Lessons Learned on the Road

I really wish Blogger let me upload the HD versions of these, the compressed ones don't do it justice...Facebook is getting some larger ones....

Paul Comes to Town!

We are SOOOOO stinkin' happy that Paul is on the road with us. For me it's even more special because it brings back fantastic memories of our past tours together. I have had the pleasure to travel to Singapore on a CTI team with Paul, AND lead a team to Guadalajara Mexico with him as well. Needless to say, it feels good to be on the road with him again.
I would venture to say that Paul is enjoying his time just as much as we are...even though we put him to work almost as soon as he got here ;-)

Morning services in Gilbert, AZ

My apologies

This video started out as a better concept than it turned into. This will be the worst video I post to the blog. If you have anything you'd like to see a video of (what we eat/eating candy/etc) post a comment with ideas.

This video was based off of some thoughts pre show. It somewhat walks you through the physical and the spiritual aspects of getting ready for a concert.... Again, rough, not great, worst that you'll see from me on this blog. 

-ed

The Great Divide

So, we originally planned today to be not only a driving day from Las Vegas to Phoenix, but we had also thought we would visit the Grand Canyon on our way out. This morning, we decided to nix the visit since it would add at least another 3 hours of driving time to our already 7 hour road trip and move it to next week when we have a few days of no concerts. We were all fine with this plan and still got to see the Hoover Dam when we crossed the Nevada-Arizona boarder, which was a pretty phenomenal site to behold.

All in all, we had planned a non-eventful driving day.
But of course God had other plans.

We stopped for lunch in Bullhead, AZ. Instead of frequenting a fast food chain as per usual, we decided to eat at a grocery store instead- eat healthier and, for the boys, get rotisserie chickens to split. Bullhead is in the Mojave desert and not a very big town- in short, assumed to be non-eventful for us. After we paid for our food (which we saved $4 on because my family's old phone number was still in the store's system- score!), we scouted a couple tables next to the deli that we were going to sit and eat at before we continued on our long journey.
Then it happened. As we reached the tables, a middle aged couple sat down with their coffee and donuts on the end, leaving only 6 seats for the 7 of us. Dang it! So, we began to sit down anyway and kind of squeeze 4 of us onto 3 seats (nothing I would recommend for everyday dining) and they began to talk to us. To me, this automatically sends me to my introverted place that always wonders why people can't just follow the social norm and ignore each other. Note: I am naturally a pretty introverted person who doesn't just naturally open myself up to the unknown, including nice people in grocery stores- I mean, you never know how people will react, right?! Luckily, I travel in a group with Carl and Nate who both thrive on social interaction (socialists, perhaps?) and opened up right away to the couple, Dean and Dolly. We told them why we were traveling through, who CTI was.... the usual conversation for us when we meet people not familiar with the ministry.
Then we got to know why they were there: ministry. They live in the Bullhead area and have been regulars at the grocery store for years. The reason they choose to have coffee and donuts at the grocery store is because they willingly and actively place themselves in a position where they can meet people coming through and share the love of Christ with. My jaw dropped- seriously?! How crazy is that! Here we are, a bunch of ragged-looking missionaries, and we sat down to a couple who have taken the Great Commission to heart and are living it out in their own community! I mean, who else but God could arrange that?
We talked for a while over lunch, exchanging life stories, why we have committed to the ministries we have and the blessings and hardships of living out those ministries. We then prayed together and for each other, we gave them our website and ministry info to look into, and then went our separate ways. By the time of our parting, I was just amazed at how remarkable my day had just turned out to be. I started the day off by thinking that, since it was a traveling day, I wouldn't have to socialize much- even with my own team. Next thing I know, I'm speaking to two very awesome strangers, listening to their histories and witnessing how the Lord is using His people to spread the news of His glory in a unique way in a common place- the grocery store.

I guess I can say I have learned/re-learned/been reminded of two things:
1) That we really are a body- I may be awesome at some things, like organization and rocking the bass, but I really fall short in the being-able-to-reach-out-right-away-to-others thing without help. I truly believe this is why we are told in the Bible that we can remain strong in Christ best through community.
2) That Christ calls us to take a leap of faith in our lives. Yes, it is initially to trust that He is Lord and give ourselves completely to Him, but that call doesn't end there. Everyday we are called to exhibit the love of Christ to all those around us and remain open to His love in anyway it manifests- even in people. We must be willing to cross the great divide we humans have created between each other. Like the Grand Canyon, it looks massive- like one could never even hope to get across by just jumping. However, once we make that leap and take a chance on others, we realize that the footing has been there all along-- it just happened to be glass, requiring us to act on faith rather than our limited sensory experiences.

So, even though we didn't make it to the Grand Canyon today, I still got to see it. I faced my own fears about stepping up to the edge of that glass floor and was forced to deal with them by my team. Well, God through my team. I can't say I'm cured of my fear of the unknown person, however I do believe I am a little more willing to take that step of faith I am called to now. What about you?

So I noticed that no videos have been posted to our official blog since Nov. In light of that, I wanted to highlight some of the beauty of the land we have been driving through on our journey. 

-ed

BEAUTY in the BODY

BEAUTY. This is the one word that I would use if I was to describe the tour so far. I have seen so many beautiful things. Some of them the nature of God's creation like the canyons, mountains, and beaches. Other things like the attitudes and generosity of our contacts and host homes. But the most beautiful thing I have seen so far is the body of Christ at work.
Like in 1 Corinthians 12 where it talks about how we are like a body with many parts, each so important and we cannot say to one part we don't need you. This has been so clear to me as we travel from city to city and state to state. I have seen a lot of people, met many different faces, and ministered alongside various denominations. Every where I have been I am reminded that each of us are made differently with different gifts and that's what makes the body work so well. If we all had the same heart for the same people, many would fall through the cracks and never experience the love of Christ. One youth worker in Greely, CO ministers to "unchurched" kids, while another in Wellington, CO encourages the ones who "know it all", then one school in Fort Collins, CO has kids with hearts for Christ, while the next one in Los Angeles, CA we are sent to just needs to know God is there for them, then we go to a jail in Washington that has many who are hopeless, while the next one in Denver, CO we instead are blessed with their passion. Needless to say that is the BEAUTY that makes me fall deeper in love with a God who loves variety and has placed each one of us somewhere where we are able to be a part of the body of Christ. I just count it a privalege to see so many parts of the body of Christ at work this year.

Basking in the BEAUTY,
Carrie

Viva Las Vegas

Our time in Vegas was great.We got to stay with some of Sara's family, see the strip, have a day completely off, and play 4 shows in one day. While the day off might possibly beat the previous best day on tour (the day off in Warroad where we never even got dressed for the day) another fun part was going into the Christian Elementary School on our day off to teach the 3rd grade music classes. We played an acoustic rendition of Hallelujah Jesus while teaching them to play the drums and maracas. They even brought in the 2nd graders to see us. It was great that they think we're rock stars. It gives us a better platform to speak from, and they feel so much cooler since we're taking time out of our day to teach their classes. I really enjoyed our visit and would love to go back.

Lessons for the Gretch

I've been shown two things this past week, and I want to share them both with you.

#1
I was reading in Romans the other day and I was struck pretty hard with this passage: "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Ro. 5:3-5 ESV). I was struggling with a couple things during the week and I was feeling so guilty because I couldn't get over it. I kept telling myself, "Gretchen, you're stronger than this! Gretchen, you are more mature than this! Gretchen, just let it go! Gretchen...WHY do you do this to yourself!?" And when I read this I was just reminded that I am going to have struggles just like everyone else. I think there's this misconception, or expectation (whether we place it on ourselves or it's placed on us from the outside) that because we're "missionaries" everything is going to be all glorious all the time and we're never going to have spiritual or emotional struggle because we're in constant ministry and always talking about God and such. Well, that's just not the case. No matter where we are in our Faith, we're still fallen people...we're still going to make mistakes. And then it happened! I related what was happening to one of our rep songs! Yes, yes, a testimony was born in this moment. It was quite humorous for me because I sing the song Sometimes and Carrie or I talk about this song at every single concert. But it's always been something that we're TEACHING, how "we're all going to fall; we're all going to make mistakes. But when we do, we fall into grace...delight in THAT, don't get caught up in the mistake; get caught up in the grace that follows". This day however, it was a lesson I was LEARNING.

#2
Let me tell you about Carrie really quick...
she's so awesome! Man, I'm so glad I've gotten to know her. I love her! You know how sometimes people ask you how you're doing and you can tell they really don't care what your answer is, they're just asking you out of obligation? Well, it's not like that with Carrie...not at all! Every time she asks me how I am or if she can do anything to help me...even if she asks me several times a day, I know she's being sincere; I know she cares about the answer I give her.

So yeah. Just thought I'd share those lessons with you all...because they've been a blessing to me. Hope they are to you as well.

So long for now.

The Beauty of it all...

So today carl and I had the oportunity togo hiking on the Colorado National Monument, outside of Grand Junction, CO. What beauty! I've seen mountains before, shoot, I've even been on and fell off mountains before! But this is my first trip to the "south western" US area, and I've have never had the pleasure of rampaging around in the "red rocks" of Western Colorado, and the veiws we had were simply breathtaking. Carl and I were constantly muttering out loud (which we do almost inceasantly anyway) about the beauty of God's creation, musing about what creative prowess, and deliberating as to wheather or not we had indeed found the perfect place to pee (we never did, or if we did find it, we didn't make proper use of it!).

Allow me to change gears for a minute (actually, you have no choice, i'm switching gears, willy-nilly as it were. You're only other option is to stop reading right now! But please don't...). We've had some incredible ministry experiences, both that we observed in others or were done to us by others. One of the latest of which was performed in the city of Greely, CO. We had the amazing opportunity of playing at the YFC's Higher Grounds coffee house/skate park. The Audience we had there was not our usual audience of church kids or Christian schoolers. These were the un-churched, or maybe even anti-church kids. And while we felt we were out of our league with them, both the kids and the folks who work there are simply incredible. Without going into any of the specifics, we were informed of how a church in the area had requested that the YFC staff STOP recomending their church to the kids who went to the skate park as they (the kids) made some of the members uneasy. At first I was livid, and wanted to go tell those so and so's what was up. But it was some something that Ryan, the YFC Director said that called me on my attitude- he said that he was not willing to complain or criticize anyopne or thing without attempting to be a part of the solution. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that by my critical attitude I was actually perpetuating the cycle. Carrie reinforced that today in our team meeting when the issue was brought up when she said "it's easy to go around pointing fingers at the darkness, but it's a whole different thing altogether to go and shine a light there" (my paraphrase, as I can't remember verbatim what she said). And I was once again reminded of what an incredible ministry oportunity we have with CTI. We get to go around, and try to shine light into these places, both the churches and the non-churches. To be an example of Christ's love, of the Gospel's extension to all people. And to me that is such a beautiful thing...

While the beautiful remains, I am also convicted by all of this. First of my attitude- if I allow that anger to fester and mature in me, then I will be rendered inefective as a minister in that I will not be able to love those peole who have angered me. Secondly, I am the same as them. I point my finger at them and say "aha, you're the problem" or "I can't believe you are that cold" and I am the same. I do it to them, or to other that don't meat my criteria of "Coolness" or whatever. This is such a struggle for me, being of a naturally self righteous bent. But I'm wrong, and I know I am. God, change my heart on this. Make me able to love those who I believe to have wronged others the same way that you do. Give me Your eyes in all of this. Create in me a clean heart, oh God. And teach me to love as You have loved me.

Some churches...

remind us of certain people. This one in Nebraska reminded us of Paul Vasilko.
So we took pictures.

Prison Ministry

I’d like to highlight one facet of our ministry. When we go into Prisons or Detention Centers, we are faced with two potential crowds. The first is the crowd that came willingly, already Christian, and VERY receptive to the Gospel and our music (standing/singing/shouting Amen during testimonies/etc). The other crowd is the people who decided to come just for something different/a break from the monotony of everyday life. The receptive ones are some of the best crowds we ever play for. We usually mostly play uptempo songs, with worship thrown in and a more evangelistic testimony. We’ll work with any normal standards that the group we’re playing for has. Last Weds we played for a weekly group that meets at FCI (Federal Correctional Institution) Englewood. We found out ahead of time that they usually do hymns/worship with a guy playing guitar with people randomly picking from the audience (and shouting it out of course), along with Bible study. So at the end of our set, since we had more time, we let them shout out some songs and if we knew them, we’d play them. One of the songs was He Reigns by the Newsboys. At first Eric said he didn’t know the chords, someone in back shouted F-C-G. So Eric and Nate figured out the progression, and they started to play. The next problem was figuring out/remembering the words. That wasn’t going so well, so when we noticed two of the guys there were singing it, they were invited up on stage to lead the song. It was great seeing them singing it with all the guys in the room (over 100) singing along. For me, these concerts make up for the ones in churches or schools where we are welcomed with lackadaisical clapping, or significantly less than whole-hearted worship. I’m not saying all churches/schools are like that, but we’ve had our share.

An example Testimony

I’d like to pass on an example testimony, one that I used onstage at a prison tonight. Not word for word, but the same ideas/concept.

To let you know a little bit more about myself, I grew up outside of Washington, D.C. I’m 22 years old with 11 of those years being spent working on sound equipment. But I’d like to highlight some of the highs and lows since I’ve been involved with CTI.

I first heard about CTI in December 2006 at the Urbana missions conference. I was looking for some form of an outlet for my Audio/Visual background and it seemed to be a perfect fit since I like Rock music, and always wanted to tour with a band. The added bonus is that it was in a Christian context. So in January I signed up for a short term mission trip with CTI to go to Honduras for a month with a similar band. Since that point about 2 years ago I’ve seen some incredible things. In Honduras I got the chance to see the beauty of God’s creation in a totally new way (jungle covered mountains, 100+ ft. waterfalls, lemurs....). I got to worship with fellow believers in a different language. We’d play a song in English that they knew in Spanish and be able to worship God in a totally new way. The following school year was my senior year, and I managed to pass with a Physics degree, writing an 86 page thesis (a miracle in and of itself considering how poorly I did in some theoretical classes). Now I’m touring for a full year (August to August) with a band spreading the news of Jesus. In October we got to go to the Philippines where I could get up in the morning (for the first week) and watch the sunrise over a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean (literally with me IN the pacific Ocean).

Along with that came some new lows. Less than 3 weeks after I got back from Honduras, a friend I worked with committed suicide. I was with him Monday at the end of the work day, and at some point before work the next day he killed himself. It’s the sort of thing that wears on you, because you end up thinking “was I the last person to have a conversation with him.... could I have done anything else differently to change the outcome...” etc. Earlier this year the grandfather that I’m named for passed away while we were training and heading out on the road for the first time, so I missed the funeral. Then in the fall my dad had a major stroke, and my electronics got run over (not to put those on the same level though).

All of this happened while I have been working as a music “missionary”/with a music ministry. God doesn’t promise us an easy life. We don’t get $1,000,000 for accepting Him into our lives. But He does promise that He is coming back to renew our lives, to take away all sin, and all suffering. Even creation waits to be fulfilled (and the next time you see a pacific ocean sunrise, think that it will get even better some day). So if you know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him, take heart and know that there IS hope, that no matter how low your life seems to get, there IS a light at the end, and that God can work all things to good. If you don’t know Jesus, let me tell you that He is Lord of this Earth, created all this beauty for our enjoyment, and that He loves you. If you want to know more, please talk to the Prison Fellowship staff who meet here every Monday night, talk to us after the show if there’s time before they take out you, or ask Him yourself to show Him to you. He never fails to disappoint anyone who actively seeks His face.

Thank you.

P.S.

Ok....we're all a little sad that we weren't able to hide that lovely news spot from our adoring fans. So, what I want to say is this: Please keep in mind that we had just spent 10 hours in a van and didn't find out about this news cast until 3 hours before it happened. Thus, we do not look like the beautiful people that we really are.
That is all.

14:22 Featured on Local Newscast

CTI Team 14:22 was recently featured on a nightly newscast in North Platte, Nebraska.  They are working with the local Youth for Christ chapter there.  

Here's a link to the story.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all.

We'll see you on tour shortly...

No Failure in Obedience

Last Monday ended Partnership Drive for team 14:22, and I can confidently say that that last night of calling our supporters is the one I will not soon forget. It was really only one conversation that I had which sets the night apart for me. I was talking to this guy who I could tell just wanted to get off the phone and go back to whatever it was he was doing. So I said, "Well, before I let you go, is there anything that we could be praying for you for as a ministry"?

"::Long Pause::...Really?"

"Yeah. We pray together as teams before we start work, and we would love to pray for you".

He thought for a minute and then, through his cracking voice, he said, "If you guys could pray for my wife...she's really sick". I could tell he was trying not to cry and that he was really uncomfortable so I just said that we would definitely be doing that and I closed the conversation. As soon as I hung up the phone though, it was as if I could feel the Holy Spirit pulling at my heart strings, "Gretch...why didn't you pray with him THEN? I gave you the perfect opportunity".

At first I just didn't want to pay attention to that. Yeah sure, I didn't think to pray for him over the phone because I was so taken off guard by the guy trying not to cry. But, alas, the moment had passed and now it was too late. I wasn't going to beat myself up about it because there's nothing I can do.

"You can call him back Gretch".

I'm ashamed to admit that If God were there right in front of me at that moment, this would have been my reaction, "You've got to be kidding me Lord! I am going to look like an idiot and a very annoying person if I call him back right now and interrupt him again! Plus, what am I going to say? 'Hey, I know I just talked to you but....can I pray for you over the phone?' I don't think so!"

And that's when I realized that regardless of what the outcome was, the Lord was clearly laying it on my heart to call back. I needed to decide (quickly) whether or not I was going to obey him or deliberately ignore that conviction?

I called him back...and this is how the conversation went:
"Hi Kevin (I changed his name). This is Gretchen from CTI again. I'm so sorry to call you back like this but...I just felt like maybe ...do you...can I...Can I just pray for your wife right now over the phone?"

"uhhmmm (choking up)..."

"If you are uncomfortable I understand, but I would love to do this for you".

"I don't think so right now. But thank you so much..."

"Alright, well, you have a good night. And Merry Christmas Kevin!"

"You too. Bye"

Soooooo....it didn't go as great as I would hope. I felt like an idiot when I hung up. But now when I think about it, I'm pretty sure that even though I didn't get to pray for Kevin right then, he was still moved in some way by the fact that I called him back. Besides, maybe this whole scene wasn't about him needing prayer as much as it was about me obeying the voice of the Lord. I pray constantly that the Lord would tune my heart to his, and that He would give me wisdom in His ways, and mold me into a woman of great faith. Did I think all of that would just show up in my character one day? I hope not!

Being tested is hard work, but the great thing is you will never fail when you obey. Even if the outcome isn't as monumental as you expect, the victory is the mere fact that you did what you believe the Lord asked you to do. There's no failure in that.

*Luke 12:48

Christmas Time Is Here

It's that time of year again. The time where Jack Frost loves to come out and touch our outer extremities, and where pine needles clog up our vacuum cleaners.

And it's also the time where we stop and remember our Saviors birth. I'm very guilty of logging that fact into the back of my mind, and recalling it whenever need be, in order to prove that I really do know the true spirit of Christmas. Funny, that reminds me of a well told story. Jesus was born in a stinky manger found in a dirty, stinky stable outside of Bethelehem. Why? Well, there was no room for him in the inn. I can remember thinking when I was a kid that I'd never be as mean as that mean old innkeeper. Who does he think he is, keeping Mary and baby Jesus out in that place when they could have a good room in an inn?

Then the correlation hits me. This last week, at our CTI Christmas party, Chris Reed shared with us a message that had meant a lot to him. And really all I'm doing is translating the message in my own words. The Bible is the Living Word of God, and it can teach us at any time, and this story reminded me this week of the fact that I am very much like the innkeeper. Christ is too often pushed into the corners of my life because I have a great "business" going on in the rest of me that can't be replaced with anything else, or at least I believe the lie that the business is good.

I want to wish you all an incredibly Merry Christmas, as I have told all the various answering machines that I had the pleasure of talking to during our Annual Campaign partnership drive these last two weeks. And I want to encourage you to remember the parts of Christmas. Christ-mas. "Mas" in Spanish means "more". So, therefore, this word means "Christ more" or "more Christ". At least it means that in my head. Let's put Christ where he belongs, in the center. Not in the stables.

So have yourselves Merry Little Christmases, one and all. For He, who was very God of very God, decided to love us enough to put Himself into tiny, frail, human form. Then He loved us enough to teach us how to live as humans, and then, He provided for us the Way that we could LIVE as children of God. Now that sacrifice is cause enough for joy throughout eternity. Let's show that joy now. To our family, friends, and all who we meet in this awesome season.

Not Mine Anyway

Music.  I love music.  This shouldn't be surprising since I am in CTI for a year, but have you ever just gotten blessed or challenged by a song?  Thanks to a friend I was introduced to a new artist JJ Heller.  I have been listening to her songs and I absolutely love the messages.  Well this morning I was listening to her song called "Not Mine Anyway".  As I let the words absorb into my thoughts I was reminded that I can't do a thing without God.  He's given so many blessings and gifts to each of us yet, there is nothing that we have that isn't already His.  The last line "it's not mine anyway" is such a great reminder that although we may "give more away" what we have to give is meant to be given away.  So I ask myself, What AM I giving away?  I pray that what I'm giving is the best thing I have to offer - God's faithful, never-changing love for us.  Just like JJ said "My name is written on your hands".  Now that's a love that must be given away because it's not mine anyway.

"Not Mine Anyway" by JJ Heller

I don't know what to say

No words could ever be enough

I stand up because you hold me here

Because you brought me here tonight

I could not ever try so hard

I could buy a place in your heart

But here I am

My name written on your hands

Because you paid the debt I owe

Without you we all fall down

Without you we all fall

You make life worth living

You make me wanna start giving

More and more away to you

It's not mine anyway

Give Me Your Eyes

If you have had the pleasure of seeing one of our concerts, (when I say pleasure I AM assuming things because I hate to think that seeing one of our concerts would be anything less than pleasurable) then you may have noticed that we often do a song called Give Me Your Eyes. I like that song but sometimes I have to admit, I do not pay attention to the words that we're singing. "All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared? Give me your eyes for just once second, give me your eyes so I can see everything that I've been missing...." But every once in a while I have a moment when lyrics totally click and I see a real life application of what I've been singing the past four months. Today I had one of those moments:

I was sitting in the team room, listening to all the prayer requests that were gathered the night before during our partnership drive/phoneAthon/annual campaign, and I suddenly felt very overwhelmed. See, during our partnership drive, when we are calling past ministry supporters to see if they would like to continue with their financial support, we also take some time and ask if they have anything specific they would like us to pray for. And then, the next day, before we start working again, we come together as a ministry and pray for them. It's a really great ministry that I think blesses people in unexpected ways.

Ok, so I'm listening to all of these prayer requests and they are breaking my heart. There are people all across the country struggling with health, dealing with death, fighting financially, sending kids off to college, praying for parents to be saved...anything you can think of, someone in this country is dealing with it right now at this very moment.
That's when it hit me: the Lord is answering OUR prayer as a ministry...and we need to respond faithfully.

Carrie stands up on stage every concert and before we sing Give Me Your Eyes, she talks about how the song has become a prayer for our team: how we all wantto see the things we usually miss; to see people that we typically do not. I think this is one way the Lord is answering that prayer.

In response to all of this, I just want to pray for all the people we have talked to in the last couple days...right now (I hope that's ok):

Heavenly Father,
Lord I lift up all these people to you. God, we have had short conversations with them, but YOU...you know them well. You know their deepest thoughts and their greatest needs. Lord I pray that you would pour into their lives in ways that are undeniable. I pray that you would heal the sick, comfort the mourning, give courage to the weak. Jesus, I pray that you would be near in this time of financial hardship throughout this country. You are greater than all of our difficulties God. Thank you.
God I thank you for the opportunity that you have given us, as CTI 14:22, to talk with people; to pray with people. Thank you that you are good. Thank you that you want our trust so that we can see how faithful you are Lord.
God I praise you! I praise you.
Amen.