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To walk is to crawl is to fly. That’s what I’m learning.
This month-long tour along the West Coast has been a hard one. As of now – our first day off – we’ve played 15 shows in 11 days. Thank God, my voice is holding up!
Still, it’s been financially rough. Not bringing in much (if any) income…probably not enough to break even. It’s had Mariah and I worried aplenty. As we’ve told people, it’s been a walk of faith which at times has felt like a free fall off a cliff and we’re not quite sure where the bottom is or if it’s soft.
I think I knew going in that we might not break even. We might lose some cash. Expenses might exceed income. And it seems foolish in many ways. To knowingly walk straight into financial loss.
But at the same time…
We’ve sold out of Not For Sale TN’s bird whistles, and are nearly sold out of the burlap bags, which were all handmade by former sex slaves, and for which 100% of proceeds go back to the creatively free women.
So far, 16 people have signed up for Mocha Club, which means 16 Africans have clean water, or two Africans have malaria treatment or mosquito nets. It means kids can go to school in clothing and shoes, farmers have jobs and supplies. It means more jobs in South Africa. It means women and children in Gulu, Uganda don’t have to live as sex slaves or boy soldiers. It means hope.
We’ve played dancing games and music and face painting and bouncing castle with Iraqi and Nepali refugees in Tucson, given melodic hope and respiration to dozens of young men living out their current lives in jail, and are looking forward to spending this Friday morning worshiping with the women of Portland’s Union Gospel Mission and much of next week with young and old prisoners all over the Seattle area.
And if I’d been told at the start that we’d make no money but rather come out in the red, and that the best we could hope for was water and medicine and jobs and safety for those Africans, more raised money to keep former sex slaves out of slavery, and the opportunity to lift the spirits of some of the most downcast souls among us…
Well, I know God is the God of upside-down things. Financial worry is very trendy and apropos. Freedom from that worry is backwards, especially when it means giving up safety and security for the undeserving.
And bottom line is, if I knew at the start what I know now, I wouldn’t have cancelled or changed a thing. It’s a matter of purpose, not money.
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amy courts: en route 