This Past Weekend in OH, NC & VA
Mon., Mar. 26. 2007 1:15am EDT
The weather was warm and the van was hot as we headed south this past weekend to Cincinnati OH (Friday), Fletcher NC (Saturday), and Dublin VA (Sunday).
Spring was well underway at every stop. Unfortunately our van had some problems that forced us to keep the heater on for part of the journey to keep the engine from overheating. But southern hospitality more than compensated for any mild discomforts we experienced.
After Friday's concert in Cincinnati, we had the thrill of meeting both the son and son-in-law of one of our favorite Christian authors and speakers -- Australian native Ken Ham, founder of the creationist organization Answers in Genesis. We also met a family of missionaries to Madagascar.
After Saturday's concert in Fletcher, we discovered that we'd actually been playing in a town called Fairview (Fletcher is 10 miles away and was only the mailing address). It turns out there are actually six different towns in North Carolina called Fairview, plus three others named Fairfield, and one each named Fairmont and Fairfax! The Tar Heel State is nothing if not fair.
After Sundays' concert in Dublin, we had the thrill of discovering that our headlights weren't working quite as "consistently" as we'd like -- not the greatest news when you're about to embark on a late-night trek through the entire state of West Virginia (a.k.a. The Mountain State). But God took care of us, and things improved.
A fan named in Ashlee in Dublin sent us the following email the next day:
Please come back sometime! We absolutely loved ya'll! A lot of people didnt even like Christian music that came, but they do now.
Here's a nice email excerpt from Pastor Mark Baugh, who coordinated the Cincinnati concert:
We had a great night. Yours was the largest concert event we have held, and it was great to see so many people in the church. It makes Josh (the youth pastor) and me hungry to be better in our obedience to God so that the building will be filled like that every time we have a gathering. What an impact we could have on the area!
Special thanks to:
Our other concert coordinators: Tim Sanders (Fletcher) and Steve Johnston (Dublin).
Our merchandise coordinators: Holly and Mark (Cincinnati); Marie, Savannah, Megan, and Rhonda (Fletcher); and Hannah, Jessica, Ashlee, and Karena (Dublin).
Our roadies: Rich (Dublin).
Our sound crew: Micah (Cincinnati, Fletcher, and Dublin).
Our opening act: Christian magician Phil Dalton and his lovely assistant and wife, Paula (Cincinnati).
Honorable mention to: Rich and Marie Polick, who drove over 500 miles from Pennsylvania to see us on Saturday in North Carolina. And, dig this ... that wasn't the first time they'd driven to see us in North Carolina.
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