Van Wert Comeback Concert

Hey Everyone,

Last Wednesday, we traveled to our hometown of Van Wert, OH for another outreach concert.  There were over 300 kids and adults in attendance and it was great to see our family and friends that we do not get to see enough.  It was also interesting to see the dynamics with so many adults in the room.... (Do I raise my cell phone and scream when my mom is sitting next to me?)

The one picture that turned out ok from the evening....Oops!

Today Joel and Ryan are in Edon, OH doing a middle school and high school assembly.  Tomorrow they head to Greenfield, OH for more assemblies.  Here is what their next 2 weeks look like: On Monday they drive to Iowa, then turn around and head to Georgia, and then back up to Ohio, and then to North Dakota (yes, North Dakota), then back to Iowa, and then to Michigan for a weekend retreat.

Praise God for opening up so many doors for them to share the gospel with unchurched kids.

Please pray.....
 1) that God would be glorified with everything that happens in this ministry.
 2) that Ryan would be able to balance travel, music, and bookings.
 3) for safe travels in winter weather in northern states!


Blessings!
Emily

New Year News!

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful time with friends and family over the holidays. By the way, this is Ryan's wife, Emily. I will be the one updating the blog the majority of the time now.

We live in an internet driven world that speaks to each other less and less. It is getting harder and harder to get kids to leave their computers or cell phones and come to an event. However, over the past few months, we have actually seen an increase in the number of students that are coming out to hear Ryan and Joel share the Gospel. I think there are 2 reasons why:

1. Use of Social Networking= Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter.

2. New evening event setup= Ryan Holliday concert.

1....... Kids love MySpace and Facebook. Ryan and Joel gained hundreds and hundreds of "friends" in a matter of a couple months. This keeps the students connected and greatly increases the chance that they will come back for the evening event. They also shoot videos at the school assembly and post them on YouTube to accomplish the same thing.

Here is an example of what they put up on the screen at the end of the assembly.

2....... Let me set the scene for you. A good looking 26 year old (that looks 18) plays a couple sweet piano songs during the school assembly. They are then promised that Ryan Holliday is going to come back in concert at a later time! The average attendance has been around 250 at each evening event! Ryan plays around 10 songs that all point to what Joel has to share (his testimony and the Good News about Jesus). I will explain the logistics more in detail in a later post. Here is Ryan at a concert:

Note: My favorite is when I am at the merchandise table selling t-shirts, cd's, etc. and middle school girls come up and tell me how awesome they think Ryan Holliday is and how her friends are in love with him and how she even got his autograph! The funny thing is that they rarely think that I could possibly be the wife. I just smile and agree that I'm in love with him too!

I didn't get to witness this, but here is Ryan working in a janitor's closet at a school trying to use his time wisely between assemblies. His computer had to be plugged in high up on the wall to feed into their sound system, so rather than stand, he sat on a ladder. Makes sense!



Prayer Requests:
1. Safety while traveling on winter roads. (of course I put that #1-- I'm the wife!!)

2. That God will continue to give Ryan and Joel wisdom to most effectively reach students for Christ.

How can we pray for you?

You will hear from me soon! I promise!

-Emily

A recent concert...