written by Jonelle Utt
The band was set. The hot dogs were cooking. We were praying that God would bring the right people.
Of course He did.
At the end of July, many Apex house churches united together with Chris Brownleigh & the Horlacher house church in Region 3. Their house church has been tutoring and mentoring the kids from the nearby St. Vincent de Paul’s Kettering Commons apartments. This complex is a permanent supportive housing program for families who have been homeless.
God orchestrated details so that the Horlacher house church was connected with Tony and Jonelle Utt of the WestCarrollsBurgWood Forest HC in Region 4. The Utts are raising support to work with the creative arts ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, Keynote. Keynote’s mission is to strategically help evangelistic ministries make the gospel readily understandable to their own target audience by providing innovative and creative resources, such as performing arts, film, and communication training.
After some planning, the house churches decided to put together a free picnic for the apartment residents, including a concert by a Keynote band. About 75 people came to the show – on a day where the heat index was over 100 degrees!
Everyone had a great time dancing to music by Sara Bareilles, Paramore, Owl City, Switchfoot, and more. In between songs, some band members shared stories from their own lives. Nate, the bass player, shared about a time in his life where he was battling with depression, feeling worthless and alone. Vocalist, Allie, told her story of being rejected by her friends, which led to an attempt to drive her car off of the road. The beauty of these stories, though, came when the band members combined their stories with God’s redemptive story. They told how God showed them that He loves them and truly has a plan for their lives.
After the concert, the band members and Apexers were able to have some more personal conversations with some of the kids and their families. Spiritual conversations were definitely happening! At the event, five people started a relationship with Jesus and many more said that they were interested in talking with someone about God! Praise God for being able to use the platform of music to share His good news and to help one of our house churches to be able to have deeper spiritual conversations!
People from the following house churches helped out with this event:
Horlacher HC [Region 3]
WestCarrollsBurgWood Forest HC [Region 4]
Sherwood Forrest HC [Region 4]
Garman/Crawford [Region 4]
Creighton HC [Region 1]
Delco HC [Regon 3]
Blystone/Acker HC [Region 3]
Tags: region 3