Our 4th and Final Bass Audition

Well, this morning Jason met with our last bass hopeful. He is a very talented young man from Oregon and a very qualified bass singer. There should be a final decision in the next couple of days!

Replacing Equipment, Auditioning Basses

Dear Prayer Team,

We have had a very busy couple of weeks, getting our equipment finalized and auditioning basses. We are starting to get very excited about getting back into churches and other venues with a full team and all of our equipment! We can't wait!

You may remember that Over received a phone call from some people that had a bunch of our stolen stuff dropped off in their driveway. Well, he went over to collect the items and found a bunch of cd's of ours that had been dumped out of their cartons and into one of our big blue totes in a big mish-mash. They also had one of our small sets of drawers that we carried that have our credit card swipers and T-Shirts. We are very happy to have our inventory back!

As the difficult process of replacing our stuff comes to a close we are reminded that if God wants us to continue doing what we do, he makes a way for us. He has done so in style and we are very pleased with the way it is all turning out. The second he is not behind our efforts, believe me...we'll know! We see His hand at work in so many ways, if he was to remove His blessing from our ministry, collapse would be imminent. We know that WE are not the ones holding this ministry aloft, and we are happy to be in God's merciful, loving hands.

One thing that has really struck me about the basses that we are auditioning, along with all of the people that Dustin and I auditioned with last February, is that they have all seemed to want God's will for RESCUE whether it includes them or not. Can you imagine watching one of those pop star reality shows where that attitude is present? The reason you wouldn't see it on TV is because where humble reliance on God's plan for our lives reigns, "drama" is pretty much absent. That kind of peace is just not compelling television!

May God's peace reign in all of our lives!

Bass Audition #3

Last night we auditioned another person for the bass slot. He's a Washington Native who flew here from Texas, fresh out of the army and is determined to serve the Lord in whatever way He leads. It was great to get to sing with him and get to know him a little bit.

Bass Audition #2

We spent a good amount of time with our second bass audtition this weekend. He's an extremely talented guy who flew here from the Midwest on Saturday evening. He and Over went to Dustin's church to see him singing praise and worship there before heading down to Salem to borrow some sub-woofers from our friends at Alpha Sound (ours will be delivered this week sometime) in Salem. I met the three of them at Southlake Foursquare at 6:00 for the audition.

Wilson, who is the platform praise and worship leader at Southlake, stayed through the entire thing while not feeling very well so he could lock up for us. Wilson is a very cool guy and we felt kind of bad that he had to wait for us so we took him with us to dinner after the audition. Dustin's good friend Caleb joined us too. We had a very nice time chatting and getting to know each other.

Our third bass audition is tonight. It's been great to get to meet such great people who want to use their talents for God.

Bass Auditions Have Begun!

Jason, Dustin and I had a great time on Saturday night singing with a local bass (Vancouver, WA) as he audtitioned for the open spot. He has a real passion for ministry, is extremely skilled and is a very naturally gifted musician. As we spent the evening singing and talking I felt a great sense of relief that God is taking such good care of this ministry by preparing such high quality people to fill the voice parts as we continue what was started 9 years ago.

Some Stolen Items Recovered

Yesterday, while Over was sitting in the sales office of 99 West Trailers, he got a phone call asking him, "Did you guys get some stuff stolen?"

Over answered, "Why, yes we did!"

Evidently, RESCUE's product, which consisted of album stock, credit card swipers, banners, t-shirts, etc. which was in the stolen trailer, was dumped in this family's driveway a couple of days ago out in Damascus, Oregon near where the trailer was stolen. Over is heading out there today to pick all of it up from them and see exactly what is there. Still no sign of the trailer or the sound system, but we are very excited to have recovered a portion of our stuff. Praise God!

Also, the family opened a cd, and RESCUE has some new fans!

A Successful Texas Trip!

Dear Prayer Team,

We are back from the sunny South! We had such a wonderful time as we sang at the ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) convention in Galveston, Texas, and also as we sang Sunday morning at the two services at Riverbend Church in Austin, Texas. We were so happy to have Luke and Joshua join us for the six days trip, and we feel very grateful to them for sharing their talents with us again. Tim Lewis came with us and ran sound too. I just have to tell you, if you've never met Tim Lewis, he is perhaps the kindest, gentlest and most likeable soul that I have ever met. Truly a gem!

The flight to Texas, for us five Oregonians, was a very bumpy one, punctuated (quite suddenly) during the landing procedure by a rather sick passenger across the aisle from us. I'll spare you the details.

We rode in a shuttle bus from Houston to Galveston and when we pulled up to the Moody Gardens Hotel, we saw these three amazing glass pyramid shaped buildings! The hotel and convention facilities were on the same lot with an entertainment plaza with an IMAX theater and an indoor Garden. It was a bit overcast, but at 60 or 65 degrees it felt almost balmy compared to Oregon! We set up our sound system in the main hall and our product table along with all of the other booths. Late that night, Joshua got into town and we were SO happy to see him again! He's been enjoying his busy schedule going to school, working at Sam's Club, and getting involved in campus activities, ESPECIALLY now that he is near Mandy and his family again!


The Pyramids at Moody Gardens, Galveston Texas

Early the next morning we did a final sound check and we sang in the opening meeting of the convention at about 9:00. When we got back to the booth we were inundated with people who wanted to bring RESCUE CD's back to their schools, churches and homes. After a while it started to slow down and we traded off time at the booth. Luke was dying for a trip to Chik-Fil-A (we don't have them in Oregon) but there were no restaurants like that nearby, so he, Tim and Joshua drew up a little sign asking - no - begging for someone with a car to take them to a Chik-Fil-A. I don't think anyone gave in to their sign or their sad eyes. I had such a good time at the product table that day just chatting with people who happened by. It helps me to see the impact of this ministry when I can really talk with people and find out where they are coming from.

That afternoon we performed a full concert and the response was incredible. God truly blessed our time there. We were really hoping to be an encouragement to Christian teachers because we understand how difficult it must be to try to help children to go against the cultural flow, day in, and day out. Most of the members of RESCUE have gone to Christian schools at some point in their education. Jason's parents are both educators! I can't imagine a group of people more deserving of some time out to listen to some music and to hear how appreciated they are.

The next morning, Friday, we got up bright and early, we sang a few more songs, and then we took shifts at the product table till late afternoon. it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining! That night we rested up for our airplane ride to Austin the next afternoon. My feet were KILLING me!

Dustin had been feeling kind of sick all weekend and was in bed around 8:00 almost every night, and since we're the snorers of the group and room together a lot, I went to Jason's room with my guitar and played while he was out of the room. I started getting an idea for a song just about the time he came back in the room and I hoped that I'd remember it the next day.

Saturday was a travel day, we had another fairly bumpy ride to Austin and that night after dinner I started to work on my song again. Praise GOD! I was able to remember it and after I talked with Dustin about the bridge of the song for a while, I finished it that night! I went to the Lobby and shared it with Jason and Joshua as they chatted and I got the thumbs up from both of them. We think it will be on the next RESCUE album!!!


RESCUE gets ready for sound check at Riverbend

Sunday morning, up and at 'em early again, and off to Riverbend. What an amazing building and such sweet people! After our set up and sound check, their make-up lady marched us to the chairs and she covered us in make-up for the TV cameras (I of course needed more help than she had time to give). We then waited for our cue. We did one song at the beginning of service and then two after the praise and worship right before the message. We had a little stage monitor feedback problem, but overall it went well! We went to the table to meet people and we had several people tell us that they are really hoping that we can do a full concert in their area sometime soon. We'd LOVE to!


At the end of services at Riverbend the curtains open, letting sunlight fill the sanctuary

After service we went to our favorite barbecue place in Texas (Rudy's) and had a great time! We went back to the hotel, and soon afterwards Joshua headed back home. We watched the Superbowl in our hotel rooms Sunday night (we were really hoping for the Seahawks!) and Monday afternoon we spent some time at a local mall, went to the airport, headed to Houston and on to Oregon.

We had such a great time and I am constantly SO blessed by the fact that I get to travel with such great guys. We are also reminded often of the prayer support we have that makes trips like this one SO productive and encouraging. Thank you SO much!