April was a huge month for Final Greetings! A lot has happened in such a short time, and we've taken great steps forward as a band. Here's just some of the amazing things that have happened this past month.
We had the pleasure of joining Andy as The New Divide for Amplify: Fine Arts Youth Conference in Albany, OR at the beginning of this month! We led worship in the morning and evening sessions, and Kyle and Alissa helped evaluate some of the students as they presented their talents in songwriting, musical theater, drama solo and rap solo. The team had fun connecting with students from several churches and watching their presentations in lots of different categories. We are excited to see how the students will grow over the next year, and see if any of the Oregon students might join A Jesus Mission in the future like Sam and Alissa did. #futureleaders
Fox 12 was gracious enough to let us rent their white room for an afternoon to shoot a music video for one of our original songs at the beginning of the month. We are so excited to share our music with everyone, so visit our social media pages for updates on when our EP will be released, made up of three Final Greetings originals and another surprise song. We have been working hard this past month to mix our music and promote the upcoming release. Check out the photos and videos on our Facebook and Instagram pages to get a little hint about what's coming. #originalmusic
We spent a day in Hermiston, OR leading worship for a chapel at Hermiston Christian Center and hanging out with the kids from the youth group. We also held an amazing rock concert that evening that all of the kids really enjoyed. Through the time of our original songs, worship music and testimonies many of the people who came were inspired in their walk with God. Garrett handed out drumsticks he had used during music video filming, and they all wanted Final Greetings to sign them. The people who came blessed us immensely through sharing their stories, donations and buying our t-shirts. It was for sure one of our favorite concerts. Also, Kyle made friends with a chinchilla named Cashmere. If you'd like to watch the concert, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/HCC4U/videos/395169148002716/
We then traveled to Northwest Family Church in Post Falls, ID led by pastors Jeff and Jenni, who were Alissa's children's pastors when she was in elementary and middle school. We spent time with Alissa's family and led worship at their church on Sunday morning and for their monthly worship and communion night, and then we hung out with their young adults group. We also walked through community neighborhoods and passed out flyers for the Easter service with Bible videos to help spread the good news. Northwest Family Church richly blessed us, and we enjoyed serving them and their community. #funtimes
Next we visited Pneuma college group in Tieton, WA for their weekly meeting. It was great to worship with young people on fire for God and to hear about their recent missions trip to Mexico. We spent a lot of time talking to the students currently going through the Antioch program and were able to learn from each other how to grow in our faith and dependence on God. #learning
We also spent time in Yakima, WA at Crosspoint Church. We were able to hang out with their youth students and youth pastors during their weekly get-together. They were loud and a lot of fun to be around. While we were there we also spend time with their pastor Randy for an afternoon, and shot a hilarious weekly announcement video. We don't have a copy of it, but just take a moment and imagine Sam eating dry ramen noodles and James taking a bite out of a raw potato. #priceless
While heading into Northern California we stopped at Big Tree to see just how tall redwoods can get. Turns out, they're pretty big! So we had to take a picture and show you. #reallybig
Then we went to Kelseyville, CA to lead worship at the Lake County Youth Conference. It was an amazing two-day youth event where we played music, laughed at improv comedy, learned about how to be unashamed in our faith and play crazy games like jousting and archery tag. We connected with several of the students there and had amazing conversations about trusting God with leading your life and how to handle friendships and relationships. We look forward to being back next year. #lcyouthconference
While we were in Kelseyville we visited the youth group and put on our rock show for them. They had a lot of fun dancing around, though some of them were a little scared of the loud music. The youth group prayed over us at the end of the night for protection and God's blessing in our ministry. Several students were touched by the testimonies shared and we had a chance to pray for some of them. Garrett and Alissa also were able to teach lessons to a couple of the students who wanted to learn about drumming and singing. Before we left we jumped off of rope swings at Highland Springs and went to lunch with the youth pastor Paul. We had a great week, and can't wait to see the students again at summer camp in June. #excited
This month we also started an Instagram page for our mascot, Fred the Mannequin! If you want to see another side of the fun we have as a band, take a look at his page! Here are some of the pictures we've posted so far. Follow @fredthemannequin to see more of his crazy adventures and funny posts. #fredthemannequin
Thanks for reading about this month's events. We can't wait to see what else God is going to do while we're on the road. Check back in next month to hear more of what's happened!