed out ice cream to all the kids afterwards.

We had dinner at a huge and fancy restaurant with traditional Kyrgyz food. Dave had a meeting with local pastors in the VIP dining room about TACO's future Kyrgyzstan partnerships, while us common folk enjoyed our meal in the courtyard by a fountain. One of the pastors blessed us by paying for our entire team's dinner.

Please pray for energy for our last few days in Kyrgyzstan and that God will use us powerfully to share Him. Thanks team!

Kudaiym batasyn bersin sizge (Kyrgyz for "My God will bless you"),

TACO Kyrgyzstan Team