The Chance

I met Dango in January '09 at a youth conference in Green Bay, WI where he was a special speaker for the weekend. It was my 5th year at that conference and I love it, but nothing there has impacted me like Dango's ministry. He talks about the Gospel with Christians and non-Christians as the Christian drummer of a non-Christian band. His mainstream band, Amber Pacific, has a positive message and thus doesn't go out of line with Dango's beliefs, but he is the only follower of Christ in the band. The incredible stories he told that weekend of the trials and triumphs for the Kingdom he has had as the drummer of Amber Pacific will forever remain a great inspiration to me as Christ's disciple. As difficult as it may seem at times to talk to people about Jesus, Dango is living proof that it's never impossible.
Dango's ministry (Dango Empire) revolves around taking chances and relying on God's strength. It pays off. In his interview, he said "I've seen countless people give their lives to the Lord, which is one of the most rewarding things ever." And Christ is truly his strength as he encounters temptation after temptation in the mainstream music world.
He is no stranger to putting his trust solely in God, as when he was in high school, his dreams centered on sports. Those dreams were forced away by a knee disease. Dango bounced right back with feeling a strong call to music ministry. This was not his first encounter with health problems, either. He has experienced several serious health scares throughout his life; some that looked like they would end his drumming, too. But God has always come through and continues to provide amazing opportunities for Dango to minister.
Dango emphasized in the interview that it is always possible for you, whoever you may be, to make a difference in the world, when you let Christ work through you. "Dream big because nothing is too hard for God."
Thanks for the inspiration, Dango!

Next- Hawk Nelson!

The Beautiful Unknown

I first met Heath McNease in the spring of 2008 at my home church. He was on a tour with a few other bands and we were privileged enough to have the tour play at our church on a Wednesday night. The youth loved it- including me, a high school junior at the time. To go off on a slight tangent here, I never thought until recently that God would actually use my penchant for meeting and conversing with artists/bands for His kingdom. That said, after the show, I meandered off to meet and chat with the artists that played that night. Heath and I ended up talking for somewhere around 20 minutes. Most artists I get 2 minutes with, if I'm lucky. For an official interview, if their manager's really nice, 15. I know in general we talked about music and God (obviously), but the only thing that really stuck with me about that conversation is talking about Jon Foreman's solo career. If you are not familiar with Jon Foreman (songwriter and frontman of Switchfoot), you are truly missing out on so many things- so work on that please. And anyone who is a Jon Foreman fan is quite alright in my book (no pun intended), so I've always thought Heath was pretty cool.
When considering artists to interview for this book, I thought of Heath because he has a real heart for God, is knowledgeable about the music industry, and has a very unique musical style. His music is different from any of the other artists we've interviewed- or maybe it's just a little of all of them rolled into one. Check him out if you haven't already.
Heath really hit on some topics I wanted to be addressed in this book. I, personally, have always been very anxious about my future and how to handle it. Heath went through an extreme shift of focus at the end of his high school/beginning of college years. He'd been intensely focused on acting and ended up feeling called to music. It was difficult for him to give up the acting, but as he said, following God's path is the most important thing. He talked about his very humble beginnings with his music, which was a way of God wonderfully breaking him, but it also caused some anxiety about the future. He also had experienced intense apprehension his high school junior and senior years, when he was approaching that ominous crossroads this book discusses. Thankfully, he has terrific family and friends who helped him through that, as well as keeping his faith strong in God and keeping a tight relationship with Him.
In the end, Heath wanted to remind us, "There's nothing wrong with being at a crossroads. It's healthy. If you had it all figured out at 16 or 18 or 35, what use would God be to you?" He mentioned Jeremiah 29:11- "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" When we think the ongoings in our lives are harming us, they may yet be the most beautiful gifts from God. We just don't know it yet.
Thanks for your time, Heath!