A famine with a Fusebox
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But this was no ordinary gathering. It was called the 30-Hour Famine because those attending fasted for the duration.
That’s right, no candy, no snacks, and, gasp ? no pizza.
“What it does, is we raise money for missions overseas,” said First Baptist youth minister Jon Kent. “We have each student take a goal of $50 per person, and $50 can feed an entire village for a month.”
Kent says the goal was to raise $5,000.
“Then what we do, is we supply a whole village or villages for several months,” Kent said.
“It’s a pretty powerful thing if you think about it,” Kent continued. “We take things over here so much for granted. You just go to Wal-Mart or the grocery store and get what you need. Over there you can’t.”
Kent estimates 400 to 500 students from sixth to 12th grade attended. Kent said the fast was an integral part of the effort. Participants fasted from noon Friday till 6 p.m. Saturday.
A concert featuring Christian rock band Fusebox from Nashville was a feature attraction. The band has an album out called “Lost in Worship” which has had some tunes chart on Christian radio. The band has opened for contemporary Christian recording artist Rebecca St. James, and recently completed a tour of Europe.
Fusebox is Bill Buchanan, lead vocals and guitar, Brad Duncan, guitar, Tyler Howell, bass and Guy Roberts, drums.
Band members say they got into Christian rock due to a combination of their love of music, rock music in particular, and their faith in God, and they say, despite the seeming incongruity, the two are not really incompatible.
“I think all of us would say Christian music, in some form or shape, has changed our lives,” Buchanan said. “Whether it was Stryper in the ’80s when we were kids, or whether it was a band I was into called Kings X, or Petra, or whatever it was we were into when we were kids, it was the words,” he said. “Of course the music was good too, but the words are what really brought us to a point of decision.”
The band is obviously well aware it’s the familiar beat and guitar sound that pulls listeners in. They enjoy that aspect themselves and wanted to create a rock-oriented sound with a positive Christian message.
The band talked about the influence of rock music and musicians, like Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix and trying to equate the message in the music and lifestyles of those artists with their own religious beliefs.
“I think music is an extremely powerful tool,” Duncan said. “And there’s a huge responsibility that we have to make sure we use that in a correct way. With our lyrics we definitely strive to maintain and make sure we’re sharing the scripture in the purest way. To make sure that they are biblically based and relevant to what students are going through because it’s such a powerful medium.”
For more information, visit the band’s Web site at www.fuseboxmusic.com.