Israel & New Breed Live Recording

It feels a little funny being a Sunday morning and I’m not scrambling to get my clothes on and speed to church. I’m chillin! I slept until 1pm. My body is sore and my legs hurt! But, my spirit feels so good.

OK, here’s the recap:

The 3 PM recording came together very well…Full house. Great expectation. An incredible African drum line started it off with the welcome. The overture kicked in, then when “Alive” started, I ran from the upstage and jumped to the down stage. It was exhilarating! Of course, my in-ear pack went flying when I landed but, it was worth it! Two hours and thirty minutes later, people were very encouraged, blessed and moved. We got the jitters out of our system and prepared for the 8 PM session.

Great catering! Food was killer. I had also sent out for some Nando’s chicken before I knew how good catering was. It’s funny, I’ve been on the continent for 2 weeks and hadn’t had a bite of Nando’s. Whereas last time we had it like every single day!

Anyway, sent our sweaty stuff to the cleaners real quick to be ready for the 8pm. We started it the same way. Even bigger crowd and all kinds of anticipation. Did the jump again, much to Meleasa’s chagrin but I nailed it!!! That’s probably one reason my legs hurt so much. And my pack stayed on this time.

The first half went very well though the back of my head was pounding like mad! I’d go to sing certain notes and the pressure….wow!!! I went to the dressing room during the offering and literally passed out while I was trying to change. Aaron, Meleasa and Bishop prayed for me after being completely out cold for over five minutes. I was so scared! Then I remembered Bishop Garlington ’s words to me before we came. He said “Stay small”. Believe me, I felt so overwhelmed and like such a boy in a grown man’s clothes; but looking back God wanted it that way for what was about to come.

After Bishop prayed I ran back on the stage and felt literally like a different person. “Take The Limits Off” and “No Limits” was strong. “It’s Raining” was also very powerful. Worship leaders from Houston, my friend Hector Soto and Melanie Jones led on it and made it very special. After that I started calling “audible” and making changes on the fly, which is always my favorite place to go. And then the “moment” that most of us have been talking about and will never forget happened!

It started with “To Worship You I Live (Away)” and just continued… through some medley stuff then we got to a song we learned in Zimbabwe entitled “Alpha & Omega” and it was over!!! Before we knew it, we were under an open heaven. Glory everywhere! I looked back…the band and singers were completely overwhelmed. The congregation just sang and worshiped and cried and sang and… just… Glory!!!

Several people came to the Lord as Bishop Tudor seized the moment with such class and elegance and command. Then we announced our special guest, none other than Cape Town’s very own native son, my dear friend Jonathan Butler. He wrote a song especially for this project entitled “Come and Let Us Sing” it was so special. An absolute dream come true.

After dreaming and believing for the last eleven years - from the drummers opening to Jonathan closing, it was exactly what I’ve been hoping for. On October 25th, 2005 (street date!) you can hear and experience what we did. God bless and thank you for your prayers.

Israel

Had breakfast with Bishop Tudor Bismark this morning. Everybody had a sense of heavy and high expectation. Video loaded in at about 10am. Its always good when in the preliminary moments the video truck is a buzz with “oooh’s” and “aaaah’s”. I didnt feel any nerves necessarily, just a strong desire to be found faithful in what we’re here for. When we pulled up there was already a long line (they call it a ‘queue’ over here) outside.

Got a nasty hum in the entire system about 1pm…SCARY!!! We cleared the stage and just prayed it would all work out. And… it was just in time; some kind of power, grounding, electrical something or anther thing. Ya know - distraction.

I walked Meleasa to her seat, that was fun. Houselights up and people just hanging around for the start. Then Aaron Lindsey, myself and a few others went to the stage and had kind of an impromptu workshop with the crowd. Somewhat of an icebreaker. It was so cool. We taught a few songs and had the singers walk through the crowd and just be accessible and light. Now I’m just waiting for the lights to go down for the 3pm service, very excited!

I’ll recap tomorrow.

Pray

I was awakened by Don Wilkinson our road manager to attend to some… some… we’ll just say local issues. It all worked out well though.

The lights look great now, so ‘hakunamatata’ lived up to its message!

One of my best friends in the world, Louis Upkins and his wife Charita flew in today and seeing them immediately warmed my heart.

This morning with the help of a local bishop, my friend Theo Noble, I called an impromptu meeting and gathering with the local worship leaders, musicians, and gospel groups. We expected around 40-50 people at such short notice however, 350 beautiful, hungry people showed up. We had the greatest experience incredibly memorable. We went from that moment to another with Pastor Scott Jones from Houston TX. He assisted us in driving a stake into the ground and claiming the promises of God pertaining to this project and the city…. Incredible!

We came back inside and finalized the run-through. Everything looks and sounds good. In closing we had communion together tonight which just solidified our mission and assignment here. Sure feels like something special is inevitable.

Pray…

Here is the debut single from the new album. It’s "No Limits, No Boundaries".

Got done at about midnight with my haircut. Then we went to a restaurant. Cape Town is such a vibrant city with such culture, we ended up around a piano singing worship songs for drunk people, it was outstanding! Imagine bombed people singing “I Am a Friend of God” at a piano bar at 4 AM. You had to be there!

The ultimate sucker punch. We went to Babumelele Children’s Home this morning at 8:30am. So needless to say I relied heavily on caffeine consumption but, my heart was SO moved seeing these precious children sing and dance and smile in the middle of some pretty challenging conditions and surroundings. We were so blessed to connect with Bishop Charles Blake and Save Africa’s Children contingency. Just some beautiful and powerful moments.

Went straight to rehearsal after that, and were still firing on almost cylinders. Little nervous about lighting, but I’ve been told not to worry… Hakunamatata… and all that… PRAY!!!

Woke up this morning at 8 AM to take the team to Table Mountain. Only problem is, it was raining like crazy and very cold. This is South Africa’s winter and believe it or not… it is! We’re hoping the weather clears up by the weekend.

The sound is absolutely stunning! House sounds great, monitors sound killer, it’s a sure fire way to get me smiling. Our special guests came in today, very very exciting. I’ll let you know on Saturday who this suprise guest is. I’m anticipating something very awesome. Feels like God is up to something. ‘Bout to get a haircut… did I mention Eros Shaw is the world’s greatest barber?

For some reason I had the hardest time waking up this morning. I was just sleeping so good. If this keeps up I may actually catch up to 1993 on my sleep! We did some shopping at Green Market Square today, it’s like a flea market. Got some cool local stuff. Met some really beautiful and interesting people.

Jayme, Mike, Marvin and our local team led by and incredible man named Ezra got the stage set, and all the speakers mounted today. Starting to feel really good on the technical front. So far we are exactly on schedule. We’ve had a few changes but nothing way out of the ordinary. I was told that all the tickets for both show’s are gone, and people are requesting to line up overnight for standing room only space. INCREDIBLE!! SCARY!!, EXCITING!!

The rest of the team flew in today. Eros Shaw our barber also flew in so trust me….. I’m happy! I was starting to look a little bit frightening! We had an outstanding dinner and time of prayer at Ezra’s home tonight with every body, so sweet.

Everyone seems to have a front-footed stance of anticipation about this week. It does feel like a project, it feels like an assignment. Please continue to pray for us!!! it’s late I’m tired and unlike today I do not get to sleep in tomorrow.

Check in with you tomorrow night.

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We have been on the continent of Africa for exactly a week. What a week it has been so far. We’ve been in some of the best church services ever. Our journey first took us to Harare, Zimbabwe to attend the Jabula Conference hosted by Bishop Tudor Bismark.

Truly life changing!!

We had an incredible time in concert last night and tried some of the new material. “Not Forgotten”, “Away” and “No Limits” seemed to really work. It is definitely raising my anticipation for Cape Town.

We landed in Cape Town about 1:00 PM today. We were all pretty tired after waking up at 4:30 AM but we were suddenly rejuvenated when we heard authentic African drums welcoming US! It was awesome.

Checked out the venue tonight (His People Center). Killer!! This is going to be something special.

I’ll up date you tomorrow. Keeps us in your prayers.

Welcome to Israel & New Breed’s Journal! GOSPELflava.com has hooked up with Israel and his New Breed team, who are on location in Cape Town, South Africa, to prepare and set up for their live recording on August 20th, for their next Integrity Gospel album, Live in South Africa.

Stay tuned as Israel checks in frequently to give you the behind-the-scenes scoop on everything going on at the bottom of the globe. In South Africa!!!