Kristin - From the very beginning, we didn't know each other. We really believe that God orchestrated this group and brought us together. There's so many amazing things that happened in the three of us coming together. We come from different places (to the audition) and there were all of these random occurences that only God could have been behind. So when we came together we just sat down and said "OK, we need to have a vision. We need to have a goal and know what we're about, otherwise, there's no point in it". And so we decided that first and foremost, ministry is our goal...bringing people to Jesus. We view ourselves as a springboard, as far as when we go into churches, do concerts and share the message of Him. Anytime we can, we give invitations because that is the most important thing to us. Secondly we address issues and try to focus on that. The entertainment factor does factor in in that kids are so used to having the show and the lights and the energy. That's something that draws them in. We try to have a good balance between getting their attention so we can, in turn, point them towards God. When we have time, we'll even talk about worship. There will be times when the kids are really reaching towards us, wanting to touch our hands or something. That's when we can talk about how God wants that affection directed toward Him, not towards us. We just do everything we can to point people to God and have fun with it as well, while being good musicians. We work hard at the craft to be good musician's but first and foremost, it's definitely the ministry for us.
Guide - I read a piece that was in CCM where Bebo Norman talked about "5 minute relationships" ... how being on the road and really only having brief contact with people makes it a stretch to put 100% into the five minutes he'd have with people and getting enough and giving enough back. Then having enough energy to give to the people that are close ... friends and family. How do you deal with that little brief window of time with people? Carrying the weight of knowing that you can say something that may change someone's life, and only having a few short minutes to do it?
Kristin - That's a great way to look at it. Five minute relationships ... that's so true. For me, I love to meet people and talk to them. I love to get to know them. It is hard for me because I could spend more time than five minutes with just about anybody. That's kind of how I am. It makes it difficult because you feel like it's just so brief. So many times, when we do meet and greets, you can sense that someone you meet is really hurting. You so want to spend more time with them. In those cases, I just pray to God to give me the right words to say, and help me to make them feel like during those five minutes my attention is solely on them, making that connection and really caring, because I do. Definitely it's something that I have to continually ask God to rejuvenate me and refill me because it's a hard thing. You want to be able to spend more time with people, but when you sit with a person and really get into what is going on in their life, it can be very draining because you feel so much for them and the hurt that they're going through. When you are constantly in that situation, I do sometimes feel like I need God to fill me again, emotionally and mentally. We see a lot and hear a lot from people and I think that we have to work at the balance and ask God for wisdom to give us the words to use in a small amount of time.
