So What's New With The Band

Some of you may be wondering what's new with the band, and what's going on.



Well, this past Sunday, we had our annual performance at the Newberg Norton Drive-In Bible Church (www.driveinbiblechurch.com). This is always an enjoyable evening for the band, as Bob Tomlinson and the congregation have always been very supportive of Sojourn. We appreciate that. This particular performance was a special "unplugged" performance, due to drummer John Chapman having a previous commitment. To help augment the sound, we invited along special guest lead guitarist Jim Cash, from the group Crosswise (www.crosswise.us). The day was filled with rain, so the typical "outdoor" service was moved inside, which meant two straight concerts where "rain" was an issue (we got rained out at Festival, but at least Drive-In church has an alternate plan). Jim and Dean held down the guitar parts, Tim was on the acoustic/electric bass, and Adam did a fine job handling both lead vocals and hand percussions. The evening went fairly well, with the exception of a major lyric mishap on the song "Not The Same Thing". For the first time I know of, we actually stopped the song and restarted. We recovered, and it became more of a comedic moment for the evening.

Coming up for July 2, we are going to be performing in downtown Cadillac at the city pavilion. This is the same day the city is celebrating Independence Day, so there will be plenty going on. This is a return invite for us, so we are looking forward to it. We are always encouraged by invitations to return to a particular event, and this one was quite a bit of fun last year. If you are in the central West Michigan area and have the time, stop out on July 2. Music starts at 6pm, but community events are going on all day around the park downtown.

The rest of the summer is has performances coming at St. Joseph Michigan's "Venetian Festival", "Faith Fest" over by Detroit, and August has Sojourn booked at the first "God Is Movin" Fest at Kent County fairgrounds in Lowell Michigan. So, we have quite a bit going on this summer.

At this point, consideration is being given to taking the fall off from live performance, to write and develop new material with John Chapman. This year has mostly been comprised of performing material that has been with us for over a year, so new songs need to be added.

Thanks to all who continue to support Sojourn, and we welcome any comments or suggestions.

Contact us at www.sojournband.com

Thanks for reading,

Tim Hamm
Sojourn bass guy
tim@sojournband.com

Suicide: Despair and Decisions

"Japanese suicide rate is the highest in the world. Recently a group of nine people in their 20s and 30s committed suicide in Saitama prefecture. Such suicide pacts are now common in Japan.
Source: Overseas Missionary Fellowship"

I wish that I could say that suicide is unknown in America, but that is not the case. The New York Times called suicide the second biggest cause of death on college/university campuses (http://www-tech.mit.edu/V124/N58/long3_58.58w.html).

For years as a highschool and college teen I regular thought through ways I could kill myself and make it seem like an accident. It was all very matter-of-fact. It seemed logical that killing myself would solve my problems. No more feeling stupid or wondering what my value was. No more loneliness. Death seemed like a place of peace.

Obviously, I never did kill myself.

There were two things that kept me alive. One was that I didn't want to upset my family. I thought for certain that I was of little importance, and my death wouldn't mean much, but I knew that my parents at least would cry and be unhappy.

Beyond that I've always believed that God has a purpose for every person. He has something for me to do. I didn't want to screw God's plan up for Him, so I never followed through with my plan. Granted, my thinking was a little doctrinally off. I can't really mess things up for God, but there is a rock solid truth that stood between me and suicide: God made me for a reason. As long as I am alive, He has a reason for me to be alive.

I remember one day when I was about 20 that I realized that I didn't feel like dying any more. It just hit me out of the clear blue sky. I'll never forget that day, though it was unremarkable in every other way.

As simple as it sounds, the good news of Jesus Christ, is the strongest weapon to prevent suicide, because it is a message of hope. I can only hope and pray that the message of the Gospel gets to these places of despair, before many more make life ending decisions.

Adam Parmenter

P.S. Sojourn has some cool songs about hope. Check'em out when you get a chance:
Hope In The Presence of God
There Is Hope

Grand Rapids Festival of the Rain- 2006

The Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts defines itself on it’s website as:

• A FREE community showcase of the arts!
• A feast for all the senses!
• A community-wide celebration!
• The arts come alive at Festival!
• Festival is the largest all-volunteer arts event in the nation!

It was a great event of food, music, and all sorts of visual art. Unfortunately, it was also a stormy, rainy weekend with a Kenny Chesney concert at Van Andel.

As the others of us, I left work a little early on Friday to get my gear and head down to Festival. The skies were foreboding but were clear enough for me to take photos from the work parking lot. I went home and loaded up. As I got home, the skies opened. I loaded my drums in the torrential downpour but luckily not the hail. That happened on the way into town!

So I got to the City Stage where we were scheduled to play about an hour before our set. Adam Pringle and his rock quartet were playing. These guys sounded good. I was actually a bit intimidated by the sound system and how loud his bass drum sounded between the buildings. The sky was beautiful blue with graceful clouds hovering over the buildings above us; until we were ready to play.

When we got onstage the rain picked up again, not like it had before, but a nice soak. We did our sound check and apparently none of us want to listen to Dean’s voice! The sound system was fun to play with a little and I felt like we were going to have a nice groove. The stage was leaking a little on my back but it would have been fine. Right then the skies opened. Again.

The guys told us we couldn’t play because of the high voltage sound equipment. We were all a bit disappointed but had a good time anyway. Adam and I wanted to play acoustically but the other guys couldn’t. We waited for the rain to pass with lots of onlookers under the awnings along the sidewalks. It was difficult for me to think that they wouldn’t be able to hear our message if the rain didn’t let up.

After watching Adam squeegee the stage for a while, the rain subsided. We were sound checking again, the MC was asking Adam his name and details about the band again, the sun was shining, but there was still one glitch in the sound system. We were announced, introduced and given the green light (both figuratively and literally since we were at an intersection) to begin our music when one of the stage workers told us that we are going to have to let the next group on the stage.

Adam gave the crowd a gracious ‘thank you’ and we began disembarking the stage. I was frustrated. My frustration was deepened by all the little girls in pink tutus that were waiting backstage to go on after us. We were trying to move equipment and they were trying to tie their shoes. Doesn’t seem like it, but I guess it all falls under the ‘arts’ umbrella. My face must have shown my disappointment because both Tim and Dean were quick to give me all the “It’s OK” and “We’ll try again next year” lines. I just wanted to get my drums back home and dry off.

Overall, I think the whole Festival was a rain out. There were lots of folks out on Friday night, but if you were there on Friday or Saturday there’s a good chance you got a good shower. As for Sojourn, the people didn’t get to hear our message. But they did get to see how we appreciatively took the opportunity we had and took defeat to the weather with poise. There are all different ways to witness to people and sometimes actions speak louder than a wet sound system.

Thanks to everyone who came out to show support!

John

http://www.sojournband.com/

GR Arts Festival: http://festivalofthearts.org/