Squished. This is the adjective that would currently describe the 8 members of Proto Evangelion. In our modified 15-passenger van, a mountain of equipment (including guitars, amps, a keyboard, violin, and cello) divides the driver from the 7 other band members, all snugly fit in the back two bench seats of the van.
Such has been the scene each time we (that is, Wayne, Riley, Pam, Jesse, Collin, Natalie, Nick, Peter, and myself) travel to or from a service to lead worship. For the past 8 days, we have played at a church the size of a city block, enjoyed the overwhelming hospitality of our Southern Californian brothers and sisters in Christ, swam in hot springs at Murrieta, eaten donkey legs, enjoyed Southern California’s Huntington Beach, and spent a full day at Disneyland. We have encouraged many and received much encouragement ourselves. People have been very receptive of the old hymns we play. The long-forgotten lyrics seem to tug at the heartstrings of hearers and pull them in to Jesus. It has been a true blessing to play these songs and leave their piercing words to convict hearts and draw people closer to Christ.
Now we are headed up to Astoria, Oregon, to play for a final service at Coastline Christian Fellowship. Our itinerary has been long and full; from Seattle we headed straight down to Harvest Calvary Chapel in Riverside (Greg Laurie’s church), then the guys led a men’s conference at Calvary Chapel San Diego, and the whole band led three services there on Sunday morning. After that, we headed to Murrieta where we led worship for the students at Calvary Chapel Bible College. We then played at a marriage retreat at Pat and Mary Schorr’s church in South Bay, and then for a Wednesday night service at Refuge Calvary in Huntington Beach. All the while, Wayne has been guest preaching, bringing a fresh word to the various limbs of the body of Christ. He has doubled as pastor and chauffeur throughout the trip, driving tirelessly through the night multiple times as the rest of the crew attempted to sleep.
Our time has been, in a word, AWESOME. We have grown close as a band (both literally and figuratively), nurtured into existence multiple nicknames, eaten too much fast food, and taken turns adding to a short story that Nick will post on the new Proto Evangelion Facebook page. We’ve had demo CD’s available for donation after every service, and the Lord has really blessed us—we’ve made enough to finish our recording studio back at Calvary Fellowship!! And finally, (I think I speak for everyone here) as we have gone to lift up and encourage the body of Christ along the west coast, we have, ourselves, been blessed and encouraged by the churches we’ve attended and the amazing people we’ve met. Thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts—we truly appreciate them! We will see you all in Seattle in a couple days.
