2010 is here. We are pumped about the many lives which will be touched through Miles Ahead and the Do Something Festivals.

Over the holidays, there was much buzz around the office. We launched our campaign for the Cayman Islands here in the states. As well as solidified important details for our ministry week there, which now includes a gang and prison outreach team! Of course we don’t have to remind you about the importance of prayer. It is essential to our operation; the tipping point really. Prayer takes us from an initial conversation, to a full blown festival. It takes us from zero dollars in the bank, to hundreds of thousands (sometimes in one day…miraculous!). Prayer provides a free festival venue (thank you Black Pearl in Grand Cayman) and it paves a way for what could possibly be the largest event Miles Ahead has ever organized in Manila, Philippines. That said, here’s a prayer request.

Keep praying.

For continued wisdom and favor. For the Cayman communities who are currently considering the Do Something vision. For 2000 volunteers to serve their communities in the ministry week leading up to the Cayman festival.

God has orchestrated remarkable partnerships with influential leaders in Grand Cayman. In February, we launch a 3-month Do Something Campaign which will lay the foundation for the ministry week in May, culminating in a 2-day Festival on May 14 & 15. This campaign will prayerfully include a press conference, a leader’s conference, a youth event and a televised awards show in which Miles is the guest speaker. The whole island is invited. That’s just the beginning. Making history in Cayman.

2010 and beyond. It’s gonna be a wild ride.

Last night in the Cayman Islands, Miles McPherson and the Miles Ahead team officially accepted the invitation to partner in a Do Something Festival this May. 400 business and church leaders came together to learn more about how to participate in the Festival. There will be a 3 month Do Something campaign leading up to the Festival, in which we hope to recruit 2000 volunteers to serve their community. We pray that it will be a history making event in Cayman. Check out www.blackpearl.ky to catch a glimpse of the venue. Mark your calendar: May 14 & 15, 2010. Pray. Give. Go.

Miles Ahead in Manila

A lot has taken place over the last two months in Metro Manila.  Through prayer and the Lord’s leading, Miles was able to visit the Philippines for four days at the beginning of September. This type of visit would normally follow 6-8 months of work. Yet, Miles Ahead team members have only been on the ground a total of ten days in preparation for the festival. That’s how fast God is working! It was a whirlwind trip. God is obviously orchestrating an amazing opportunity.  During this initial visit Miles spoke to 1200 youth on Sunday night. Over 200 responded to the message to give their hearts to Christ.  The following day, over 1200 pastors and leaders gathered for a vision casting meeting to learn more about a Do Something Festival.  We saw over 500 churches come together to consider this opportunity for a Festival in February/March 2011.  Shortly after this session all of the senior church leaders of Manila issued Miles and the Miles Ahead team an official invitation to come and hold a festival in their city. Each leader had even signed the document! 

Manila Underwater

On Sept 26^th, just three weeks following Miles’ visit, many Manila citizens managed to save only the clothes on their backs as a tropical storm set off the worst flooding in four decades to the Philippine capital. Miles Ahead Festival Director Tim Innes barely missed the downpour, being scheduled to fly in just two days after the storm hit.  The visit was initially planned to continue the work in Manila and to begin building leadership for the Festival in 2011. But the need to send aid to the flood victims became abundantly clear during the first hours on the ground.  Three million people had been affected by the flooding. With over 300 people reported dead in only the first week, and roughly 80% of Manila underwater, disease was likely to kill many more in the weeks to come.

Doomed by geography and crippled by poverty, the Philippines had long tried to minimize the damage caused by the 20 or so typhoons that hit every year. With its underdeveloped infrastructure there is nowhere for the garbage to go. Sewage water flows together with rain water, disease is rampant. One relief center housed 2,000 people and around 500 families; 21 families per room, with shared mats or bare concrete. Sickness was already beginning…people complaining of stomach flu and dysentery.

God at Work in the midst of the Calamity

Pastor Gilbert of Destiny Ministries is one of the partners for the 2011 festival and his church was in the heart of the flood zone. His home was flooded and his car totally submerged. He moved his services to the roof top of his in-laws home and people waded through the flooded street to attend church. Many received food for a day, but more importantly, they received the love of Christ and many made decisions for Christ!

The following day, Tim went with Bishop Chito Sanches to bring food and aid to Pinagbuhaten (suburb of Metro Manila), a poor community where drugs, gangs and street kids go unnoticed and uncared for.  Bishop Sanches has been a tremendous support to Miles Ahead in the early stages for the Festival.  Their ministry has an orphanage with thirty children, the youngest being four years old.  They drove through chest high water in a two and half ton army truck to get to the orphanage. Tim waded into the water with Bishop Sanches and worked to bring food to over 300 families, many who had not eaten for several days since the Typhoon hit.

Do Something in Manila

Through funds given from San Diego, Miles Ahead was able to purchase enough food to feed 10,000 people. A team of 30 volunteers worked overnight to assemble food packs.  Those packs were then distributed to six ministry partners who distributed the food in the hardest hit areas.

In addition to this, the Rock Church in San Diego collected five pallets of aid to assist the ongoing efforts on the ground. 

God allowed us to partner with our relationships in Manila and, in a very tangible way, do something, to show the love of Christ to their community.  Please pray for all those who have been affected.  Also, please consider giving a special gift toward the Festival work as we move forward.  Our work in Manila has just begun. As the church continues to assist in recovery, we will be challenging them via the Do Something Festival to continue to be salt and light in the midst of the challenges and struggles that lie ahead. 

You don’t want to miss NOVA, the 2009 Christian Music Award Winner - Best of the Blessed, as she opens for DELIRIOUS? on September 5th at the Miles Ahead Benefit concert.

You can purchase tickets at www.ticketforce.com or visit the Rockpile Bookstore!

After the formal introductions, Pastor Miles remembered a story about when he was in the Philippines with Horizon Christian Fellowship during their first Festival of Life Conference in 1990.  One Sunday, he was sitting in his room that overlooked a large park. He heard music playing and noticed hundreds of people gathering. It was Christian music, which made him even more curious as to what was going on. He decided to find out. Standing in the crowd, he heard the speaker tell a story about a time when someone had hired an assasin to kill him. But when the gunman had the perfect shot, he could not pull the trigger! His hands became frozen and he could not move them! Later on, this same gunman called the pastor to apologize for what he had attempted to do and asked for forgiveness.  That pastor was Brother Eddie! Everyone in the room who heard Pastor Miles story was in amazement as to what they just heard! It is amazing how God brings people together!

Since then, we have made over 1,000 connections in the Phillipines; among them local churches, church leaders and businessmen. We’re confident that the number will continue to grow. We are still in the early stages of the festival process. Please pray for further favor as we continue to establish more relationships in the Philippines and to hear God clearly about our next steps.

Join us on September 5, 2009 for a special concert from this internationally acclaimed and GRAMMY-nominated band.  This will be their final Southern California concert before Delirious? retires at the end of this year.  Enjoy such poplular songs as My Soul Sings, Majesty, and History Maker. 

Tickets are $17-$50 and will go on sale July 1 at www.ticketforce.com or the Rockpile Bookstore at the Rock Church www.therocksandiego.org  .  Also, A VIP Reception & Auction will be held prior to the concert.  These tickets will be $100.

The concert will be held at the Rock Church in San Diego.  For more information on how to sponsor or attend the event please call 619.764.5164.

One of the performers at the Carlsbad Outreach was “Pretzel Man”.  Now, I am not sure what his real name is but he was able to bend and twist his body into a pretzel!  All this to the amazement of Pastor Miles and the thousand people who came to the outreach at the Carlsbad Lagoon. 

As I watched this man contort his body in all different ways I was reminded that we can get so caught up and twisted in our everyday lives that we forget about God.  But by His endless mercy and grace we are able to unravel and straighten up and experience life as He planned for us.

It is so amazing to see how God works in His perfect ways!  We had been planning this outreach for a few weeks before we realized that it was going to be on the exact date marking the two year anniversary of the death of Emery Kauanui Jr. who was a local surfer murdered in La Jolla, California.  God clearly had a bigger and better plan for this outreach event.  

A huge crowd showed up at the Carlsbad Lagoon to celebrate the life of Emery Kauanui Jr.  The action packed day included a BMX demo, Skateboard demo, Wakeboard demo, five talented bands, celebrity MC Sonny from P.O.D., and a screening of the Beyond The Dream surf movie.  There were four local news stations there to cover the event.  Emery’s mom Cindy Kauanui and brothers Caleb and Nigel were the guests of honor.  Caleb is one of the best graffiti artists in the world and created an amazing mural of his brother Emery and also gave the kids an opportunity to test their artistic talents on their own mini mural.  Nigel is a very talented Hip Hop artist and performed two songs in memory of Emery.  Along side of Nigel were his very talented break dancers.  

Miles McPherson did an incredible job sharing the Gospel with the crowd who had already been very impacted by Emery and his family’s story.  The love and compassion of Jesus Christ was felt by all who attended.  And His kingdom grew as many decided to follow Jesus with all their heart, mind, body and soul.

To view more pictures of the outreach click HERE

(May 12, 2008) — Serving Jamaica changes you. Serving anyone changes you, of course. But there’s something about being part of a massive operation, in which everywhere you turn you see lives being transformed. Lives of Jamaicans. Lives of Americans.

Some of us may not return physically to this beautiful jewel in the Caribbean. But we will never really ever say goodbye. Thank you, readers, for letting us share a bit of our wonderful experience there. Thank you for letting us come, Jamaica.

(May 6, 2008) — Back home, it feels like a dream.

Did we really take nearly 300 volunteers from San Diego to Jamaica? Did we really bring to that beautiful western Caribbean island $5 million in healthcare and equipment? Did we really draw 75,000 people to two nights of concerts and gospel? Did we really get home safe and sound? How did we do that? In fact, a tally of what the Miles Ahead teams accomplished may make you tired just thinking about it!

Medical

• The medical team came with the ability to provide more than $5 million in free medical care and equipment to 10,000 people in four free clinics. More than 6,000 patients were treated.
• The 80 professionals included specialists in the areas of dental, optometry, pediatrics, gynecology, orthopedics, internal medicine, pathology and physical therapy. 
• The team brought a portable pathology lab, enabling the pathologist to process some 172 pap smears within 24 hours.
• An estimate $325,000 in pharmaceuticals and drugs were administered free; and $74,500 worth of eye glasses were given out.

Construction

• At least 60 volunteers tackled two primary and junior high school projects, donating thousands of dollars in materials and uncounted hours of labor.
• The construction team focused on the repainting and renovation of one school; and the building of a 400-foot-long wall around the school, plus the renovation of its student lavatories.
• The lavatories were nonfunctioning; the team replumbed the site and replaced the commodes, painted the interiors and installed lighting (there had been none); and hung doors on the stalls.

Assemblies, Sports, Outreach

• Forty volunteers performed at school assemblies throughout Montego Bay to promote education and making good life choices.
• A team of deaf and interpreters held a class in deaf education.
• Three dozen volunteers hosted children’s programs in parks after the school day. 
• About 40 volunteers hit the streets to talk with people and share the love of Jesus Christ.
• Sports clinics were hosted throughout the community by 40 athletes, in addition to a free exhibition soccer game and a free exhibition basketball game.
• Athletes included a former NBA professional basketball player and NFL American football player, along with former Jamaica national football (soccer) stars Warren Barrett, a former national captain, and Paul “Tegat” Davis, a formidable striker.
• A media team created this site, www.MilesAhead.tv, on the fly during the ministry week; shot eight videos; took thousands of photographs, issued two dozen news releases, supported daily presentations, and orchestrated two mights of live-streamed concerts.

Two Days of Festival

• Two free daylong festivals including a family fun zone; a food court; a huge Extreme Sports Park including skateboard and motorcycle stunts; and a Community Care Area, providing information and health screenings.
• Both festivals culminated in a huge concert featuring top Caribbean and American artists headling the festivals, including Papa San, Israel Houghton and New Breed, Carlene Davis, Omari, Prodigal Son, New Generation and TobyMac.
• Evangelist Miles McPherson spoke about the love of God to the crowd, which Jamaica authorities estimated at a total of 75,000. 
• Volunteers registered 3,515 decision cards (individually completed to signal one’s faith in Jesus Christ), and handed out 6,000 copies of 21 Jump-Start devotional books, written by McPherson.

 Of course, statistics don’t tell the stories, thousands of them, of how individual lives were changes.  This blog could go on forever…