Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 5)

Nashville and The Objective: Days 2 & 3

After being up quite late Sunday night (a normal occurrence during The Objective) Monday morning (5/20) came early.  We were up by 8 AM for Day 2 of meetings and speakers for The Objective.  As it always is, it was rich, inspiring, informative and encouraging.   Monday night, we joined with Glen Clark and the Family and a few other musicianaries for the “Broadway Invasion”, an outreach to those on the streets of downtown Nashville.  We set up at the corner of 2nd and Commerce St. and played music, talked about our faith with those who asked, and were able to minister to several people during our time there.   It was great to be able to help and give encouragement to those who were hurting and really needed someone to listen and to talk to.  After the Broadway Invasion, we all met at the nearby TA Truck stop for food, fellowship, more late night jam sessions and seeking to be a blessing to the wait staff and the truckers in there.  After we arrived there, Sara Medin of the band “Breakthrough” joined us at our table. She is a beautiful, talented and godly young lady who is an absolute delight to know.  She is one of several of the musicianaries we have met there in Nashville that has a very special place in our hearts.

We made our way back to our hotel around 2:30 AM, exhausted but exhilarated at what we saw God doing and in His call on our lives.

Tuesday morning (5/21) found us in more sessions, listening to more speakers and getting even more information, insight, food for thought and more encouragement.  That evening was to be part 2 of the “Broadway Invasion”, but a big thunderstorm came over Nashville  just as we were preparing to walk downtown.  We opted to stay there at Rocketown,  gathering on a large covered porch to sing and play and reach out to the surrounding neighborhood.  After our outreach time, we all headed to the truck stop again.  After hanging with a number of the people there, we joined Alan Aguirre in watching a movie in the lounge of the truck stop.  He had to leave just before the end of the movie, but we opted to stay and finish it.  However, we were so tired, we ended up falling asleep there in the lounge.  A security guard came up and kicked us out, saying we couldn’t sleep there.  We  politely left and headed back to the hotel and got some (more) sleep.

– End Part 5 –

Michal Clark (on right) and Steve at Rocketown

Glen Clark (at center) leading music on the porch at Rocketown

Beau Clark playing percussion at Rocketown

Grace Clark on the porch at Rocketown with Leila’s U-BASS.

Truck Stop Jam Session

Even the kids were jamming!

A few words from Ted Bruun

Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 4)

Nashville and The Objective: Day 1

 
On May 19th (Sunday),  we went to Rocketown (a venue owned by Christian recording artist Michael W. Smith) for the first session of The Objective 2013.   The “Meet & Greet”  started at 3:00 PM, but we arrived a little early and renewed a number of relationships from the May 2012 Objective.  When we attended The Objective in 2012, nobody there knew us.  This year, because of relationships that we’d established and nourished since then,  we were welcomed with love, admiration and respect.  It was a special blessing to see members of Glen Clark and the Family when we first arrived.  We had the privilege of meeting the Clarks at the 2012 Objective and doing some ministry with them at that time.  Glen Clark then invited us to play at the Harvest Gathering Festival in Asheville, NC in October  2012 and we’ve kept in contact with them ever since.

The “Meet & Greet” session  was designed as part registration, part mini-concert, part worship experience, and part actually meeting and greeting people we’d met previously and Objective first-timers.   Ted Bruun, the founder of The Objective and The Extreme Tour, welcomed everyone, and throughout the day we heard a number of other speakers.   The sessions lasted until about 8:30 PM.  Ted then invited everyone to meet on the steps of the Ryman Auditorium for a time of worship.   Around 9:30 PM,  a number of the Objective attendees did just that.  The worship leaders that evening were Glen Clark and the Family, and it felt right to be there with them.  After the worship experience at the Ryman,  many of us met at the TA Truck Stop in Nashville for what Ted called  “Third Shift”.  This was an opportunity to hang out, eat some good food and bless the wait staff and the truckers.  That night, and every night at the truck stop, spontaneous jam sessions happened.  Once again, they confirmed in us our calling as Musicianaries and that we were in the right place at the right time.

– End Part 4 –

 

Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 3)

Asheville to Nashville

After the gig at the Asheville Radio Café, we went back to our hotel room in Candler.  We woke up the next day (Sat. May 18th), to no electricity and no water in the room.  We went to the office at 9:30 AM to find out what was going on and heard that there was a thunderstorm that knocked down some tree branches and cut some cables.  Because the well for the hotel is electric driven, this killed the water as well as the power.  When the power came back on an hour later, we had some breakfast, loaded up and checked out of the hotel.  Next we went to a local grocery store with a café, had some coffee and pastries, and started boldly (and loudly) talking about the goodness of God and peoples’ need for Him.   We tried to go to the local library to do some computer work but it was closed.  It was 5:30 PM  at that point, so we decided to start heading toward Nashville, Tennessee while it was still light.  It ended up being a good move.   We traveled to Knoxville where we stopped for a meal using a gift card we had been given,  then kept moving down the road through a very heavy rain to a rest area.  After a brief stop there, we decided  to keep traveling to a rest area outside of Nashville.  It was a Welcome Center also, so we looked around for a few minutes.  By this time we were exhausted, so we decided to  stay there  and we slept in the “Sparkmobile” (our van) for the night.

We woke up at 5:30 AM (Sun. May 19th), cleared our heads, and headed into Nashville.  We arrived at our hotel very early, but they graciously said we could check in and they wouldn’t charge us extra.  We checked in, unloaded our stuff,  and settled in.  A couple of hours later, after having lunch in our room with some food we’d brought for the trip, we got ready and went to “The Objective”.

 

– End Part 3 –

Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Part 7)

Sunday morning, Oct. 28th, we attended service at Calvary Chapel Asheville. After the service, we were invited to stay for lunch and were happy to do so. We spent a couple of hours with the Clarks and some of the leaders of Calvary Chapel, then went back to our hotel where we met up with Debbie and had some much needed relaxation after a busy weekend. The next day, Oct. 29th, we said goodbye to Debbie and went back to Calvary Chapel where the Clarks invited us to their home in South Carolina. We caravaned with them and stayed with them for a very rich couple of days. On Halloween, Oct. 31st, we drove back to Asheville. We encountered a few difficulties, but God was with us and that evening we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN, where we stayed a couple of days to catch up on some personal business. On Friday, November 2nd, we drove to Nashville where we renewed some relationships, attended a worship event called Meltdown and the next day (Nov. 3rd) reconnected with our mentor, Geno. After we left Nashville we got an encouraging phone call from Ted Bruun, the founder of The Objective, a movement that seeks to encourage and exhort Christian musicians to serve and minister with integrity. We then drove to Thomaston, GA where we attended a service at Providence Church with a dear friend, Pastor Charley Chase. From Thomaston, we played street music in Dothan, AL and Tallahassee, FL, then started making our way back to Texas. We spent a couple of days with our friends Dwight and Margie Williams at their home in Katy, TX before heading to our home in Corpus Christi.

– End Part 7 –