Aaron's 1st Attempt at Blogging

So... we're on the road now, and there are some awesome videos and pictures that y'all should check out. we did our first concert, both a sunday morning worship type thing and a night time youth thing. I was super nervous, but it went well. we did a fortyish minute set and the drama. I don't know wat to tell y'all.

Rainy day rehearsal

Team 1421 spent their day off today rehearsing. It was a brisk, rainy day, so the natural thing for musicians to do was to play music!

Yesterday we led worship at Milan Christian Church in Illinois and then played a concert for their fall youth group kickoff. It was a great time! Thanks to our awesome hosts and a great church for making our first stop on tour a wonderful experience!

Check back soon for some great videos of the day!

First day highlights!

Included in these pics are Colin's beef jerky, really cheap gas, and our arrival in Milan, Illinois.

Start of tour!

Everyone is bright and shiny this morning as we head out for Illinois!

More music rehearsal

1421 spent another day preparing for their upcoming training tour.

Exhibition concert!

Training!

Team 1421 rehearsing for their practice concert.

1421: together at last!

Welcome the new crew!

Another fulltime year has started!

Meet CTI 14:21 08-09:

Laura Schuh
Aaron Stephens
Christian Harger
Colin Hornbaker
Ken Simerly
Micaela Tucker
and Stanley Tso

We'll get pictures up in a few weeks, and they'll be posting soon!

Summer's Coming!

Hey everyone!

Our Spring tour has come to an end and we are busily preparing for summer teams to arrive. I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from our last tour before I forget about it!

These kids are from the pioneer club we played for in Kansas. The kids were so energetic and unaffected by what was "cool" or "acceptable" - if only we didn't lose that as we got older!



Here are a few pictures of frisbee and football with our friends from St. Louis Chinese Gospel Church. We were so excited to go back and spend a few days with them, and we had an awesome time getting to know them more.



Here's a picture of our "Dare You to Move" drama. It's so rare to get a clear picture of our performances, so I'm always excited when one turns out like this one.


This is Garmin, our GPS, telling us we had to drive on the same road for 303 miles! It was our longest trip on one road. I think we were traveling from Conway, AR to Austin, TX.



While in Austin, we had a great time hanging out with Austin Chinese Church. They took us to downtown Austin to see the University of Texas. After our concert that evening they took us out to get frozen yogurt, then the next morning we played volleyball and basketball before we had to leave. It was really exciting to meet Stanley Tso, who will be joining a full-time team this August!





At one host home, Brad and I got to go paddle boating on the lake behind our house. We saw a gorgeous sunset and got to spend some quality time with the local swans. They got surprisingly close to our boat; I think they were trying to herd us away from their eggs.



We traveled through Buffalo, TX 3 times on this tour. The first 2 times we got to stay with Tim's grandmother at their family ranch. It was one of my favorite stops on the tour. There were horses, cats, and dogs, Brad and I got to see our first longhorns, and we got to visit the zebra down the street!




This donkey was in with the longhorns to "keep the peace." I think this picture looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. He kind of makes me think of Puzzle, the donkey from C.S. Lewis's book "The Last Battle."


The last time we came through Buffalo we stayed with a couple who ran a marriage and family ministry out of their home. Each room was named after a fruit of the Spirit. There was a lake out back and lots of hammocks in their backyard. We were all feeling a little sad to be nearing the end of our tour, so rather than split up to relax in the hammocks, we all decided to stay on one.


We celebrated Jessie's birthday with ice cream and party hats at a hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma! Jessie was sad about turning 19 because it is a high prime number, and she doesn't like high prime numbers. Hopefully our little celebration helped to ease the pain.


And finally, we spent last weekend in Jessie's hometown of Sioux Falls, SD. This picture is of the team at famous falls themselves.



We're nearing the end of our year as a team; in fact, our final concert is coming up on June 8th at 7:00 pm - if you're in the area, we'd love to see you there! Today we got our summer assignments and next week we start debriefing our year together. I thought I'd include some stats from our ministry year for those of you who enjoy that type of thing...

Places we've traveled:
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
North Carolina
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Wisconsin
Ontario, Canada
and of course... Singapore!

Ministry Summary:
50 Church Services
46 Youth and Family Concerts
25 Christian Schools
11 Detention Centers/Prisons
7 Colleges
3 Public Schools
3 Homeless Shelters
2 Coffeehouses
1 Retirement Home
1 Kid's Club
... and 9 "miscellaneous" events (mostly from Singapore)

Things I lost or forgot along the way:
Eye glasses
Water Bottle*
Driver's License*
Jessie's Book*
Calculator
Belt*
Face Lotion
Purse*
Cell Phone*
Team USB Drive*
Pajamas*

(*) means found and returned

There's absolutely no way to include in "statistics" the amazing encounters we've had with people from around the world, and the relationships that we've been able to form. There's also no way to include "statistics" about how we've seen God working in and through us this year. Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to talk with you personally about our experiences this year. Trust me - I don't think we'll get tired of sharing our stories!

We are getting so excited about the arrival of the summer teams! If you're a summer team member getting ready to come to Willmar - be prepared for an awesome adventure in discovering more about God, and more about yourself as well.

For all who have been following us, supporting us and praying for us this year... THANK YOU. We have been totally blessed by your encouragement, prayers and financial support. It has been very obvious that we've been covered by prayer over this past year. The safety and health and unity that our team experienced was something only God could do. Please keep praying for those we've come into contact with and had the opportunity to minister to, as well as those who we will meet this summer - team members and students overseas.

Adios for now!

Renee

So we are in Texas for most of our final tour. Texas is really amazing. its warm enough to go swimming and play volleyball. we have had a lot of "down time" this tour, that basically means that we only play maybe two or three times a week. (not a lot). but we are really enjoying our time on the road. even though knowing we are on our last tour together is really hard... believe it or not, we have grown pretty close together and its going to be a hard split. so please be praying for us in these final weeks, that our eyes remain focused on the true goal of the year. and i also want to take this time to thank everyone who has hosted us though out our journey together. without your spiritual, financial, and housing support our ministry really would not be possible. and our ministry really is a two sided thing, we bring a message to the world, but there is something special that each of us already has and will bring from this year. i know that i will never forget this year.
thank you so much for all that you guys do.

Highlights from the past tour!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, we are Texas ! And the weather is amazing, we are really loving it here. Perfect weather and even more wonderful people!


Let me back up and give you a little rundown/ little insight to our past two weeks of tour....

We started in Iowa and to my delight we spent lots of time in the Dutch town of Pella! Ahh, so awesome....I, unlike all my none-Dutch band members...I was delighted to connect with my roots. We stayed there only a day, but it was still a great time. We played a chapel in the morning at the school and got to hang out for the rest of the day at the school. After that, we headed into Kansas!!


We arrived in Kansas and spent the next two days at Sterling College. We played for the college chapel in the morning and spent the rest of the day doing a lot of recruiting! Really great school, awesome people. The town reminded us all of Mayberry...cute, safe, and unfortunately not a lot to do except star twirling which Jessie and I had the pleasure of experiencing. That night after the chapel service we played for the local Pioneer club for a bunch of rowdy and adorable little grade school and middle school kids. There are some pictures from it below...


We stayed in St. Louis last weekend with our friends from the St. Louis Chinese Gospel Church. We got to stay with the families of two former alumni's of CTI ; Kim Tsui and Eric Hong. We FINALLY got to get outside and experience some warm weather. On Sunday afternoon we went out to a local field and played frisbee and football all afternoon! Eric took us the next day to get Bubble Tea and we all decided to spend the day in St. Louis...very good day.


From St. Louis we travelled to Arkansas. We all stayed with a family from Central Baptist Church and we played in the Central Baptist College for the afternoon and ran back to the church to play for the youth group at night...

...and the weather kept getting better... :)

Then to Texas ! For some of us, it was our first time out or down there. I love Texas. Austin was our first stop; what a great city! We just came back from spending a couple days in Austin, Texas. We stayed with the Austin Chinese Church who treated us like gold. They showed us all around Austin for the day, to the University of Texas, and then to some of the local eclectic shops. We played for a bunch of the youth and young adults from their congregation that night. After a long,exciting, and energetic concert...we were invited for some late night frozen yogurt with everyone.

The next day we were to leave for Sugarland...but our hosts wanted us to catch a little more sunshine before our drive in the van, so we all got together with some friends from the church and had a morning filled with volleyball and basketball. We got to meet one of the future fulltimers, Stanley Tso. Luckily we were able to warn him about full-time; so he's ready now for the fall.


Now that brings us to today. We are in Houston, Texas and we are spending the next couple days just relaxing here, until Wednesday when we heading to another area of Houston. We basically stay in Houston for the next week or so, then move onto another part of Texas.

Anyways....there's some pictures and little catch to refresh and satisfy your curiousity. Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! Much thanks!

~ Michelle

HESSTON!!!!!

HESSTON!!!!! with two S's!!!

- Eli-to still on the road...

in the wonderful town of Sterling, KS

hellor there everyone!!!!

we've just spent a good TWO days here in Sterling, Kansas. we played for their chapel service in the morning at Sterling College and then we recruited for a couple hours! we had quite a bit of students who showed interest for our program and it was just really encouraging to see. anyways, this town reminds me a lot of Willmar and so i remembered to write something on the team blog. so we'll be heading EAST? (sorry, i'm Canadian) towards Heston, Kansas and will be doing something similar to what we did yesterday at Heston College. thank you for your prayers! and for your treat... this is what i like to do during my downtime!


PEACE OUT!

- Eli-to on the road!

:)

...And you thot we'd write something while we were on our Easter break!


yah right ! :)

We have about 2.5 days left before we start "work"...

Until then, we are still affectionately yours,



Team 14:21 : Brad, Renee, TIm, Jessie, Eliot, Shawn, and Michelle

...and back to Willmar.

Wow! What an unbelievable end to an unbelievable tour. The grace and power of God have been evident in our concerts and interactions with contacts in these 10 weeks. A big thanks to all of our hosts and contacts!

I will try to sum up the last few items of our tour, and hopefully find some cool pictures. ;)

We traveled to Bethany Mennonite last Wednesday (March 5), and played a youth concert there. We had a great time hanging out and even got a DVD recording of our concert. After the concert, we played volleyball with their volleyball team (and got properly stomped). Thanks for a great night, Bethany Mennonite!

After housing a few places (thanks, Albrents!), we made it to St. Timothy's Lutheran in Menasha, WI. The past years, CTI has just played their Sunday services - but this year, there was a youth lock-in that corresponded with our coming. We played for the youth and had a blast - and then sent them off to stay up all night while we slept for the next day. We played a few services the next day, and got a chance to speak at their "Adult forum" (a sort of Sunday School class). They drilled us, asked us questions we had never been asked before (not an easy accomplishment!), and even made us eat a lemon slice - rind and all! What a blast - thanks for everything, St. Timothy's.

Next we stopped at Sheboygan for a concert at Sheboygan Christian High. We got to stay with the Hendrickses and were hosted by Chris and his family. It was so much fun to get to know them and be enveloped in God's love there. They even had a prayer room in their basement where they spent time worshiping at times throughout the day. What a blessed group of people. Our concert at the school went splendidly, and we just had a great time. Thanks for everything, Hendrikse family!

Our last two events were Coulee Region Christian School and Cornerstone church. At Coulee Christian, we met the new principal, Dan Odenbach, and spent some time ministering to the kids. Dan is a very neat, dynamic guy who has just been a blessing to the school. His passion for the kids is remarkable, and it was such an encouragement to see the ministry being done there. Our concerts were for an elementary group and a middle/high school group. The school has a great group of kids and we had a fabulous time. Thanks, Coulee!

At Cornerstone, we met Billy Reames and his family, and the youth at their church. They fed us tacos (awesome!) and we got to play in their new Gathering Place (youth room). It was a phenomenal last concert with a great turnout, and we enjoyed every minute we spent there. Special thanks to Billy, who is doing a great work there at the church.


Looking back, I definitely can see the ways that God has stretched and used us this tour. I'm proud of the team members for remaining faithful and staying intentional to the end. We have had some ups and downs, but I think that most of the places that we went we were able to connect with the people and hopefully serve them by encouraging them to give more of themselves to Jesus Christ (a vocation that all of us are given!). Our greatest desire is that we are used by God to speak his words and to call others to His service.


Thank you all so much for following our progress and for your prayers. We are really blessed to be a part of this awesome ministry and serve Jesus Christ with our music. Until later...



A picture of a cat and a rooster.


... it's the best I could do.

- Brad

we are really close to the end of our ten week tour... only three more days till we go home. so we could use prayer that we stay focused till the end. we really do appreciate all of the prayer from you guys.

the war we're fighting...

"For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty power of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms." - Ephesians 6:12 NLT

before we headed to the Children's Home that we were scheduled to play at. our contact informed us of how heavy her heart has been during the day (it was an evening concert). she led us into a time of scriptures and prayer. we prayed for courage. we prayed for strength. most importantly, we prayed for wisdom and a sensitive ear to the Lord's spirit. we didn't know a whole lot about the venue. we didn't know too much about the teenagers we were going to encounter except that they're either sexual abusers or they've been sexually abused. we didn't really know what to expect. we were asked to do an acoustic set (meaning, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar and amp, two eons (main speakers), two mics, djembe/djimbe). for some strange reason, i always have the misconception that acoustic sets don't sound as good and they're not as effective. but that's just me.

we stepped into the room we're supposed to play in. we set up. we planned a set list. we just didn't know what to expect. but, i felt an incredible sense of peace and excitement (contradicting emotions? kind of). i was at peace because i wasn't scared of the venue nor was i scared to approach the kids. i was excited to see how God's going to blow these kids away. i was excited to see how God's going to blow Eliot away. i was excited to see how God's going to blow 14:21 away. i was excited to see how God's going to blow ALL OF YOU THAT ARE READING THIS AWAY!

there's peace in my heart. there's courage that allowed me to approach the kids. there's wisdom when i talked to the kids. there's God. there's God watching every move i make. there's God working in and through me.

we played. we shared. we acted. we gave them all that we had. we managed to get them clapping. we were all having so much fun that we had to change our set so we can have MORE upbeat songs. we managed to get them STANDING and GROOVING and CLAPPING. there was joy. there was celebration. perhaps a slight glimpse of... heaven... for the first time (or for the first time in awhile).

i had a strange urge to approach a young man that was sitting there at the end of the concert. i had a strange urge to start talking to him and ask him how he felt towards our performance. here we go. let the floodgates open. he basically poured out his heart to me. he asked me incredibly hard questions. but it don't matter. God spoke through me. i've never felt so wise before. that's probably because it wasn't me talking. here he is, a teenager who's gone through a lot of trouble in life, physically, mentally and even spiritually. he wanted something. he wants something more. in Erwin McManus' book "Soul Cravings", he essentially mention that we're created and made to long for more. we always want more. God created us to be with him. he IS more. we want more, that's because we subconsciously want to be with God. again, he IS more. that's one of the things that i told this young man. or should i say that's one of the thing that God told this young man during our "three way conference call" last night.

"how do you know that God exists?"

"how do YOU know that gravity exists?"

"well, you can see it, it's all around you isn't it?"

"so why wouldn't you believe that God exists?"

"i think i see what you're trying to get at"

"how do you know that someone didn't just make up the concept of gravity? just like what you said about God)

"you don't see gravity, but you believe it. i don't see God, but i see him working miracles day in and day out. that's why i believe he exists"

"the fact that our paths crossed, that to me, is a miracle already."

"i was legally dead for 2 minutes and was in a coma for 4 days..."

i think you get the idea. i wasn't the only person that had an incredible God story like this to tell. i wasn't the only on last night. we all had an incredible experience.

this is the war we're fighting. it's a spiritual war that requires spiritual strength and spiritual weapons. it reminded me to go back to the throne of Grace everyday. it reminded me that i can't "do ministry" on my own. "Salvation belongs to the Lord". we prayed. he answered. we humbled ourselves. he showed himself.

this is how the story continues...

i requested that we give him one of our CDs. he'd mention to me that music was a big part of his life. he almost couldn't come back out from the "cell" to ask me that incredibly hard question at the end. but i knew it wasn't over. i knew God wasn't going to let him go. i knew that God wanted to use me to encourage him one last time...

i didn't pray "the prayer" with him. i'm not saying that it's wrong to ask people to accept Christ on the spot with you. i think he was "ready". but i didn't want it to be an Eliot type of thing. i didn't want to know that i "converted" somebody. it really isn't about me. i told him to pray last night before he went to bed. i challenged him to challenge God to show up before him...

this is the war we fight...

i said we...

i invite you to fight this war with us...

pray for these three young adults that we came into contact with...

pray for those that we've inspired and challenged and we don't even know about...

pray for those we haven't even met yet...

this is the war i fight. this is the war we fight as a team...

will you fight with us?

"There are tears from the Saints for the lost and unsaved. We're crying for them... come back home!" - Tears of the Saints, Leeland

listening to the radio

There was a young boy walking out of the woods with a cage that contained several wild birds. As he was walking back home, he happened to pass an older gentleman that was interested in what the boy was planning to do with the birds. The man ventured to ask the boy what his intentions were. The boy said that he was going to play with them. The man asked how he intended to play with the birds. The child continued on and explained that he would start by shaking the cage. Mostly because he thought it was funny to see the birds so very frighted. Then he would poke the birds with a stick and cause even more fear and panic in the them. He also told the man that some of them would probably die of anxiety. After the man heard this he asked the boy, then what? What are you going to do after you are done playing with them? The boy said I'll probably just feed them to my cat. He likes to eat wild birds. Then the man asked the boy if he would be interested in selling the birds to him. He replied pointing out that they weren't worth anything. Then the child asked why he would want to waist money on them, and laughed saying they would just fly away from him as soon as he let them out of the cage. The man agreed saying that he knew all of this to be true, but he is fond of the birds and he didn't want to see them suffer and go to through the fate he had planned for them. So the boy asked if five dollars was fair. the man pulled out his wallet. Then the boy responded saying that maybe ten dollars was a better price. The man pulled ten dollars from his wallet. then the boy, realizing that the man really did want the birds, said no twenty dollars, and not a penny less. The man gave the boy twenty dollars and was on his way with his new birds. When he got to the park, he released them because he hated to see them so scared and lifeless in the cage. But as soon as he opened the cage, they were all gone from his sight.

This is a great example of what Christ did for us. We were in Satan's cage when Christ asked what his plans were for us, he said that his plans included playing games with us. Making us think that wrong is right, and then playing with our emotions. Making us think that we are loved, and then taking it all away from us. After doing all of that, damning us to an eternity in hell with him.

Then Jesus reminded Himself that the Father was very fond of us. Jesus told Satan to let Him purchase us from him. Satan pointed out that as soon as we were released from his cage we would run from Him and His Father. Also that we wouldn't want anything to do with Him. Jesus said that he knew all of this, but that he loved us very much. Then Satan agreed to sell us to Him saying that the price on us was Jesus' blood. Jesus said ok. Satan paused and though for a moment. Then he decided that His tears would be a better price. fine, Jesus replied. Then Satan said the life of Christ was the least that he would take for our souls. Jesus paused and remembered how fond his father was of the humans. He bowed his head slowly and asked His heavenly Father to let his will be done. Looking back up he agreed with a soft broken tone to his voice.

Wow... if this analogy doesn't touch you then something is definitely wrong with you. please pass this along to everyone that you know. thanks.


Timothy Boettcher

this is a story that we herd on the radio during an obscenely long drive.

Snow

I find myself thinking about snow a lot lately... probably because we're covered in it up here in the hills of Northern Pennsylvania. It was snowy when we got here and it's been snowing ever since. Friday night we left for a concert for a few hours and when we got back you couldn't even see our tracks from earlier in the day. I usually don't like snow, especially when I have to go out in it. But something about this place makes it enjoyable to go out in the snow and walk from building to building. I've even enjoyed driving around in it (which is something that usually terrifies me).

I should explain where we are... on Thursday we arrived at Penn-York Camp and Retreat Center in Potter's County, PA. We're staying in cabins for 5 nights (yay - we get to unpack!) and playing at different churches and schools in the area. (For those from home - it reminds me of Pinebrook, but a little bit nicer!) It really has been a blessing to be able to stay here for the week, and we're taking full advantage of the retreat atmosphere. Several have gone cross country skiing, there have been snowball fights, soccer games in the gym, devotions by the fire, and hours of pool and ping pong in the fellowship hall.


We've had 4 performances here so far - 3 youth concerts and a Sunday service. We've had very different responses at our three youth concerts - tonight's concert had the students on their feet dancing along, while Friday night it was all we could do to hold their attention... but it's our prayer that even when we don't see a response from the audience, God is still working through what we present. We have another concert tomorrow night at a home for troubled youth. Last year's team played here as well and the students really enjoyed it. Please pray that our ministry there would be effective in pointing the kids toward Christ.

Anyway, back to snow... all this thinking about snow reminded me of the different ways the Bible uses the image of snow, in particular - to demonstrate God's power and His forgiveness:



"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,'and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.' So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor." Job 37:5-7


"He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast?" Psalm 147:15-17


"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?" Job 38:22-23


"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7


"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18

I've especially been impacted by this reminder of His forgiveness. Watching the snow this week - how bright and clean it is, and the way it covers everything that has been there before - has been an awesome reminder of our position in Christ. No matter what happened in the past, no matter how dry and dead the ground underneath may be, we have been covered completely by the purity and righteousness of Christ. Wow.

So, that's what's been on my mind this week. :) Thanks for reading and please keep praying!

Renee