Last summer, when we started the Music and Mission program, we had 7 musicians and $35,000 committed to the program. This summer, 2024, we had 6 musicians and $5000 on hand. I almost cancelled the program, but it was God’s program from the very beginning and I figured that if He had given me students, He must have plans for the funding. This is that story.
In a nutshell, students commit to 6-8 weeks of living an intentional life with music and character formation as the catalyst. It’s hard, fun and rewarding. The first three weeks are self development and rehearsal. Weeks four through six find us on the road with continued rehearsal and daily gigs…often more than one a day. Weeks 7 and 8 are for a handful of students who want to explore music at a deeper level, individually.
It all started with a donation from an old high school friend for $5000. I didn’t ask for it, specifically, but I did share the story of what I was trying to do. That has been the main means of acquisition…sharing the story. That first $5k was enough to get me through the first three weeks. I took it as a confirmation that we should keep going.
During the first three weeks we lead worship for a small adventist community, Project Phoenix. During prayer request time I would share what God was doing and what we needed to be able to continue. During the Thursday of the final week I got a text from one of the parishioners. He had a friend who had heard about what we were doing and wanted to create an anonymous $5k matching fund. “Great”, I thought, “now what do I do?”
I just kept sharing the story. The last Saturday, before we went on the road, I shared again what God was doing. That afternoon we all went to lunch at a family’s home about an hour away. Their son had toured with us our first year and had spent the previous week working with us as well. At the end of our afternoon with them the father hands me a check for $2k. We want to help God do what He’s doing. Great, $3k to go. The next day we went and lead worship at the Sunday church I attend, The Oregon Community. After the worship and welcome a friend reached over and gave me a check for $1k. OK, $2k to go. That afternoon the students had their first secular gig, playing on my front lawn. At the end, a family from Project Phoenix handed me three gift Visa cards. I thanked them and continued putting gear away. I found out they were for $500 each. Now all I needed was $500 to finish the first match. Well, one of my old high school students, who I haven’t seen in years, sent me a note letting me know that he had been impressed to give me $1k to help with what I’m doing. Wow!
On Thursday I was given an anonymous $5k matching fund and by Sunday night we were matched. Crazy.
The next week we were in the Bend, OR area. On Thursday evening we played a gig at the Tumalo Bite. It’s a gathering of food carts about 20 minutes out of Bend. As we were going through our set, I noticed a gentleman eating his sushi at the other end of the table I was mixing sound from. Megan, our female vocalist, came by, sat down and made small talk, sharing what we were up to. She went back to perform and then our other staff person, Samantha, came by and continued the conversation.
Samantha let me know that the gentleman had some questions. Leaving her to run sound, I took my seat across from him, introduced myself, and shared our story. When I was done he asked how much funding we needed and I shared ” about $7500 “. He thought for a moment and then said, ” You know, you might need some extra funds. How about I put up a $5k matching fund? “
What!!! Again!!!
On a side note… about half an hour later, one of my old students and his two daughters came and sat at out table. Come to find out he works for this guy:-) His daughters went and got some food and we continued chatting. After they were done, the dad noticed a small bowl of wasabi on the table. A leftover from his boss’s sushi order. He started offering his daughters money if they would eat it. First $10, then $20 and finally it got to $50. When they continued to refuse the offer, I offered up my services. All I saw was gas money for a bus. He agreed and in one fell slurp it entered my digestive tract, washed down with a few gulps of non-alcoholic beer. His boss pulled a bill out of his wallet, a crisp $100, and the deal was done.
The next morning I awoke to a text from an old parishioner of mine, an ex-con who was rebuilding his life. Someone had syphoned the gas out of his truck, he had no money, and payday was still a week a way. He asked if I could help. Right then I knew where the $100 was supposed to go and so there it went. When I eat wasabi, it gives my friends gas:-)
Back on track, we provided church for the Bend SDA congregation. Students did a great job. At the end, the pastor asked me to share a little bit about what we were doing. I shared our story concerning the first and second $5k matching fund opportunity…and I shared the wasabi story;-) The band closed off the service and I was sitting in the back, listening and waiting to chat with folks. By the time we had loaded up to leave, we had $1750 towards our matching fund. Here we go again.
A few days went by with no further funds showing up. The dialogue with God was ongoing. And then, out of nowhere, I got a text from another former student. He had been watching what we were doing and wanted to help out. I thanked him, expecting $500 or $1000. When the Paypal receipt went through, I saw that it was for over $4k. We had far exceeded the match.
But wait, we’re not done. It was after church, in Boise, and our sponsor, Jill, had a Thai restaurant that she wanted us to experience. I dropped her and the students off and went to park the bus. When I walked into the restaurant I saw that my place was at the end of a long table. I had sat in that location the previous day at an Indian Cuisine restaurant. I didn’t want to do it again. So I excused myself and headed to greener pastures.
Walking past an older couple, older than me at least, I chatted for a minute and the lady invited me to sit and join them. They had sat behind me in church and she liked my hair🙂 We made small talk, I never ordered, and once again…they wanted to hear our story and I wanted to hear theirs. By the time the students were ready to leave, these folks had given me $400 for our summer purpose.
It’s never too much and always just enough. He’s been faithful to our ministry for 20 years. You’d think that my faith would be monumental by now, but it’s not. Even as I’m writing this, I’m wondering where the money is going to come from for our $3500 insurance bill for the year or how we’ll fund the upkeep on the buses?
It’s not my program. It’s all Him. I get to continue to grow in patience, resilience and grace.
I am grateful.
