Gearing up for Tour 2013

We're in recording rehearsals this week for OUT OF THIS WORLD -- our Summer 2013 tour musical. Stay tuned for major changes afoot. We'll be putting a second team on the road this year. It's a big leap of faith, but God continue to pave the way.

So.. we're leaving on Thursday, May 20th, for our 6th summer tour. Everything is coming together, and we're eagerly anticipating being on the road again and ministering to kids in 13 wonderful churches. I will confess that having spent the last four weeks in consecutive productions, I am feeling my age a little more than normal. I am hopeful that once we get on the road, a few days of physical rest (riding in the car isn't so exerting!) and my bones, joints, and muscles won't be complaining quite as much as they are today. We will do our best to keep you informed via this blog as the summer unfolds.

Well, I know we missed posting in June, but it's been a bit of a whirlwind this past month. We've been caught square in the middle of God's awesomeness -- It truly reminds me of the passage in Chronicles that talks about Elijah waiting at the mouth of the cave for God to pass by. He heard a terrible earthquake, a roaring fire, and a mighty thunder, but God came in the quite whisper that followed afterward.

That's sort of the way it's been.

We started tour the end of May and had three great weeks of travel and camp.

The first week, we had 12 kids. They were totally amazing. One of them had a tonsilectomy on Thursday morning, and still did the show on Friday night. They sang their hearts out, and we were so blessed.

The third week, we had a 130 kids -- and about 40 of them were 4 year olds. Blessed in an entirely different way!

A long drive took us to South Carolina where we got to reconnect with some old friends who have been with us since our 2006 summer tour.

That Saturday, on our way from South Carolina to Slidell, LA, the temperature was 105degrees. The Radiator went out on our van at about Noon in the middle of Nowhere, Georgia. In case you've never tried, finding a mechanic with a radiator for a 13 year old van after noon on Sunday is a bit tough. Amazingly, though, God provided. We found a mechanic a few miles away who not only stayed late to fix our van, but who knew where to get the replacement radiator! Vic was a great guy and we really enjoyed the 4 hours we spent with him and his wife at the Goodyear in Madison, Georgia.

The next day, we got up early and headed for Slidell. We made it to Laurel, MS -- about 100 miles from Slidell, and the power steering pump went out on the van. This is a bit complicated, but esssentially, the new serpentine belt Vic installed for us was on the tense side and the old power steering pump couldn't hold up. So on Sunday afternoon around 3 PM, we pulled into a gas station to try and figure out what to do. Mechanics, as you well know, don't work on Sundays.

So a fella pulls into the parking lot -- heat factor still 105 degrees. He takes on look at the van and says, "I know how to fix that. If you'll go to O'Reilly's and get the power steering pump, I can replace it for you." So off we go. O'Reilly's has the part, and Mr. Charles works on the van for 3 hours and replaces the power steering pump and hose in the parking lot of the Shell Gas Station -- allowing us to reach Slidell that night and start camp on Monday.

Really incredible.

So then it's a week of Camp in Slidell. Just to be on the safe side, since we're facing a long trip to Dallas, we ask a friend in Slidell to inspect our trailer for us before we leave. Everything appears to be just fine. So on Friday, we load up and hit the road Saturday morning.

We reach Shreveport -- about 3 hours from Dallas -- and the back springs on our trailer relax, causing the rear tires to rub. We get off the road in Shreveport and call our friend from Slidell. He and his son get in the truck and bring us a 24 foot cargo trailer that will get us to Dallas. They take our trailer back to Slidell and repair it, and meet us the next weekend on our way to Columbus.

We ministered to nearly 100 kids in Dallas and had a great week with them.

The next weekend, we headed for Columbus, temperatures still hovering around 100 degress. We were full of some anxiety, but fully aware that God was in control. When we pulled into the parking lot of St. Luke United Methodist on Sunday having traveled 500 miles with no flat tires, no van problems and our trailer fully repaired, we all got out of the vehicles and knelt on the pavement and thanked God for carrying us through the wilderness.

Its been a great week at St. Luke. We've been here every year since our first tour. We've got a camper this year who is playing a lead role who started out with us five years ago as a Welcome Home Dancer. She's never missed a camp. What a blessing!

This weekend, we're off to Chattanooga. We're all looking foward to the relatively short drive and the cooler weather.

Continue to pray for us as we enter the second half of tour that we will continue to trust God's leadership and direction as we embrace our tour theme -- Not by Might, and not by Power, but by MY Spirit says the Lord God Almighty.

Thank you, all, who have continued to pray for us

Ten days to go! I can hardly believe it. But things are going really well and we're getting all of our ducks in a row. This week, we were able to use our new stage for the first time -- it's incredible and a huge blessing. We had our 2:49 shows on Thursday and Friday. The kids were amazing -- like always. It really got us excited about doing a show every week this summer. We also had the chance to meet with our choreographer for the summer and begin learning all the sequences we will teach the kids. So it was a BIG week. This week -- another milestone. It's our first show at Grace Prep School here in Stafford. The kids there have been great to work with, and we're really looking forward to seeing them on stage on Friday.

On the horizon -- we're still looking for, and praying about, a location to hold a middle school/high school program similar to 2:49 this fall. And, of course, with just 10 days to go, we're in full swing for departure. Thank you to everyone who has prayed and is praying and will pray for us as we pull out on the 21st of May on our 5th full tour.

It's April -- already -- and we have less than 45 days until we leave for our 2009 summer tour. There's a ton to do, and on top of tour preparation, we have 3 performances of the Ballad of Bullheaded Billy here in Stafford, and a recording of our new Christmas project to get through before we go. It's sort of like eating an elephant, I suppose -- you just go at it one bite at a time.

Our new stage is in! Hooray. But our new choir risers are not. We are hoping and praying to have them in time for our show at Mt. Ararat on May 7. And we are still having some printer problems, so that's beginning to be a stress point.

We are confident, however, that God will supply all of our needs as we prepare to hit the road this summer. It's really something, I guess, that our tour theme this year is "not by might and not by power, but my my spirit says the Lord." Please pray for us as we learn to live that verse out even in the days before tour begins.

I can't wait to see what adventures lie ahead, to meet all the wonderful kids we will minister to this summer, and to serve with such a wonderful group of people as we deepen in our understanding of God's awesome power.

Well, tour time is revving up. We crossed a major milestone this week. We sold our stage to a church plant in Savannah, Georgia. That stage was the first major purchase we made when we first felt God leading us to a touring ministry. In the 3 years we've had it, it has held thousands of kids in over 50 productions. Though it's heavy and bulky and difficult to deal with in many ways, it was a huge blessing to us, and we pray that it will continue to be a blessing to our new friends in Savannah. They'll be leading worship on it this Sunday. I prayed for them today as I thought of them rolling it out of a trailer and setting it up. within the next month, we'll be order our new, lighter weight stage. We're excited about it and blessed to have it. It's a big investment, but we felt God's timing in making it happen for us.

We're rolling out of a really busy season. Christmas, for Frick and Frack Music, meant two shows (the kids were great!), and two handbell concerts. For a first ever, our children's handbell choirs played at the White House in front of the National Christmas Tree. We were really excited that the seniors from our church chartered a bus to come see us. They were a great audience, and the kids were so encouraged. This ministry continues to grow and we are praying that God will provide us with the funding for two more octaves of bells -- we are currently nearly maxed out on the number of players we can accommodate. We need two more octaves in order to continue growing the ministry.

Please pray for us as we juggle the responsibilities of our busy home schedule -- we have Kidstuf responsibilities on Sunday as well as two shows at Mt. Ararat and a third class we've added this semester at Grace Prep School. This is our busiest season, and we need discernment in time management, energy in task completion, health and mental well being as we juggle the many tasks that lie ahead.

And on a practical note, please pray that all our printers and equipment continue functioning properly! Like many ministries, we demand a lot of our resources. When equipment fails, it can mean time and money lost.

We have booked all 13 weeks of tour, despite a struggling economy, and are eagerly anticipating what God will do through us and in us this summer.

I Saw a Llama!

It is hard to believe that we have only been on tour for 13 hours now. Day one was great. The guys - Caleb, Braden, and Keith are awesome and the spirit we already are experiencing is absolutely amazing and I know it is only the start of things to come. Neesa, Christina and Laura are some of the best friends a fellow can have and all together with Chris and Katherine joining us in the next day or so we are going to have an all together phenomenal first week of camp. Cleo, Mandy, Hannah, Jeff, Tori, Thomas, Jake, Danielle, Kristin, Christina B. will all join in to make the future weeks even better. The day today was beutiful full of rich scenery and of course giant things. The giant cross, the giant hot air balloon and a first on tour the giant guitar. Of course the highlight sighting for me had to be the Llama. Just when you don't expect it, there they are amongst the cows. Well going to go to bed know. I can hear adventure calling. Love to all of those back home. We miss you.

Bro. Phillip