Downhere Newsletter January 29th

QUICK UPDATE...

Good Friday morning to you! First of all, thank-you so much for your response regarding Marc's situation with his immigration paperwork. Thanks to two email recipients we were able to get help from the offices of Senator Thune (South Dakota) and Senator Shimkus (Illinois). There's good news and there's bad news: the paperwork was approved - that's the good news. The bad news is that it was put in the mail on Wednesday - so it is all in the hands of the US Postal Service now. We will know whether the Lord intends for Marc to join us if the paperwork arrives by noon on Saturday - if we miss that window chances are slim to none that we'll be able to get the necessary documentation to him while he's on the ship.

So that's the situation. Please continue praying - we're supposed to get hit with a snowstorm here in the south today and tomorrow - so pray that the USPS lives up to its "Rain or shine, the mail must go through!" reputation. We will give you an update tomorrow...

Thank-you SO much!

Jeremy, Marc, Jason, and Glenn

Downhere Newsletter January 26th

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We need your help. This Sunday we will be flying down to Florida to get be a part of the 2010 KLOVE Music Cruise. Marc, one of our lead vocalists, is currently in the middle of applying for his Permanent Resident status (i.e. Green Card) and his travel papers from the government are 10 days overdue. This documentation will allow him to get back into the US when the ship arrives back in Florida - without these papers it is quite possible that the Immigration folks will not let him enter. We are obviously not willing to take this chance - so unless the proper documentation does not arrive by the time we leave Sunday morning Marc will not be joining us on the cruise.

How can you help? In one of two ways:

1. PRAY - "Nothing is impossible with God." We believe that and are asking you to pray that with us.

2. GO THROUGH YOUR ROLODEX - If you or someone you know has a connection with someone in the political world who could help expedite this process we would greatly appreciate your help. Please contact Jeremy at theband@downhere.com and he will coordinate with them.

We would obviously love to have Marc join us - only one other time in our 10-year career have we had to perform without Marc or Jason, and we would like to keep it that way. The K-LOVE folks have already expressed there understanding of the situation and for that we are grateful - however, we would understandably like to be able to give them and their listeners our best as a thank-you for their support over the years.

Thanks again for your support - we appreciate you joining with us in this!

Sincerely,

Jeremy, Marc, Jason, and Glenn

WELCOME TO 2010

This November we quietly celebrated 10 years together as a band. It's really hard to believe - 10 years is a long time! We consider it a real gift to have been able to serve you and many others in the capacity of "traveling minstrel", sharing our lives and music with you along the way. Chances are you have been on this journey with us for many of those years already - we are so thankful for you and for your continued prayers and support. This upcoming year is shaping up to be a busy year once again - as our families grow and we struggle to find a healthy balance between time on the road and time at home, your thoughts and prayers are welcomed now more than ever.
And now, enough of the sentimentality... let's move on to what's coming up!

BETHLEHEM SKYLINE TOUR A SUCCESS

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we want to say thanks to all who joined us as we enjoyed 15 Christmas celebrations in 18 days on the Bethlehem Skyline Tour with our good friends Jason Gray and Lanae' Hale. The shows were very well attended and we had a blast playing some new songs off of our new Christmas album "How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas". We didn't count on the number of Christmas goodies that we received - needless to say by the time we finished the tour there were a few pounds gained across the board I'm sure... If you weren't able to catch a show in person I hope you were able to see the webcast version - it was probably our best webcast to date, thanks in large part to the media team at Fox River Christian Church in Waukesha, WI.

NEW BUS IS A REALITY!

Thanks to the incredible response to our "New Wheels" Campaign (and to the faithful prayers of our wives over many many years!) we have been able to buy our first bus! We will NOT be painting DOWNHERE on the side of it, so you'll just have to keep your eyes open for a bus that looks like this rolling through your town. We are so excited and are in the midst of planning a bus warming party. Thanks to all who contributed - we were overwhelmed and humbled by the many, many gifts that came in.


SPRING TOUR WITH AARON SHUST AND LAURA STORY

We are excited about parterning with our friend Aaron Shust on tour this spring. We will also be joined by special guest Laura Story. Look for March/April dates to be announced in the next month or so. If you are interested at all in bringing the tour to your area, click here to send an email to our booking agency.

CANADIAN TOUR WITH MICHAEL W. SMITH

We reallly didn't expect to get up to Canada again so quickly after our tour with Building429 this summer, but we're thrilled to announce that we'll be joining Michael W. Smith for 10 shows in Canada April 29th through May 12th. Here are the cities we are scheduled to hit - you'll have to stay tuned for more details as this is all we have:

Toronto
Ottawa
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
Red Deer
Kelowna
Vancouver
Victoria

Thanks again for being such a wonderful partner with us. We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for all of us in 2010, and trust that our paths will cross this year.

To God be the glory, forever and ever, amen.