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UNALAKLEET, AK
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EXCERPT - AUGUST 2008
"...I was unable to hold the tears back as they flowed freely, watching the native people and other youth leaders sing every word with exhilaration. Yet with each word they sang you could almost see the disbelief in their eyes that Casting Crowns was at their camp. They kept saying, “I can’t believe that we’re remembered; that we’re not forgotten; that we’re not alone.” It’s better than a dream come true for them, for none of them ever dreamed that this would happen..."
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WAUPACA, WI
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EXCERPT - JUNE 2008
"...Then a loud and boisterous 17 year old kid stood to his feet. I knew this kid. I knew he wasn't even walking strong in his faith. He was compromising and drinking a lot in high school, among other offenses. But as he stood to his feet he was compelled to yell out, "Yeah, let's do it! Let's reach all 50 states!"
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PENNSYLVANIA
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EXCERPT - MAY 2008
"I don't understand. I'm a nice person. And I try to be very kind to everyone. I just wanted to be treated with some measure of humanity... Some measure of decency. I don't fit in any where. Home. School. Don't they know I still have a heart? I still do, you know." I couldn't believe my ears as I listened to her..."
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ENTERPRISE, OREGON
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EXCERPT - FEBRUARY 2008
"...A neutral place that everyone could agree upon to hold the event was at the town's only movie theater. When you called their movie hotline, the automated voice mail said, "Wednesday night – Wild Hogs with John Travolta, Thursday night – Bob Lenz and Noon Day Sun at 7:00pm."
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OHIO TOUR
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EXCERPT - JANUARY 2008
"...One highlight of this trip was working with that small congregation's volunteers--they averaged about 60 years' old and worked circles around us! It was so awesome seeing these seniors caring about youth in such a tangible way. They placed 150 chairs, hoping most of them would be used. But 300 youth poured through the doors, and they scrambled to set up every last chair they had. It wasn't enough! That night about 120 people responded to the gospel and trusted Christ as their savior..."
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GREEN BAY, WI
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EXCERPT - DECEMBER 2007
"The guy in black, the joker, the kid who was kicked out of the assembly, sat there alone and listened, longing for purpose and meaning. How could he know that I would speak about how it doesn't matter if you are the football captain, a cheerleader, or a student who wears black and is into the Goth scene…"
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RHINELANDER, WI
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EXCERPT - NOVEMBER 2007
"That's the kind of unique place the Rhinelander area is. It's "up north" for those who live in mid-Wisconsin—dotted with lakes, surrounded by forests, known for hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling. I once walked into a restroom at a gas station up there that happened to have a baby changing station. Above it hung a sign with bold letters: "Not for cleaning fish." I laughed so hard…"
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MINNESOTA
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EXCERPT - OCTOBER 2007
"All I ever wanted to do with my life was to have an impact on youth; to help them deal with the daily issues they're facing and show them where real life and real hope comes from. There are two things I never wanted to be…"
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PENNSYLVANIA APPALACHIANS
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EXCERPT - SEPTEMBER 2007
"She grabbed my hands with both of her hands and wouldn't let go. With tears now rolling down her cheeks she kept saying, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She wondered if he really knew what he did, but he actually went up and got a free bible and booklet that he took home with him. "Now he actually goes to church with me," she explained…"
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ELK RAPIDS, MI
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EXCERPT - MAY 2007
"Because we don't talk about faith-based issues in the school out of respect for the law, we earned their respect in return and they allowed us to hand out free tickets to our evening programs. They see prevention not just as the job of the schools, but a community-based effort that can include faith-based sectors…"
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ANYWHERE, USA
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EXCERPT - MARCH 2007
"When I got a chance to look at her art, you could see that much of it reflected her struggle within. But somehow all the art wasn't therapeutic enough. So this day she began carving on herself to try to numb the pain…"
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ALASKA
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EXCERPT
"It's worth it… for the 16 year old dressed in black who shared how he's been bullied for being in a special speech class and made fun of for being slower in math and has been physically abused by his father. But instead of letting his pain turn into vengeance and the vengeance turning him into another school shooter, he came and shared his story, breaking down in tears as he threw his arms around me and gave me a huge hug..."
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WASHINGTON STATE
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EXCERPT
"...The promise from the principal was no longer valid, and it would have to be an after-school assembly program. Can I use the word "stupid?" Who would stay for the program? I know as a student I wouldn't have stayed. As a speaker, I didn't even want to go! I was so frustrated, disappointed and tired, and to be truthful, I had little if any faith. Honestly, the only reason we didn't cancel was for one simple reason: Clark and his dream..."
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WEST COAST
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EXCERPT
"...Then I saw a young man, 17 years old, stand up and start running through the crowd right towards me. He put his hand over his mouth, but he couldn't run fast enough; he proceeded to throw-up on his way through the crowd right on top of a girl's head, only 10 feet in front of me. Now, I was dying in front of 2,000 people, and while I'm dying I'm feeling guilty because I'm thinking of myself instead of..."
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LAS VEGAS
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EXCERPT
"...For the evening program, the sponsor actually had to rent a Wal Mart parking lot and put up a tent. This was a first for us and presented a few challenges. And because we weren't able to hand out tickets, the crowd at night could hardly be called a crowd. But we still put on our full program and had 10 kids receive Christ..."
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MONTANA
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EXCERPT
"...I spent the next hour talking to students lined up to say thank you and share their stories with me. It ranged from those telling how they were being bullied themselves with tears of pain gushing down their faces, and students who were abused and raped, to a guy who had attempted suicide and is now drinking just to try and fit in for acceptance. There was a guy who said he was the one who would bully others, but now had tears of remorse as he pledged to stop and actually stand up for others..."
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NORTH CAROLINA & VIRGINIA
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EXCERPT
"I think it would all be worth it for just the homeless man that stumbled off the streets in Norfolk, VA and into the night rally. The smell of alcohol on his breath was almost intoxicating as he stood next to me. But then the hopeless look on his face turned to laughter and his wrinkles went in the other direction as he watched AJ the Animated Illusionist perform..."
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OHIO & PENNSYLVANIA
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EXCERPT
"After the night rally a high school girl came up to me with her middle school brother. The sister looked at me and said, "Tell him he doesn't need a father." Stunned, I said, "What?" She said, "Tell him he doesn't need a dad." I asked what she meant. "Well, our first dad left us and our new dad is a drug dealer who is never around," she said. The boy was weeping..."
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NORTHERN MINNESOTA
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EXCERPT
"We had been in this area last year, and a girl who had seen me at that time came up to me after the school program. She had scars on her hands from being abused by her mom with a butcher knife. She was now living with her dad. I invited her to the night rally, but she said she was grounded and didn't think she would be able to come. "I don't think my dad would let me come because he's not into the church thing," she said. We told her that we would pray for her and for God to provide a way for her to come. Not only did she come, but her dad came with her. He received Christ that night. It's a reminder to pray, not just for the youth, but also for their families..."
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MAASAI TRIBE, KENYA
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EXCERPT
"...I was also enjoying the film, although I had seen it before. But seeing the story there, in the middle of the African Bush, gave it new meaning. Two thousand years didn't seem that long ago anymore as I sat among a crowd of shepherds, warriors and tribesmen. Maybe the stories of Jesus being our shepherd and saving us from the enemy, the mouth of the lion, so to speak, wasn't as irrelevant as I made it out to be in the past. At least it wasn't irrelevant here..."
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ALASKA
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EXCERPT
"Once we landed, we were brought to our speaking engagements in sleds. The people only travel by snowmobiles, which are known as "Snow-Go's" or "Snow Machines" in Alaska. The villages only had up to 500 people, some with only one church, and one of these had only 8 members. The first host home we stayed in had no running water or even an outhouse, only a "honey bucket". I'm not sure why they call it that. Some of the churches looked more like deer hunting shacks than churches. I had just been in Honduras the week before and didn't get sick, but somehow picked up a parasite from the water in Alaska. Remember, this is part of the United States of America..."
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VIRGINIA, MN
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EXCERPT
"The number of suicides and deaths related to alcohol in this area is astronomical. There's a problem with Crystal Meth. In one school, 1 of 4 kids was seeing a parole officer. At the night rally a mom came up and said that her 13 year old son made her come. Then I looked and tears were coming down her face. She said, "I came for him, but I think I needed what you were talking about..."
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