Thanks for stopping by our site. We hope this helps to help keep family, friends, and supporters up to date on what God is doing with us as we minister with Proclaim! International in Europe and beyond.
Using Creative Arts and More to Share the Good News
After writing songs for The Outlanders we needed to find a place to rehearse. Our landlord suggested we rent a cabin above our village that is used by the local singing, hunting, and youth clubs. We rehearsed there for a birthday party thrown by our friend Dave who is Swiss/English and married to a German woman. He is a believer and wanted us to play his party and share the gospel the people in his village. It’s was a very natural way to connect. It seemed like his entire village showed up for his party. They enjoyed the concert and have invited us to play at a local Sports Association party. What great opportunities to witness!
Left: Simon and Chris sharing with one of the guys at the party. Right: The Outlanders first German concert. This is a great way to connect with Germans as they love to go to parties.
RECORDING PROJECT
Once Greg & Chris had written a group of songs to record they recruited Simon Wunderlin (Switzerland) to play the drum tracks. Simon was very interested in recording and was a blast to work with. He is 19 years old and eager to learn from Greg and Chris about music, recording, and most of all how to use his skills for ministry.
The drums were recorded at Janzteam Studio and then the tracks were taken back to Greg’s house. He turned his office into a great home studio where he and Chris finished the recording. This method allowed them to be very creative without the pressure of running up a bill in a pro studio.
In the Janz Studio laying down drums with Simon.
Fun during rehearsals before our recording sessions.
Greg provided a relaxed atmosphere in which to finish the recording in his home studio. Our goal was to write music that is easy to enjoy but had content that could provoke discussion about God and the gospel. We used the songs on tour in Moldova and found that the songs we wrote worked. Our music was well received and we sold or gave away 150 CDs on the tour. The music helped us share the gospel with hundreds at once from the stage and have one on one conversations about the gospel with several people after concerts.
A New Tool For Ministry
Kids Update: Calvin in growing so fast. The doctor tells us Calvin is very tall for his age. Rose is adjusting well to having a brother.
NEWS - Updated November, 2009
See our “Music Tours” page for the Croatia / Bosnia tour report
The goal in forming The Outlanders was to create a natural point of contact with people so we can share our faith. This was Chris’ natural ministry in the U.S. and it works here too. Chris and team mate Greg needed to write catchy songs with content they can talk about when introducing the songs from stage and also discuss with individuals after the concerts. Themes for the songs include philosophy, forgiveness, the identity of Christ, and finding peace and satisfaction. People listen to what artists say and that is why we use these opportunities to share the gospel.
Local Partners
Another part of developing The Outlanders as a useful tool for sharing the gospel is to develop partnerships with local believing musicians. In addition to our young Swiss drummer, Simon, we met Dominic. He has a great, big heart for the Lord and for sharing the gospel. Please pray for Simon and Dominic as they follow God’s leading to work with us to reach their country and beyond.
Listen to NEW WORLD from The Outlanders CD.
We meet more and more people at each concert. A good way for us to keep in touch with them is through existing social networking tools like Facebook and Myspace. We have both types of pages set up for The Outlanders. Look us up on Facebook and check out our Myspace page:
COMING UP:
CROATIA - July/August, 2009 Chris will be part of a public evangelism team in the context of live music concerts. We’ll be working closely with local leaders and churches. The band will be Mercy Street R&B and we’ll play classic rhythm and blues with jazz and rock elements. This will be an exciting band for the people of Croatia. Mercy Street has a long history in Croatia and has had many successful evangelistic events in the past. Pray this tour will be successful as well, as we serve and work beside the local believers in Croatia.
The Candlelight Dinner
The Candlelight Dinner is an annual outreach put on by the local believers in our area. It is specifically designed to be high quality dinner theater type event that appeals to germans. A clear gospel message is presented. Over the years it has become known as a “must see” event. Local believers invite their neighbors to attend one of three performances. This year the theme was based on the story of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Chris and team mate, Greg Davis were part of the band and Greg’s wife Becky, part of the gospel choir. We are happy to report that it was very well attended and hundreds of germans heard the gospel presented clearly in their own language.
AEROBICS - Carole has recovered well from delivering Calvin and is returning to her Aerobics Ministry. Please pray for her as her classes are at 7:30 in the evening and she is often up in the night with Calvin. Sleep deprivation definitely makes leading her class harder!
LOCAL CONCERTS IN GERMANY
The Outlanders have been busy playing local concerts in Germany. Pray for us as we lay the groundwork for ministry to come. We have met with local event organizers and are connecting them with the believing church. In these local concerts we have only been able to share our faith subtly since the concerts are not organized by the church but non-believers. We are happy that we are meeting people in these settings and developing friendships. See photos below from a local concert for a sports club in a nearby village. Pray for the people we met and especially for our relationships with local promoters. These concerts will place us in position to meet and share with many people who are not believers.
Song introductions are the perfect place to set ourselves apart form your average band. All artists say something - we use the opportunity to point people towards Christ.
Above are Dominic (Germany) and Simon (Switzerland). These guys are learning how to use their music for God’s glory through evangelism. Both have immense talent and big hearts for God. Pray for them as they practice sharing Christ with their countrymen.
We had a great visit to the USA in September and re-connected with our families, our home church, supporters and friends.
