Blog
Happy New Year!
2015 has been filled with memorable experiences that have been blurred into a myriad of memories. A new album, music ministry tours in 5 countries and hitting 300 concerts in October! So thankful to God for His guidance, providence and continually giving us the faith we lack. Thank you to each and everyone of you!!! We know we couldn't do this without you!
Happy New Year! We pray it will be one of new adventures and filled with the peace that only comes from our Saviour and friend Jesus.
- E & M
2015 In Review
A year can hold so many experiences. Joys, trials, life and growth. As we sit here reflecting on 2015, with Christmas music blaring in the background, we’ve realised it has been a year of both fly-bys and the slow-burn. We began early January prepping for the recording of Everlasting and wrapped up the year with the Everlasting album release tour. 2015 has been filled with memorable experiences that have blurred into a myriad of memories that come with meeting new people and places each day.
Recording & Releasing Everlasting
Sharing new songs is always a personal process. As songwriters, our songs are our heart. They are our personal spiritual journey with God. We write them to express a moment of joy, a devotional lightbulb or to process a trial. Looking back we love seeing how God has weaved together Everlasting. From before we even thought of the album as a whole and were writing individual songs through to the release day and sharing the songs in concert, we can see God’s hand throughout. We are so excited that so many already have the new album all throughout the world! It’s been amazing to hear the stories of how God has used these songs in other’s lives as an encouragement through tough times and as a joy. To read more about our Everlasting album click here.
2015 Music Ministry Tours
God opened the doors to several music ministry tours throughout 2015. We did 86 music-sermons and concerts in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK. We wanted to share some of the moments and testimonies that stood out to us throughout 2015:
- One lady came up to Monique with tears in her eyes expressing how our message and music touched her heart. She expressed how she had been worrying about the timing of a particular life changing decision and said that our message and music spoke directly into her experience to give her encouragement; that it was like God was speaking to her and telling her to trust in His time.
- A non-Christian husband came to church for the first time with his wife for our music-sermon.
- A guy heard Christian music for the first time at one of our concerts.
- A woman, who previously hadn't been coming to church was invited to our concert, she loved it so much that when invited to a Bible study small group later that week she said "yes".
- A lady having a particularly terrible day, was able to have a moment of rest during our concert.
- We listened to so many stories of how our music has been blessing their lives before we even came to their church.
- We survived 11 straight days of concerts with a smile on our faces and a voice left to sing
- A Bible study group's recent studies flowing perfectly into the concert's topic.
- The heart felt thanks for a concert that touched a their life that transcends language barriers after European concerts.
- Seeing tear filled eyes as Monique spoke the spoken word before 'He Knows’.
- Selling out of the Everlasting physical albums during the European leg of the Everlasting Album Release Tour.
- A lady, who randomly came to church after a series of bad circumstances, who was brought closer in her relationship to God as a result.
- Some attendees at the JAWE Conference in Switzerland shared with us that "During your concert I felt close to the divine, I could see Jesus through what you were singing and saying." and "A lot of musicians and singers out there sing to glorify themselves, it is clear that your main focus is singing for God and that came across in the presentation." This is one of our constant prayers and we are so thankful that God uses us in this way.
- Playing a concert filled mostly with refugees.
- A lady at another church told us that she felt like all the words we spoke and the song lyrics were written exactly just for her. She expressed that our concert touched on exactly what she had been feeling discouraged about recently and gave immense encouragement. She said it felt like God brought us to her town at just the right time just for her; to encourage her. She thanked us for being so open with our struggles in our songs, such as in Temporary, as it helped her to not feel alone in her personal struggle.
- The last minute concerts organised at both Friedensau Adventist University, Germany and Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen, Austria.
- A young man, studying the Bible with the pastor, being emotionally moved to the point of conviction during one of our concerts.
In the middle of our Everlasting Release Tour and all the above testimonies we celebrated the 300th concert since we sang together for the first time in late 2009! We are continually amazed and thankful to God for His guidance, providence & continually giving us the faith we lack. Thank you to each and everyone of you who have supported us & our music over the years! We know that we couldn't do this without you! Thank you!
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed 2016!
Eric & Monique
Temporary - Story Behind the Song
I was hurrying down a Ukrainian riverside street with my friend, late for work, chatting non-stop. We were in our own world with our minds on one thing, our own lives. Then out of nowhere, a lady burst into our bubble. She was completely messed up and from face value something terrible had happened to her. And we froze. In terrified tones she spoke in Russian something that didn’t penetrate my shock. Because we were frozen. We just starred at her. As quickly as she appeared, she continued running skittishly down the street looking from side to side. In silence we continued walking. In a state of shock my brain tried to process the Russian that she spoke. As we were crossing over the river on a bridge the translation dawned on me like a ton of bricks. She had asked us for help to get away from her husband. I turned around to look for her, but she was gone. We stood there on the frozen bridge, frozen in deep regret of our inaction. We were in this country to help and yet when God had put a situation right in front of us we froze! Our minds were so focused on our own lives that we were not prepared for the life, hers, that God put in front of us. We froze. We could have helped, but we didn’t. All we had left was a prayer that next time we would be prepared.
'Temporary' is a song written about those moments when we are left with the questions, "Why don't I wake up? Why don't I walk faith? Why don't I live love?" As a songwriter, sometimes the inspiration for a song is rapid and flowing. 'Temporary' was not one of those songs. It started out as a semi-continuation of the cry of 'Laodicea' - the last song on our previous album, Pilgrim - with the thrice repeated cry of the line "Why don't I wake up?" The first verse and the chorus were written quickly rather like a journal entry, but to a slightly different melody at first. As the weeks or months progressed, can’t really remember, we added the second chorus as the answer to the questions posed in the first and additional lines to the bridge that were inspired by the practical living out 1 Corinthians 13:13. In pre-production we continued to change the overall sound to one we feel matches the theme of the song. Overall, 'Temporary' was written to express the struggle of wanting to follow God in this post-modern world and is inspired by Romans 7:15-25. The beauty is that in those moments of struggle and questioning we can turn to a Saviour who has shown us how to live love and walk faith. We have a God who wants to help us, One who we can rely on and in whose example we can follow.
