Bob Velting, our baritone, Jim Feldbush, our very talented bass player, and all the girls had decided to remain in school. With Gary Peters as our tenor, Charlie Gilbert singing bass, and me on lead we still had the basis of a good sound. We looked around for the best female vocalists who were up to the challenge and added, what were probably, the two best female singers from the college to form a new touring group. I think it was about this time we changed our name to Living Water. We'd have that name for years to come in many incarnations...
We did some rehearsals together, took some promo pictures, and did a mini-concert at a local youth meeting before the girls both took off to work at summer camp. Gary and I stayed at the college, working in the grocery store, to earn some capital and get the bookings solidified for the fall. Charlie went home to work for a masonry contractor for the summer. We were jazzed, this was going to be great!
Gary traded his car for a bus so we'd have something to travel in. We got it towed from Kalamazoo to Berrien Spring because it had a seized piston. We didn't see that as a big issue, we had a diesel mechanic who'd let us pick his brain and access to the college motorpool shop for the summer. We worked days at the store and split the evenings between sending out letters to seek concert dates and working on the bus engine.
We got out a map of the US and planned a tour. Then we looked up denominational churches along that route and sent promo packets to every church remotely close to that itinerary. We told them what we were about, that we were college students wanting to "do something special" for the Lord and offered to do a program at their church for a love offering.
Then we kept working on the bus...
Pretty soon the letters started coming in from churches on our planned tour route. Churches we'd been in before were glad to have us back, but something else was happening that we hadn't anticipated. Some of the churches had checked with campus ministries and found that we were "not school sponsored." Because of that they were "reluctant to offer us their platform." Even though we were good students in good standing and active in on-campus spiritual organizations... Even though we were the children of denominational employees, we were still being blacklisted by the University.
We were crushed. but still hoped that tide would turn. As the summer progressed, it became clear that we had no Fall Tour. We'd be lucky to have 10 dates booked. The girls checked in from time to time and as the news continued to degrade, they decided to return to school.
Charlie finished up his summer work and joined us back in Berrien Springs. We grieved and schemed, planned and dreamed, but we had no group and no tour. Then my parents called from their new posting in California and asked how it was going. I had to be honest. we were at an impasse, and I felt responsible. I felt I should buy the guys out and just give up.
My folks told me there was a job for a printer at denominational headquarters in Pleasant Hill, CA. I prayed about it and decided to take the job. I talked to the guys and offered to buy them out, but they wouldn't hear of it. They'd wrapped up all their affairs in Michigan and thought they'd come to California with me. We could build the rest of a team out there and still do weekends. Gary's wife had lined up a nursing job in St. Helena, CA and Charlie was going to stay with me at my parents house in Pleasant Hill and find a job.
So there I was leading my first cross-country ministry move. What and adventure.
It's only recently that I have come to realize how much life changed for those guys I was doing life with. How important it is for a leader to "look out for" the people he leads, and how loyal people will be if they know you're "for them." That's a big responsibility, and a great honor.
We got the bus engine finished and the night came for us to leave. I'll take up the story again in part three.
Have you ever seen a dream twisting in the wind? Have you ever thought you were on the edge of something you'd always hoped and planned for, only to have it die while you looked on helpless? Have you given everything for a good cause, only to have it thwarted by another person's political ambitions? But God hasn't left you... He grieves with you for those dreams. And he always has another plan, another job, another chance... another dream designed just for you.
Share your "dream stories," and what you learned through their pursuit, by leaving a comment here. What is God stirring in your spirit now? What's your next hill to climb with God?
No comments:
Post a Comment