Invisible Children

Yesterday afternoon, I actually took time out of my day to sit down and watch the Oprah Winfrey show. I never watch Oprah, but I had to yesterday because of the guests she had on. No it wasn’t Tom and Katie. She was focusing her entire live show on the unbelievable events that are happening in Africa right now. In particular she helped shine a spotlight on a group of 3 guys from Southern California who are really making an impact in Uganda.

About 2 months ago we were at a youth conference and I was able for the first time to see an independent documentary short film called Invisible Children. The film was created by 3 college students who had no real plan other than to go to Africa and try to see what they could see. When they finally made it to northern Uganda they found their story. They found thousands of children who were forced to walk up to 10 miles every night into town to find a safe place to sleep. If they stayed at home in the country they would be abducted by a radical militant group and be forced to kill their own neighbors and sometimes their own family. If they resisted at all they would be killed or brutally maimed. The little girls have also been used as sex slaves. Over 20,000 children have been abducted so far. This film is incredibly powerful and very well done. It tells a story that must be told. These 3 guys upon returning home decided that they needed to get the word out and take action. They quickly created an incredible campaign and loaded up 7 rv’s with their friends to go spread the word across North America. They have been stopping at hundreds of locations and showing the film then asking people to act in whichever way they can. We actually just 2 days ago randomly ran in to one of the groups while we were waiting in a parking lot in downtown Atlanta. They were a great group and are really working hard to make a difference over there.

This Saturday in over 130 cities thousands of people will be gathering in their downtown to sleep there just as these children in Uganda do every night. I personally feel and I know the rest of the guys do, that this is a very worthy cause to align ourselves with. If you want to find out more about this group and how to get involved please visit www.invisiblechildren.com This is something that God’s people need to be involved in. We can’t ignore these problems anymore. I hope that the next time I actually sit down to watch Oprah it will be to see how much has changed for the good over there and how much God’s people have been a part of it.

Dave

I Love Nashville!

Sitting at one of my favorite offices this morning, I was struck by how much I enjoy living in Nashville. The community of artists (see Jason's entry below) is so tight-knit... at least in my small world. As I sat plugging away at various online tasks, who should walk in but the members of the band Starfield, fellow Canadian rockers who are preparing to release a new record on May 16th (the current single "My Generation" is a killer tune - make sure you check it out!).
As they were headed out, the boys from The Swift walked in for lunch and a band meeting of their own (we did some dates with The Swift in the fall and had a blast together). Two great bands - two great groups of guys - one great morning at the office. I love this city!

Jeremy

I like GMA week (finally)

The sweetest part of GMA week is the community of artists, support staff, radio, magazine, promoters, managers who sincerely cheer on each others efforts to reach the world. I was struck with just how much, at least from my vantage point, that this was true. Maybe it was because I was feeling supportive and like a cheerleader myself. So many amazing things happening in our extended community of artists and music ministry initiatives.

It was fun as well to share some fresh songs, and vision with everyone as well....as it has been a long time coming. Jeremy was having so much fun connecting with people he actually got a blister on his hand from shaking hands.

There where so many amazing bands this year! It was encouraging that the bands I enjoyed the most, where also fans of us. It's hard to pull out the highlights from this past week, other than the encouraging words so many people had for us. We now have a little bit of time off, which I'm going to help my wife plant our container garden, do some chores around the house, and write some music.

Jason