Saturday, December 16, 2006

shout outs and overviews

For those who haven't heard, we have arrived safely back in the States! After many, many hours of travel and a day that never ended (we did gain back 14 hours afterall), we arrived safely back to greet the staff and our counterparts who'd gotten back from Bolivia. It was a bittersweet occasion to say the least. We are glad to be back, but we will for sure miss Taiwan too.

Much has happened in the month we've been gone. I know the Lord has continually stretched me, and I'm sure the rest of my team, out of our comfort zones and blessed us tremendously in the process. Sandra, our translator, was one of the most amazing gifts to all of us by far! We are priviledged to have gotten to spend a month with her and are going to miss her very much. I also wanted to give a shout out to all the other YWAMers we came in contact with. Thank you for your passion for the Lord. Your desires to serve Him are truly inspiring and we can't thank you enough for all that you are doing there and all that you did to bless us as a team. And to those who came out to see us at our concerts in Taiwan, thanks for being such great audiences! We had a blast and pray for you all.

On average we did 2 concerts a day, though we were spoiled and had a few days off to go shopping, do laundry, go to Taipei 101, whatever we wanted. We played in universities, prisons, school, parks, churches, just about anywhere that would let us in, or out as the case may be (we played many outdoor concerts). Overall, it was an amazing experience that can't quite be captured on paper. Nonetheless, there will be many stories to come. So, keep checking back for more. For now, though, thanks for the continued support. We greatly appreciated your prayers as we were overseas (even though we weren't able to communicate directly here) and now while we're back in the States. You guys have been wonderful! I hope this holiday season is treating you well!

Friday, December 08, 2006

More from Taiwan

Here's another post via e-mail from Tiffany:

So, we have less than a week left here in Taiwan and I can't begin to tell y'all how amazing it has been. Oh the stories we will have to share once we can access this site agai But for now, I wanted to share with you something I was challenged with earlier today.

I've been reading through David Crowder's Praise Habit. I thought it would be appropriate and I've heard it's a good book, so I brought it along. Let me tell you, a-mazing! It's been very challenging and encouraging for me to go along with my devos. Being a worship leader himself (in Texas, but also ever heard of the David Crowder Band?), it's been great to have some insight related to praise in this time when we're doing music often (that is our foot in the door for ministry, right?). Moving along, in this chapter he's been talking about Psalm 50--go check it out for context, and here's part of what I read:

"He states that He doesn't find fault with Israel's blood sacrifices. But then He begins to question. He asks why He should want them? Did He not creat the bull and goat? Do we think he is hungry and in need of them to feast on... Then after this rhetorical line of questioning, He makes what I think could be a defining statement for our understanding of praise. The sacrifice God is looking for. . . praise.

What?... Let's try to reframe GOD's address and perhaps make it cut a little more for our moment.

'I don't find fault with your singing of songs. But do you think I'm in great need of music? Do you think it is too quiet where I am? Did I not make the air molecules to vibrate and dance in such a way to let melody float from here to there? Do you think I am in great need of hearing these songs that were my breathings in the first place?' "

Ouch. Now, don't get me wrong, God's rebukes are definitely loving. It's things I believe wholeheartedly but then lose sight of in the midst of travelling from here to there and doing two to four shows a day (in Taiwan two to three). I want so badly to sound great for the Lord, and then I lose sight at times of what or Who I'm doing this for in the first place. I've been challenged lately that while I want to sing well for the Lord, that's not what's most important. Sharing the love of Jesus is what counts, loving on people is first priority, and if I'm so wrapped up in the music and how much I want to praise God just through that, then I'm really missing the point of why I'm here. Our ministry is more than music, and if my heart's desire is to truly live in such a way where praise is my habit, then I need to get beyond the music and learn to praise Him in the midst of every day life. Singing does not equal praise, and while I've known that somewhere in my mind, it's a great reminder especially for this season in my life.

Anyway, that's all I've got for you for now. I hope all of you are well! We'll be state-side again soon, so keep those prayers coming and keep checking back for updates. -Tiffany

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Brief update from Taiwan

Tiffany sent this along for me to post:

Greetings one and all! We have not intentionally neglected any of you, our faithful readers. However, we do not have access to this website, thus we have been remiss.

Our time in Taiwan has been good thus far, we have had no casualties and few illnesses to speak of, so that's a praise! We are halfway through our trip and wishing we could have shared more with you up to this point, but there will be many stories to come! So, you'll just have to wait in hopeful anticipation till then. For now, we appreciate your prayers and support. Stay tuned for stories, more pictures and all kinds of goodies from our trip. Thanks for your patience and sorry about the technical difficulties.

-Tiffany on behalf of 14:22

Friday, November 17, 2006

Safe arrival...

An e-mail from our contact in Taiwan, received this morning, lets us know that the team has made it safely (albeit tired!) to Taipei!

Keep looking here for updates, either from the team or from us here in the office.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Hello Taiwan!

It's come up quick, but we are back in Willmar and preparing to head off overseas for a month. It has been a whirlwind so far and we are excited about all the Lord has in store for our international tour! Just wanted to touch base before we headed out and say thanks for the prayers. Keep them coming!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Yeah, Nyssa!

We are currently in Idaho, having a wonderful time. We've been here for four days now (well, four nights at least, so technically today would be day five) and we're having a fabulous time. Our hosts are taking wonderful care of us!

I just wanted to give a shout out to The Lighthouse in Nyssa, OR. What a wonderful church family! We were all blessed to meet and spend time with the people there. Our team was given the opportunity to take over service and lead worship, do one of our dramas and give two testimonies. Each person in the congregation was an absolutely joy and blessed us tremendously. Thanks, Lighthouse, for everything! It has been a pleasure.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Comments

I'm not sure why, but all of a sudden I had 26 comments to moderate- some a week or more old. So there are some new comments on some old posts for everyone's reading pleasure.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Hello world

It was brought to my attention last night that in our busyness, we have neglected to mention on here where we are going internationally. So, without further delay, the winner is.... *drum roll please* TAIWAN. Our team will be leaving in less than a month for one month's time to work with a YWAM base there. VERY exciting. Be sure to stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Closing of the Prison Tour

Well yesterday we had our last concert with Prisoners for Christ. For the last two weeks we have been traveling around the Seattle area to a bunch of different detention centers, rehabilitation centers, and prisons; doing between 1 and 4 concerts a day! Prisons have become one of my favorite places to play. We have had our most lively interactive crowds at prisons, and our most "singing to a brick wall like" crowds. Either way it has been a really good excperience just knowing that most of the people in the room aren't Christians, and you know that the've had some not so good things going on in there lives. Going into these places we were able to be one of the few outside influences on the prisoners. Through the many prisons I've been in and out of in the last couple weeks, we have seen God doing work through us. We've seen people laugh, sing along, cry on several occasions, and have had people ask us some good questions.

-We played in a juvenile maximum security cottage one day, and afterwards they let us spend time with the kids. I got to talk with quite a few of the guys, and one of the girls there actually asked us to pray for her, so the girls on my team got to pray with her.-Another day we went to a rehab center (where the prisoners go shortly before they are released back into society.) We just brought acoustic guitars in and sang some songs with them, including a few songs by request. The people in charge there had us stay an hour past when we were supposed to leave, just because the guys there talked and interacted with us so much. Which appatently they have a hard time getting them to interact with anyone.

-Then just last night we played at another juvenile center. I actually have family in the Seattle area (the Taylors) and they met up with me and I took them to prison! Aren't I a nice guy. Yeah we were able to get two more passes for them and they came in and watched the concert. The concert went very well. Most of the kids were pretty receptive to it. After the concert we were allowed to shake the kids hands. One of them asked us were to find the story of peter denying the Lord three times. Another kid asked my to write a note in his Bible for him. That was pretty cool, I just wrote a note encouraging him to keep following after the Lord. Also after the concert the Chaplain informed us that the Lord had really touched one of the counselors who was in the room that night, through our service. He said the music, the drama, and just the way we interacted really made an impact on this counseler. Apparently the guy had kinda been on the edge, really struggling with his faith, and the Chaplian said he thinks our ministry may have saved a marriage that night. It's always neat to see the direct results of the Lord using us.

Signing off

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Time for another blog :-)

Well hello and g'day everyone. I thought it was about time I did another blog so here goes......

We've been kept very busy the past week and a half. Leslie, our Prisoners for Christ contact, has been taking us to all these prisons and detention centers around the Seattle area. We've been doing 2, 3, sometimes 4 concerts a day, and traveling lots in our big green van. Most nights we haven't gotten home until 11, 12 and even 1am sometimes. So I think it's fair to say we're all pretty exhausted right now! We'd really appreciate your prayers for energy, enthusiasm and also health. A few of us have been fighting the deadly cold/flu thingy that loves small, close groups of people.

The prisons and detention centers have been an eye-opening experience for me. I had no idea what they were like, but now I'm getting used to all the security and seeing the inmates in rubber flip-flops and orange overalls. Do Americans call them overalls? Just wondering. Those all in one suit thingys where the pants are joined to the top. Anyway, they're not very flattering. It's hard to imagine sometimes these people are actually criminals. When you get the opportunity to talk to them, most of them seem pretty ordinary type people. It's kinda weird knowing you're being watched by security cameras all the time. We walk through corridors and have to wait for every door to be opened. By the time we get to the door, it unlocks by itself because the security people can see you're there waiting to get through. I'm glad they let us through! Prisons are not very inviting.....just in case you were wondering! Lots of cement.

Well well, enough reflections on prison life. Time for some well earned rest I think.

Goodnight.

Mosaic Ohana!

We seem to be lacking in our blogging abilities lately, so thought I'd step up to the plate and take a shot at it, yet again. We're still in the Seattle area, been keeping super busy with Prisoners For Christ (thanks, Leslie, for hooking us up ALL over the state), which has been amazing. It's different absolutely everywhere we go, but it's been a blast. We've also done a couple school chapels (what's up, NSCS and SCS?!). That's been a blast. My father had us over one night for two fabulous meals, we've also gotten to lead worship at a church in the area. Needless to say, it's been busy but wonderful.

On a more personal note, I also have gotten to see my family, which is always important, this being my hometown and all. We just spent the evening with my small group, or at least most of the team did anyway. What a blessing! The welcomed all of us with open arms, as is the New Hope way, and blessed each of us tremendously. Thanks for being so wonderful, friends! It was wonderful to see you once more.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Shocking Illustration

This is us learning how to play the best game ever invented..




This is us about six hours later, discovering the full potential of this amazing device!



Friday, October 13, 2006

Simply shocking

So I'm out spending a week on the road with the team in splendid Seattle...

After spending the morning with the awesome kids and staff of North Sound Christian School (congratulations to all of you who sold lots of magazines & stuff...) we spent the day hanging out with Tiffany's dad, who cooked us up two amazing meals.

But it was the time between the meals that will be remembered, for during that time, we were introduced to what we can only describe as the "shock game." Forget the hot tub, puzzles, various wooden parlor games, Jenga made from 2X4's and pick-up-sticks on the scale of lawn darts... this one had us all captivated.

It goes down like this: up to four people grab one of the game's removeable metal handles with a button on top. A red light in the middle of the game flashes while a nerve-wracking and altogether musically non-pleasing theme song blares on for a random amount of time. The light eventually turns green and the music stops... at which point you are supposed to press the button on top of your handle. If you're the last one to buzz in, (or if you jump the gun) this thing shocks the eyeballs right out of your head.

It's got two intensity levels, and an "extreme" setting where EVERYONE gets lit up when the light turns green except the first person to press their button.

We played this game for hours. I don't know why.

Christian and Josiah definately pushed the envelope with some of their more "creative" handle-holding techniques. I suspect some video footage might be posted here eventually.

These boys aint right...

Saturday, October 07, 2006

yeah, Pacific timezone!

So, we're not exactly in my hometown yet, but we have officially changed timezones and are now in my home state. Needless to say, I'm really excited! In less than week I'll be home and introducing my wonderful team to many of my friends and family.

In the meantime, here we are on the eastern side of Washington, meeting more wonderful people. We did back to back concerts tonight and had a crazy (in a good way) responsive audience. It was definitely exillerating. It's been neat seeing our team grow more and more in the weeks we've been together, through work and through play. We're learning more and more about each other and I have definitely been challenged in my relationship with the Lord. He is growing all of us individually and together. Words can't begin to desribe all the Lord has done and is doing, but I'm so thankful and blessed to be part of this ministry for this year.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Finally, Internet access!

Finally, I'm able to get online to do a blog! I've been without internet access for a week which is why I haven't blogged for ages :-)

Well we've been having a great time on tour so far. I'm loving the long drives in the van - especially really early in the morning....I got some great piccies on Adam's camera this morning of the sunrise. I'm also loving meeting all our amazing host families! You guys who have housed us and welcomed us into your homes have been such a blessing! This ministry would not happen without your generous hospitality, so thankyouthankyouthankyou!

I've particularly enjoyed the highschool chapel services we've done. You highschoolers really get into it and your energy spurs us on! Looking forward to many to come :-)

bye for now,
Carolyn

Washington, here we come!

Needless to say, I'm more than a little excited that as of tomorrow we will be in my home state. In less than a week my team will be introduced to many of my friends and family. I'm super excited! Of course, I don't want to overlook all the wonderful people we've met along the way so far. I'm hanging out at my host fam's, doing laundry, checking e-mail and of course updating all of you wonderful people about what's up with us.

We have spent the last week or so running (okay, driving) all over Montana for these great shows. I wrote about one or two of them already, but wanted to give a shout out to some of the other places we've hit. Helena, where we were a few days ago, was a blast. Had a great time with the students and our host fams. Last night we did a concert at a church in Boulder (don't know where that is? That's right, it's a quaint town out in Montana) -- had a good time doing a show last night there. Got up super early, and drove into Manhattan, where we will spend our last night in Montana for this tour (at least if I'm remembering correctly, you can check the website if you want to know for sure). All in all, second week in, we're all still alive and kicking and can't wait meet even more of you.

Blessings

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

no worries, we rock on!

What's up, Montana! That's right, we have not gone silent intentionally. Rather, we have been without internet access for a week. We apologize for our lack of communication. We've talked about it but been without means to an end. So here I write.

We are well into our second week on the road and have had many adventures thus far! On Sunday night we performed our longest concert yet (by far!) -- 2 1/2 hours. Let me tell you, it was an honor to take part of an outreach like that in Boulder, MT. Things went off rather well, although we did incur some injuries. One of the most memorable to speak of was one of our dear guitarists, who made a leap off stage in the middle of a song, went to leap back up and missed. He's got some war wounds for sure to speak of. We hope that very gracious moment was caught on film. We shall see.

Other than that, it has been different living out of a suitcase and living off of the amazing hospitality of others. Thanks to those who have hosted us along the way! We have all been MOST blessed by all of you. More to come, and soon hopefully...

Monday, September 25, 2006

And we're off!

For those who have been following along, and I know you all have, we are underway in our first tour! Granted we only left a few days ago, but it's still exciting nonetheless. Our first official weekend away was a blast -- here's a shout out to First Lutheran in Fargo, it was a blast! We're off to Concordia University for the day next and then... well, you can look at our tour schedule if you're really wanting to know.

More to come...

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Counting down the hours and asking for prayer

Guess it's bout time I did me furst post on this here thing.

Well this is our last week in Willmar MN. Saturday we head off on the west coast tour. We will be on the road for 7 weeks straight! We will be playing several times each week, sometimes more than once a day, and we will be in a different host home almost every night. Right now I think I am more excited than I am nervous, which I suppose is a good thing. Please pray for both us and 14:21. We still have quite a few details to fill in before we leave this weekend, some of us feel more prepared than others, but I believe that with the Lord's help everyhting will fall into place.

Please pray that we would all keep our focus where it should be, that our personal devotional lives would flourish, that our teams would hold together with a common goal of glorifying God and furthering His kindgdom, that our music would become second nature to us in order that we might be able to lead others into worship more effectively, and that spending time with the Lord and doing what He has called us to individually, would become, and remain our top priority. Also, please pray for the people we are going to minister to, that the Lord would prepare and soften their hearts for whatever it is He wants to do through us.

I beleive that the Lord has some great things He wants to do through us this year, and I don't want to pass up any opporitunities. Thank you all who are already praying for us. There is power in prayer, and once you believe that, it becomes even more powerfull. I think if we could see the battels being fought in the heavenly realms when we pray, we would be so much more inclined to pray and almost have no reason to stop praying. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. I know, we can't always see what is going on when we pray, but that is the very deffinition of faith! The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! And Jesus said that if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains, wow, I mean seriously just read Hebrews chapter 11! All those things were done just by faith! Faith is believing something to be so, that we have no evidence for. Believing, seeing, precieveing it as you have prayed that it would be, without the actual tangiblility of it. Prayer accompanied by genuine faith is invaluablely preicious to us.

Thank you for praying for us, please continue to do so. Being backed by prayer makes us infinitely more effective than we would be with out it.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Reflections

G'day g'day. Well I reckon it's about time I posted to the blog here! I've been having a ripper of a time with CTI so far. The staff are so nice, encouraging, supportive, funny, and generally overall splendiferous! (my team mate, Jonathan, came up with that word the other day and I love it, I'm gonna steal it and use it!) My team mates are also fantastic. We've had a lot of fun times together over the past 4 weeks of training. It's been great to get to know each other and I look forward to growing so much closer over the next year.

We enter our final week of training tomorrow.....I'd say we all have a fair amount of excitement but also nervousness at the thought that this time next week we'll be out in the big wide world doing what we've been training for!

It's been great to do a concert, 4 church services, and a workshop already while we are still in training. You guys at St. Stephen's Lutheran in St. Paul and Evangelical Covenant in Alexandria were such a great bunch of people. Thanks for being so welcoming and hospitable. We had heaps of fun and it gave us a good taste for what it's gonna be like on the road.

We would appreciate prayer as we put everything together this last week. Strength, health, and enough mental capacity so our brains don't explode with all the stuff we need to retain!

Thanks and God bless,
Carolyn

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Alexandria: The Birthplace of America....and me

To everyone in Alexandria and Evengelical Covenent Church!!

Thanks for the great time this weekend. Thanks to those who came to the workshop. It was a privilege to come and worship with you all this morning. Thanks for your prayers and your support of CTI.

Our team took a picture under Alexandria's most reconizable man....

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Greetings!

Hey, what's up?! It has been an exciting month (or, close to a month anyway) since our arrival! I figured it was time for me to put my two cents in. So here we go...

As you've read from others who have posted, we experienced our first weekend of shows/church services, and let me tell you, it was a learning experience. The Lord has been incredibly faithful to see us all through making it out here and I know he will continue to be faithful to grow us more and more individually as well as together. I am excited to see what is in store for us this year! I also look forward to meeting many of you as well.

Blessings!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Yeah St. Stephens!!!

St. Stephens,
Thanks for letting us come and hangout with you guys...and for stomaching our first concert. I know we had a lot of fun meeting you all and getting wet during the rally.

God Bless and I hope to see you again!!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

See you in Saint Paul!

...well, West Saint Paul, anyway. 1422 makes their first public appearance this weekend. I'm declaring myself an honorary member and riding along. We have a youth/family concert tonight and are taking part in worship tomorrow morning.

First concerts can be pretty nerve-wracking, so please remember the teams this weekend. We stil have a lot of ground to cover in the last two weeks of training, but tonight it stops being abstract and becomes concrete!

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Well its official

I guess since my face and bio is now up on the internet, this CTI thing is really happening. Right now we are in training and things are going well. We have our first booking this weekend at a church in St. Paul. I think I can speak for the rest of the group and say that we are a bit nervous. Please pray for us over the next few days that our nerves will go away and we will feel ready and confident for this comming weekend.

Hopefully many post to come!

Christian

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Welcome

Welcome to CTI 14:22's one and only official blog! Members of the team will be posting their thoughts on their CTI experience here periodically.

And YOU, dear viewing public, are invited to respond! You can't post directly, but you can all comment on existing posts! Your comments are subject to moderation (that means I have to approve them before they go live) so keep them family friendly, OK?

Be sure to check out the team's bios, pictures and other posts on CTImusic.org- just click the "CTI Music Ministries" link to the right. Their tour schedule can be found there as well.

Happy commenting!
-Chris Reed
CTI Program Director / Blog moderator