Brian's RESCUE Road Blog

Before The Throne CD Released!

2008-04-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on how things are going since the new album was released on Saturday, April 5th. We kicked off the day with a great in-store launch party at the Christian Supply Division Street store in Portland and we sang some of our new songs during services at South Lake Foursquare church in West Linn, Oregon that night and the next morning. Sunday night we had a really fun, full album release concert at New Hope church in Clackamas, Oregon. The volunteers who made that night a success blessed us in incredible ways, from lighting, sound and video, to running the CD table. We had a chance to thank the many folks who have continually blessed this ministry, and we were able to honor our wives and Doreen with bouquets of roses. We had a blast!

The next weekend we flew to the bay area to do a concert for the Santa Cruz, CA Pregnancy Resource Center and to sing a few songs during services at the incredibly supportive Twin Lakes Community church in Aptos, CA. The response to the new album has been very good, and we have felt extremely blessed to be able to present our newest project at long last.

Aldersgate, Tim Lewis

2008-03-03T19:07:00.001-08:00

Saturday Night (3/1) we took a trip down to Turner, Oregon and sang at Aldersgate Conference Center. We had a great time doing praise and worship along with a concert for a men’s retreat there. We got a great response from the guys at the CD table afterwards and I was able to chat with several people who were extremely moved and encouraged in the Lord during the concert. We chatted at length with some of the guys after the concert and safely got to our homes at around midnight.

One of the highlights for me was that since our sound tech, Will, was sick tonight and Mike Zumstein was out of town, we had the privilege of having Tim Lewis join us, just like old times. Brandon had never met Tim, who has done sound for us a lot in the past and is a gem of a Christian brother, so he was quite happy to meet him at last. Brandon discovered what we’ve all discovered; Tim Lewis is a great guy to work with and such a kind, gentle soul. Brandon said, “I’d love to spend some more time with that guy!”

Isn’t it wonderful to know Christian brothers and sisters whose attitude and actions just seem to refresh others? I feel convicted to ask myself questions like these:

How many times do I let opportunities to bless others go by when all that was needed was a word or a small kindness?

What can I do this week to be a blessing to others and to show the love of Jesus through my life?

What are practical ways I can let people know my appreciation for them and let them know that there is a God that loves them and that I love them too?

Lord, help us all to stir up the faith to allow your love to be expressed through us as we give, love and serve others in the coming days.

Lake Grove, Coeur d'Alene

2008-02-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to sing at our sound tech Will’s parent’s church, Lake Grove Presbyterian Church, on Sunday evening (2/10). It was great to see his family there working on this special event for their church. Steve had some special guests there that night as well. One of the co-owners of the mortgage company that Steve works for came with his sister (who also works with Steve) to see what crazy group Steve is a part of when he’s not in business attire J. He sat right in front of one of the subwoofers so that Steve was able to give him the full bass experience. After the program he seemed very thrilled by it all and we had a great time joking around with him.

We got back on Thursday night (2/14) from our three-day trip to beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for a conference of people involved in running and staffing Christian campgrounds all over the Western states. The Conference was held at the incredible Coeur d’Alene resort there, and was organized by Janet Kerns whom we know well from her organizational involvement at the Cannon Beach Conference Center. One of the speakers said he heard a youth pastor say, “We spend all year packing dynamite into the souls of the kids in our youth group and then we bring them to camp where you guys get to set them off!” We had a great time singing to these servants of God and hearing some great speaking from Pastor Ray Johnston from Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California as he spoke from his Series of messages entitled, “Winning Battles You Can’t Afford To Lose”. One session was called, “Unleashing the Power of Hope”, another was “Balancing Marriage and Ministry”, and “How did the Early Church Become So Effective”. They were all designed to refresh ministries and help restore priorities that get skewed in the midst of the battle. I think it was no coincidence that God allowed us to be in this particularly encouraging conference at the beginning of another year of ministry. We gave Pastor Ray some of our CD’s and he gave us some books that will be very encouraging to us. He gave us a book called, “The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham” by Harold Myra and Marshall Kelly that has been extremely inspirational to me just after reading the first couple of chapters.

We have been hard at work on the album and Jason has worked, at times, around the clock trying to meet the deadline that he set for the release of this album. We are very encouraged by the album that is taking shape and we hope that every bit of the love that has been put into this will be heard and felt by every listener who hears it.

As always we are happy to be God’s servants in this process and hope that many saints will be encouraged and that it can be used as a tool in bringing souls to Christ.

My Job, God's Plan

2008-01-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

Since our last Prayer Bulletin we had a very fun time in the studios of KPDQ in Portland chatting with the multi-talented talk show host Georgene Rice, and sharing clips of our newest music during the 5:00pm rush hour period on Wednesday the 19th of December. On Saturday the 22nd we sang for morning services and shared an evening concert with our friends at Vancouver SDA, and on Sunday the 23rd we got up bright and early to sing for the uplifting morning services at Beaverton Foursquare. All of these events were incredible blessings and we met many wonderful saints and saw ministry happen.

Behind the scenes in the Sell family, let me share a little of what was happening in our home. Friday the 7th of December (Pearl Harbor Day) my wife called me to tell me that her employer was shutting down the sales portion of her office and that she would be laid off unless she was to move to Des Moines, Iowa. I know people are reading this from all over the world, but Des Moines is a long way away from Oregon, and it’s a LOT different. I almost dismissed the idea right away, because it would put a real crimp in the way RESCUE operates, and I didn't want RESCUE to have to make those kind of adjustments because of my location.

My wife wisely said, “Brian, we need to really look at this and seriously consider that God may want us to move.”

For any husbands who may be reading this, you know that special tone of voice that your wife gets that means business. She’s a wonderful godly woman and I get real nervous stomping around areas where she is feeling a check in her heart, so I agreed.

They wanted to bump up her salary and give her large bonuses if she moved, the cost of living is much lower and we could afford life much more easily than we can on the West coast, my mom will soon be moving back to Omaha, Nebraska and we’d only be two hours from her.

Her company paid our way to Iowa, so to make good on my promise to seriously consider moving we left on Friday the 14th and spent the weekend in Des Moines tooling around the city, looking at neighborhoods, schools, and churches. We spent time with the people she’d be working with at the office there. I am surprised to tell you that we loved what we saw. Things were definitely stacking up in favor of moving. We found a great area, we could get twice the house for less than what we were paying, the schools were the best in the state, and we found a really great church nearby that reminded us of our home church. Kim loved the people she would be working with and had already spent a week with them as part of her training earlier this year. By the end of that weekend, only three pieces of the puzzle remained. How quickly could we get our house sold, what was I going to do for work, and how would this all play out for RESCUE.

Did I mention that we got back on Sunday the 16th and her company needed an answer by the Friday 21st. Only five days to decide. On one hand we had been financially struggling to live here in the Northwest for the last decade. My job hadn’t seen a raise in over five years and 2007 had been one of the most difficult years in a long time for both of our jobs, but we also had the incredible blessing of being a part of RESCUE. On the other hand we had possibilities of a much better life for our family if we moved. The advice that I was getting from all of my elders, family, friends, and other RESCUE members, was that I needed to think of my family first. But it just seemed wrong to put such a burden on RESCUE, which has been such a gift in my life.

Jason prayed for us throughout the time we were in Des Moines. He was up late nights working on a revised business plan to make it all work if I moved. All of my RESCUE brothers were supportive of us either way and were praying for us.

Then the job offers started rolling in from Des Moines for me. Great jobs, at way better pay! On Wednesday the 19th I let the CEO of our company know that we were seriously considering a move. He said we’d have a chat on later on in the week about what he could do to keep me and that I should have a figure in mind as to what I would need if I were to stay considering the possibility that Kim would be losing out on such a great opportunity.

I have taken to heart and tried to live by Proverbs 25:6-7 where it says,

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”

Jesus mentioned the same concept in Luke 14:8 and I think that in this day of self promotion we need to stop and realize that God does the promoting, not man. When the time is right God will act on our behalf and good things will happen.

I was feeling more and more that we were going to be moving to Des Moines as the week went on. Thursday afternoon the CEO and I had an hour and a half phone conference. Because of the job offers and seeing what my skills were worth in the industry for the first time, I was emboldened to ask for a large raise. I wasn’t emboldened because I was being prideful and thinking more highly of myself than I ought. I was asking for a very conservative amount in light of the job offers I was getting. Let me assure you that I would never have asked for a raise had I not been through the process of looking for a job in another part of the country. I now had the position of, “walk away power” because I felt secure that my family would be taken care of either way. All I needed to do was simply ask and consider the response.

The response was incredible! Admittedly, I am not accustomed to asking for raises. I am not a savvy money guy, but rarely have I heard of an employer giving an employee more than he asked for. Normally they meet somewhere in the middle. In fact the general consensus was that I should ask for more than I needed so that he would settle on the true amount, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t posture like that. Even so, my employer gave me well over what I was asking for with the distinct possibility, through incentives, of even more than that. I started to wonder what God had in mind. Now the weight was starting to shift back to staying in Oregon.

Out of obedience to our commitment to exhaust all possibilities in Oregon and in Iowa, Kim went to a job interview on Friday the 21st. It was a long-shot, but she went anyway. She called me afterwards and told me that it went incredibly well. She didn’t have the job yet, but it was really looking good, and would be a substantial upgrade in pay, even from the job in Des Moines!

That afternoon she told her employer that we were staying in Oregon and that she was turning down the job in Des Moines!

It was a Moses-at-the-Red-Sea and Isaac-on-the-Altar all rolled into one for me! I know that everyone in RESCUE breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t broken into spontaneous dance like that since the day in late 2004 when I heard that Jason wanted to talk to me about joining the group. It would have been embarrassing but I was too joyful to think about it!

Looks like Oregonians are going to have to put up with my presence a bit longer!

Colorado, Singing Christmas Tree, Texas and Arizona

2007-12-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It’s been a crazy month full of some great highlights and God’s blessings have been evident throughout! I am writing to you after having our first weekend off in a while, and it was very sweet! I love traveling with RESCUE and seeing what He’s going to do next, but it’s really important to touch base and enjoy some time with our friends and family.

On November 11th we were in Highland Ranch, Colorado at St. Andrew’s United Methodist church for morning services and an evening concert. We had such wonderful host families, and we felt very ministered to by them. This church took a bit of a risk having us in, since we were only known through our CD’s and they weren’t sure what they were going to get live. We had a really great time with them and the response from those in attendance was outstanding. We received this testimony email from someone in the concert:

“Hey guys.”

I was at your concert earlier tonight at St. Andrew and I would like to tell you how grateful I am that I attended. Just by chance I had an extra ticket and I invited my friend to come with me. This friend had recently told me that she was thinking about suicide and I had to talk her out of it several times since then. Jason when you were talking before you performed Come As You Are, you said to lay all the burdens we had on our shoulders at God's feet. She leaned over and thanked me for inviting her, and now I would like to thank you for making such a difference in her life. I got tears in my eyes because I could see so clearly God at work in your ministries, and because you and I together saved her life. You said many things that I could not, and for that you have my gratitude. God bless.”

Please pray that God would continue to give hope to this woman in her most desperate hour.

On November 23rd through 25th RESCUE performed at the Portland Singing Christmas Tree at Keller Auditorium, which I believe is Portland’s largest performing arts theater. RESCUE has been a part of this event several times in the past, but I had not had the chance to be a part of it since I started sing with the group almost three years ago. It was a thrilling time for all of us! We had the chance to share the stage with an amazing choir and some outstanding talented soloists, and we performed for thousands of people during the 6 shows that we did. The first half of the program was a joyous celebration of the traditions of Christmas (we sang a new arrangement of a Brian McKnight song called “Home For The Holidays” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”), and the second half was a heartfelt retelling of the story of Christ’s birth (we sang “Mary Did You Know”). It was a powerful presentation and was a bold proclamation of Jesus in an extremely public forum. In fact the event was listed as the number one show in the local newspaper’s A&E section for that weekend. What a wonderful thing to be a part of. RESCUE is VERY thankful that we were allowed to add our part to this program. Amidst the mass exodus following the programs, many people made the effort to stop by our table and supported our ministry by picking up a CD this year. God is GOOD!

On December 2nd we had the great opportunity to sing in a largely Hispanic church in Mission, Texas called, Primera Baptist Church. The church is about three miles from the border of Mexico and has been trying to get RESCUE there for quite some time. Finally everything came together and we were able to join them for morning services and an evening concert. This fairly small congregation was full of such sweet hearted saints of God, it brings tears to my eyes as I remember them. I didn’t know how our music would translate to them and if it would have any effect at all. God had His way, and as far as I can tell everyone in the house, including us, was blessed by what God did that weekend. Just the fellowship alone was worth the trip down there. This is a congregation that has mobilized their resources to buy property where they have made a place for missionary teams to sleep before they cross into Mexico for ministry. They house many hundreds of saints per year as they bring help to those in need across the border and even those locally who are in great need of the saving power of Jesus Christ! We were humbled that God would allow us to be of encouragement to such a wonderful group of people.

On December 9th and 10th we spent some time with our friends from last year in Phoenix, AZ at Calvary Community. You may remember that this large congregation is meeting in a beautifully converted old mall. We did four services and a 45 minute concert on Sunday night. I remember taking note last year that this was an extremely responsive congregation, but this year was incredible! They were so gracious and kind to us in so many ways and the congregation just seemed to accept and embrace us from the first moment. We are not deserving of such an outpouring of sweet fellowship, but we are very thankful that we get to have these times of refreshing for the many difficult times that come in the period of a year. We heard many, many testimonies of CD’s that were being purchased for those who were in great need. We heard of children afflicted by physical problems that said that the RESCUE CD’s that were played over and over in their hospital rooms were the one thing that they could count on to bring them comfort.

The testimonies that we hear from our brothers and sisters about the ministry of RESCUE speak nothing of us, the weak, wounded and flawed vessels, but they speak countless volumes of a caring, loving and concerned Father in Heaven.

An Incredible Month!

2007-11-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

October (and the beginning of November) has been one of the most exciting and memorable months that I’ve had since I started singing with RESCUE!

We started off with an ACSI conference in Portland. Then we made a trip to the Sacramento, California area for an ACSI conference, a visit to New Folsom State Prison, Folsom Community Bible Church and Pollack Pines Baptist Church. We sang at fundraising banquets for Emmaus Christian School (Cornelius, OR), Options Pregnancy Resource Center (Corvallis, OR), and Options 360 Pregnancy Clinic (Vancouver, WA). We sang at a pastor’s breakfast hosted by local Christian radio station KPDQ and sponsored by several Christian businesses and organizations, with main speaker Luis Palau. We were the special music over four days at the first ever men’s retreat at Hume Lake Christian Camp about an hour and a half out of Fresno, California. And last Saturday night we sang at the First Presbyterian Church in Salem, Oregon.

I’ll just mention a few of the highlights that happened during this incredible month.

Last Sunday we sang to a very responsive and excited group at the First Presbyterian Church in Salem. Afterwards we met many wonderful people who made us feel right at home. There was a particularly talented high school aged young man who spent six and a half hours earlier that day penciling portraits of us based on the photos on our website. We were floored when he gave us the originals! Steve has scanned them for us and I’ll try to post them to my blog so you can see his wonderful art work.

Hume Lake Christian Camp was an incredibly uplifting time for all of us. The main speakers were Stu Webber, Ken Hutcherson and Steve Farrar. I felt so blessed to be able to sing at a conference like this because the speakers were so incredible and God’s truth was being shared so eloquently, I was personally compelled to respond in worship to God. RESCUE was just the outlet I needed! We had the chance to speak with Stu and Ken and they were both very encouraging of our ministry. The outpouring of love and support we felt from the guys who attended this conference was nothing short of overwhelming. We dined so fully on the word of God and had such encouragement through fellowship that I left there feeling like I was overflowing. It was just the thing we needed during this busy season. They also gave us CDs of all of the sessions. Kim and I have been enjoying these encouraging messages as we drive to work in the mornings.

Finally I wanted to mention New Folsom Prison. I recognized the Chaplain from our first visit and it was great to see him again. He is such a big-hearted man who has been burdened to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have been cut off. His life is a testimony to us. Since there is only one chapel per yard in the prison, it is shared by people of different faiths. I was noticing the Muslim literature had been laid out carefully on the table in the back before our session with the inmates. There was fog that morning and the Chaplain told us that we should pray that God would lift the fog so that the guards would feel comfortable to escort them from their cells to the chapel. The fog did not entirely lift. But God had a plan you see because as it turns out, the officers allowed them to be escorted to the chapel but they did not allow them to enter the yard for normal activities. So, those who were cleared to come to the concert ended up having no other choice unless they wanted to stay in their cell. We were blessed to be able to sing for a nearly full chapel! After the concert the Chaplain let us know that there were many who were there and even some who had greeted us who were Muslim. He would have you pray for the souls of those who heard the Gospel that day that the seed that was planted would grow into a fully converted life.

On our way back from Sacramento we stopped in Pollack Pines, California to sing for their morning service. God allowed all of our voices to make it through the trip to California and we were able to finish strong that morning. Afterwards, as we broke down our equipment and carted it out to the trailer we noticed a little girl darting around from pew to pew. I thought she was picking up the bulletins and Sunday school papers that were left there, but awhile later her mom came down the center aisle with the little girl hiding behind her, blushing. “My daughter really wants to meet you guys but she is too shy.”

We all stopped what we were doing and greeted her and her mom.

Her mom continued,” We heard that you guys just came back from Folsom. Her father is very sick and did some bad things. His arraignment is just about over and it looks like he’ll be going to jail for a while. We’re hoping he’ll get well while he’s there. This little girl has been through a lot.”

We told the little girl that we were sorry about what was happening ... that God very much loves her and has a plan for her life.

Then her mom said, “We can’t afford a CD but she was wondering if she could get your signatures.”

As she was speaking I saw Brandon quietly sneak away, and I thought I knew what he was up to. We signed her paper and Brandon reappeared with some CDs for her. We quickly ripped off the wrapping and signed them for her. It felt like such a tiny thing to do for a girl who was facing such a difficult life, but at the same time we always feel confident that when we share a RESCUE CD that it has a lot of Bible scripture woven throughout and that God will use His holy scriptures to encourage and bless his children no matter what type of circumstances they are in.

I remember looking at Steve as we walked away, and he said, “Something like that makes it all worth it!”

Thanks for your prayers! We wouldn’t be able to continue without them.

Mt Hood, Montavilla, Warner Pacific, Gresham

2007-10-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

I cannot believe that September is already over! We’ve been busy recording, singing concerts and sharing Christ through this ministry as much as we can. It is truly a joy to be able to do what we do and we know that it is through your support and prayer for God’s presence amidst the challenges we face that we can continue.

On Saturday, September 15th we went to the beautiful Mt. Hood area (Welches, OR) for a concert at the “Spirit on the Mountain” event held annually at Mt. Hood Village Resort. We had an outstanding crowd of RESCUE supporters there and we had an absolute blast singing for them. We hope to be a part of this event for years to come as they bring together area churches in a spirit of Christian unity!

The next day, Sunday, September 16th ,we went to Montavilla Baptist Church (Portland, OR). I had been sick and was not feeling well vocally but God allowed us to make it through the concert without too many problems. There were many friends, family and prayer team members at this concert. This amazing congregation blessed us in a big way and we are overwhelmed with the love that we felt from them!

On Saturday, September 22nd We had a concert at Warner Pacific College (Portland, OR). This was a concert in their round auditorium. It is quite a beautiful place to sing and the audience of families from the community and college students was attentive and appreciative. I saw many young people with stunned looks on their faces during Brandon’s percussion demonstration. I had many talk with me afterwards offering support of the thrust and message of our concert. It was very encouraging!

We set up our system the night before and the on Sunday morning, September 30th at Gresham First Baptist Church (Portland, OR) we shared 50 minute concerts in two of their services. This is another one of our core churches that have supported this ministry for many years and the concert was in commemoration of 125 years as a church! Incredible! Vocally, I was finally back to feeling 100% after being sick for about three weeks. After our last song, the Pastor came up and as he expressed his appreciation of RESCUE he was getting a bit choked up, which had me choking up too. It was very sweet to see that this congregation was encouraged by our time with them.

Isn’t it funny that the only way to have our hearts filled with the kind of brotherly love that the Bible speaks of, we must first open our hearts to others. We are so glad to open our hearts to the people we have the privilege of singing for and we are always touched by the love that is returned, in abundance.

Cannon Beach, Wilsonville, Wenatchee

2007-09-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

We have had some very exciting weeks of ministry in the last month! We spent a wonderful week (August 18-15) at Cannon Beach with the great folks there, where my family and I got to spend some really good time with some of our faithful prayer team members from the Santa Cruz, CA area. It was a very relaxing week this year and my kids had a great time as always. It's kind of become our family's summer vacation and since RESCUE has a solid amount of songs to spread out over the entire week, we didn't have to spend much time in rehearsals as a group, which allowed us all a lot more time to relax and have fun.

Dr. Ray Pritchard spoke all week from the book of Judges about Samson and what it says about God's grace that while he was a less than stellar character he is still mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 in the Bible's "Hall of Faith". It is at once a great mystery and a great source of joy: God uses flawed people like you and me to do his work! As my best friend Joe says, "That'll preach!" Ray did a great job communicating this wonderful truth to all of us in attendance.

The day after we got home (August 20) we did a mini-concert at Riverside Foursquare in Wilsonville, OR. They are a young church that is meeting in the Wilsonville High School auditorium. We had a great time worshiping with them and enjoying the Word! August 29-Sept 3 was our blocked out time for all of us to have our individual family vacations this year. I know that some of us were able to take advantage of that time to go see family in other parts of the country.

Last Saturday we drove about 6 hours to Wenatchee, WA, got our equipment set up at the Wenatchee Free Methodist church and went to our host homes. Over had to do some editing on the newest tracks for the CD, but I was able to spend some time playing a game called "Hand and Foot" (it's like Canasta) with our host, Darrell and some of his friends. I was terrible at the game and they were very patient with me. Sweet people!!!

Brandon and I were pretty sick all week and then Over started feeling some sickness in his throat too, but God allowed us to have a good concert and the great people of WFMC were extremely warm and welcoming. It was wonderful to connect again with the Krober's. This is the church where Chad Krober, one of RESCUE's original members grew up. When we sang there years ago, his father was the main pastor, but is now the executive pastor. It was a lot of fun and God truly blessed our time with this wonderful congregation.

We are continually blessed by the people we meet as we travel locally and throughout the nation.

Poor, Poor Ginger

2007-08-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It sounds like a Movie trailer for a schlocky summer comedy…

“What happens when five men who can barely change a tire meet up with a tour bus with an attitude? (cue radiator explosion and steam bursting out of the back of the bus) “Steve! Get Off The Bus!!!”

“It’s Mayhem at Mount Hermon!”

Had you seen us as we went through our little adventure you would have been very entertained indeed. No acting necessary! We had the bus’ turbo go out halfway through the trip which began making a loud whiny sound, so we checked with our extremely helpful mechanic, Dyrk. He told us that if we truly lost the turbo we would most certainly lose a lot of power, but that we could try to get to our destination where we would most certainly seek some professional help, so we decided to keep driving. We lost most of our ability to climb hills of any kind above the speed of 15 miles an hour… we kept driving. The back of the bus was heating up like a toaster, we kept driving. We smelled funny smells, and finally smoke began to fill the seating area… we were STILL driving, but at least we were looking for a place to park now. The gauges all flat-lined and we had no power steering or… power, so we coasted uphill. Then out of the blue, on a highway where there really are no areas to pull off to the side, there was a beautiful little area to pull off. We coasted to a stop and thanked God that we did not have to park the bus in the middle of the freeway during rush hour.

The back of the bus was really filling with heat and smoke, so we got off of the bus as quickly as we could. I was the last one off. If this bus was going to explode, I didn’t want to lose my iPod, so I heroically scampered to the back of the bus to find my bag. One of my many quirks is that I carry all of my traveling gadgets in these nice plastic bags that I get from the Apple Store (our sound guy Will works at the Apple store and gives me the bags he’s going to throw away). The guys make fun of me for carrying my possessions in plastic shopping bags, but I think they are cool! They are kind of satchel bags and you can use them like back packs. So, imagine me going back for my iPod bag, I reach for the bag, and as I go to run for the exit one of the long strings gets snagged in between the seats and won’t let go. People are telling me to get off the bus, but I shout dramatically, “Not without my iPod!!!”. I fuss with the string for a bit and almost give up the fight, but then it comes loose and I run scared for the exit. When I get off the bus expecting to feel foolish for how quickly I made my exit, all of the other guys look like they are feeling some of the same intensity that I am feeling! We stare at the back of the bus waiting for… we don’t know what. Our mechanic, Dyrk, assures us that while diesel fuel can burn, it’s not going to explode.

We stand there assessing the situation. Do we get our stuff off of the bus or do we just wait for help to arrive. Steve, in a bold move, decides to go in and get some things off the bus. The rest of us watch him as he ventures inside. We are in awe. Then the bus makes a terrible hissing noise and there is an explosion of steam shooting out of the engine compartment vents. That was when we shouted for him to get out of the bus. He quickly jumped off of the bus… his eyes like saucers. He describes it as one of those slow motion experiences where the flight impulse has complete and total control of your limbs. We expected there to be a big fiery explosion (a la C.H.I.P.s), but, thankfully nothing like that happened. In fact through all of the challenges we faced in the next hours we felt an almost palpable sense of God’s peace! We all just pulled together and God worked out the details! We were all very thankful for the other guys in the group and the way that God has fitted us together.

Help arrived and within a couple of hours we were on our way to Mount Hermon to set up and sing for the great people there. Another couple took us to Lodi the next day where an incredible friend of RESCUE made it possible for us to fly home instead of worrying about renting a car and a U-Haul.

There are many, many experiences that happened on this trip that I could recall for you, but really, it all boils down to this: Although we are all adults and have all experienced times that have stretched our faith, when stuff happens that is beyond our ability to fix, a childlike faith is essential! We just hold on and hope that our heavenly Father has everything under control.

He most certainly does!

Kite Surfing and the Christian Life

2007-07-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings from RESCUE! We hope you are having a wonderful God-filled July!

We spent our July 4th in Hood River, Oregon as part of the Independence Day celebration with several churches in that area. All of our wives were able to attend and my kids had a great time watching a stunt man flip a car in the parking lot, getting their faces painted, and playing in the water

The event was held at Covenant Christian Church which is situated within a few blocks of the mighty Columbia River. Because of the high winds and other factors, The city of Hood River is known as the windsurfing capital of the world. The day we were there the river was filled with kite surfers with their beautifully bright colored kites. It looked like so much fun to be out there being pulled around on the water by the wind.

What a picture of the Christian life! Prayer being the kite, we hold onto the cord of faith and follow the wind of God’s Spirit where he would lead us. We could say, “I feel that my personhood is not being fully valued in this relationship to the wind. I don’t feel that I am getting due credit for the work that I am doing. I think that if I am ever going to get the glory that’s coming to me, I am going to have to go it alone, without this tether!” If we are foolish enough to let go of the kite and go it alone, not only do we stop moving forward and put ourselves in danger, we also lose the joy that was intended for us.

I have seen in people’s lives and heard in their words that they feel their faith is simply tying them down and that their communication with God is a simple religious exercise designed as a measurement of their Christianity. They are under God’s thumb and none too happy about it!

Back to our analogy; while it is true that the direction of the wind, the velocity and the temperature are out of the control of the kite surfer, the amazing flips and turns that they can accomplish while being pulled along is nothing short of amazing. What’s my point? God designed you to experience the most possible joy when you are holding tightly to his direction and loving guidance. He does bring the heat sometimes, and sometimes the water gets a little choppy, but letting go of our faith is never the answer. He may be giving you direction that you may not like, but suffice it to say that if you will hold onto him and allow him to show you where he is taking you, you will find that His direction not only honors who you are as a person, but will allow you to find the very highest expression of who he created you to be.

Thank you for your communication with God on our behalf. We know that our songs would have little chance of being sung without your faithful prayers.

Return to River Valley Community in Grant's Pass

2007-06-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was kind of a celebration for us as we headed down to Grant's Pass, Oregon to River Valley Community Church to sing in services on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, along with a full concert on Sunday night. The reason it was a celebration for us is because River Valley Community played a big part in Jason's development as a musician and it gave him a real hands-on education of what it is to work in ministry. About 12 years ago Over spent a couple of summers at River Valley as an intern/assistant for their Music/Worship Pastor, Dave Hastings who, according to Jason, was an incredible influence in Jason's decision to pursue music full time.
It had been about 9 years since RESCUE had last sung for River Valley Community. As we arrived and the weekend began to take shape you could just see Jason's gratitude to this wonderful congregation. They were so welcoming and kind to us and their talented Worship Pastor, Michael took care of so many details with an incredible servant's heart. It was SUCH a joy!

Over was very blessed to be able to stay with a family who he had been very close to when he was in town during his internship. On Saturday evening we all had the pleasure of having a barbecue dinner out on a deck overlooking a river with both of the wonderful host families. We ate and laughed and sang crazy barbershop tags until they were probably sick of us! It was truly one of those golden moments.

The worship services went very well for us and we enjoyed the pastor's preaching on the life of Noah. On Sunday night the house was full and the people were ready for a concert! We felt so at home and comfortable with this responsive and energetic audience. One very delightful moment for us happened when we asked the congregation to join us in singing the popular congregational worship song, "How Great Is Our God". Now, when it comes to vocal music, you can only harmonize as well as you can hear each other.

Toward the end of the song the crowd was singing so energetically that Over and I were having a hard time even hearing ourselves, let alone each other!

That was COOL!

After the concert we got packed up and headed home, chatting and laughing all the way. I caught myself many times this weekend just drifting away in thought thinking of the marvelous way that God has brought these five guys (including our incredible friend and sound tech, Will) together along with the tremendous support of many others. At various times I looked at each one of the guys with such admiration and respect and my heart just welled up with thankfulness.

After the long drive home I fell into bed at about 2:00 AM, knowing that I was getting up at 6:30 AM to go to my other job...

Gladly!

Vancouver First Church of God

2007-06-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time tonight as we sang to our home crowd at VFCOG! This is the church which has graciously allowed RESCUE to rehearse in their beautiful sanctuary, it also happens to be Steve and Audra's home church.

Tonight's concert and ice cream social was a benefit for a team of middle-schoolers who will be making their way to Tijuana, Mexico to do some building and some other kinds of ministry while they are there.

We took our two newest songs for a spin around the block tonight for the first time and we really liked how it all went. We decided to end our concert with these songs which are actually a couple of worship songs, so that the audience could sing along with us. We had the words up on the screen and people just got right up and started singing with us. It was very moving for us because we have been working on these songs for a while in development and rehearsal, and it was just a real blessing to be able to join with an actual congregation and sense that real, heartfelt worship was happening.

We received a powerful testimony from a guy at the CD table who told us that through the use of meth he'd lost his wife and family stolen money and had incredible struggles. He told us that he had been beaten by a group of people and at that time he made a promise to God that if he would allow him to live that he would go through a recovery program to get off of meth. He went into a Christian treatment program the next day and has now gained back his wonderful wife and family. During that difficult time, he said that the music of RESCUE was a real blessing to him. He wanted to make sure that he told each of us before he left. We are amazed and humbled at the ways God has used this music to be of comfort to those who are going through great difficulty.

I won't go into details, but through some difficult circumstances and just plain ol' life, we were able to support a brother tonight. I just really thank God that he has put the four of us together in this ministry. I feel very honored to serve alongside these guys and their families!

My Niece in Uganda (Not RESCUE Related)

2007-05-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

My college aged niece Hillary is in Uganda helping orphaned children and gathering packets of children who need sponsorship from the villages. We are extremely proud of her committment to the children there and we read her blog faithfully, although she doesn't write very much since she is so busy. They visited Kenya for a while on this trip and when she got back to Uganda she had this to say:

(source: http://sellfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/trip-to-kenya-and-back.html )

"May 22nd (Back in Uganda)

"Yesterday we went to the village of Lugazi back in Uganda. We set up a medical clinic there. It was really fun because I got to hold a lot of babies. I held a baby named David who was around 2 months old. Right now I am not really sure what illness he is suffering from. Pauline (doctor) told me it has something to do with his lungs not working properly, I am going to talk to her again here in the next couple of days to get the complete details. He has a cough and a lump on the side of his stomach and he can’t breathe. I held him in my arms, helplessly watching his tiny stomach and throat trying to draw in air. I couldn’t even be sure that air was getting inside of him except for the fact that he was still alive.

"Why am I telling you all of this? I need your help. The only way for this little boy to live the life that God had planned for him is to get a surgery, which no one can afford. Please, please pray that God will miraculously heal this innocent child. Even with faith that moves mountains or prayers that never cease, his death might still be a reality. But I know that prayer is one of the most powerful things we can do. So I beg that you will pray with me that he will survive this impossible trial. You may look at the problem and use that word “impossible”, and with man it is. But with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)..."

Evening of Light, and Horizon Community Church

2007-05-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last Friday (5/18) RESCUE sang at an event called, Evening of Light and Vancouver First Church of God in Washington. It is a benefit concert for needy children that RESCUE has been involved with in the past and were very happy to support again. This years recipient is a 5 year-old girl named Kaitlin who was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia a couple of years ago. Her first year of treatment cost $176,000 and the bills just keep coming in.

Kaitlin is a little singer! Her mom says she learned over 200 songs by the age of two. She has been in a very weakened state since the diagnosis and treatment began she has had to give up many of the things that children love to do, although her family has worked hard to keep her life as normal as possible. Her mother said, “After she was diagnosed, it was such sweet music to our ears, when after almost a month of not hearing her sweet voice sing, she started singing, 'It’s me, it’s me, it’s me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.'”

We enjoyed sharing the stage with many great, God honoring, performers and we were glad to be a part of a special evening.

We also spent Sunday morning (5/20) with Horizon Community Church in Tualatin, Oregon.

We sang four songs in both of their services and really enjoyed the worship and the pastor's message on godly time management. With our busy schedules, that message came at a very good time!

Gladstone, Good Shepherd, Salmon Creek

2007-05-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

On Saturday (5/5) we traveled to Gladstone Park Adventist in Gladstone, Oregon for their morning service. We heard lots of, “amens”, as we sang and were very encouraged. That night we had a full concert and people from many churches all around the area filled the house.

After the concert I talked to a little boy that has been to a few of our concerts. He said, “You know it’s really a good thing to like a singing group. I really like you guys!”

I told him about when I was a kid, there were ministries that affected me a lot like a ventriloquist that came to our church and especially when my dad got to fly a skydiving Vacation Bible School speaker over a church and he jumped out. I got to be in the back seat! I told him, “There are all kinds of ways you can be a blessing to God and minister to people!”

He told me about his desire to one day have a skateboarding school where he could teach kids tricks and then say, “Without God you wouldn’t even be able to do any of that! You wouldn’t even have legs!”

I had to chuckle a bit, but I did have a little tear in my eye. He was just so happy and full of the moment. In the dressing room one of the other guys told me that the little guy had asked, “Can you believe that you get to sing with a guy who can talk like a DUCK???”

Now THAT’S a kid with some TASTE!

Another gentleman came up to Steve and I at the CD table and said, “Thanks, guys. You brought me back home tonight.” Steve said, and I agreed, that it doesn’t take many comments like that to make it all worth it.

On Monday and Tuesday (5/7-5/8) we joined Good Shepherd Community Church to sing for their annual Mother Son Banquet. Steve and our sound tech, Will brought their moms to the second night. It was really touching as they gave all of the men some time to personally express their love and appreciation to their moms. There weren’t a lot of dry eyes in the house on either night.

On Friday (5/11) we went to Salmon Creek United Methodist Church in Vancouver, Washington. We remembered that we had done a concert almost exactly a year ago at the same church and that it was the first concert we had after receiving our new in-ear monitors from Martin Audiology (they took a little getting used to), plus Over was very sick. We remembered that concert not being one of our best vocal performances but that we were warmly received nonetheless. This time we really wanted to make sure it was solid.

I woke up that morning with some extreme vocal problems and was worried about how it was all going to come together that night. Our regular sound tech, Will wasn’t there that night and Mike Z. was filling in for him, which would be a daunting challenge for anyone.

God really blessed our time there! It was actually one of my strongest nights, vocally, since I started taking on the challenge of singing more lead vocal parts! I have NO explanation for that other than God. Mike did a wonderful job! I just love seeing firsthand how God rescues…RESCUE!

We were also very happy to be a part of their effort to send youth to assist Katrina victims. PRAISE GOD!

A Quick Trip To Santa Cruz, Rolling Hills

2007-04-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

The weekend of Friday April 20th to Sunday April 22nd was a very full and fun weekend for RESCUE as we flew into San Jose, CA for a Benefit concert in Santa Cruz for the Local Pregnancy Resource Center. We met some really wonderful and passionate people there! The concert was on Friday night and we left for home on Saturday morning.

On Sunday morning we got up bright and early (call time was at 6:30), and drove to Rolling Hills Church in Tualatin, Oregon. We sang three songs in their two morning services and had a wonderful time worshipping with the people of that congregation. Backstage, the praise team and staff made us feel very welcome.

Things are going to start getting pretty busy again soon and we are anticipating great things from God!

Missions Fest B.C.; Waco, TX; Crossroads, Vancouver, WA; Portland Christian Center

2007-03-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Wow! Has it been that long since our last prayer bulletin??? I apologize for such a long period of time between emails, and I won’t let it happen again. Between preparing for concerts with Brandon (who is doing wonderfully), studying lots of new lead parts/lyrics to fill some of the gaps until we find our 5th member, having a couple of pretty heavy duty fly-out dates, an incredibly demanding schedule and workload at my day job (we lost a couple of employees during the year and I am being flown around the country for lots of retraining and upgrading of skills so that we can fill in the gaps there), and all of the regular stuff that we humans must do to keep the home fires burning, I am getting kind of punchy! J These are things we must all do in service to the various callings that God has given us, so I am not complaining, just feeling very human.

I think I am going to launch right into the wonderful things God has been doing in and through the ministry of RESCUE during the past couple of months. If it gets too lengthy, just skip down to the Praises and Requests section.

On Thursday January 25th we traveled to Vancouver, BC, for a Missions Fest. Aside from the challenges of getting through customs with all of the equipment and CD product, we knew it was going to be a difficult series of programs to pull off because we needed to move our two sound boards and various other equipment between two large convention halls several times a day (praise God for wheels!). This was also our first official concert date with Brandon Bell as our vocal percussionist / singer. We needed to do between 3 and 5 songs in 8 to 10 programs. WOW! It seems impossible to accomplish that many programs and make much of an impact. What is impossible for us, God can do SO easily. He brought us all the right kinds of helpers and support to make this happen.

One of the two rooms we sang in was geared toward the youth that were attending the event. He allowed us to sing to a huge cement room (it echoed like a cave) full of excited (and very boisterous) young people. I just wasn’t sure we would have much of an impact on them. We sing a capella and I worried that with the full worship bands playing right before us that it would make it difficult for our style of music to translate. I was very wrong. After the concert we talked to young person after young person who were very glad we were there. I am pretty sure that adding a world-class vocal percussionist like Brandon didn’t hurt us at all.

Our booking lady, Doreen and her husband, Dallas traveled with us as she had done so much preparation for us to cross the border and was ready for any question customs threw at her. That preparation was made possible by some very key Christians who she met, purely by accident , along the way. We got into Canada in under the time we were prepared for, and we crossed back into the states in record time! God truly blessed our time on this trip!

By the way! The city of Vancouver, especially at the water’s edge where the convention center is located, is absolutely beautiful! Besides doing all of the preparation that road managing entails and all of the support work he does so tirelessly, Mike Zumstein took a TON of pictures. Will Holmer also did an amazing job of transitioning between rooms and mixing our sound under some difficult circumstances. Audra Cross and Becky Bell handled the product sales and had to cover both rooms at various times, but they handled it all with a smile! Brandon & Becky, Steve & Audra as well as Doreen & Dallas, all stayed with some of Doreen’s close relatives in Vancouver. She grew up there so it was a particularly meaningful for her to finally get us into Canada.

On Thursday, February 8th we flew to Waco, Texas. You may remember that we received a sponsorship for our Westone In-Ear monitors from a company called Martin Audiology. They have been very strong supporters of ours and between RESCUE and Martin Audiology we all wanted to find a way to go to Waco and meet all of them. The Martin’s have a daughter who was getting married so they brought us all the way to Texas to sing for her wedding and to sing at a joint benefit concert with another sponsored Christian artist named, Conrad ( www.conradsmusic.com ).

The Martin’s have been putting on an annual concert called the, “So The World May Hear” Texas Jam, which raises funds and awareness for underprivileged children with hearing loss. They have been on missions trips with Starkey’s Hearing Foundation to Mexico and provided hearing aids to hundreds of children. They decided they wanted to effect children in their own community so they started the concerts and a foundation as a means to that end. The concert we sang for is their first attempt at benefit concert specifically geared towards Christians. We were very blessed to be a part of such an event with such amazing people. We had a blast kidding around with Conrad and his band. They are a great group of guys! Joy is the Martin’s point person who arranges all of the sponsorships and brings in the artists for the concerts. She has been incredibly supportive of RESCUE over the last year. It was great to finally meet her even as she was going through a very difficult time in her life, physically. She was stepped on by a horse as a young person about 20 years ago and it shattered her foot. She has endured foot surgery after foot surgery to correct the damage done. She decided it was time to end the pain and had her foot amputated, and the day of her surgery turned out to be on the very weekend of the concert that she had worked so hard to organize. You would not believe the poise she exhibited the night before the operation as she helped us get settled. I was just struck by the quality of people that God has brought us into contact with.

Wednesday February 28th we sang at a Wednesday night service at Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver, Washington. I was really blessed to have my wife Kimberly with me at this concert! Some kind of strange fluke allowed us to have a sitter that night. After hearing a wonderful praise and worship service we were allowed do a 30 minute concert. My trepidation was, “What could we possibly do to add to such an excellent praise and worship time by such an amazingly talented praise team?” Through some very powerful testimonies after the service, God clearly allowed me to see that sometimes he just wants to use us… not because we sing pretty, not because we are so smart, he just wants to add our testimony to the mix of testimonies heard so that the light of his gospel as it shines through the facets and flaws of our lives can reach past the walls and into someone’s heart. Someone specifically led to be there on THAT night, in THAT service, with THOSE needs. It’s overwhelming and humbling to ponder that the One who gave the storm its fury, and the flower its beauty made one so flawed as I to bear witness of his amazing grace and resurrection power. WE have a part to play in someone’s eternity. PRAISE GOD!

And on Sunday March 11th we sang at Portland Christian Center’s Music appreciation banquet. It was great to share this time with them as they looked over the things that the Lord had accomplished through them in the past year.

It’s really good for us to stop every once in awhile and ponder what the Lord has done, much like this email has been for me as I sit here, much later than I wanted to be up, thinking about the way that God, through his grace, has mingled the heavenly with the earthly. What good is my cracked, earthen vessel without His living water to carry and distribute? How will those waters find thirsty souls unless His people will fill up, and go?

Saying Hello to Brandon, Best Wishes to Dustin

2007-01-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

As you may know we had the pleasure of welcoming our new vocal percussionist/vocalist Brandon Bell and his wife Becky into the RESCUE family. We had a nice get-together on Friday night, shared a nice dinner, and had a very sweet time of fellowship, sharing and prayer. We are excited about what the Lord is doing with the ministry and are looking forward to an amazing 2007!

You may also already know that one of the challenges that we are facing is that we need to fill one of our lead/tenor spots as Dustin has decided, after much prayer, that it would be best if he resign and secure adequate employment that will meet his financial needs and provide the time needed to spend with his children. He was just not able to find employment that would allow him the flexibility needed to sing with RESCUE. We are sad to see him go but we are very supportive of his decision. He gave us plenty of preparation time and allowed us to finish out the year with a full group. We are very thankful for the time God allowed for us to sing with him and he will be missed.

We have some VERY good prospects for new vocalists and are very excited to see who the Lord will provide to fill the position. Jason is an incredibly flexible musician and has found creative ways to use the four people we have now to cover our arrangements until we find our new guy.

That having been said, obviously we have jumped into heavy rehearsal mode as we get the current group ready for full concerts.

Story of Amazing Forgiveness

2007-01-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Roy Collins is a wonderful Christian man from Lodi, California that RESCUE had the pleasure of getting to know during December. He was instrumental in bringing us to his Church, Century for their singing Christmas tree December 8-10, 2006. When my bag of clothes got stolen, Roy was the one who took me shopping. Doreen let us know that she had heard that there was a tragedy in the church soon after we were there but we didn’t understand exactly what had happened. She has since emailed us a letter from Roy explaining the situation and how God was exalted through it. I was very touched and inspired by this letter and thought maybe you’d like to read it too. It is lengthy so if you want to skip down to the praises and prayer requests, feel free.

“The holidays can be so hurried with all we do that sometimes we seem to forget what Christmas is all about. I want to take a moment and share with you something that happened this past month to our church family here at Century.

“One of my joys at Century has been co-teaching an adult Sunday school class called Homebuilders for the last three and a half years with a wonderful couple, Bill and Gerri Harper. On any given Sunday, we'll have between 75 to 90 people in class. Bill and I are pretty much opposites in our styles and methods yet we both have a passion for teaching the Word and we worked great as a team.

“The Monday following the Singing Christmas Tree, Bill was on his way home from work (he was a teacher at the local community college) when he was involved in a head on car crash. I received a call from the local hospital because my phone number was on his cell phone. The nurse informed me that Bill had died as a result of his injuries, and asked if my wife and I could be there when Bill's wife arrived.

“The word of Bill's death began to spread quickly among our congregation and they began to arrive at the hospital. The accident happened because a young man, heading home from a long day on the job, dozed off for just a second and crossed the dividing line. Bill was driving his pride and joy, a 55 Chevy pickup that he was restoring. The young man was driving a Ford Excursion. While Bill received massive injuries, the young man was unharmed, but pretty shook up as you can imagine.

“When Geri arrived at the hospital the nurse told her what had happen, that Bill's body was pretty much crushed and suggested that Geri may not want to see him like that. Now Geri is an extraordinary woman, and she wanted to see her husband one last time. We went into the emergency room area along with Pastor Edwards who had just arrived. Bill's body was covered with a linen shroud. We cried and prayed and released Bill's spirit to the Lord.

“Then the most extraordinary thing happened.

“It is standard procedure in these types of things that a police officer remain in the emergency room to stop any type of confrontation that might happen between victims. The man from the other car was in the room next to Bill. His family had arrived, including the man's wife, mother and father. Geri told the policeman that she wanted to talk to him. At first, the policeman refused, but pastor sensed the spirit of God in the place, and told the policeman that it would be all right. The policeman asked the family if Geri could come in and they said yes.

“The man was lying on a hospital bed, weeping because of what had happened and the guilt he felt. Geri walked up to him, leaned over to him and told him that she bore him no grudge. What had happened was just an accident. She told him that her husband believed that every man has an appointed time to die. Today was Bill's. Then she told him "God has spared your life to love your family, be a husband to your wife and a father to your children. You need the love of God. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" And there in the emergency room she led that man and his family to Jesus! She prayed with them and invited them to come to church with her.

“As she left that room, the hospital staff was stunned. The policeman, who had tried to stop her at first, was now in tears. He told pastor that in all his time as a cop, he had never seen or heard anything like that. What a woman. Only a CHRISTIAN WOMAN, in the most devastating time of her life, could find the courage to stand as a witness for Jesus, when many would have folded.

“We had over 900 people show for Bill's memorial service on the Monday before Christmas. Among those people was the family of the other man in the accident. It was a loving testament to a wonderful guy and a great lady. Who knows? Maybe through this tragedy, a family will be saved for the kingdom.

“Bill would have liked that.”

Thanks for this amazing story Roy. Geri has taught us something about the depth of God’s love for us.

Summing up 2006

2006-12-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

I can think of no way to sum up the past few weeks of ministry for RESCUE. It has been an incredibly encouraging time for us. We’ve met so many wonderful people, we’ve chatted with many prayer partners, and we’ve established some wonderful bonds with some amazing Christian people. We’ve seen God at work in many lives through RESCUE in partnership with local churches and Christian organizations. We’ve read emails and heard testimonies of the effects that the simple, biblical messages presented through our songs has had in people’s lives.

We received an email in the last couple of days from a missionary who tells us this:

“I just finished putting together a report about dozens of pastors who were beaten, had their wives raped, etc. as well as accounts of untouchables who have been relegated to a life of poverty, atrocities and discrimination. Between that and the sunny 80F weather here in India and absolutely no decorations around our neighborhood, I wasn't really in a Christmas spirit.

“Then, we put on Rescue's Christmas CD. Very very refreshing, to say the least. Thanks for your work and ministry which stretches across the miles to encourage others to remember the Hope for the World who was born as a baby.

“That is the true Christmas spirit. Thanks for reminding us.”

I hesitate to give his name because I don’t want to make his life more difficult in any way, but I just have to say that his letter is a wonderful reminder to us of the reason why we do what we do. It is profoundly humbling for me to read that he is thankful for the music this ministry has brought, when we all know that being some sort of encouragement to the thousands of men and women who put their lives on the line for the cause of Christ every day is the very least we can do!

RESCUE, sings at Pleasant Valley SDA in Boring, OR

Since I last wrote you all, we have been to Pleasant Valley SDA in Boring, Oregon; Our Savior’s Lutheran in Salem Oregon; and the South Central ACSI in the Dallas - Fort Worth area; Sunset Presbyterian (the church where former member, “Mac”, now ministers) in Beaverton, Oregon;

RESCUE on the platform at Our Savior's Lutheran in Salem, Oregon

The afternoon RESCUE concert in the main ballroom during the South Central ACSI Convention in Dallas, Texas

RESCUE sings for the staff and guests of the ACSI South Central Convention at Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse in Dallas,Texas

Two weekends ago we were at Century AOG in Lodi, California for three exciting days of Christmas programs and services; and this last weekend we were at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, California (near Santa Cruz) for six of their Christmas programs.

RESCUE during the Singing Christmas Tree at Century Assembly Of God in Lodi, California

Onstage at TwinLakes Church in Aptos, California

I could say something about each of these great churches and organizations, but it is really hard for me to convey the warm feelings that we feel for each place individually with mere words. I can only say the word “amazing” so many times.

I will simply say this, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to serve the body of Christ and for the warm reception we have received at each of these concerts. At our heart we all know that we are just a group of peculiar people who want to serve God with the strange conglomeration of talents and skills we’ve been given. We are also very acquainted with what it is like to be in the often thankless job of serving your own local church in obedience, wherever you are needed.

I feel burdened to tell as many of you who read this email and are consistently, selflessly serving the body of Christ, at home or abroad, that we have seen many of you working and have seen the effects of such servitude on the souls of those who are invited to concerts and who have been lovingly presented with the Gospel in so many ways and because of so many people’s hard work. Your abundant hearts and open hands are a continual witness to us that God is still at work amongst His people. The family and friends of RESCUE feel honored to be able to serve along-side you as you reach out to your communities and to the world.

RESCUE wishes you a Merry Christmas and a blessed 2007!!!

Phoenix Part 2 and Chicago

2006-11-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Well, I honestly don’t know where to start. We’ve had an amazing few weeks since the last prayer bulletin.

We flew back to Phoenix on October 20th to sing at a memorial service at Sun City Christian Church on the 21st and to sing during four services and a Sunday evening concert at Calvary Community Chapel.

Calvary Community Chapel is a church that has a wonderful story. They started in a very small building that didn’t even have a sign, they had to place one on the sidewalk. The pastor was faithful to the small gathering there for many years, but the city told them that they were going to have to stop putting their sign up. He was getting very discouraged and prayed that God would show him if it was time to move on to other things. That very next Sunday six new families began attending services, and from that time forward the church has continued to grow.

They are now meeting in what was the oldest mall in Phoenix. It has been beautifully remodeled and the ministry there has been very fruitful! Praise God for His faithfulness! There were many there who were of immense help to us, chiefly their worship pastor who has an incredible servant’s heart. We didn’t know this until late in the trip that our concert would be broadcast over the web so we were not able to get a bulletin out to those on the prayer team, but our families were alerted to the fact and were able to share the experience with us. The response from the congregation was incredible and we left Phoenix feeling God’s blessing!

RESCUE's evening concert at Calvary Community Chapel in Phoenix, Arizona

On October 29th we went to a church closer to home, New Hope Community in Clackamas, Oregon. We shared our music at their two morning services and were able to spend some time worshiping with the congregation and getting to know some of the music ministers there. RESCUE has enjoyed a wonderful relationship with New Hope through the years and we are very humbled to be able to join with them from time to time.

Morning Services at New Hope Community Church in Clackamas,Oregon

Last Friday, October the 3rd, RESCUE flew to Chicago! We were joined not only by Will Holmer, our sound tech, but also our newest team member Mike Zumstein! Mike, who is one of Steve’s closest friends, is an incredible guy who is able to do many things. We hired him mainly to do road managing for Rescue, but he is also a good photographer and media guy, and a great driver, which will help us in those areas too. Oh, and he’s also a third degree black belt. So, if things get a little unruly at the CD table, we know who to call (just kidding)!

We had a great time in Chicago. We had plenty of time to relax and have some rehearsal time. On Saturday evening we had a very energetic concert at a youth rally where we had an amazing response from the kids! Pastor Jeff Deming and the staff of this Illinois area SDA event treated us very well and made sure that we had everything we could need or want. We hope that Jesus' amazing love was communicated through the music and message that we brought that night and that lives were changed.

Rescue enjoyed singing at a 1st annual youth event for the Illinois Conference Of Seventh-day Adventist Church

On Sunday we sang during the Sunday services at the historic Moody Church! Mike was snapping pictures of that amazing building like you wouldn’t believe! It was a wonderful service and is a highlight of my time in RESCUE thus far. Afterwards, as an amazing cap on a wonderful weekend, we were treated to authentic Chicago pizza!!!!

RESCUE sings in the historic Moody Church in Chicago

We are so thankful for all that God is doing and for the amazing people that He has brought into our lives through this ministry.

Phoenix Part 1, Battleground PRC and Winterhawks!

2006-10-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Four of us flew home from Phoenix on October 6th (Dustin, Steve, our sound tech Will, and I). Unfortunately, Jason Overstreet had to drive the trailer with our sound equipment and CD’s to and from Phoenix. What a trooper!

We had an amazing time ministering to an ACSI convention (Association of Christian Schools International). As you can imagine, teachers are uniquely ready for some uplifting music and an encouraging word. We just loved talking with them afterwards and getting to know some of them. We were also blessed to be able to listen in on their main speaking sessions.

Of particular impact to me were the sessions by Dr. J.P. Moreland, professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He was speaking about how worldly philosophies have changed the meaning of the word happiness to mean "a sense of pleasurable satisfaction". The definition throughout ancient writings has always been more akin to this, "A life well lived, a life of virtue and character, a life that manifests wisdom, kindness, and goodness." This definition of happiness, when lived, brings about a deep sense of well-being, but J.P. Moreland says that this is not to be confused with the unstable, fleeting, enslaving, empty, self-absorbed life that the pursuit of the post-modern version of "happiness" brings. He expounded on the far-reaching implications of this paradigm shift in our value system, and I was moved to learn more about this pervasive philosophy.

Dr. J.P Moreland

I quickly bought two of his books: "Love Your God With All Your Mind", and his current book, "The Lost Virtue of Happiness".

Yes, of course I got them signed!

We met many people who were moved by the ministry of RESCUE. One teacher told us that our concert was the highlight of the conference for her. We were very happy to be able to be a blessing to the people who are really on the cultural "front lines". Please pray for the thousands of Christian educators who have devoted their lives to providing kids a spiritually healthy education.

On Thursday, October 12th, RESCUE sang at a benefit banquet for the Battleground, Washington Pregnancy Resource Center. We are so humbled to be a part of such a wonderful and loving effort to honor God. These centers encourage and serve future mothers in an effort to give them the support they need to be able make the right decision and ultimately bring their babies to full-term. I was particularly encouraged by one of the organizer’s husband’s who told me that RESCUE’s part in these types of events means a great deal to them, and is an important piece of the puzzle.

On Friday October 13th RESCUE had the real treat of singing the U.S. and Canadian National Anthems for our local hockey team, the Portland Winter Hawks. Over, Steve and I were joined by former RESCUE member "Mac", as he was filling in for Dustin for the evening. It was great to finally get to sing with him! Doreen and her husband Dallas were there for the game and I was able to bring my wife, Kimberly, and our three kids to the hockey game. The announcer, who is a professed supporter of RESCUE, invited my children down to the booth and gave them cold hockey pucks, right off of the ice! They were SO excited! It was a really wonderful night.

RESCUE, on the ice with guest singer Jason "Mac", singing the Canadian and United States national anthems for the Portland Winterhawks.

We heard a really encouraging report at this week’s Prayer Team meeting about the fact that our doing something as simple as the national anthems is having a possible impact on some people who would normally be closed to listening to a Christian group and are now contemplating coming to a concert at a local church! We LOVE it!

Cannon Beach Men's Conference

2006-09-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

RESCUE had a great time at the Men’s Conference at Cannon Beach Conference Center this past weekend! We enjoyed some very inspiring messages from Pastor Ed Underwood of Church of the Open Door in Glendora, California. He is a former military man and related the stories of his time in the US Army's Jump School where he became a member of the "Airborne" troops. He related the principles of his training and the story of Caleb (Joshua 14:12 specifically) to our own spiritual walk. He spoke of four principles: Conditioning (getting into spiritual shape by reading the Bible and daily prayer), Obeying commands (submission to God), Facing confrontations (speaking the truth in love and being able to receive it from others) and having Courage (standing for what is right under very difficult circumstances). The themes are universal to men and women, but Ed knows the way to relate these concepts to men in a way that really motivates us.

One of his statements really stuck with me throughout the week. He said, "...these are some of the things I've done. I Have jumped out pf C-130's, I HAVE jumped out of C-147's - I have fallen trees (I used to work as a fireman for the Forest Service) The biggest one was seven feet on the stump, so that was pretty exciting seeing that thing come down. I served with a Hot Shot crew in Southern California, while I was in college, fighting fire. I’ve fought fire in the brush fields of Southern California, going downhill cutting brush bringing fire with us, standing on the mountain, daring the fire to get us! I’ve taken tanks downrange. I've done a lot of things, but nothing, no assignment in my life, has been more messy, no assignment in my life has been more confusing, more daunting, or taken more courage, than to love one woman as Christ loved the church and to raise kids in a Godless world so that they would want to follow my Savior, and to lead men, not to jump out of airplanes, not to fight fire, but to lead men in a way that they could make a difference in this sin-stained world for Jesus Christ."

Ed Underwood was inspiring as he spoke to the men of the conference.

After feeling so blessed to be able to take part in such a wonderful time of Bible teaching, we were so happy to be a part of the program, encouraging the men there to worship God and to live lives that can make a "difference".

We sang two songs per speaking session and did a concert on Saturday night. Former RESCUE member, "Mac" (Jason McKenney) and his father-in-law happened to be in Cannon Beach that weekend and decided to come and support us that night. It was great to see him again and he was a great encouragement to us.

It has been really fun for us to be able to offer our newest CD, "Before the Throne Pre-Release". The three songs that are on the CD mean a lot to each of us. They are definitely ministry songs that we can really stand behind. It is also really great that Brandon's percussion demonstration is on there too, because many people want to hear more from him than just the video demonstration that we play at concerts.

It was such a pleasure to see the encouragement on the faces of the men who spoke to us afterwards. We felt no doubt that God had ministered through the ministry of RESCUE and were so humbled to be able to witness such a life-changing time for many men.

Six Concerts

2006-09-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Wow! It’s been a couple of VERY busy weeks around RESCUE! Since our last bulletin we’ve done SIX outdoor concerts! I think I’ll just give you a little taste of each of them.

Warner Pacific College was rolling out their new logo and decided to have a community event with local radio personalities, HUGE balloons, and CUPCAKES (yum!). We had an outstanding time at this very well-planned event!

Sherwood Presbyterian has a nice little park right across the street from their church where many community events are held, so they decided to bring Jesus to their community. There were several other Christian musical groups there and Starbucks had people there with, get this, coffee backpacks! Very cool! We think Dustin needs one.

Garden Way Church in Eugene brought us out to do an outdoor concert on their huge church lawn on a sunny Sunday morning! We hate wearing sunglasses while doing concerts because we don’t want anything to get in the way of the message, but the blinding sun was reflecting off of the white tents, so we made it a "sunglasses optional" concert. There were such helpful people at the church, we were well taken care of! It was a great event and I am sure that many were encouraged in the Lord because of their efforts. I had some barbershop friends from the Eugene area come to the concert to check up on me :-) . It was great to see them!

We also did a concert for a group called "Stand Up Girl". It is an organization dedicated to help at-risk pregnant teens to make godly decisions, encouraging adoption rather than abortion. There were two other groups before us on the program including a great sounding Christian band called "Allaway" (turns out I knew the drummer from barbershop) and a group of four sisters aged 13 to 19 from Grants Pass who sing Christian Bluegrass called "The Emmons Sisters". The concert was on a huge stage in idyllic, Monteith Riverpark in Albany, OR. We had a great time meeting with people afterwards and were glad to be a part of an event to benefit such a worthy cause.

We traveled from Albany that night to Sisters, OR and arrived in our rooms at about 2:30 AM. We woke up early the next morning to set up the equipment on the lawn at Sisters Community Church for their morning service. If I had seen the view of the mountains from their lawn in a movie, I wouldn’t have believed it was real. I wanted to just stop and stare at the Three Sisters Mountain Range, but then I saw another unusual sight. Right across the street from the church, toward the mountains, there is a herd of domesticated Elk. They were amazing! We had a really fun concert! My family’s closest friends live nearby so my family and I stayed there for Labor Day.

Last Saturday evening we traveled to Community Chapel in a little town called Sweet Home, OR. I heard Over mention something about an outdoor amphitheater, but I didn’t give it much thought. When we arrived it was dark, so we didn’t get to see much, but I could tell this was going to be quite an experience. The next morning as we loaded in the equipment we saw the amphitheater in the full glory of the morning sun. I was DAZZLED! There were flowers everywhere, a pond, and PALM TREES?? We’ll have pictures on the website because words cannot express how beautiful this place is. I thought I must have been transported to Hawaii in my sleep! We had a great time there. During the middle of the concert the pastor delivered a great sermon about serving others with what God has given each of us, and there was a big barbecue afterwards.

Even with all of these concert dates, Over was STILL able to get the pre-release album done this week! PRAISE GOD! (details at www.rescuemusic.com)

Even though it takes a lot of emotional, physical and spiritual strength to shoulder this type of schedule we’re so very thankful for the opportunity that God has given us to encourage the body of Christ and to share the Gospel with the people who come to our concerts! The members of RESCUE and our support team of friends and family all know that prayer, and prayer alone, has made this possible!

A Story From Cannon Beach

2006-08-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

RESCUE had an incredible week of ministry, hard work, and even had some time to enjoy the beautiful Oregon Coast. Wonderful messages were delivered by Dr. Ron Cline ( see www.hcjb.com ) all week long at the Cannon Beach Conference Center!

Dr. Ron Cline shares from The Gospel of Luke and from his many experiences in Missionary work

The responses to our Tuesday night concert and the daily sessions were truly overwhelming. People really appreciated the music and message that the Lord allowed us to bring. We gained many contacts and some sweet friendships!

RESCUE, on stage during their Tuesday night Concert at the Cannon Beach Conference Center

One amazing story that we got to be a part of was of a man whose wife had been paralyzed by the epidural she received during the delivery of their baby. She became very depressed and committed suicide. Her father followed suit a short time later. The man gave his baby to his parents and headed west on a trip through Oregon where he was planning to end his own life. As he was passing through the Mt. Hood area he went across a bridge with train tracks. He decided he was going to jump from the bridge and as he stood there, he looked down and saw two books sitting in the tracks. He picked them up and discovered one was a Bible that had tabs throughout, marking the promises of God. The other book was a book about the promises of God. He picked up the books and decided to head for the coast. A family who was attending the conference was at the beach and saw this gentleman and decided to talk to him about Jesus. He gave his heart to Jesus that day and attended the morning session the next day. The praise and worship, our songs, and Ron’s message all just seemed to line up to be an extra encouragement to this man. We are so happy for both he and his baby that he is now serving Christ!!!

No matter how dark the situations of life can become, Jesus is always the answer. He is not the pat answer, or the easy answer, but He is the RIGHT answer! Aren’t you glad that God showed us the light of His unmerited favor? Do you know anyone who could use some of that light directed their way? We have nothing to lose but our ego, but they have everything to gain!

My wife and daughter enjoying the wonderful weather at Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach, Monday

2006-07-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a wonderful first three days of our week at the Cannon Beach Conference Center! We've sung 4 times so far and have enjoyed wonderful messages by Ron Cline have been outstanding! He is the president of an organisation that sets up small and large radio stations all over the world to spread the message of Christ to those in impoverished nations that might never have heard His Gospel. The stories he tells of devoted Christians who walk into such desperate and dangerous situations for the cause of Christ are truly inspiring to all of us. The small islands of Indonesia have been the scene of many martyred Christians, and yet there are many people who are so devoted to spreading the Good News that they walk into the face of religeous hatred with the joy of the the Lord.

Ron is speaking on "The Jesus Road", messages that Jesus preached on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem, and the messages are focused on simple devotion to Jesus.

Again, we are so blessed to be able to share this time as a group and I also have the blessing of having my wife and children here with me. It's sunny, but with a nice cool breeze, perfect weather. We are just very thankful to be able to minister here to such an appreciative and sweet group of people.

Your Story: The Key to Comfort, Witness, Worship

2006-07-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It’s been a busy couple of weeks at RESCUE! We have been learning lots of new music in preparation for the album and our week at Cannon Beach, and we have been spending some serious time at NorthStar Recording Studio working on the album. As always, we face challenges, but God is good and is helping us through them, as He has SO many times before!

In examining my own faith this week I realized something about Jesus that I have never realized so fully, or so personally until the last two years: He is my rock!

I am coming to lean on His strength without the fear I once struggled with, but not because I am such a wonderful person who has been so “in touch” with God. Far from it! It’s because in my weakest moments I have seen with my own eyes the works of the master!

It isn’t until we face our own Red Sea that we can truly see the deliverance of God! I can read all day that He is a strong tower, but until I am in need of His shelter I will never truly grasp the wondrous nature of His loving protection. How can I value the fact that Jesus is the peace in the storm if I have never sat, swamped in the midst of the buffeting waves.

This is the great comfort of my life: I was completely and utterly lost, but HE found me! My life was a chorus of disjointed and random sounding trumpet blasts and screeching reeds and HE made a symphony, bringing it all into His order!

Not at all consequently, this is also where our dynamic witness to others lies. The blind man boldly told the religious establishment how Jesus healed him. The lame man jumped around and made a general ruckus in a public place in praise to the Healer that healed him. The woman at the well made a huge impact on her community after she talked to the one who truly knew her heart and offered her Living Water.

This is true worship! We don’t need to work up the emotions. We don’t need to make the story of our life more dramatic than it really is. We simply need to draw near to Him and see for ourselves what a marvelous Savior He is, and when we truly see it for ourselves, we’ll have no problem sharing it with the world around us!

Prayer For Steve's Dad

2006-07-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

RESCUE Sings for Steve's Dad

On Monday the 1st of July, RESCUE's bass, Steve Cross was dirt biking with his dad and some friends in a fairly remote area. Steve’s father had a problem with the chain and the bike wheels stopped abruptly as he was riding around a bank berm. The bike actually fell on top of him after he was thrown. Thankfully, Steve was with him at the time and was able to get him to a hospital.

He has suffered some broken ribs, a broken collar bone and shoulder blade, and a pulmonary contusion. During our Sunday evening rehearsal on the 9th we headed over to Steve's parents' house to sing a few songs for him and hopefully cheer him up a little as he is stuck in bed for a while. Steve's grandparents were there too and we had a really nice time chatting with them for a while before we went back to rehearsing.

We are thankful that he is recovering well, and we would ask for prayer that he would heal quickly, and without long-term effects.

RESCUE at the Portland Convention Center

2006-06-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night we had a great time at the beautiful facitilies at the Portlan Convention center, Portland Ballroom. It was a HUGE room but the sound was amazingly good considering the challenges. We were singingfor the 61st NW District Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Convention. We were very well taken care of and I finally had the opportunity to hear Guy Doud speak. He has been on Christian radio shows like Focus On The Family for years. He was awarded, "Teacher Of The Year" in 1986 by President Reagan, and has spoken all over the world since then. He is a very inspirational speaker especially on the subject of children and being godly examples and teachers to them whether formally or just in our daily contact with the children in our lives. If you ever have the chance to hear him speak, I would encourage you to do so.

RESCUE, at the Portland Convention Center for the 61st NW District Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Convention

We do a lot of concerts under very different circumstances and nothing much surprises us, but it was a very happy surprise for us that we had 3 or 4 tables of physically and mentally handicapped young adults right in front of the stage. I believe they were from a local organization that helps them which is supported by the NW District Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. They were very expressive and were always clapping when it was time to clap and were very happy to sing along with us. It was very nice to know that they really enjoyed their evening with us. The joy on their faces was unmistakable and it spread to everyone who was near to them. We were very blessed to be a part of it.

Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hermon, and Watsonville Trip

2006-06-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Praise God for another wonderful trip to sunny California! We had incident free travel from Friday to Monday for the three California concert dates, we had the privilege of having Mike come along as our driver for the second time, and my wife, Kimberly, was able to join us for her first time on a road trip with RESCUE (this was a huge blessing for us).

On Friday we performed a concert in Mt. Shasta, California. It was a concert sponsored by the Coffee Connection and was held at the Evangelical Free Church there. I had to leave right after the program to go to the ER because I was having problems with my left leg (see, “RESCUE Praises”, below). Dustin and Steve filled me in on a conversation that they had with a woman who told them that a group of young people we had noticed in the front of the sanctuary was largely non-Christian but that they had RESCUE albums from the past and were very excited to come to the concert! Pray that the message that was delivered that night and the Word of God throughout the albums would work its way into their hearts and make them hungry for a relationship with God.

The next day we headed to the Mt. Hermon Conference Center in the Santa Cruz area. They are having their 100th Anniversary this year. It is a very beautiful place built in a fairly hilly area amongst the redwood trees. The back of the main meeting hall is made of large panels of glass that open up to allow overflow seating outside.

RESCUE sings at Mt. Hermon Conference Center

Doreen told me that we have wanted to be able to sing for this conference center for many years, but we finally got to go there because of a contact from the Cannon Beach Conference Center. Isn’t it great how God works? We stayed in the conference dorms and after the concert we spent some social time in their snack bar area eating ice cream and chatting with the staff there. We were very well taken care of and are very excited to have the opportunity to sing there again!

The next morning we drove to nearby First Baptist Church in Watsonville. Actually we met them at the Santa Cruz County Fair Grounds where they were having a big church picnic. We performed a full concert at 11:00 AM. A lot of people from Twin Lakes Church in Aptos came to see us that morning.

RESCUE onstage at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds for the Watsonville First Baptist Church concert

Over told me that Dave Fields, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Watsonville, had been the pastor of a church in Idaho where RESCUE had performed an outdoor concert a couple years ago. Well, I should say “started” an outdoor concert, because not long into the program the skies opened up and it began to downpour. Thankfully, nothing like that happened to us on Sunday. It was sunny and beautiful. We had the opportunity to eat a barbecue lunch with the folks there and chatted for a long time with many of them. As I talked to one of the organizers, he told me that he was very happy with the varying age groups that enjoyed the concert. He mentioned that he’d heard that one of the older ladies was going to be seeing us in Mt. Hermon the night before and he was worried that she might not like us because she has a difficult time enjoying more modern styles of worship music. He went on to say that he was flabbergasted to see her Sunday morning at the fairgrounds, sitting second row, center, and bobbing her head to the music after having heard us the night before!

I believe that our style of music can appeal to many different age groups. No doubt! But, when I hear of people who would typically shut out a group like ours because of generational differences or because they might be turned off by the media image of Christianity, instead opening their hearts to us, I have to believe that it’s because of our active Prayer Team! All of those praying brothers and sisters, from the USA, Canada, Brazil, even Cameroon and so many other places around the world will make the way for God’s work to be done in people’s hearts!

Thank you Prayer Team!

RESCUE Praises:

1. Wednesday of last week I felt flu-like symptoms, but then something strange started to happen: my left leg started to blow up like a balloon! By Thursday it was all red, and Friday morning it was not getting any better. When I was getting on the bus for California on Friday morning, Jason saw my leg and asked what was going on. After I told him he assured me that we’d find a nurse or doctor in Mt. Shasta at the concert that night.

After we got set up in Mt. Shasta, a nurse named Toni took a look at it and wasn’t sure if it was heart related or if it might be something called cellulitis which could mean having to stay in the hospital for several days and get an IV administered antibiotic treatment. She told me that we needed to get to an ER as soon as we could. I had never had any heart problems but I am a big feller and it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility so I did what any good Christian man would do when faced with his own mortality and the possibility of missing concerts…I worried!

We got through with half of the concert and at the break Toni came running back to the dressing room with ice packs and she was very adamant about the fact that we would be leaving for the ER right after the concert. I went on stage for the second half and I felt like my eyes were as big as saucers as I contemplated what was going to happen. God allowed me to make it through the second half of the program and I don’t think that anyone besides Nurse Toni and the organizers knew that something was up.

After the concert I asked Toni if I could change clothes before going to the ER and she said I could. When Dustin saw my face in the dressing room, he knew I was worried, so he prayed over me and asked God for peace and a good prognosis. I felt a TON better. Kimberly and I joined Toni and she whisked us off to the ER.

Well, after getting thoroughly checked out, the doctor assured me that it was cellulitis. Somehow a germ had made its way into the calf of my leg and the human body has a hard time healing or fighting off germs in that area. I thought I was looking at several days of treatment in the hospital, but instead, he just handed me a prescription for two weeks of antibiotics and let me go! I started the antibiotics, and by Sunday I was feeling a lot better and right now you can barely even tell I had a problem! It was a HUGE answer to prayer!

RESCUE's Concert With Acappella

2006-06-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 28th was another great experience for us as RESCUE sang a joint concert with the group, Acappella! The concert was at the Southwest Church Of Christ which is about a mile from where I work at my day job and I had lots of friends and family there that night. The pastor there, Jeff Hicks, is a friend of mine from my barbershop days and it was really nice to see him again!

It was great to meet the new guys from Acappella. Both groups joined together for devotions before the program and had a good time eating dinner together afterwards. It was nice to be able to talk with people who have a similar ministry to RESCUE. Acappella put on a tremendous program and sang their hearts out. They are great guys who obviously love the Lord!

RESCUE's turn on stage during joint concert with Acapplla

During our part of the program, we debuted our new video presentation of Brandon's introduction/percussion demonstration. People really responded well to the video! It makes us even MORE excited for the time when Brandon is able to join us in 2007!

The Obligatory Puppy Pic

2006-05-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

My niece, Kaytlin, poses her new puppy Stella Luna for the phone-cam. Why do I post it here? Come on! How can anyone resist a cute puppy that looks like a mogwai?!

Letter From Portland Rescue Mission

2006-05-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Doreen just sent us this encouraging fax from Mieko Gray, Director of Public Relations at the Portland Rescue Mission:

Jason, Brian, Dustin, Steve 5/18/06

The first word that comes to mind is
"Wow". Each of you is truly talented in
unique ways & the combination of all four
is very powerful. More importantly
though, each of you is gifted with the
desire to reach people for Christ.

Thank you for sharing your talent &
your ministry with us at our first walk-a-thon.
Judging by the response many people were
excited & moved by your music. I know I
was.

We are still waiting for the final results but by the
preliminary counts we are confident the event
was successful. I appreciate your willingness
to partner with us.

I pray each of you continue on the path
our Lord has laid before you & that He be with
you on your journey.

Best-
Mieko Gray

We loved being a part of their event and we look forward to working with the Portland Rescue Mission as much as we can in the future.

Spirit on the Mountain Festival

2006-05-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

It was early to rise and off to Dustin's house for me this Saturday morning! Our sound technician (artiste) Will, Dustin, and I carpooled to Portland's far east-side to board the RESCUE rig. The Spirit on the Mountain Christian music festival is held in a little resort near Mt. Hood. It is the second year of the festival which was designed to bring people from many different area churches together around the common ground of worship and Christian music.

We started setting up our equipment at 8:30 a.m. and after we were finished we shared some breakfast and spent the day rehearsing and talking and just relaxing. They furnished us with a small cabin where we chatted about new program, comedy and staging ideas.

One of our faithful prayer team members Bekah, who we met at the Cannon Beach Conference Center, was flying out of Portland for a trip on Sunday, so she drove up from Eugene a day early to catch the festival on her Birthday! It was great to see her again!

RESCUE wishes Prayer Team member Bekah a Happy Birthday at Spirit On The Mountain

Our concert was not until 5:15 that evening so we had PLENTY of time to relax. It was really good to spend some time getting to know Steve a little better. We've been pretty busy and haven't had much "down time" to just chat.

There were eleven different groups who performed on two stages throughout the day, including African Gospel Acappella.

African Acappella sings at Spirit on the Mountain

From their website: "African Gospel Acappella is comprised of six men from the African country of Liberia. They represent five different tribes and sing in several native African languages, and in English (English is the official language of Liberia). All six men are blind. They have survived a civil war, poverty and many other hardships. The group met many years ago while attending the School for the Blind in Monrovia, Liberia's capitol city.

"After the civil war started, all of the men were scattered for a time. Then, in 1992, they regrouped as the "Inspirational Echoes of the Blind." Through song and testimony, they ministered and evangelized throughout the city of Monrovia and beyond.

"In 1998, all six men came to America and toured forty-six states as the 'Liberian Acapella Choir.' Through their ministry efforts, many orphans in Liberia benefited by receiving food and care.

"In September of last year, the group formed the new ministry of African Gospel Acappella. They continue to direct their energy to singing the good news of Jesus Christ, and they are helping the disabled in Africa."

They were a very inspirational group to listen to. They were so full of joy and had such boldness aas they proclaimed the Gospel. I also loved it when they brought out the djembe drums and two of them started playing.

We had an incredibly good time during our concert, such a warm reception. We got to meet so many great people after the concert, and had the opportunity to talk to a lot of the musicians that had been performing throughout the day.

RESCUE Sings "Come As You Are" at Spirit On The Mountain

The best part is that we heard that throughout the day a total of four people gave their hearts to Jesus!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!

Brian, chatting with folks after the concert

We are very excited at the possibility of going back next year!

Pioneer Courthouse Square

2006-05-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It’s been a very full couple of weeks for all of us in RESCUE! We got our monitor system assembled, rehearsed several times to get used to it, had three concerts and sent our future vocal percussionist, Brandon Bell, off to his summer job in Florida. ALL of these things happened since our last Prayer Bulletin!

During our concert on Friday, May 5th for Evergreen Christian Center’s big 75th Anniversary Program, held at Orenco Elementary in Hillsboro, Oregon, Brandon came up on stage and got the place groovin’ with a fun percussion demonstration, and much like the concert at the Vancouver First Church of God the day before, he performed our last song "The Way, The Truth, The Life" with us. What a pleasure it was for all of us to be on stage together. It was a wonderful taste of things to come.

One of our concerts this past weekend was an exciting opportunity to sing at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland. It’s a large, brick, open air, public area that has many public events and is always rich with people from all walks of life. Most times there are many people walking around there who are very open and even assertive with strange points of view and lifestyles. We were singing for the Portland Rescue Mission’s first annual “Walk to End Homelessness”. We sang after everyone returned from the walk during the latter part of the morning. Some of the crowd was made up of Christian people, but there were also people who came there just to hear what was going on. Many people talked to us after the concert, appreciative of the fact that our message stayed the same and was not watered-down for the mixed crowd. We had a great time, and we’d love to do many more concerts there!

RESCUE sings at Pioneer Courthouse Square for the Portland Rescue Mission's first annual "Walk to End Homelessness" in Portland, Oregon

Angwin, Aptos, and Brandon Bell

2006-05-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Last Thursday night the four RESCUE guys, Will (our sound guy), Mike (an amazingly helpful friend of Steve’s that came along to shoulder some of the driving and set up), and Steve’s wife, Audra all climbed aboard Ginger (our bus) with our equipment trailer on the back and headed for Angwin, California. We were headed there for a concert at Pacific Union College for their vespers service on Friday night. We stayed in Medford, Oregon over night and continued on into California the next morning. After a wonderfully uneventful drive through the beautiful wine country of Napa Valley we arrived that afternoon. We set up our equipment in their beautiful, cathedral-like sanctuary. As we came into the room the choir director was rehearsing on the immense pipe organ. We were almost bowled over by the huge sound.

A view of the stage and pipe organ from the balcony of the sanctuary at Pacific Union College, Angwin CA

Levi, a student and local firefighter, showed us around and made sure we had everything we needed. His parents both work with the college and they made sure that we had places to sleep after the concert. We were very well taken care of. Levi shared with us all of the ways he had been promoting the concert and he was pretty certain that we would have a good turn out.

We did! College audiences are always pretty quiet, but the response afterwards was wonderful! We answered all kinds of questions and chatted with them for a long time after the concert.

RESCUE Sings The Lord's Prayer at the end of their April 28th Concert at Pacific Union College in Angwin, CA

The next morning we headed off to Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, California, a suburb of Santa Cruz. After a few hours of driving we arrived and set up our sound equipment in their sanctuary. Dan Baker led their praise team and was very helpful to us while we were there. We did their Saturday PM service and their two Sunday morning services.

Welcome to Twin Lakes Church, Aptos, CA

As it turns out, their main pastor, Rene Schlaepfer was a radio DJ in Portland a couple of decades ago and he was also a DJ in the Santa Cruz area. RESCUE was the special music for the services and they also had a special guest interview with Mark Rains, the Emmy nominated television producer of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”; “Untold Stories of the ER”; a Walt Disney Christmas TV Special and many others.

Twin Lakes Pastor Renee Schlaepfer interviews Mark Rains, the producer of, "Extreme Makover: Home Edition"

He is a very committed Christian who after growing up going to religious school and going to church every week, as a young adult started going to a church in Southern California with a “surfer dude” pastor. At that point he realized that he had never really made the commitment to Jesus that he needed to make and that it was time. After that his life changed for the better and he has never looked back! He and his wife are involved in an annual marriage seminar at their church in Southern California and they'll be in contact with us because they'd like to have RESCUE down to sing for that event.

RESCUE was very warmly received, Sunday April 30th at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos California.

Pastor Rene is doing a series on the historical questions that the novel The Da Vinci Code brings up. It was a really good way to talk about the validity of scripture and why we can be sure that our Bible is The Word of God.

After the services on Sunday morning a man in his 50’s approached us and said that he really enjoyed our music. He is a self-proclaimed historian and I think that he was there for the Da Vinci Code sermon. He said, “I really believe everything about Jesus, but the whole "God" thing? I am not so sure about that.” I testified to him that God had led me through my life in such a way that He has left no doubt that he is real.

He changed the subject, “I am going through some real problems now. I am going to jail very soon. The law says I have to go even though the judge doesn’t really want to send me there. peaople tell me that I should write a book about my life!”

“Well,” I said, “I hope that you will open your heart up to God, He would really help you through a time like that.”

I felt him wanting to give in to God, but then I could see the old arguments that had kept him at a “safe” distance from God surfacing as he seemed to detach from the conversation. “Well, I think you guys did a great job.”

I watched him walk away. I pray that when he has some time by himself that he’ll reflect upon the music and the message that he heard that morning and decide that his own way wasn’t so great after all, and that God may really be reaching out to him.

Around that same time a lady in her mid 40’s came up to me with the CD “RESCUE” in her hand. “I just wanted to tell you that I loved the song Rescue and that I am buying this CD to give to my 19 year old daughter. She has been a Christian for some time, but somehow she got into drugs and is now addicted to meth.” She gripped the cd tighter and the tears began to well up. “She is such a beautiful girl and this is just destroying her. She’s been in and out of rehab several times and the judge says that if she doesn’t stay clean this time, she’s going to jail for a long time. I am just hoping that the message of that song will help her through this.”

I said, “I recently learned about what this drug does to people and I know it’s just an awful, awful thing. Would it be all right with you if we prayed together over this CD?”
“Of course!”

So I grabbed her hands as she held the CD and we prayed that God would use His Word, written into the songs on that album, to touch and revive a heart and mind that had been so wounded by meth, and that she would be able to be a great witness to others of God’s awesome power. She thanked me for praying and she left. I quietly thanked God for allowing me to be there to pray with her. That made the trip for me.

We packed up our stuff and got on the bus. That evening we picked up Brandon at Simpson College in Redding, CA!!! It was really wonderful to see him again! He will be joining RESCUE on vocal percussion in January 2007, and we wanted to bring him to Portland so that we could introduce him to the prayer team, support staff, and get him into the studio to record some vocal percussion for our next album. He’ll be leaving Portland at the end of the week.

I made it to my home and into bed at about 4:30 AM Monday morning, but was able to come into work late so that I wasn't a complete zombie at work. It was a really great time and we are so thankful to God and our supportive families for the opportunity to be able to do these kinds of trips!

Yesterday (Thursday) we had the privilege of having Brandon come to a concert. As we sang to the children at the Christian school at the Vancouver First Church of God (Steve’s Church) we had Brandon come up on stage for a vocal percussion demonstration. It was amazing, and the children were bouncing with excitement as he “dropped the beat” for them! He is so talented and has such a heart for kids. He even joined us at the end of the concert adding live vocal percussion to the song The Way Truth Life. He tried it before the concert during our warm-up / sound-check, and we were amazed that he made all of the right changes and sounded as if he’d been doing the song for the last year! It felt so wonderful to have us all on stage at the same time with the unified purpose of lifting up Jesus.

What an amazing week!

Christ's Example: Obedience

2006-04-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

During the last few weeks we've been practicing on Sunday nights at
Steve's church in Vancouver. We've really been digging into the work
of rehearsing our current songs and learning new music. Over is
pretty much finished with the arrangement of the song, "He Won't Let You Fall". We've recorded an all vocal rough draft of it for Over to
do some final arrangement edits on, and we're in the process of
learning our parts. We're hoping to be able to sing it in our
concerts at the end of the month.

We are so thrilled to get back to doing concerts on a regular basis.
Starting at the end of this month we'll be singing at least one
concert a week! God is really blessing Doreen's booking efforts!

At my church we've been celebrating "Passion Week", a nightly
gathering to remember the significant things that happened every day from Palm Sunday to Jesus' resurrection. Jesus held so firmly to the
hope for mankind and the love that He has for each of us that He
obeyed even to death. In my daily Bible study I am learning about
obedience and that after God reveals what it is that I need to do, be
it shunning a particular sin, or coming along side His work in some
way, there will inevitably be a crisis of belief. What it can feel
like is, "Are you sure that I am big enough for this task Lord!" but,
truly, it is more a statement of what we believe about God himself.

Is God true to His word? Is He big enough to work through our weak
humanity? Will He lead us into an unfruitful life?

Obeying God always leads us towards self-denial, and a life that
glorifies God. There's not a whole lot of room for self-preservation
and self-promotion in a life of true service to him. We must be able
to pursue and lay hold of the hope that Jesus gives us, that He will
be glorified in our lives and others will come into relationship with
Him. We must be able to pray the prayer that Jesus prayed in the
garden of Gethsemane:

"nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
(Matthew 26:39b KJV)

It is our sincere hope as you celebrate Easter this year, that you,
your friends and family will be drawn closer to Jesus and each other.

New Arrangements and Studio Time

2006-03-30T16:13:00.000-08:00

During the last week or two Jason has been able to spend some very concentrated time arranging our new song, "He Won't Let You Fall From His Hands". Jason, Steve and I went to the studio last night to record a demo of the song so that Jason can make some decisions about different ideas that he has for it (mainly how to divide up he and Dustin's parts). As the guy who wrote this particular song and has been waiting about 10 years to hear it recorded, I could not be more excited! As we rehearse, as the new arrangements come together, and as the album project starts picking up steam we are very humbled by what God is putting together.

RESCUE Gets a Sponsor!

2006-03-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

Well, we decided that we are going to go with in-ear monitors rather than the on-stage wedge monitors.

Now, the HUGE PRAISE: At Riverbend Church in Austin, TX, Jason Overstreet made contact with a guitarist for George Strait's band named Jeff Sturms. He is also a band leader and producer.

Jeff Sturms, from "The Ace In The Hole Band", George Straight's famous road band

He talked with the companies that he deals with when buying in-ear monitor equipment to see if he could get some kind of discount for us, or even a sponsorship. Because of Jeff's help we are going to get the body packs at a great discount; but when he talked with Martin Audiology (a company who makes earmolds and is a dealer for Westone products) and gave them a RESCUE cd, they decided to fully sponsor us for our headphones and earpieces. These are top-of-the-line in-ear monitors (ES3's) which would easily cost $900 apiece!

The ES3 In-Ear Monitors

What a stunning blessing from God! We are so grateful for Jeff's help and Martin Audiology for this incredible gift to RESCUE. Martin Audiology is also talking about booking a couple of RESCUE concerts in their area!

RESCUE's First Concert With Steve

2006-03-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

RESCUE sings at Monmouth Christian Church

Last Friday afternoon we piled in our cars and headed for Monmouth. I had Dustin Will and Tim Lewis in my rig while Steve and Over rode together with all of the equipment. Over remembered something he needed to pick up and had to go back to the office, but after they fought through traffic we finally met up in Salem and headed for Monmouth Christian Church.

We got there a little late and had to rush to get things set up and sound checked, but we made it. We were having some sound issues that bothered all of us but REALLY effected the bass' ability to hear himself, but these were pretty much ironed out at the last minute. This was not an ideal way for Steve to start his first concert experience with RESCUE but he handled himself very well. Once our part of the program came and we got up on stage we all just focused on our objective: "Lifting His Name in Harmony."

We sent our lyrics and some of our other more scripted stuff to the church during the week before the rehearsal so that the people who were signing from a step by the stage for the hearing impaired could have some chance to prepare. That was pretty neat to see!

RESCUE sings So Excited as woman signs for the hearing impaired

I am glad to say that although Steve has only been with us a couple of weeks he had very few problems during the concert and he even had enough presence of mind to ham it up on the comedy stuff!

Steve's big finish!

After the concert we stood and chatted with the folks who came by the table. Afterwards Steve said, "Brian, you know? It's almost more fun talking to people after the concert than the actual concert!"

I think Steve is going to do JUST fine! :-)

On The Eve Of Steve's First Concert

2006-03-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

As I sit at my computer, the day before our first concert with Steve as our bass, and think about the things God has done and is doing in RESCUE, I have difficulty finding the right words to express the profound truths that God has been teaching us through this process.

When we found out at the end of last year that our dear brothers Joshua and Luke were moving along to other things, something inside of me wanted to panic. But I have to tell you, God quickly gave me a strong sense of His peace that it would all work out for His glory. After talking with Jason and Dustin, in their own personal way they had a similar thing happen. Our strength was first in the assurance that God had given us and secondly, it was in the bond that God had given the three of us that let us know that we weren't alone. We walked for the next few months in a solid sense of faith that God was going to show us the way. The fact that Steve has now joined us is only the final evidence of what God was assuring us of the entire time. It never felt like a matter of "if" but of "when". The fact that God brought us someone of Steve's caliber may be God's way of letting us know that when we hold fast to Him through faith, he will bless us even more than we could have hoped for.

It occurs to me that this is a biblical model of how God has worked throughout the ages. He loves it when his children, when confronted with a situation or circumstances that could spell disaster, display faith instead of fear; and He LOVES to save the day. It also occurs to me that I have run in fear more times than I have responded in faith. How many times are we confronted with this choice in our daily lives? How many times do we run to worldly solutions when all God wants for us is to believe Him to be who He says He is and watch Him work miraculously in difficult or even impossible circumstances.

"'I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.'" (Ps. 81:10-12)

Here's my sincere prayer for all of us: Lord, I pray that we would see the events of our lives through eyes of faith. If we have grown callused to Your way of doing things and if we've forgotten how great You are, please awaken us to a fresh understanding of the privilege it is to know and be known by such a wonderful and caring Father. You are powerful to save and faithful to forgive. Remind us to stir up our faith and to be ready to watch You work.

In Jesus name, Amen.

RESCUE Welcomes Steve Cross As Our New Bass

2006-03-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

PRAISE GOD!! It's finally happened! I got the "go ahead" from Over and I am SO happy to announce that our bass search has finally come to an end. God has provided RESCUE with an amazingly talented bass singer. He's 27 years old, his name is Steve Cross, and he's married to Audra who is also a talented singer. He works with two Christian friends in a fledgling mortgage company that they all started together and he has the flexibility to go whenever RESCUE needs him. He also went to school for graphic design and could be of great help to us on that front. Audra is a hairstylist who really enjoys her work, is excited to be a part of the RESCUE family and was very quick to tell us that she'd be happy to be involved wherever she's needed. They make their home and go to church in Vancouver, Washington where they have done lots of music ministry together.

Steve is a really quick study. He has played piano since he was a child, he plays guitar, bass guitar and his primary instrument has been the drums. The night we got together with him for the audition, incredibly, he was blending with the group like he was an old pro. He is beginning to learn all of our current repertoire and we are confident that he'll be up to full speed in no time.

Musical talent aside, he had exactly the heart we were looking for. He is a deeply committed Christian who desires to be a blessing, in whichever capacity God sees fit to use him. We all agreed the night we first met him that he just seems to fit the personality of the group. It will be our pleasure to get to know he and his wife during the coming years.

Over and RESCUE's new bass, Steve Cross working on the bass line

Last Sunday evening we had our first official rehearsal with Steve we met up with Steve over at his church in Vancouver where he was helping with their Sunday evening program and we followed him over to Audra's parents' home nearby. Her parents are such sweet people and made us feel right at home. We took the grand tour and then we practiced in their entryway where they keep their piano.

Dustin, Over and Steve rehearsing

We had a great time and the couple of hours we spent there went by very quickly! It is such a joy to be back in a regular schedule of practice with the guys again. Steve is making this process so easy! He comes very prepared and has such good pitch and a voice that blends easily with the rest of us. It doesn't seem like we're breaking in a new bass as much as it seems like we're just getting together and having a blast singing! I looked over at Steve and he said, "Man! This is FUN!" I wholeheartedly agreed!

Steve, having fun

I really feel we're in a mindset of constant thankfulness because God has shown us again his desire to provide for us! It's not like we don't have any problems in our lives that frustrate us, but it makes it all sweeter knowing that God is in control and that as we submit our lives wholly to Him, he gives us peace that he's working out the details.

It's Oregon, It's March, and It's SNOWING?

2006-03-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

I know, I know! It may not seem that strange to people in other parts of the country but it was pretty shocking (in a good way) for us to wake up to snow this morning. Down in the valley where we live, much to my children's chagrin, there wasn't enough snow for our school district to close the schools (it doesn't take much), but other districts nearby did close. On my way to work I travel over a couple of hills as you may remember from other posts. The snow was WAY deeper up there, so I thought I'd post a few cell phone pictures of it.

Our 4th and Final Bass Audition

2006-02-27T13:49:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-22T10:49:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-02-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-02-09T23:30:00.000-08:00

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!

Missions NW Conference with Steve Saint

2006-01-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Okay, I have to admit, I didn't really have a good sense of what the target audience of the Missions NW conference last Saturday (New Hope Community Church, Clackamas, Oregon) was supposed to be. I wish I would have read the article in the Northwest Christian News that came out in December, but I didn't. If you want the link just email me.

I wasn't sure if we were singing to a conference of people who were wanting to learn about how to reach their neighbors more effectively, or if this was a conference designed to encourage foreign Missionaries. I asked and I was told that this conference was designed to reach out to people of many denominations who have a heart to win the lost of the world through missions, and to inspire young people to follow after many wonderful Christian people who have made this their life's work. There were also many people there who have been foreign missionaries in the past.

The place was filled to over-capacity (3,300 people), and they were having to turn people away. The audience was filled with all ages from many different churches, but the floor in front of the stage and the stairs going up the aisles were filled with young people. We sang, "So Excited" and, "He Won't Let You Fall From His Hands" in the first session. Between songs Jason jokingly let everyone know that we were singing with our bass via Satellite. I then interrupted and said, "Um, Over? We aren't singing with him via satellite! We just recorded a bass track and that's what we'll be singing with!"

"Oh," Over said sheepishly, "Well, that makes it easier!" That little explanation is all we needed to say. We had a great response from the people there and when we set up the second song we geared it to those who might be feeling like they haven't found their place in ministry yet, and who are feeling a bit like they've been set on a shelf. We told them that God will never forget them and that they are still safe within his hand.

In the second session we sang The Difference, So Subtly, and Rescue. The set just seemed to flow right into the message that was coming across that night.

The big surprise of the day: The keynote speaker, Steve Saint! His father was killed in Ecuador fifty years ago along with four other missionaries by a small tribe of "stone-age" people called the Waodani who had never had the gospel preached to them. Theirs was a culture of violence. 40% of the deaths in their community were due to homicide by the spear. As a young teen during summers he stayed with his father's sister who was living with the Waodani at the invitation of the tribe. The very man, Mincaye, who had killed his father became a Christian and has served the Lord all these many years. In fact he has become like a father to Steve Saint since then. He calls him "Grandfather". Steve has written a book about his experiences called, "End of the Spear", and it has since been turned into a movie that opened on January the 20th.

Steve Saint speaks to a packed audience at Missions Fest NW

He actually had "Grandfather" there with him. Steve's company I-TEC, serves many indigenous peoples through training and technology so that the gospel can spread throughout the world. At the behest of the elders of the Waodani he learned and then taught them "The teeth fixing thing" (dentistry) so that they could bring the Gospel to the people after serving them with compassion. He then developed a dentist's chair, with drill and power supply, that they can easily fold up, place into a back pack and go to the people wherever they are. Grandfather Mincaye is one who learned dentistry and has performed thousands of dental fillings, tooth removals and root canals.

The elders also asked Steve to teach them to fly, so he has found an aircraft (a big three wheeled cockpit with a fan on the back and a parachute), has developed a training regimen, and has taught certain of the Waodani to fly from village to village to spread the gospel and provide needed service to the people there.

The worship team was great, the speaker was inspirational and the audience was just so ready to hear from the Lord that night. It was an incredible time and we feel very fortunate to have been a part of it!

How Do We Come To Know God?

2006-01-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

I just wanted to share something I heard recently that was of particular comfort to me. I think you'll see why.

A young man at the church where my family and I worship was speaking two Sundays ago about knowing God. He mentioned that as he was in a leadership position for a youth group he was asked by a particularly upstanding young man in his group three questions that shook him to his core. The questions were this: 1. Is it truly possible to know God? 2. Do you REALLY know Him? 3. How does a person really get to know Him?

Simple questions, eh? These questions catapulted the youth leader into a harrowing search for his faith that lasted over a two year period and brought him to his knees in a way that he never knew existed. Today he can answer an emphatic yes to the first two, but he answers the third by way of a story.

He befriended and later married a woman who had a little girl from previous, difficult circumstances which he did not go into. He felt an instant bond with the child and wanted her to accept him first as friend, and later as father. He naively set her on a counter and put his arms out for her to jump to him so that he could catch her. She wasn't having any of it. Why would she leap into the arms of a person who had no track record? No evidence had been gathered that he was trustworthy! He seemed big, but what if he wasn't even strong enough to catch her?

He set her on a bed about two and a half feet off the floor and tried again...still nothing. He asked her to just lean into him and very carefully she decided to do that. Over the weeks he would stand her up further and further from the edge of the bed and have her lean to him. After a while she began to jump to him and now will leap off of steps to he and his wife when they aren't even ready for her. And why not? They've faithfully shown that they will never drop her!

The waves crashed about the small boat. A ghostly figure appears atop the treacherous waters. If Jesus wanted to meet His disciples and talk, couldn't he have just scheduled a time with them? Why make the point of walking out to them upon the water?

Peter dares to ask if the Lord would allow him to walk out to Him. Was he doing this just to see if he could be some sort of "super disciple"? Was he trying to impress Jesus? Was he just a thrill seeker?

Jesus came out to them in a very dramatic and shocking way. Why? I think it was because he wanted to show them that he was beyond their expectations. He was setting them up. It was as if to say, "Okay, fit THIS situation into your logical but experiential view of the world. Doesn't it seem to you that if I can make even the most basic properties of water obey me that maybe you need not fear the situations that confront you?"

I believe that something inside of Peter needed to KNOW that Jesus was powerful enough to extend his reign over the roiling seas to protect one of His beloved disciples. As he stepped out of the boat and felt the water supporting his weight he saw Jesus' powerful strength. As he began to focus on the waves and doubted what he already knew to be true he began to sink. As Jesus caught him, Peter learned that even when our faith fails us, even when we are weak, Jesus is there to save us.

What shocking or difficult circumstances are confronting you? What challenge to overcome are you facing? And more positively, what exciting step of faith is the Lord asking you to make? Did you know that these are the very situations that God uses to teach us to know him more deeply as the God of strength, comfort, rescue, mercy, forgiveness, etc...

Do we want to know Jesus more? His strong arms will never drop us! His love never fails!

Go ahead!

Jump to Him!

Farewell To 2005 At Northlake Baptist

2005-12-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It was a big night for RESCUE as we bid farewell to two of our members on Friday night at Northlake Baptist Church in Longview, Washington. We had many long-time supporters, prayer team members and staff there to watch the last concert of 2005. The atmosphere felt electric!

Everything seemed to run pretty much as normal that night until we went backstage after the encore. Then as we gathered ourselves and put our microphones away it kind of hit us all. There were tears and hugs and high hopes for the future for all of us no matter where the Lord leads. As Luke and Josh embark on the next exciting chapters of their lives, the Lord has given Jason, Dustin and I a very steady, rock-solid peace that He's still got a lot of great days in store for RESCUE.

In that bittersweet moment it would have been an easy thing for discouragement to grab hold of the three of us. I mean, in some way the dream that we started working toward last February could be seen drifting away. But, let me assure you that God has protected us from those feelings. In fact, he's been providing encouragement for us left and right! He always reminds me that although I have only been here since February, He'd been providing for and working through this ministry for 8 years before Dustin and I came on board.

That night was a difficult night for me vocally, as I was fighting a cold. I felt as if I wasn't quite able to communicate through music with the fluency that I normally would have. In some way I was kicking myself for something that I had no control over. So, as I was shaking hands with people and thanking them for coming to the concert, I was inwardly feeling a bit embarrassed that I wasn't able to sing to the level that I wanted to that night. That was when God stepped in.

A young man came up to me and shook my hand. He said that he was a leader in the youth ministry at the church and that he enjoyed the concert, but then he shared something that changed my outlook on the night. He said that his father had been out of fellowship with the church for a long time. In fact his father had been having great difficulty coming into close contact with the church or church functions. It took a lot of talking but he finally convinced his father to come to our concert. Maybe it was a non-threatening event for him, or maybe the novelty of a cappella singing was the thing that brought him in, either way he decided to come to the concert. He got very serious and looked me in the eye as he said, "Something about your voice really touched my dad. It was specifically your voice that pulled him in. In fact, he just bought an album because he enjoyed the concert so much." That may not sound like much, but judging by the expression of joy on his face as he explained the situation, I could tell that this was a much larger step for his father than I realized. I am sure that there had been much prayer and supplication on behalf of this young man's father. My heart leapt with him at the thought of what God had done through RESCUE.

As he gathered his family to leave I was struck by another feeling:

I was C-O-N-V-I-C-T-E-D

My focus didn't SEEM wrong. I just wanted to do a better job for the ministry. I didn't want my voice to distract from the message of the songs or from the impact that the concert would make on someone's heart. But in that moment my focus shifted and I could see exactly what was wrong... it wasn't about ME. God can use a donkey to bring a message, he doesn't NEED me. The point of this whole enterprise really isn't about what WE can do to serve God in some amazing way. I didn't read an advertisement for RESCUE before I joined that read, "Impress friends and neighbors with a life of music ministry! Show off your musical skills while building God's Kingdom!"God simply chose to use us in this way, and if we continually offer ourselves to him, sore throats and all, He'll use our broken vessels to bring His refreshing waters wherever He sends us and to whomever will hear.

Lord, thank you for reminding me again what a privilege it is to serve You. You have allowed us, in our weak and stubborn flesh, to be a part of what you are doing among your people. Thank you for reminding me that it really isn't about sounding good, or saying the perfect thing at the perfect time, it's really about us simply offering ourselves and being willing to go where you send us. You'll take care of the rest. You have proven that time after time. Amen.

I also want to mention that as we allow some time for God to bring us the bass and percussion voices that He is preparing for this ministry, we are going to send the prayer bulletin out every two weeks instead of weekly. Once we get the new voices in and are getting ramped back up for a full touring schedule again, then we'll go back to sending them out weekly

2005-12-25T11:23:00.000-08:00

Vocal Percussionist Brandon Bell spends the evening talking about ministry with RESCUE

Southlake Foursquare

2005-12-23T11:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

RESCUE was so very excited to be able to spend the weekend worshiping with the people of Southlake Foursquare in West Linn, Oregon. They have SUCH an amazingly talented worship team there. They have 7 vocalists, drums, percussion, electric guitar, Hammond organ, keyboards, a saxophone, and a trumpet! Southlake is Dustin's home church and from what he tells me, just about everyone on the stage has experience as a professional musician. When we got to spend time with them off the platform, we found that they were very accepting and sweet people. At the end of the service they had us join them on stage and sing their last three songs together with the full band and vocalists. By my math, that equals 19 people on stage! It was a truly amazing worship experience for me, and it was not lost on the congregation which seemed to use it as an opportunity to give themselves even more fully to the Lord in worship. I will not soon forget that wonderful time. During our set we sang primarily Christmas songs, and the response from the congregation was awesome!

We had several friends of RESCUE and Prayer Team members approach us after the services. It was great to hear from you and meet you face to face! Thank you all for your ongoing prayer support of this ministry.

RESCUE Sings At the University of Portland

2005-12-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It was quite a relief to set up our loaned sound equipment last Thursday night. The performance was almost canceled due to timing circumstances at The University of Portland, but our tenacious contact there, an RA on campus, did his best and we finally got the word that we were "on" for Thursday. This concert date was put together in a very short amount of time and it was just a little too fast for the student organization to feel comfortable releasing funds for our concert. He went through an automatic appeals process with the senate of the Council of Associated Students of the University of Portland and won. Doreen, who was working with the RA, really feels as if God allowed that door to open. In his initial email contact with Doreen the resident assistant wrote, "There is something about youthful and energetic zealots for the cause of Christ offering their gifts of song that is soothing to the soul, especially during the Christmas season. It is for this reason I'm contacting you."

As a newer member of RESCUE, I couldn't remember singing for a college crowd this year so I was very interested in their reaction to us (and maybe a bit nervous). They did as much promotion for the concert as time would allow, but as the time of the concert neared there was only a very small group of people assembled in the half bowl-shaped lecture room we were about to blast with Christian acappella. We went to the little area they had given to us as a dressing room and prepared for whatever the Lord had in store for us that evening. I was still a bit nervous, but I had given it to God. By the time we got on stage the small crowd of 20 or 30 had turned into a crowd of about 200 plus! There were a few priests and a family or two, but generally it was all college-aged people. They were an AWESOME crowd to sing to! They responded to everything we did. They had such genuine faces and open smiles!

After such an amazing time, I was not surprised by the fact that a huge percentage of the people in attendance came by our table to shake hands and talk with us. I felt like I met everybody there! Many of them stood there kind of stunned, saying that they had never seen anything like what we were doing. Many of them were touched by the message of our songs. In the lobby, Josh even got to sing with a young group of men who had formed a quartet on campus that was missing their bass that night. What a blessing it is to be able to go out and encourage people and get so much encouragement back in the process!

Our Busy Schedule and Two Sad Goodbye's

2005-12-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

We've had an incredible week of ministry as we sang at Foothills Church in Stayton, Oregon on two nights for an outreach event, three services on Sunday morning at Salem Alliance Church, and on Tuesday night at Skyview High School - a public school in Vancouver, Washington. It's pretty amazing to me that we were able to keep a schedule like this given the fact that WE HAVE NO EQUIPMENT! God is SO awesome. Alpha Sound in Salem, Oregon has been one of our sources for sound equipment in the past and has been an incredible support to us through the years. When they heard that our trailer/sound system had been stolen, they decided to make sure that we were taken care of until we were able to get up and running with new equipment. They have gone over and above what you'd expect even a supportive company to do in a situation like this, and we are left feeling extremely blessed! We have also been bowled over by the emails and calls of support and help during this time.

In the midst of this time of blessing I am sorry to have to bring you some sad news. At the end of December we are losing two of our singers. Our bass, Josh Wheeler and our vocal percussionist/baritone, Luke Coles are leaving to continue their college education. As you know, Josh is engaged to be married to his college sweetheart, Mandy. He has prayerfully come to the decision that it would be best to not begin their marriage while performing full-time in a touring group and will be going back to finish his last year of college at LCU in Texas. Luke has also decided that it would be best, for he and his new family, for him to continue his education. Luke, Serena and baby Tyson will also be moving to Texas where he's enrolling in a Christian college. It has been an unbelievable 9 months and both of these men have been incredible assets to this ministry. We have been blessed to serve beside them during all of the beautiful ministry opportunities of the past year. They will be in our prayers and we wish them the very best that God has for them.

Jason, Dustin and I are extremely committed to many more years of ministry through RESCUE. God has shown us time and time again that He is willing to use us if we make ourselves available. What a journey this ministry has had, and through it all Christ has emerged victorious! The sense that I have felt among those in and around RESCUE is that if we are faithful to God and stay committed to Him, we have nothing to fret about.

Jason says, "Only one year ago, I was the only one left of the former group. I am so thankful for what God has done this year. He brought new pieces of the puzzle together, and showed us that He plans for RESCUE to continue for many more years. This rebuilding has not come without trials, but the trials have strengthened our faith, and we refuse to let the setbacks discourage us. Through God's blessings, the three of us, along with all the others who work so hard to make this ministry work, look forward to what God is going to do in 2006."

Newscast About the Trailer

2005-12-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

If you've been reading your emails lately, you've no doubt heard about the theft of our equipment trailer along with all of our sound equipment and a good chunk of our stock of RESCUE CD's and DVD's. The thing that is wonderful about times like this is that we really get to see the body of Christ in action. "Mac" announced our loss to his church (Sunset Presbyterian in West Portland) and immediately we started getting phone calls of support, donations, and the use of equipment, if needed.

Someone who goes to his church works at a local NBC affiliate TV station KGW and they set up an interview with "Over" on Tuesday. Since none of us other guys could be there for the interview, they used some footage of a RESCUE concert at the Men's Round Up at Camp Tadmor this fall. "Over" wanted to make sure that the point was made that just because our "stuff' was stolen, we are not worried that we'll lose our ministry opportunities, we believe God allows these things and that he'll bring us through it all just fine! "Over" said that the reporter was really great but that he seemed to want the "sad song" of a ministry in ruin. But Jason just wasn't going to give that impression! The big question was, which quotes would the reporter use? What kind of license would he take with the story. Jason was very concerned with how it was all going to go. I transcribed it, so read it for yourself!

----------------------------------------
Evening Anchor Joe Donlon: It has been a test of faith for members of a local Christian singing group. Thousands of dollars worth of sound equipment and CD's were stolen during their busiest time of the year. News Channel 8's Dave Northfield joins us now with a story you'll see only on 8. Dave, what'll the group do now?

Dave Northfield: Well, they'll just keep singing! RESCUE sings Christian inspirational music and after the theft on Thanksgiving day the members needed some inspiration themselves.(Note: We aren't sure whether it was stolen on Thursday or Friday)

(Cut to video of RESCUE on the stage at Camp Tadmor's Men's Round Up. Dustin sings the opening lines to So Excited/Amazing Grace)

Dustin Allen: (singing lead) The world was spinnin', passin' me by...

(Cut to Jason Overstreet interview over music)

Jason Overstreet: December and late November are the busiest months of the entire year. Um, we're doing a lot of Christmas programs. We're an acapella group so the sound system that was in there is a pretty - it's kind of the instrument that we play.

Dave Northfield: Jason Overstreet leads the Christian vocal group, RESCUE. The five members kept their equipment in a locked trailer attached to a bus (Cut to video of church parking lot, building and marquee) which was parked here at Christ the Vine Lutheran Church in Damascus. RESCUE had a performance scheduled for a church in Salem last Sunday, then Overstreet says he got a call from the business manager the night before. (Note: Jeff got this wrong. Actually it was the road manager, Luke)

Jason Overstreet: ...And he gave me a call at about 8:00 on Sunday night and said he had bad news. Said that our trailer and sound system were gone!

Dave Northfield: Also stolen, copies of the group's CD's that sell very well this time of year, especially the Christmas album. Overstreet says the group was discouraged then was "rescued" by their faith.

Jason Overstreet: We know that God has a plan in this and, um, stuff like this doesn't happen for no reason.

(Cut to video of Jason opening new boxes of Christmas CD's (Note: The first 200 of the new order of Christmas CD's was stolen but we still had the other 800 coming))

Dave Northfield: Today a replacement shipment of Christmas CD's arrived and now these singers say they'll keep sharing their music and their message.

(Cut to video of the group singing the big finish of So Excited/Amazing Grace)

Jason Overstreet: (Voice over) But really, the real instrument is our voices, so as long as we have our voices, we'll keep singing!"

Brian Sell: (singing lead) Amazing Grace!

(Back in studio)

Dave Northfield: The total value of the equipment and the CD's is about $65,000. RESCUE is insured, but not for the replacement value of those losses.
----------------------------------
Immediately after the broadcast someone called Jason with a donation. I think the message is pretty clear to us that we don't think that God needs our stuff for us to be able to serve Him. If he wants us to minister, and if we're yielded to Him, He'll make a way!

Also, we found out today that the company where we bought the trailer had a man come in today and try to buy parts for a trailer. They are positive it is ours. They have an imprint of his credit card and have written down the company information that was on the side of his truck. Jason has given all of this information to the police.

RESCUE's Equipment Trailer Stolen

2005-11-26T23:05:00.000-08:00

"Ginger" and "Ale" last Summer at Mule Creek Maximum Security Prison

Here is the special bulletin that Susan sent out:
________________________________________________
Dear Prayer Team,

I just received a call from Jason Overstreet who asked me to send out an emergency prayer bulletin.

The RESCUE trailer has been stolen; not only was the trailer itself stolen, but it contained RESCUE's entire sound system and CD product inventory. A police report has been filed.

Immediate prayer is needed for:

*RESCUE's short-term sound needs for their remaining concerts beginning with the concert on Sunday 11/27/05 through the end of the year. At this time, RESCUE will need to rely on the sound system at each venue they perform at.

*A long-term solution for sound.

*Peace of mind for RESCUE as they continue their desire to serve the Lord with everything they have to give, despite this setback. Please pray against discouragement.

Thank you for your prayers mighty prayer warriors!

Sincerely,

Susan Ward
Prayer Team Leader
RESCUE Ministries

Stories From Sunset Presbyterian

2005-11-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

A shot of the santuary at Sunset Presbyterian

Dear Prayer Team,

We had an outstanding evening at Sunset Presbyterian. "Mac" asked me to sing a song with my guitar at the beginning and then he and a couple of excellent acoustic guitar player/singers performed a beautiful worship set with the theme: "We are very safe in God's hands".

"Mac" took great joy in introducing RESCUE and went down the list of funny names that different emcees had called us in the past. We've been called: "The Rescue Team", "WWW Dot Rescue Dot Com", "Rapture", and my personal favorite, "Revenge". No joke! So after he mentioned all of that to the delight of the audience, he brought us out. What a responsive group of people! I must admit that I was a bit nervous to be singing in such a large church because of the reverberation of the sound as it bounces around a large place like that, but after we started our set, it all just went away and we were able to really focus on delivering the message that we came there to deliver.

Afterwards, I met a lot of wonderful people, many of whom were prayer team members. I met about 20 or so kids who wanted me to talk like a duck to them I met Allison McKenny's mom and dad (I even met one of her grade-school teachers!) but I also heard a couple of stories from some people who have been greatly effected by this ministry that I thought I should pass along to you.

First, I met a guy who had some sort of cast or brace on his arm and seemed to have some neurological damage. As he came up to me I could see that he had been touched emotionally by the program. He said that he had been going through such an incredibly difficult year, and he motioned toward his arm. Then he said that he was thankful for the ministry of RESCUE as it had really helped to support his walk. He just threw his arms around my neck and gave me a big ol' hug!

Secondly, I don't know if you remember on the RESCUE web site that for a long time there was a newsletter on there about the time when RESCUE sang for President George Bush. In the sidebar there was a reprint of a letter that was sent by a man who had a brother who was being sent to jail. The song "In My Darkest Hour" was an extreme comfort to him during that very difficult time. I had the opportunity to meet him at the product table after the program, and he was very excited to meet us and to be able to talk to Jason Overstreet. But, an even greater surprise was yet to come. He introduced me to the man who was standing beside him the whole time that we talked and said, "You know my brother who I talked about being in jail? Well, this is him!"

I was thrilled and overwhelmed to be able to shake his hand, and as I did he looked me in the eye and said, "Your voices have been a real comfort to me and have touched me in ways I didn't think possible. Thank you so much!"

I don't know how it was possible that I was given the honor of having that conversation with them, but All I can say is, "Thank you Jesus!"

Where Our Treasures Lie

2005-11-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

Cake, bowling AND singing! Could there be a better birthday party?

Dear Prayer Team,

Okay, so November 11th was my birthday. My wife Kimberly spoiled me and kind of turned it into a "Birth Weekend". We had a party with my Bible study group, with my family, and with my RESCUE buddies (we went bowling Saturday evening and Susan beat us all, SOUNDLY!).

Ah, birthdays! Ya gotta love 'em....don't ya? I know I did as a kid. I still do, but as a child, having a birthday meant that not only was I getting taller, stronger and smarter (in theory), I was also going to be rewarded for it by getting a bunch of really cool presents, and CAKE, even!

As we mature and invest in the souls of those around us and reap the benefits of what it means to truly give of ourselves we will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that the happy feelings we felt when we got material things doesn't even compare to the glow we feel when we operate in the Holy Spirit by reaching out to a lost soul, visiting someone who is lonely, comforting someone who is afraid, giving time, talents or materials to those who are needy, teaching a young person about life in Christ, or just crying with someone who is in grief.

Fred Leads Youth For Christ in the Portland area. He spoke about the ministry at their banquet.

We had the opportunity to sing at a banquet for Youth For Christ and it was evident to me that they have grabbed ahold of this concept. They have discovered that serving the young people of our communities is worth their every effort. One of the points that came out very strongly to me that night was spoken by the President of YFC/USA, Dan Wolgemuth. He was a talented businessman who was Vice President & Chief Information Officer of General Electric.

He told a funny story about when his now college-aged son was two years old went into the bathroom of their aging house and shut the door. Dan and his other son, a four year-old, were walking towards the door as he shut it. Then they heard the ominous sound of the door's lock being turned. No amount of direction or cajoling was going to help to get this little boy to turn the lock on the door so that he could get out of the bathroom. His mother just tried to keep him calm and happy by sliding raisins under the door for him to eat while Dan figured out a plan. The hinges were on the inside of the door, so that wasn't going to work...he could repel off of the roof and get to the bathroom window and get it open or break it, but that seemed too extreme until he had exhausted every other means to rescue his boy. He went into the next room and saw a grate with a vent pipe that went into the bathroom. He took off the grate and removed the pipe and he could look into the bathroom to see what the child was doing. He was sitting on the floor across the room from the door enjoying his raisins. Then it dawned on him, "I can't get through that hole, but my four year-old can!" Sure enough, he told his son what to do, and he went right through. There was a moment of fear when he had both sons in the locked room, but soon after going through the hole, they heard the sound of the door unlocking.

Then Dan said something like this, "I discovered a few years ago that I am too old to be the guy who shows up at schools and gets young people mobilized and serving Jesus, but that doesn't keep me from serving youth! I can add my talents and gifts to strengthen a system of support for those who ARE able to reach these kids, and send THEM through the hole instead!" He could have decided it was beyond him ("I can't be of any real use to kids!"), or below him to serve others in that way ("I am a successful businessman! I should be doing more important things!"), but because he humbly made himself available God is clearly using this man in the position he is in as a leader of this powerful ministry.

Rev. Kalvin Waetzig, pastor of Christ The Vine Lutheran in Clackamas, OR showed another example of this during our time with them on Sunday. He is the head pastor of this beautiful church who has gone to great effort in promoting our concerts to his community in the last two times we have been there. As we enjoyed worshiping with them I saw him do something phenomenal! You see, every Sunday during a particular part of the services he gets behind a little curtain stage with a couple of other guys, puts a green puppet on his hand and to the delight of the little children (and some of us adults), "Splish", "Splash" and "Bubbles" do a little puppet show to teach the children a concept from the bible. To me, it spoke very loudly of this man's heart to serve even the smallest lambs of his congregation.

Lord help us to focus not so much on the things we CAN'T do, and instead see what it is that we CAN do in this world to serve others and to win souls.

Splish, Splash and Bubbles at Christ The Vine Lutheran

Katrina Victims Fundraising Banquet (FEI)

2005-11-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Saturday night (11/5/05) we had a really great time singing at a fundraising banquet for Forward Edge International, an organization which is funded by many churches and Christian organizations which has a "22-year history of delivering aid and assisting in reconstruction projects following natural disasters. FEI teams were dispatched earlier this year to Sri Lanka’s tsunami-ravaged coasts... to Manhattan’s Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks (2001)... to earthquake-stricken El Salvador (2000)...to Nicaragua following Hurricane Mitch (1998). "

They received a matching funds grant for one million dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims, and they have raised about $630,000 towards the million dollar goal so that they can take full advantage of the grant. Their goal is to have 53 families placed back into their repaired homes and churches by Christmas and many more by Easter 2006. They are targeting families who don't have insurance and are too poor to be able to repair their own homes. One of the really great things about the matching funds grant is that the administration and fundraising costs are being paid for ABOVE the million dollar grant, so 100% of the money being donated by their fundraising attempts and the matching funds amount will be going to the needy families who have been stricken by this distaster. The testimony of a particular woman who was helped by FEI was really touching as she described the workers who came to help her as "Angels".

Here is an earlier photo of the woman who spoke to those in attendance at the banquet as she was being helped by FEI.

"The Bible says that we may be entertaining angels unawares," she said, "Sometimes I think that maybe the ANGELS don't even know! 'Angel' simply means messenger from God. I must admit that there was a fleeting moment where I wondered if God had forgotten about me, but these beautiful people brought the message home to me that God was very aware of my situation, and that I was not alone!" There are about 700 volunteers who are receiving training and are being sent to help.

If you'd like to learn about how you can put a team of people together to go help the survivors or make a donation to this wonderful organization, find them online at: http://www.forwardedge.org

I know that all of us who are involved with RESCUE were so honored to be a part of such an incredible effort.

Fear: The Enemy of Unity

2005-11-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It's been a productive week for RESCUE! Our Christmas music is starting to really come together, and we are completely moved out of the old offices and into the new office at Jason's apartment. We had our moving party on Saturday and we had 10 brave souls helping to pack and move all of the stuff. I just gotta say, after we carried all of the stuff up three flights of stairs and into Jason's extra room, I thought I was going to need a medic! Or at least someone to wheel me around for a while. I am very glad that it is over. It went very well, no one was hurt, and everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood even though it was a pretty sentimental time.

I noticed that for us to really get anything done, we really had to submit ourselves to the overall plan for the day. Whenever I just started moving stuff around I would have to end up moving it all somewhere else, making twice the work!

In the context of the church you can see why God wants us to abandon our own selfish motives and work together in harmony. We just wouldn't get anything done if we did it our own way!

In Phillipians 2:1-11 Paul talks about trading in our ego-driven desires for unity in the church. What is this fleshly drive for getting our own way based in? I think it's based in fear! Try to follow my logic. From the chicken coop to the African savannah to Wall Street, the nature of things seems to be about making sure you are ahead of the chicken, lion, or businessman that seems to want your spot. What's that all about? Fear that we aren't going to get what we need to survive! Nobody wants to go hungry and most creatures will do whatever it takes to ensure their place at the table.

Jesus came to set a new order of things! When the King of Glory placed a towel around his waist and washed the feet of His disciples what was he trying to tell them? What I'm hearing Him say as I read it right now is this, "I am all sufficient! I don't need to strive for dominance. I hold it all in my hands! I can peacefully place myself into the role of servant because I am not in fear of losing worldly status. My role in eternity is secure, man cannot take that away." And He wants us to "do likewise."

If we understand our value in Christ and truly grasp that our only intrisic value is in the eyes of a loving Savior, then we are no longer tied to worldly values. This results in the peaceful understanding that no matter whether our little kingdoms rise or fall, we are safe in Him. There's no scripture to support that bad attitudes and striving with others will result in a greater place in God's Kingdom. Quite the contrary! To lead you must serve, and to be first you must be last.

Our moments of glory pass so very quickly. Our little victories of temporary dominance only tie us to the things that don't matter. Only by understanding that our completeness lies solely in Jesus can we ever really follow His wonderful example of humble, quiet, service to others.

My Foggy Morning, God's Glorious Dawn

2005-10-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

I awoke a couple of weeks ago to a day that was dark and dreary. I was sick and tired, and I didn't really feel like getting up. But I pressed on and got ready for work and my mood began to change a bit, and I could see that it wasn't going to be that bad of a day. I went out into the fog, got into my car and drove into the gray morning.

On my way to work I began to pray, as I often do, and found myself bringing my various requests to the Lord. There were many weighty subjects to bring before Him. In recent days I was fending off little negative thoughts in certain situations that we are going through, deciding to remember, instead, the incredible faithfulness that the Lord had demonstrated to us in the past.

As my car climbed the back roads into the hills to bypass the suburban traffic I realized that the fog was starting to thin and I began to see glimpses of the morning sun. By the time I got to the top of the hill the morning was in full bloom! The sun shone with some of the most beautiful golden light I had ever experienced and as I looked far, down the other side of the ridge, into the next valley I could see the fog as it clung in soft white billows to the still shadowed, wooded lowlands. I looked at the houses around me as I drove and saw the familiar sight of a wealthy gated community with its perfectly trimmed lawns and brilliantly colored flowers as they lined ornate brick walls. All of the dazzling colors of this world seemed to vie for my attention as I drank the warmth of this glorious morning into my soul. I wished I had my camera! I wanted to call my wife and tell her that she shouldn't get too worried about it being a dreary day because the fog would no doubt clear to reveal a beautiful, crisp fall day. I decided against calling her since she was, no doubt, getting the children ready for school, and busily preparing for another day of job hunting. She may have appreciated it, but it just wasn't the right time.

As I descended into the next valley and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God for his glorious creation, I felt the glow of what I had just witnessed keeping me company even as the fog began to envelop my car. I wondered why God had specifically pressed the beauty of his design into THIS page of my life. What was He showing me?

It was later that morning, as I reached out with my heart to encourage a friend who is going through some difficult situations, that I realized what God was showing me. I told this Christian friend that God was showing me that instead of getting too caught up in the individual problems and struggles of the situations that face us, it would be better to peacefully deal with the issues at hand without striving, and allow God the opportunity to show us His greater plan. Through faith we should hold onto His higher perspective. That's when it hit me. I told about what I had witnessed on that hill and that my faith that the fog would part was based on my very real experience of a vibrant dawn. That dawn was happening, in fact, at the very same time as the dreary one that I had awoken to. The only difference was perspective. I was glad I could share that with my friend, but really, the Lord had me preaching to myself!

God has shown himself to be faithful in his Word. It has also been very powerfully demonstrated to me many times in my own life. Gone are the days when I would wonder if God knew that I was still here, or if I was somehow unable to hear His guidance and direction. God has seen me through the fog many times and shown his perfect plan. It's now a given! But even with the comforting experiences that I hold dear, I periodically need a jolt from God to realize that my eyes have drifted and I am instead staring wide-eyed into self-doubt, discouragement, and unbelief.

Our perspective can be so limited by our five senses. Without God the best wisdom we can offer is a guess, based on our feeble logic and reasoning. But God sees the end from the beginning. He comforts us in our day-to-day lives, while keeping us on our course to completion. We cry about the rain and the fog of disappointment and he's there beside us with insight and understanding to lift our head. We leap like deer through the golden sunshine of personal victories and fulfilled promises and he leaps with us while he smiles knowingly.

"Child," he whispers, "save a little of that for the rain."

Banquet For The Battleground, WA PRC

2005-10-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

God is so very faithful and his provision is something that can be counted upon! We had a radio spot, three benefit concerts and a full concert on a Sunday morning this week. The amazing thing about it is, I don’t quite know how I was able to make it through all of it vocally. Physically, there’s no way that I should have been able to sing all of that, but God provided!!!! Don’t ya just LOVE IT when he does that?

Thursday night we sang at the Battleground Washington Pregnancy Resource Center’s (PRC) Banquet. We were privileged to hear the amazing testimony of a young woman who went against the pressure to terminate her pregnancy and with the loving support of the ladies of the PRC carried the baby to full term and allowed “the perfect couple” to adopt the baby.

After she spoke, the keynote speaker Pastor Hutcherson spoke. He is a former Dallas Cowboy and Seattle Seahawk who pastors a very large congregation in Washington state. 2005 was an amazing year for him, as he found himself meeting with Condoleezza Rice and President Bush at various times and organizing large rallies in various cities under a ministry called Mayday For Marriage which supports the sanctity of marriage. He has also labored to make the adoptive process less inhibitive for couples seeking children, “…so that they don’t have to take out a second mortgage to adopt a child!”

But as he tells of the amazing life he has led, he points back to the decision of his single mother to carry him to full term, and the support of his strong grandmother. “The amazing things that have happened to our ministry in 2005 would have no chance of happening unless my mother made that decision back then!”

Before we sang our last song of the evening “Over”, told the audience of volunteers and supporters, “Every day that you get up and do what you do, you are making a difference!”

Can you guess which song we sang? :-)

Chapel Time : Snake River Correctional Facility

2005-10-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Tri-Cities Baptist in Ontario, Oregon

Dear Prayer Team,

Friday morning it started with a tickle. The kind of scratchy tickle that you feel in your throat that tends to make vocalists go into panic. I was up before dawn, getting ready, and racing off to catch our bus, "Ginger". We were going to Eastern Oregon and I absolutely NEEDED my voice to be there with me. The scratch began to feel like a tightness, but I'd be fine that evening. We had a really fun concert and as far as I could tell, my voice was feeling only minor effects. By the time I got to bed that night the tightness had become a big lump in my throat. When I woke up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the ordeal of packing up, driving 45 minutes to the prison, inventorying all of our equipment for security and dragging it all to the chapel for setup, the lump started to feel like a fist. Not good! Two concerts that day and one the next. That would be a tough schedule even on a day when I felt vocally healthy. I just put it out of my mind and gave it to God.

It wasn't hard to forget about it as we made our way into the chapel and met all of the smiling Christian inmates who were so happy to see us. They made sure that we had everything that we needed and they asked us many times if they could help in any way. We got all set up and started sound check. I carefully sang through a couple of songs.

"How are you feeling Brian?"

"Umm, not very good, 'Over', but I think I'll be able to figure out a way to sing the songs today."

"Well," said, Jason reassuringly, "just give everything you've got for this concert and we'll take the next one as it comes!"

The men filed in. The chaplain got up and began to lead praise and worship at the keyboard with a full band of inmates. They had a drummer, rhythm guitarist, a top-notch lead guitarist, a wailin' harmonica player, and another vocalist. It was 9:00 AM and the capacity crowd of 250 - 300 inmates was ready to worship! We sat in the front row (stood mostly) as the name of Jesus Christ was lifted up unapologetically. Every fiber of the inmate vocalist on stage was given to praise and worship. They sang songs of God's love, dedication to Him, His protection, and most enthusiastically about the freedom that they have found in Christ even while in prison. A native American Christian sitting near us began to dance to the Lord using banners. He told me that there were some who wanted him to stop acting so silly during worship, "But my dance IS worship, so the chaplain says I should do it unto God and not worry about those who laugh."

After about 30 minutes of worship it was our time to sing. My little vocal problems didn't seem nearly as important as the act of worship, and I knew that even if my voice didn't quite do what I wanted it to do, the Word of God would still minister even through my weakness. We did skip, "For You", one of the harder songs for me to sing and the program went well. We also had a nice break in the middle when they had a prayer time. I started out the concert fairly gingerly, but by the end I was singing out pretty strong. There were a few glitches, but overall I was pretty happy with how it turned out, mostly because I could see that God was speaking to so many of the guys.

We finished our last song and they stood to their feet. An encore? "Over" leaned in and asked me if we could do "For You", I told him that I could probably make it through the song if I sang it lightly. We sang the song, and by the end I was in full voice and singing strong. They all stood to their feet again and we pulled aside to chat with the guys and shake their hands. We heard many testimonies, and stories of heartache, and we shed some tears. Then they were all commanded to head out the door. As they were leaving one inmate told me that we had three or four officers standing out by the back door listening in. He said, "You know you are doing good when you get them to come in and listen!"

We took a long lunch break in the officers' lunch facility and chatted with the prison ministry workers there. It was then that we shared the fact that I was sick and my voice was not doing well. "Well," said one of the chaplains, "We'll just have to get the intercessors to pray for you before the 2:00 service!"

We made our way back to the chapel and the inmates who help run the services came in and made preparations for the next service. Then they all circled up with the chaplains and RESCUE. We all joined hands and prayed for the service. Several people prayed for my voice and I definitely felt that God was going to do something special.

He did! I was able to sing the entire program full voice, not that there weren't any problems, but I really think that my vocal issues were not a factor during that time. It seemed to me that the rest of the guys were sounding even better than normal and our spoken introductions and prayers seemed very directed and powerful. It also didn't hurt that we received a standing ovation for every song we sang! That's testament to the anticipation and the great need for encouragement that was in the chapel that day.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing RESCUE to minister to souls so very aware of their need for you, and thank you for using us in our feeble flesh to demonstrate your great power and strength!

Of Music And Ministry : Come As You Are

2005-10-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

"A little child kneels before God's throne, to his left is a man bound in chains, and to his right knelt a socialite. Neither one did God turn away..."

I have been blessed to have sung those words to a song that means a wholelot to me called, Come As You Are. If you listen to the music of RESCUE very much I am sure that at one time or another this song has ministered to you.Well it wasn't God's throne but the little children were definitely crowding very close to the platform of the sanctuary at Pleasant Valley Seventh Day Adventist in Boring, Oregon. In fact they were so close that some children were on the platform with us and a couple of them were between us and the monitor speaker playing with our dry erase board. My silent prayer was,"Lord you know how my memory lapses work. If they erase the song list offthe board please allow me the supernatural ability to remember the next song! It worked out just fine, they chatted about where it might best be placed and eventually it came to rest, set-list intact, right back where it was supposed to be. Two of my own children were sitting on the floor by the stage along with the other children there. My two precious bundles of energy sat quietly in rapt attention as we sang our hearts out to those in attendance. We sang of the redemption of Christ, His intense love for us, our responsibility to seek, serve, and listen to His quiet but very present voice. Seemingly high concepts for such little children still forming their cognitive abilities. Surely, they would be unable to relate to the philosophical ramifications of belief in a supernatural God. Surely, relating to the ideas of the substitutional sacrifice of a perfect Christ would not be concrete enough for them. They should not be expected to be able to sit through such a program.

But there they sat...and sat...and sat. Eyes wide, mouths agape, attention focused...why?

Why does the prisoner, steeped in sin and selfishness, allow

Two Performances, Two Little Children

2005-09-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

I know I say this every week, but WOW! What a weekend we had! Friday night, Dustin, Will and I met up with the bus near an exit off of I-5 on the way to Camp Winema which is on the Oregon coast. It was nice to climb aboard "Ginger" again. I've been getting used to riding in separate cars to the venues, which is nowhere near as much fun as going on the bus together. We're still selling the bus, but we'll use it from time to time until it sells.

We arrived at the campground after dark, got everything loaded in and did a sound check. Then we lugged all of the stuff to the bunk house. It was about 9:45pm when we got settled. Luke, Serena and Tyson were in the room above us, but the other five of us all slept in a big room downstairs. I felt like a kid again....except the part about my back not agreeing with the bunk mattress. We sat on our bunks and Josh told us some really lame jokes, and we shared some riddles and laughed a lot until we started dropping off to sleep. Snoring? ...Yes there was some but I won't mention any names. I guess Tyson did some singing throughout the night too! We woke up, took a walk up to see the beach, had a delicious breakfast and got ready. They were having an auction to support the campground and we were part of the program.

We had a very fun concert, talked for a while, prayed with a prayer team member, packed up, had lunch, and as we were heading to the bus we noticed this big slide that we'd been admiring all morning. It was one of those half tube slides where you sit on the burlap bags. It was two stories tall and it looked like it may have been a waterslide at some point. Since the rest of the campers were in the auction, we seized our chance to recapture the glory of our playground days. We ran up the two flights of stairs, sat on our burlap bags and sped down the slide. It was just about this time that one little boy and his mom came over and decided that we weren't going to hog ALL of the fun, so he grabbed a bag and raced us to the top. Then, Dustin came back from dropping his stuff off at the bus and noticed what we were doing. Even though we were winding down, he would not be denied. He ran up the steps and went down the slide about 5 times in 5 minutes. We could see that we had reached the point when it was time for us to spice things up a bit, so we all gave Dustin instructions like, "Hey! Do you think you could sit up WHILE going backwards or would you end up banging your head on the slide?" This was the kind of encouragement he did NOT need. He laid the burlap bag onto the slide, turned around and laid down on his back, head first.

It was then we heard the lone dissenting voice of reason.

"That's not a good idea. Nope! That's NOT a good idea!"

I looked around to see who was being the old fuddy-duddy.

"NOT a good idea at all!"

I kept looking and couldn't see who it was that was trying to ruin our fun.

Finally, as I aimed my gaze downward, I noticed a very serious looking six-year old, shaking his head saying, "That's REALLY not a good idea!"

As it turns out Dustin was just fine. No bruises at all, just a nice little raspberry on his forearm, but I was really struck by something in that little boy. He had all of the good parenting and confidence that he needed to stand up and say what needed saying even though he looked up to us, and even though what we were doing seemed like it might be fun. None of that seemed to matter, his mom told him NOT to horse around on the slide and he wasn't going to back down from voicing it. The next night before a memorable concert at People's Church in Salem, I met another little boy of about the same age. We had met he and his mother in the music room where we got prepared for the concert when he showed me a special Moroccan leather wallet that was given to him by a friend or relative who had done missionary work in Spain. I was fascinated by the way it folded in on itself, and the boy seemed very proud of it. During the concert, the music minister made a plea to the congregation for support on our behalf. The little boy took it to heart. After the program, the boy and his mother slowly made their way through the large crowds in the lobby to meet us by the product table. His mother said, "He wanted me to find you. I think he wants to show you something." He carefully withdrew the special wallet from his pocket and opened it up to show me that there were some coins inside that he wanted to give to RESCUE.

These two children taught me a lesson, common to both experiences. Childlike faith is not just obedient, it's also quite tenacious. One can be a bold witness of the things they are completely convinced of. One is capable of amazing, sacrificial giving, when they don't filter out and explain away the convictions and directives that God has placed in their heart.

Lord, help us to become as these little children.

A Decision To Be made, And A Moment of Pure Joy

2005-09-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

It would be difficult to come away from a weekend like we had, even with all of the challenges in our personal lives, without feeling extremely blessed.We're blessed to be alive to experience such a beautiful weekend; blessed to work with such a wonderful, hard working, and creative team of people; blessed to meet and fellowship with God's kids, wherever we meet them; and blessed to be able to be an agent of God's reconciliation with those who may not know Him or who have fallen away from a close walk with Him.

On Saturday, we had an outdoor concert at Light Of Life Lutheran Church in Aloha, Oregon (part of the suburbs of Portland). It was quite a sunny day,and we had the blessing of setting up our stage area in the shade, so that we didn't get too hot. They had a German sausage barbecue and the people from the church and some of the local neighbors just pulled up their lawn chairs and blankets. We had a really nice time together. Afterwards at the product table I met a man who was profoundly affected by one of our new songs (He Won't Let You Fall From His Hand). He told me that he had been discouraged by a situation that happened in church a long time ago and thatwhile he still loves the Lord, he just hadn't been sure if he should venture to trust fellow believers again. I told him that the particular song he was speaking of was written in the middle of a very difficult stretch of road that I had while ministering in a church, and that I truly understood his plight and have had to fight the urge to cut off the church and to focus inwardly. I said, "The great part is that through that situation God has been building the strength within me to have an open heart to the people of God wherever I meet them. There are so many blessings that you miss if you aren't in a church."

He removed his sunglasses to reveal eyes that seemed to plead with me for assurance that he could really trust that God would see him through it all.Then I noticed the tears that seemed to water the scorched ground of a heart, seemingly cut-off from the sweet fellowship of the saints of God. I believe he made a decision that day and I am praying that he'll follow through with what he knows to do.

Sunday night we sang at Tri-City Baptist Temple in Gladstone, Oregon. Our concert took the place of their normal evening service. They were such awarm group of people. We had several personal friends that came to the concert there. I got so tickled as I noticed, for the first time that I can remember, people's mouths were kind of gaping on songs like "TheDifference" because of all of the weird vocal parts and percussion happening all at once.

Afterwards I had record numbers of people wanting to hear the duck voice that I used during one of the comedy bits. A couple and their twenty-something son, Andrew, came up to chat with us. Andrew has Down's Syndrome and although he was very well mannered he just seemed so thrilled by the concert he almost couldn't contain himself! As his father chatted with us, I noticed him quietly trying to sing some really low tones. His chin seemed to dip lower and lower as he sang. He kept looking over at Joshua to see if he'd notice him, and when Josh told him that he sounded really good, he positively beamed! We all shook his hand and he politely said "hello" to each of us, then he pointed to each of us individually as he counted, "One, two, three, four, five...", and then, with a sly smile on his face, he pointed to himself and said, "...SIX!!" What a wonderful moment of pure joy!

Men's Round Up and Doreen's Letter

2005-09-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

*Note: Because of my crazy schedule, we have decided to change the day ofthe week that the prayer bulletin is sent out. Instead of Wednesday evenings, Susan will send them out on Thursday evenings. Thanks for your patience.

We had such a wonderful weekend being fed with the Word, having such amazing and responsive audiences, and meeting so many encouraging people! Dustin andI were talking about how wonderful it is that God is allowing us to minister while at the same time bringing us into situations where we get to hear such wonderful preaching that seems to go right to the heart of our personal walk with Jesus. I can't even describe how overwhelmed I was by the response of the men at the Men's Roundup. I really feel like we encouraged many in their faith.

I'd like to share a wonderful little story that Doreen shared with us. She is trying to set up a mini-tour in the Baker City, Oregon area because there is an opportunity to minister in a prison there. She got word of this opportunity when the chaplain from the prison contacted her because a particular inmate kept asking him if he'd ask RESCUE to come to the prison. The chaplain was a bit skeptical and wondered if RESCUE would be relevant to the younger inmates there. Doreen talked to him for 10 minutes about past concerts that RESCUE had done that ministered to young people, and she sent him the "Live" DVD. When it arrived the young inmates that work in the chaplain's office played the DVD all day long!! That was all he needed to see. He is very excited to see us come and minister to the inmates there. Pray for us as we try to book other dates around that area so that we can pay for the gas and the many other costs of taking a trip like that.

Thanks for Prayer Team Support

2005-09-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

After another wonderful and productive week at Cannon Beach and a nice long holiday weekend, we're back at it. "Over" is furiously working on arrangements for the group and we are busy working on learning them.

We all feel so very blessed to be a part of this ministry, and while we all contribute, it is always very clear to us that God makes the ministry MUCH more than just the sum of it's parts. The encouragement that we have received from various members of the prayer team wherever we go, is such a comfort to us. It feels like God has placed Prayer Team members for us all over the country so that we don't just feel like we're travelling to do a concert, but that we're going to see our friends.

Thanks for being such faithful friends to RESCUE!

We love you!

Week 2 At Cannon Beach

2005-08-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Prayer Team,

Well, we're back in Cannon Beach Oregon this week and it's been great! Ian Leitch, of the Herald's Trust in Scotland, is the conference speaker and has been giving some really encouraging messages about "TheReasonableness of Faith in Christ". He is a Bible teacher and an evangelist who teaches apologetics at several Bible schools in the US and inEurope. Sometimes it's really good to remember that God created us with a logical mind, and he's not asking us to throw it away so that we can have faith in him. He simply asks us to approach Him in faith, then His truth will satisfy our spirit AND our mind.

Our Tuesday night concert was a blast and we have had a really strong response from many individuals who have been encouraged by our ministry during this week.

My family has been able to join me for the week again, and it's been areally fun time for me as a parent to see my children thriving under the children's ministry here. My eleven year-old child seems to be coming into that stage of life where he is beginning to make some real life changing decisions of faith for himself. My nine year-old is just having a blast playing with so many really good kids that she's met here. She's quickly gone hoarse both weeks we've been here because of all of the fun. I love it because if I ask her why her voice sounds so funny she always answers very matter-of-factly in her tiny little muffled voice, "I blew out my pipes, yelling too much!"

Grandma has been visiting us here yesterday and today and she bought my 7 year-old a picture Bible. He carries it everywhere and shows the pictures to everyone he can get to listen to him. He seems so very proud of the fact that he's got a bible that he can understand and even read himself, with beautiful illustrations of the bible stories. Part of me feels a little bad for the people in the Coach House (the snack shop/ diner on the conference grounds), because they are his little captive audience, and he can be a little hard to understand. But, I have to tell you that something inside this father's heart hopes that this is a foreshadowing of things to come for him. I hope he always feels the boldness to approach others with thefact that there's a God in heaven that loves us so much that he made a way for even us, tiny little humans, to get to know him and to comprehend in some small way his deep love for us. I hope that as he grows that the true illustrations of the Bible, painted by the very words of God, will become a source of comfort, healing, course correction, and encouragement to him, as they have been for me.

I was called upon to sing a special song with my guitar for this morning's service, and I thought of my children and their excitement for the things ofGod. I thought about my own earliest memories of the conviction of God as he called me into ministry as a small boy. I also thought about Ian Leitch's messages dealing with the simplicity of the message of Christ as it confounds the wise. One song leapt out to me, and even though I had prepared to sing a different one, at the last minute I changed my mind.

Can you guess what song would speak to the simplicity of child like faith and of a God who has gone to great pains to approach us in such a way that we can all grasp his message?

I sang:

Jesus Loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Doesn't that song pretty much say it all?

In The Park With Michelle Tumes

2005-08-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

WHEW!

What a weekend we had! Three outdoor concerts in two days! We knew it was goingto be a hot, sunny weekend in Vancouver so we donned the gray pants and black shirts (wow, the black shirt was not helping us to feel cooler that's for sure), I slathered a bunch of SPF 180 sunblock on my dome and we dove in! We asked for prayer for the stamina to be able to minister effectively all weekend, and I've got to say, besides Josh coming down with a fever with a temperature of 101 degrees (he's already pretty much recovered), God brought us through it with great energy and good attitudes. It always helps when you are singing for such helpful, and wonderful host churches and organizations.

Friday night was a really wonderful time as we had dinner over at Luke's place.The Zevenbergens, a really wonderful family of long-term Prayer Team members from the Sacramento area, are moving to the Great Lakes region and had a stop over that night. Luke's family welcomed them to stay with them and we had a nice evening visiting and singing a little mini-concert around an outdoor fire pit. The whole RESCUE crew was there. I brought my wife and three kids with me. Mac and his precious family were there too. It was an extremely beautiful night, and it was great to fellowship with such amazingly sweet people, plus we needed some R & R before the weekend ahead.

There were many highlights this weekend and I met many prayer team members at the concert venues. One of the things that sticks out to me was the concert on Saturday night in a beautiful park on a large gazebo/stage. We sang at the end of a full day of different Christian artists' called the "Summer Concert Series". Michelle Tumes was on right before us, which was personally a real thrill for me. I guess I had sort of thought that people would clear out after her concert, but they stayed and we had one of our best concerts.

After everyone had just about gone home and we were just about to start packing up and heading home, we stood talking to people under the tent where our table was. We performed a song for some friends that had shown up late and missed our first song (So Excited). One member had to leave for a wedding reception just minutes before, so Tim Lewis kindly stepped in to fill the part. Out of my peripheral vision I kept seeing a woman to my right and behind me moving around the whole time and I couldn't actually turn to see what was happening, but after we were through with the song, I found out that she was signing the words we sang to a deaf Christian woman that was there at the park. She seemed to be extremely blessed by the words. Then, the lady who was signing asked Josh if he'd let the woman hold her hand to his back so that she could feel the depth of his voice. The woman was blown away by how low he was singing! I came away from the whole experience feeling very happy to be in a place where I could see the power of the Word of God through song even when the tune could not be heard!

Thank you SO much for your prayers. It is obvious to us that your prayers are making a huge difference!

Recap of Cannon Beach Week 1

2005-08-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Prayer Team,

Well, all votes are in, and we’ve decided that the Cannon Beach Convention Center is an AWESOME place to minister. From beginning to end, it was such a well-planned and organized event. Such a warm group of people gathered there, and we all walked away from that experience having gained many new friends, great memories and much heartfelt encouragement. We cannot wait to get back there in a couple of weeks for obvious reasons and also because we lost the basketball tournament by one lousy point! Come on guys, win one for “Ginger”!

We had a great time as we were able to spend some nice leisure time (in addition to all of the rehearsals) getting to know the individual members of RESCUE, and temporary team member, Tim Lewis. You’d think that we’d be pretty much up to date with each other by now, but we aren’t always in the kinds of situations where we can really chat. Most times we’re rushing to a concert, rehearsing, or setting up and tearing down equipment, which is fine, but it doesn’t allow for the relaxed time that is required to really get past the surface.

I have also been very blessed to be able to watch as “Over” has taken the lead by speaking to audiences, thoughtfully from his heart. From what I am hearing from those around RESCUE longer than I, his speaking ability has jumped to a new level as he comfortably shares personal testimonies of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is interesting that both times he has tried to step off the road, situations have arisen which put him right back up on stage. He is trying to decide if this means that God wants him to keep singing, or if he is only to fill the position until the right long-term singer can be found.

We finished our last performance of the week on Friday night. We sang a rousing version of the familiar song “Shout To The Lord” with the praise band led by Hinson Baptist’s Evan Irwin to close the session. Afterwards, a woman came up to us on stage and told us that she’d been separated from her husband for six years and that, along with the wonderful speakers, RESCUE had been a huge blessing to her. You see, she talked her estranged husband into coming to Cannon Beach with her, and through the preaching, teaching and music they’d found their way back together and that God was restoring their marriage!!! She led us over to her husband and we all shook his hand and wished them the best.

Don’t you just love being blind-sided by God’s blessings like that? These are things I tuck away, like cherished pictures. The pictures of loved ones who have passed on, birthdays, graduations, marriages, and newborns, are all deeply held memories that mark my existence on this plane; but the significance of a life newly yielded to Jesus, a decision for Christ, a resolve strengthened, marriage vows renewed, and a weighted, tired soul that has been rejuvenated is far beyond this life.

These are things that we carry with us for eternity.

Cannon Beach Week 1

2005-08-11T23:29:00.000-07:00

August 11, 2005

Dear Prayer Team,

I am writing this as I sit in the van with my wife and kids making the well worn trip on the Oregon coast, from Cannon Beach to Seaside. I say "well worn" because we’ve made the trip to Seaside (and the nearest known McDonald’s for a late-night Diet Coke) a kind of nightly pilgrimage. Our days are so packed full of activities that the drive offers a quiet moment of reflection this evening. Normally, we would have had a RESCUE member or two in tow so that we can chat about the events of the day, but tonight they are all playing in a basketball tournament. Before I left the Cannon Beach Conference Center I saw my guys win their first round. I played with them when we stayed in a youth center in Sacramento and learned very quickly that I was in over my head. Josh can handle himself well on the court, Dustin’s an athletic guy, and "Over" and Luke are just WAY too good. I think our reputation on the court is pretty well covered even if I take some time away to write to you.

We are having an amazing time here, performing twice a day for each morning and evening speaking session. Our concert on Tuesday night after the evening session was one of the highlights of my year. Such a warm and responsive crowd! We tried out some new comedy stuff on them and their response was extremely positive. You could probably guess that with as new of a group as we are, and having two daily performances, we are using every last bit of music we know, and then some. It is forcing us to learn some more songs as a group, and "Over" has done his fair share of arranging on the fly. To cover all of the sessions we are putting in some pretty long rehearsals every day. It is a joy to be learning some more songs. It seems like every new song we learn gives us the opportunity to touch a different group of people, in need of an encouraging word.

I am so happy and blessed to have my family here with me, enjoying the wonderful surroundings, the incredible programs, and the fellowship with fellow Christian families, many of whom are involved in various ministries all over the West Coast. Balancing family time with the intense RESCUE schedule has been a challenge, but I think my wife and I were fairly well prepared for it. The ministry opportunities for RESCUE, the teaching sessions with the hilarious and inspirational Bill Butterworth and the encouraging messages of Rev. Wendell Grout, have made the experience well worth the effort as we hit the pillow at the end of another full day.

Beaverton Christian

2005-08-03T23:27:00.000-07:00

Rescue Prayer Team,

What a great night we had tonight! I am still pumped up after having a really fun outdoor concert in my home town of Beaverton, Oregon, at Beaverton Christian Church. I felt very blessed to have many friends and family there tonight at the amphitheater. I really sensed that the Holy Spirit was tugging on many hearts tonight as we sang ,"Come As You Are", prayed, and then came in with "Rescue". The message was clear tonight that not only do we need to get stronger, cleaner, or better smelling before we come to God, but also the fact that HE does the saving, healing, and comforting.

I have a friend that was attending the concert tonight who is going through great difficulty in her life. It is beyond my little scope to be able to give her enough logic or passion to get through these times. It is great to know that all we have to do is hold out His Word through our words, songs and actions, and we can be agents of God's reconciliation, comfort, and healing.

Sad News, Happy News

2005-07-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Rescue Prayer Team,

Thank you for your continued prayer support! Those of us who are involved in the day to day operations of RESCUE are constantly reminded of the incredible blessing it is to have faithful people of God lifting up praises, concerns and requests on behalf of this ministry. Anyone who has ever been around a ministry that is striving to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ knows that in an ocean of opportunities to fail miserably, the prayers of God's people lifted to Him in faith keeps a ministry buoyant and able to be used for God's glory, even in our weakness.

Last week was a difficult one, but it was not without it's blessings. I am sad to report that Tommy Daniels is no longer singing with RESCUE. In the time we've been together rehearsing, traveling, and singing he's become as close as a brother to us. We will miss his sense of humor, his open arms, his smiley attitude, his beautiful voice, and his big heart. We'll continue to be in close contact with him and he'll drop by the office and RESCUE concerts from time to time. Pray for him as he follows God's leading for his life.

On a happier note, last weekend brought us two opportunities to sing with Jason Overstreet on stage as he temporarily fills the vacant vocal position. It was wonderful for me to be able to sing with him, it helped me to feel like I was a little more in touch with the "roots" of RESCUE. He's amazingly talented and was able to learn new parts to songs he used to sing to fit our current vocal assignments. We get to see his determined and godly example as he goes about the business of arranging, directing, producing, and running the sound for us during concerts and rehearsals, but it was really great to see him in action as he sang solos, gave testimonies from his heart, and greeted people after the concert as one of "us". We were also very thankful for Tim Lewis, who has been RESCUE's sound man in the past, as he filled in on the sound board.

On Saturday afternoon we sang at Bridge 2005, a day long concert in the park which was organized by Cathedral Of Praise Church. It's an annual festival dedicated to bridging the gaps between different ethnic groups and between the church and the community it serves. It was an extremely hot day in beautiful Irving Park in Portland's inner city. We had some equipment that didn't really like being out there in the sun, but after borrowing a couple of microphones from their sound technician we were able to finish out our program. One of the organizers told me after the concert that he was extremely impressed by our anointed ministry, diverse style, and uniqueness within our genre. He'll recommend us highly to the committee for next year's event.

On Sunday afternoon we performed a concert at the Evangelical Center for a conference in Milwaukie, Oregon. We had a great time singing to a very responsive group. After the concert and the barbecue, a couple of us went on a thorough search to find the Good Humor cart where they were giving away free ice cream for the conference attendees. As I walked, an energetic lady came up along side us and walked with us to the cart. She told me how certain songs we sang really encouraged her and helped her in various ways, and she began to weep as she tried to explain how much it meant to her that we were able to communicate from our heart to her heart, something very powerful and special about God's careful attention towards us, and His amazing grace.

Four Services and a Concert

2005-07-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings RESCUE Prayer Team!

Some stories happened from last weekend that I just HAD to pass along.

Sunday morning as we were getting geared up for the third service at Southlake Foursquare, a man approached me and told me that he had been very blessed by RESCUE along with the message that was preached. He said it was just a fluke that he had been to service that day. He had been through immense personal struggles in the past few years and was feeling so far away from God that he wasn't sure that he'd ever find a way back. On Saturday he was having a barbecue with some friends who invited him to a nearby church and he wasn't sure he'd go, but he said he might make it to the service. That morning he decided that he would indeed go to the service. When he got to the church he found that he'd made some sort of a mistake setting his clocks at home because he'd missed most of the service. He knew that Southlake was nearby and on a whim, he decided to go check out the service there.

"The pastor's message was exactly what I needed to hear, and after he spoke and you started singing your last song,(Rescue)" the emotion began to show on his face, "well, let me just say, I believe I found my way back to the Lord today."

There was also a woman that some of us talked to who said that she'd been running away from God for fifteen years and the ministry of RESCUE that morning was instrumental in bringing her back to Christ.

Sunday night we had an amazing time at Southwest Bible Church! The afternoon had been very sunny and as we set up the equipment for the outdoor concert on the church's lawn I worried that it was going to be a little too hot for people to enjoy the concert. But as the time of the concert approached, the day softened into an incredibly beautiful evening. After the concert as we chatted with those who came by our table, a Brazilian woman asked us if we would allow her to take a picture of RESCUE. She said, as if she needed to sweeten the deal, "if you let me take a picture it will be going to Brazil!"

"Oh, really? How's that?", I asked.

She pointed to a little elderly couple next to her. The man was slender with big sunglasses and a ball cap, and his wife had a very open smiling face and a large cast on one of her arms. "These are my parents, and they're going back to Brazil tomorrow!"

So we happily brought her parents into the middle of the group, she snapped the picture, we shook their hands and chatted for a bit, and then they left - or so I thought.

A little while later, the woman's mother came over to me again and held me by the arm and seemed very insistent to tell me something. I leaned close and in broken English she said, "We were so blessed to see your group tonight. Our daughter has sent us your music and we are encouraged as we listen to it very much in Brazil. To come and see you tonight was, for us, a dream. We go back to Brazil tomorrow, please pray for us." I told her that not only would I pray for them, but that I'd give the message to our incredible prayer team.

God has given each of us a particular ability to reach the people that we come into contact with for Christ whether it's to encourage strong Christians in their walk of faith, to draw those who find themselves in a backslidden state to a closer walk with Jesus, or to be a sweet witness to those who've never known His love.

Lord, help us to be as passionate about the witness of our lives as we are about our profession, sports activities or hobbies. Help us as we allow your incredible love for those around us to inform every moment of our lives.

New Recording Project

2005-07-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody! Exciting things are in the works for RESCUE, and we need your prayers! As you probably know from past Prayer Bulletins, RESCUE is facing a transportation challenge. Over this past week, "Over" has put in an incredible amount of research to find a more reliable and better suited vehicle to fit RESCUE's present and future transportation needs. While we now have a good grasp of what type of vehicle would fit this need, the challenge now lies in the finances to purchase it. We strongly want to trust the Lord for Him to fill this need, and do not want to get ahead of His will. Rather than purchasing something right away, we have decided to fix "Ginger", our existing bus, sell her, and put that money towards a better vehicle sometime in the Fall.

More exciting news: We are starting a two-part new recording project. The recording project will start this Thursday July 14th and "Over" will be buried in the arranging and production of the new songs. The first part will be a 4 or 5 song sampler which will be released sometime in October and there will be a combined release concert/fundraising event at that time to help raise funds for the new bus. The full length album will be released sometime in December. A project like this will require a lot of planning. As a ministry, RESCUE will need all of the wisdom and time management skills that we can get. We'll be working very closely with one another throughout this time, and we'll all need to give our very best in whichever role we are asked to fill. Even if all of the above goes as planned, it will still be a dismal failure if God is not in it. As we are bathing this new project in prayer, we ask that you would join with us.We had a wonderful Sunday at Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver, WA. We were extremely blessed by the overwhelming support of that congregation as we sang two songs in both of their morning services and performed a full concert that night. It was an incredible encouragement to us as members of RESCUE as we shook hands after the programs with the precious people of that church. As things were beginning to wind down Sunday night, one of the members of Crossroads shouted to us that we needed to follow him...NOW! We didn't know exactly what he was up to, or if we were being setup for something, but he just kept insisting. So we finally got over our irritation and followed him as he led us outside and pointed up into the skies. I was personally amazed as I saw the most brilliant and complete rainbow I have ever seen as it stretched majestically over Vancouver. It was dazzling and I saw that it was actually about three or four rainbows in one (I counted).

The gentleman who led us outside turned to us as we stood there with our mouths gaping at the sight, and he said, "I just couldn't let you miss something that beautiful." Lord, as we experience the dazzling beauty of your glorious light as seen through the particular prism of our individual lives help us to be at once insistent as we compel others to experience you, while also being open to the deeper and richer blessings of a more mature relationship with You.

The Fourth of July in Sacramento

2005-07-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Prayer Team!

We trust that your week has been full of God's blessings. Thank you for being a blessing from God to us as we encounter the challenges of the ministry of RESCUE with the confidence that your prayers are with us.

We had several great opportunities to be of encouragement to the Body of Christ this last weekend as we performed at an outdoor festival, a wonderful church service, and we got to see Pastor Scott Barham, Chaplain of Mule Creek Maximum Security Prison, while singing for his congregation's 4th of July Celebration in Sacramento. While talking with Dustin, Pastor Scott gave us the wonderful news that since we had been to Mule Creek, chapel services for that prison yard have grown so much that they had to move out of the chapel and into the cafeteria to be able to seat them all. PRAISE GOD! That is truly why RESCUE exists.

First Call Responders Banquet

2005-07-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Prayer Team!

Last week we participated in a really amazing Friday evening performing at a private event which was an appreciation dinner for First Call Responders. Those are the people who are running into the burning buildings to save people while the rest of us are finding safety. The organizers told us that approximately half of the people in attendance were non-believers. We had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the beginning of the event for our very first time, and with the group of active and participating citizens in attendance, it isn't hard to imagine that their response to that performance was pretty incredible. We also did four more songs later in the program.

There was a local comedian who was the M.C. and he pretty much brought down the house. But the highlight of the evening for me was when a Naval official from the Pentagon in Washington D.C. got up to speak about people who risk their lives to save others. He was a Navy Top Gun instructor and is the pilot of the airplane in many of the action scenes in the movie Top Gun. He was in the Pentagon during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and was the instructor of the committed Christian co-pilot whom, after being hijacked, struck the first building. The speaker was also in the very section of the building that got hit. Amazingly, he was spared. After crawling under the smoke and trying to save lives, having to be the one to tell the wife of a colleague of his that her husband perished in the attack, and making the four hour hitchhike home after the attack, his teenaged son gave him a bear hug and told him that he was SO happy that his life was spared.

External damage to the Pentagon

"Then, he backed away and looked at me and asked me a question I'll never forget, 'Well dad?', he said, 'What are you going to do with the rest of your life?'"

"He's older and is working right now, but if he were here tonight I'd have him come up to the stage in front of you who know how precious and fleeting life can be, and ask the same question."

He'd obviously decided that nothing in life was more important than sharing his faith in Jesus Christ with as many as he could.

After he'd finished, RESCUE got up on stage and finished the night with the song, "Rescue". We were so thankful to be a part of such a powerful evening and that lives were changed for God.

Transmission Trouble

2005-06-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Prayer Team!

I hope as I write this that you are doing well and that you are finding that the joy of the Lord is truly your strength even as you encounter challenges.

Last Friday afternoon, I picked up Dustin in Beaverton and we drove to meet with the tour bus in nearby Tualatin so that we could ride with our compadres the rest of the hour-long drive to McMinnville for our performance for Bethel Christian School. It turns out that on the way to meet with us, Road manager/baritone Luke Coles and Bass Joshua Wheeler both heard a strange noise in the bus. After picking us up and heading out of Tualatin we pulled out of an intersection and the transmission just seemed to give way as the bus slowed to a stop. We jumped out to push the bus, affectionately known as "Ginger", to the curb. Over and Luke got in contact with our amazing mechanic, Dirk and soon after, he was on his way to rescue... Rescue. Dustin ran back to my van and we were able to get most of us to McMinnville (there was also a huge traffic problem originating 45 minutes south of us that was diverting I-5 all of the way through McMinnville which slowed us to a crawl). Long story short, the equipment trailer got towed to McMinnville, we had the second quickest setup in Rescue history and although the show started a bit late, we had a really nice time singing to some really great people.

On Sunday we sang at a devotional service for the Newmar Kountry Club International RV Rally held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. There were big beautiful RV's as far as the eye could see. During the performance Luke mentioned the troubles that we were having with the tour bus and he quipped, "...So, if anyone knows of an RV we could use...."

I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

A Week Off

2005-06-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We've had a break in the action this week so we're getting some equipment fixed up, doing some more polishing on our current songs, and learning some more music. It's been a good faith building week and it's been a good week for us to pull together as a group. We had a great meeting with Jason and our accountant, Kat, on Tuesday night for a sort of "State of the Ministry" address. Although we would like our financial situation to ease up, I left our meeting with a thankful heart because I get to work with some of the sweetest people I've ever met. After we all had a good picture of the finances, Joshua Wheeler pulled us together for a rallying prayer so that we didn't get bogged down in that stuff, instead focusing on the exciting ministry opportunities that God would have in store for us as we remain faithful to His call.

We might all pray, "Lord in our human frailty help us never to fret first and pray later. Instead let us be thankful that when trials come we are in the best possible position to see your miraculous provision."

We are so very thankful for those who volunteer to help Rescue on a regular basis, and I wanted to publicly thank Susan Ward for her continuing role in leading this prayer ministry. She works with great care to keep the prayer ministry consistent, healthy and current.

My First Prayer Bulletin

2005-06-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

(Jason Overstreet writes)
Hello to you all, Starting this week, I am excited and honored to announce that I will be handing the reigns of this wonderful prayer team over to one of Rescue’s new members. I can’t wait for you all to get to know him like I do. I have only known him for a few months now, but I knew within minutes of meeting him that God had a plan for him to be a part of this ministry. I know you will all enjoy getting to know his heart and hearing of the group's experiences and prayer needs as he writes to you.

Now that the new group is up to full-concert level, I will soon be transitioning completely off the road. This will free me up to spend more time writing, arranging and producing, and I will finally have a healthy schedule after all these years. Yippee!!! I also consider it important that you are able to hear the reports of Rescue’s experiences from someone who is in the group, and seeing the Lord’s work first hand from the road.

I want to personally thank you all so much for praying for this ministry. By God’s grace, myself and Rescue have withstood the challenges of this past year, and now move forward with anticipation for what the Lord will do through the new group. So with that…here’s Brian!
Thanks Over, and HELLO Prayer team!

I am so happy to be Rescue's new liaison to you and to be able to share the blessings and burdens of this exciting ministry every week with such a faithful group of prayer warriors. Since I am new around here, I should tell you that I am one of the three tenor singers in the group. If you would like to be able to identify me amongst all of the twenty-something's in the group, just look on our web site's front page ( www.rescuemusic.com ) and look for the "hair challenged", and most assuredly NOT twenty-something, guy on the lower right. We had an incredible night last Friday as we sang at a benefit for Prison Aftercare Ministries. It is such a blessing to be able to lend a hand to help some of these people and ministries that are selflessly devoted to people who will truly benefit from the help. We saw testimony after testimony from those who had been in prison and met Jesus, but when they were released they often struggled to overcome social stigmas that seemed to keep them in a place of desperate need. It reminds me that the grace of God knows no bounds and no restrictions, but we do. Let's pray for the ability to look past the barriers and over the walls and give God's love to those who so desperately need it.

Brian Enter's the World of Blogging

2005-06-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally done it. I was all freaked out about starting a blog because I thought I'd have to be an HTML geek to do it, but here I've found a way of blogging while simultaneously using NO technical know-how.

So much to write about... for those of you who happened upon this site by accident I'll need to tell you that Rescue is an acappella group that started some 8 years ago by people younger and more educated than myself, but through a series of events in 2004 Rescue almost didn't exist for 2005. The founder/arranger/producer Jason Overstreet was about to give up on the idea of continuing Rescue when he was slammed with phone calls and emails from people who wanted to try out for a position in the group...he hadn't advertised or asked for any auditions and it seemed strange that people would call him, out of the blue wanting to know if there were any openings. That fact and the fact that there was still a faithful list of people who were offering prayer and financial support, Jason felt that it was not time to give up, but it was most definitely time to get on the phone and see who might be interested and able to meet the challenges of a group like this.

I was in barbershop singing high tenor with a quartet called Sold Out. We had won our district in 2000 and were currently ranked in the top twenty competing quartets internationally after the SPEBSQSA contest in July 2004 that was held in Louisville, Kentucky. Jason had some experience in barbershop and in late January or early February, he called a mutual friend, Tim McCormic (Top Ten International baritone, and International level chorus director). Tim said he knew of a guy in Sold Out who would fit the bill and Jason recognized the quartet name from a local contest in Forest Grove, Oregon that Rescue had been the featured musical group on, a year or two ago. Tim reminded him of a particular song ("What'll I Do") that I was featured on. Jason remembered me, and gave me a call.

I had been going through some intense personal struggles which seemed to be coming to somewhat of a close except for one thing, my family and I needed for me to find a job where I could use my gifts and talents so that I could be at peace with my life, and not constantly feeling like a round peg in a square hole. One Friday, I believe it was in early February 2005 I was driving home from work, literally, crying out to God in frustration.
"You designed me with a purpose...I believe it! You have carefully shaped me so that I will fit into a specific and peculiar place in your kingdom, but with all of my struggles and weakness, did I somehow miss your call? Surely you don't want to leave me like this, twisting in the wind, wondering, as I have since I was still in High School, what it is that I will do when I grow up. I'm 36! I have held a job that I'm not good at for 15 years! I am married to a woman that wants the best for me, and it hurts her to see me lost and wandering like this! My three children need for me to be in a place of confidence in you and what I am doing with my life, but slowly my dreams and the promises I thought I was given have faded to the point where I am not sure if I believe they are even mine to have. Please, Jesus! Have mercy on me and give me a vision for what you want me to do! Bring me into peace with my calling! I feel like I will die without it!"

I had prayed that prayer many times in the last ten years, but never so intensely as that moment. When I arrived at home my message machine was beeping, signaling that I had a message. I pressed the play button.

"This is Jason Overstreet of the group Rescue. I was talking with Tim McCormic he gave me your name. I really think we need to talk because Rescue has some openings and I'd like to see if you might be interested. Call me on my cell at..."

My jaw dropped and tears came to my eyes, and I pressed the button again to see if what I thought I heard was really true. Then I needed a witness, so I got my ten year-old to listen to it with me. And we proceeded to leap around the kitchen and sream a lot. It was pure joy. Even if it didn't end up being THE opportunity for me, it had already proved to me that God has the power to take my mixed up life and make complete sense of it in a heartbeat.

I calmed down and immediately called Jason and set up a meeting for the next week on Tuesday afterwork at Burgerville. We met and talked, I gave him a sampler of some demo stuff and some performance recordings. He's a pretty serious guy and after the meeting I was pretty sure I wasn't very impressive to him, but that he liked me enough to have me audition for him. he liked my demo that I sang with Buddy Rasberry for his new album, and he showed me a very impressive demo from one of the other guys who he was looking at for the group (Dustin Allen). Rescue had been booked for a barbershop show in Canby, Oregon and had to remove themselves from it since there wasn't really anyone left in the group. As God would have it, Sold Out was now booked to headline that same show. I told him that we ended up having that show and he said he wanted to come down and watch it.

He came to the evening show, but it wasn't just him...it was an entire group of people, so when I went out to the lobby to meet and greet, I was overwhelmed when I saw Jason and six or seven others. I can remember seeing Colette, Scott, Luke, Shawn, Adam, Dustin and I think one or two others. These were all younger, beautiful people (yeah, even you Scott). I could not have been more uncomfortable. I even stepped on Scott's foot at one point...the horrors! If I had actually known that all of these people (excepting Colette of course) were trying out for Rescue, it would have had me rocking in a corner like an orphaned baby monkey (Psych 101, PCC). Jason mentioned that Dustin was the one I heard on the demo, and Dustin and I chatted for a bit about it all, and there was a instant level of respect and friendship. Little did I know that within two months we'd be riding back and forth across Portland to rehearsals together and spending hours of time on the tour bus doing prison ministry and singing at churches all over the west coast.

The following week we had an orientation meeting at the Rescue office on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were auditions and I was told after Saturday that I was in the group and that he had decided on a bass if he could only work out the details on getting him to move up here. There were more meetings and auditions in the following couple of weeks and then Jason finally decided on the new group. It would be a five-part group with live vocal percussion. Me on the 1st tenor/2nd tenor/lead/sometimes baritone part, Tommy Daniels trading off with me on pretty much the same parts depending on the song, Dustin Allen 2nd tenor/lead/baritone, Luke Coles on baritone/some leads/vocal percussion, and Joshua Wheeler from Lubbock, Texas on monster bass.

That's how it all came together for me so that I could finally come into my calling, find some of the promises God had given me earlier in my life, and meet my dream of being able to do albums and tour professionally.

Stories From the Road

2005-05-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

An Aerial photo of Mule Creek State Prison

Mule Creek State Prison
By Brian Sell

"Try that", yelled a helpful prison guard on the hunt for a good power source for our sound system. Earlier, when Joshua Wheeler reached into his lower bass notes there was a horrendous popping sound as the subwoofers shut down after drawing too much power from the outlet under the yard’s drinking fountain. The guard was now running a power cord into the formerly locked laundry facility.

"We’re powered up", said baritone/vocal percussionist Luke Coles after switching on the amps. We all breathed a sigh of relief. It was a two-hour process to finally gain access to Facility A of the Mule Creek State Prison and we were itching to do some singing.

When we first arrived we met Kimo, an educator that had it on his heart to bring Rescue to various prisons in The Sacramento area, and it was his hard work that was allowing us the opportunity to bring the message of Christ into not only Mule Creek, but also the Preston Youth Facility and New Folsom Prison. He even brought us a couple of canopies to put up in the prison yard to protect our equipment from the afternoon sun, but we were told during security checks that the snipers up in the towers would see the tents as a potential obstruction to a clean line of sight in case there was a problem.

We soon met Chaplain Scott Barham, a man who is passionate about his ministry to inmates. He is also passionate about music as witnessed by the fact that he used to tour as a drummer in a band with the likes of Amy Grant, Petra, and Joe English.
Luke, also Rescue's road manager, submitted an inventory of the equipment that we'd be bringing into the prison a month in advance of our trip, but some items had changed and the list needed some last minute updates. The changes were frowned upon but they were approved. Next was a visual inspection of every item on the inventory list by the guard. Everything was accounted for, down to the power strips and the dry erase markers for the song list boards.

One last problem to overcome before we could get into the prison: one of our members was unable to find his Drivers License and we had proceeded in faith, believing that if God wanted us to be there that he'd make a way for us to get in.

"They don't just let people into a maximum security prison without some government issued identification," said chaplain Barham, adding, "But we're going to see if we can get you in anyway, they kinda owe me a favor." After some nail-biting and coming up with some alternate plans we had decided that if we skipped two or three songs that we might be able to go on with the program even if they didn't let our buddy into the prison yard, it wouldn't be nearly as strong, but at least we'd be able to take advantage of the opportunity we'd been afforded.

One of the top administrators gave us the news personally that she'd allow our guy to go in. They would need to take a picture of him before he could enter. "Just make sure you look like the guy in the picture when you come back out!" He agreed, his picture was taken and we were on our way.

"We need you to wait," one of the station guards advised, "there's been a code and we want to make sure that it's cleared up before you go in there." This meant that there had been some sort of a threat of violence, which is not tolerated in the protective custody portion of the prison. These were the inmates that needed protection from the prison's general population because of the nature of the crime or because of gang affiliation. When a code is called, all inmates in the yard must immediately sit down.

After we were finally given clearance to go ahead, we carted all of our stuff through another security checkpoint, and then into the prison yard. Joshua and Tommy saw a prisoner being escorted to a different area that was beat up pretty bad. This was probably the inmate responsible for the code.

We were led to the side of a building on a sidewalk at the inner perimeter of the yard. We could see the basketball courts directly in front of us. There were two heavily tattooed inmates who were helping us to get all set up. They were both very excited to see us and were looking forward to hearing our program. Caution tape was stretched from either side of the stage area all the way out in front of the stage to encompass the soundboard where Jason Overstreet was running sound, to keep the area clear.

After a false start or two because of a lack of power we were finally under way. We had a nice little crowd gathered around the tapeline but there were many who continued to play basketball right through the performance.

I don't remember exactly when it happened but I think it was near the end of the performance when another "code" was called out over the loud speaker. What I do know is that it worked out so that the entire yard was seated on the ground and listening when Chaplain Barham gave his short invitation and told the guys in the yard that they'd have more guests like us if their behavior continued to be good.

Talking with an older Native-American inmate named Joseph who was carrying a bible and a very on-fire for God look in his eye he told me, "when a person is too sick to eat for himself they take him to the hospital and sometimes they need to be force-fed. These guys in here are sick and they won't stop to listen to God themselves. What God did here today was like force-feeding. He made them stop and listen to what he was saying!"

I felt like we were a real encouragement to the group of Christians we met at Mule Creek, but after chatting with some of them afterwards and hearing some of their amazing testimonies we felt extremely blessed by the overall experience. I know that my faith was stirred after seeing what God had accomplished in the hearts of these men.

After we had everything packed up and we were making our way back through the walls of that prison, Chaplain Barham said something that meant a lot to me personally and I know it will mean a lot to those who support the ministry of Rescue. He said, "In the year since Rescue was last here, there has been a legal battle to give ground to pagan philosophies in the prison yard. At one point they were even trying to force us to let them use the Chapel, but", he added with a gleam in his eye, "God didn’t allow that!"

He continued, "I really see that last year's visit by Rescue was an important first step and it stirred up a lot of spiritual enemies. This year's visit seems to signal that God is really establishing something here! We 'd like to get you back here again soon!"

We assured him, "We can't wait to come back!"