This past month started as a preparation for our future tours and quickly became the beginning of our busy season. We've had a great time in Oregon, Washington and Idaho and visiting with several churches, a school and a conference.
The first event of the month was a rock concert in Salem, OR at Our Savior's Lutheran Church. It was the first time we were able to play our original music from our upcoming EP live, and the people really enjoyed our music! A young boy there said we were his second favorite rock band, and that we are better than Fall Out Boy in his opinion. The Hux family gladly took us in for the night and fed us amazing cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole. Unfortunately we don't have any photos from this event, but it was a lot of fun. #nopicsbutitdidhappen
We went back to Hillsboro, OR to visit Faith Bible school and lead worship for their elementary and middle school groups. We were able to spend time with the middle school worship team beforehand and got to show them a little bit of what we do. They loved hearing us play and singing with us, and after Sam shared some stories about being on the road we got to answer some of their questions. They asked about our favorite places we've visited, our favorite part of traveling, and the weirdest food we've eaten. #strangequestions
This year we were asked to lead worship at the Fine Arts Conference in Boise, ID. Fine Arts is an equipping program for the Assemblies of God churches where they train kids in middle and high school to use their talents to glorify God and have them compete in music, drama, art, speaking and writing categories. The New Divide has led worship at the Oregon Fine Arts Conference for the past seven years and recommended that we partner with Andy to help lead at Idaho. It was a great way to meet new people and encourage the students in their giftings. #equipthefound
Alissa and Sam were asked to share about their experiences in Fine Arts when they were in high school to encourage the students and help them see where they can go if they work hard too. Many of the band members were able to help evaluate the students' performances and give them advice on how to become better. We look forward to seeing how they improved next year! #improvement
After Fine Arts were drove down to Hagerman, ID to lead worship at a Calvary church. We were able to spend time with a family who came to Fine Arts and get to focus on some kids with special needs while we were there. They enjoyed helping us carry things to the trailer, and then we all sat down afterwards for some authentic tacos made for us by the pastor's wife. We enjoyed our visit and hope to see them again soon! #goodfood
We then traveled west to La Grande, OR to visit Mountain Life Church. Pastor Jerad Upwall and his family were kind enough to host us at their church and feed us before we held a rock concert for the community and a visiting youth group doing service projects at their church. During the concert we played our original music, shared testimonies, and led the people in a time of worship. One of the boys who attended was moved, and Garrett and Alissa got a chance to pray with him and encourage him. We gave him a t-shirt and sticker and took a picture with him. It was definitely an amazing night of spending time with the people of La Grande. #findthelost
Our last stop of the month was in Ellensburg, WA. We helped tear down shelving, paint a room and clean benches at Calvary Ellensburg before leading worship at the college group Ecclesia and at the Sunday service. We were able to connect with their young adults and worship team during the week by playing games and sharing music and stories. A huge thank you to the Scheffer family for hosting us and keeping us fed and warm. We look forward to helping serve them again in the future. #service
March was just the start of our busy season. We'll have more to tell you about next month! We hope you enjoyed hearing about what we've been up to.