Post Day

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Today we got a brief tour of the city as we waited for the men to arrive with our sound system. Instead of bringing every piece of gear we need, we rent the big, heavy stuff like speakers and lights, and just bring our instruments and specialty electronics. We began setting up in the afternoon, and that same evening we drove to a cable television station where Mason, Tami, and Rainbow sang and were interviewed for the upcoming August 4th concert.  The station has 45,000 viewers. The promotion for the concert has been amazing! There are posters of the concert EVERYWHERE, people in the city are wearing t-shirts, and there have been television commercials all to promote the main concert...very cool!  We’re starting to wish we had brought more CDs to sell…
--Mason & Rhianna

Day 4

We are falling in love with these people and I know it is going to be very hard for us to leave. People from the church have gotten together and volunteered to make all of our lunches and dinners...huge prayer answered because that expense is normally thousands of dollars and this year we were unable to raise all of our funds before leaving (please continue to keep this area in prayer).  
 
This morning, we took a cultural tour of the area.  We visited some lovely historical sites and enjoyed walking along the shore in the warm sunshine (Highs are in the 70’s). We also got a taste of authentic Brazilian Barbecue. We are eating well on this trip, let me tell you!
 
Later on, we went to city hall and met the mayor of Floripa (short for Florianopolis--a city with a population comparable to Fresno).  We actually got to pray with the mayor and thank him for his tremendous generosity. Then the mayor asked (as we were walking out the door) if LightStream could sing a song or two for a senior center event that was going on at that exact moment, so we rushed over and went right on stage. We performed 3 songs for the crowd of 1,000+ VERY active seniors and then we sat down to relax. As we were relaxing, a band playing traditional-style Brazilian music took the stage and we all went on the dance floor and learned enough steps to get by. Who would’ve thought we could have so much fun at a senior citizen event.  
 
We came back to our home-base church that evening, and continued setting up the sound system. It’s been a little challenging working out the technical kinks with a language barrier. For instance, how exactly do you translate “Unity gain buffer circuit” or “dual-Male XLR adapter” when even in English, it sounds like a foreign language. We were hopping to get wired up enough for a sound check, but alas, I think we’ll be using every prep-day we have to get things working smooth.
 
Setup was running late, and our stomachs were running on empty, so we loaded up the bus and went to supper.  Brazilians eat their dinners rather late, around 8 or 9 in the evening.  We ate at a local pizza parlor owned by another local church, and we feasted on chicken pizza, sausage and onion pizza, and even chocolate (yes CHOCOLATE) pizza! Yum!
 
Sound system can wait. We have to sleep off all that pizza…
--Mason & Rhianna

Day 5

This was one busy Saturday!!! Today, we began the “Work” part of the trip. We woke up at 6AM—we’re getting used to the early hours by this time—and got to church early to dial in the (finally working) sound system.  After dialing everything in as best we could, we began the first session of a worship seminar held by the Foursquare church with—no surprise—us as the featured artists. There were musicians and leaders from churches all over the area, and it was wonderful to share in a time of worship and fellowship. There are some AWESOME musicians here, especially a guitarist named Leandro, who everybody is calls “The Brazilian Mason.” He was incredible! I got to jam with him for about a half hour—very cool! Pastor Doug shared from his heart about the need to stand arm in arm, working together to see God’s will be done through his worldwide Church.
 
The afternoon sessions featured a mock “Rehearsal” structured just like a regular rehearsal, in which we showed how we as a band put together songs using sheet music, and vocal & instrumental arrangements. It was cool to let people see how we work together out of the limelight.
 
I’m compacting a lot of details together, but believe me when I day it took the better part of the day to get it all done. Wow! We are really sensing God’s blessing and favor in everything we do. That’s not to say everything is flawless and smooth. In truth, it is in working out the challenges and overcoming obstacles that we see God’s goodness at work. From getting to stay in the Hotel, to overcoming the language barrier and getting the Sound System up and humming, we are enjoying every minute of being busy at God’s work.
 
For dinner, we were treated to something amazing: all you can eat sushi!!!! As was mentioned before, we are not going to starve on this trip. After such a busy day of playing and sharing, it was great to kick back and have a great time noshing and laughing. We’re also making great friends—Pastor Luiz, Fabio, Luana, Nayla (I hope I’m spelling all their names right!), and these past few days have been invaluable in building relationships for this trip and the future. Even our bus driver, Marcio (we call him Bob), is quickly becoming a great friend.
 
I know this upcoming week is going to be filled with more challenges and more chances for God to prove his faithfulness. This is shaping up to be a very rewarding LightStream Tour.  Keep Friday in prayer! We are trusting to see souls won into the kingdom. More to come…
--
--Mason

Day 6

There is a, shall we say, problem with the plumbing in the hotel. Some of the fresh-water pipes are pumping wastewater in where fresh water should be. Every time we go to flush… oh man.  It’s getting pretty bad, but we’ve been told a plumber will be out in a day or two (!!!!!)
 
We got to sleep in! When was the last time I got to sleep in on a Sunday?!?!? You see, churches meet in the evening, since most people go to the beach Sunday mornings. It’s fine by me! J

For lunch today, we were treated to more Barbeque (or Churascuria) and an awesome mini-concert by Banda Maná Campiero: a group of local Christian musicians and dancers who perform regional folk music with Christian lyrics. They were wonderful! The sound is sort of a mix between Zydeco and Polka, if that makes any sense. :P What a treat!
 
We had our kick-off concert this evening at church. What a great show—the band sounds better than they ever have. Everybody is tight musically, there are no weak players, no crumby instruments, no dud songs! I’m glad to be part of this group! We even taught the congregation to sing “I Am Free” in English—or at least the call-and-response chorus. Oh, you should have seen the congregation during the three times we played that song! People here are so open and joyful in their worship, but never distracting or histrionic. It is beautiful, and I think we are all rediscovering the joy of pure-hearted worship.
 
One challenge we are still working on is translation of songs.  We had a few of our songs translated and to projected via PowerPoint for tonight’s show, but we have a long way to go.  Not everything we say in English, especially the poetic nuance, can translate verbatim into Portuguese. Still, we have a great team of translators who help every step of the way. Making sure we have all our songs translated and ready to go for Friday night is our goal at this point.
 
More to come,
--Mason

Days 7 & 8

Two for the price of one! Monday was a day off. After getting a bit of time to sleep in, we loaded up the bus and went to Ps. Luiz’s house for morning tea and devotions with Ps. Doug. Doug keeps reminding us that we need to strengthen one another’s hands, spiritually speaking, to see great things happen on Friday night. The team is unified and eager… it’s gonna be great.  We got a tour of the island today, with the only incident coming when some of the girls thought it might be fun to take their pictures on the rocks near a lovely beach. Things were going well until they got splashed by a HUGE wave that knocked them down and left them quite water-logged. They quickly scrambled back to terra firma before another wave could come along and sweep them out to sea.
 
Tuesday, we began our school performances. We arrived early in the morning (kudos to our bus driver Marcio for getting us through the narrow gate w/out a scratch!) and we happy to find that the bulk of the sound system had been set up the night before by our Brazilian road crew. Very nice! We plugged in out instruments, got a sound check, and had a few minutes to spend before the morning show.
 
The kids ranged in age from about 1st grade to Jr. High age, and we performed one concert in the morning and one in the afternoon . It was quite a mix of students, and some of the kids were rather rambunctious. Not mean-spirited—just undisciplined. Even so, with the help of out translators, we were able to explain the meanings of our songs, and Rainbow did a great job of sharing her testimony. We were swamped by hundreds of kids wanting autographs and photos, and we’re eager to see how many of them come to Friday night’s concert. Ps. Luiz said the principal of the school was very excited to have us come, and his church is welcome back at the school any time, for any reason. Awesome! An open door for local ministry after we leave! THAT’S what I call a successful concert!
 
The venue where we’ll be performing on Friday is huge! 5000 seats! I don’t know if we’ll have 5000 people in attendance, but I can imagine it will be the biggest crowd this band has ever been in front of. We have extra gear waiting in the wings just to fill up all that space with sound. But what we are really eager about is seeing the response to the gospel message. I can only hope we see a great harvest of souls… true conversions based on repentance for salvation, not just responding to emotions. This has been, by far, the best LightStream tour I’ve ever been a part of, and I know the best is yet to come.
--Mason

Day 9

Today we had two concerts—one in the morning, and one in the evening at the same venue. The kids were a bit older, and more attentive to what we had to say; they seem to enjoy the music, or at least they enjoy watching us jump around while playing J We set up the full light rig as well, but ran into some rather unfortunate electrical problems and had to shut them down (not enough power to run a 20,000 watt sound system and a light rig, you see). The reason for having such a wide gap between the shows was the way in which schools schedule their classes—it is not uncommon for students to attend classes at night instead of the day. I’m not sure the reasoning behind this, but it makes perfect sense in their culture.
 
Leaving behind pre-conceived notions about the “right” way to do things, culturally speaking, has been of critical importance. All to often, we Christians in the States buy into the myth that American believers are at the top of the world’s spiritual pyramid, and all other churches across the globe ought to be like those “at the top.” This is a very distorted view of God’s kingdom, not to mention prideful and downright offensive—but I am still amazed by how many well-intentioned Christians I meet back home who think the purpose of missions is to spread American-Style Evangelicalism around the world. Having seen churches all over this planet, I can say with great confidence that it is us, the privileged—and sometimes a bit spoiled—American church that can stand to learn from our worldwide fellowship of believers. Those who choose to worship God in places where it is often very difficult to do so have an urgency and devotion that I can only look upon with admiration. The churches we have worked with here in Brazil are amazing! Various congregations have taken it upon themselves to feed us, support as at schools, and hold us up in prayer. Their love and generosity, not to mention their pure, beautiful devotion to Christ, will remain impressed upon our hearts long after we leave. Thank God for the change in our hearts brought about by such lovely brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Rant mode: OFF
Sleep mode: ON
--Mason

Day 10

Well, every tour has “the day.” The day where everything just seems to slump along, where nothing goes as planned, where we walk away and have to make a conscious choice NOT to give in to self-pity but remain faithful to the task at hand. Today was “The Day.”
 
I’ve pretty much shined all the difficulties we’ve encountered on tour so far—most of them being so minor as to not being worth mentioning. Truth be told, this is a great team. There’s no inter-personal “drama”, no backbiting or complaining. There are occasional snafus with gear or culture or alarm clocks, but usually its just water under the bridge. Today, however, served as a great reminder that nothing worth doing for God is ever easy.
 
I knew it was going to be rough when I awoke with a tingle in my sinus—that all-too-familiar onset of a cold. Blast! We had lunch at another local Foursquare church (yummy!), and divided the team into three groups before meeting back together for our one gig in the evening. One group went back to the hotel to rest, one group went into town to buy musical supplies, and one group went back to our home church to handle some of the rather bland but necessary financial aspects of the tour. I was in the latter of the three. I was starting to feel a bit woozy as the Pastors handled the dollars and cents and I knew it wasn’t just the sea decimal points and spreadsheets that was making me feel lightheaded. I felt a rasp in my throat, and I knew that any performance was going to be an uphill battle.
 
We had a 7:30pm performance at the local State University, and upon arriving learned that the start time had been moved to 8:00. Then 8:30. Then 9:00! As we were setting up, I discovered an important piece of equipment I use had broken and needed repair. Argh! It’s late, I’m sick, my gear is breaking. Can it get any worse?
 
It got worse.
 
We were performing in a large assembly hall, with room for about 300 people. We were expecting a large, if not necessarily receptive, crowd. Time for us to start… and no one is there. Just our road crew. We started playing our opening number, and a few heads poked in to see what was happening. We kept playing. Still hardly anyone. Maybe 10 people, tops, and most of them got up and left. This was not the reception we were anticipating. Maybe a little apprehension, but hey, I went to college—I know what to expect and how to deal with it. But this was unexpected. We thought we were being ignored. A few songs in, Ps. Doug spoke to us over our ear monitors and told what was happening. Even though the president of the university had invited us to play, once the professors heard that we were an Evangelical band, they decided not to let their students come to see us. Ouch. We played one last song, and started to pack up as gracefully as we could.
 
As bad as I was feeling at that moment, our hosts were feeling even worse; especially Ps. Fabio. Fabio has been a champ at organizing everything from concerts to promotion to meeting with the mayor. Everything has gone well thanks to his excellent planning. But tonight was a major speed bump. We could see the disappointment all over his face; he was taking it personally and judging by some professors I’ve known in my time, it may very well have been. That’s when we as a band made a very important decision. We said to each other, “We just have to be faithful.” No matter what, we would not let the events of tonight derail God’s bigger plans.
 
We went after that for a VERY late dinner, and talked about all that had happened. Despite having every reason to feel bad, spirits were high! People were laughing, joking, and above all, not giving in to self-pity. The events of today may very well have had their origin in the spiritual realm. I won’t deny this. We do have an Enemy who would love for us to fold up shop, pack it in, and say “It’s too hard!” So when looked at in that light, perhaps today should be an encouragement. After all, didn’t the Apostles rejoice when they were found “worthy” enough to be imprisoned for Christ? Should not we, then, rejoice that our work is important enough to be hampered, stymied, and even at times thwarted by an Enemy who fears it so much that he deems it worthy of his effort? We must surely be doing something right!
 
Yes, today was “the day.”  Perhaps the most important day we have had so far. It all leading up to tomorrow.
 
More to come,
--Mason   

Day 11

I awoke this morning to a terrible feeling. Imagine being choked, unable to breathe, with something like a dagger of fire burning in your throat. That’s how my day began. The cold had moved from my head to my throat. It was hard to breathe, harder to talk, and impossible to sing. Tonight’s the big concert, I thought. This is not good!
 
I dragged myself through most of the morning, feeling like death warmed over and my voice dropped neatly in the contrabass register. I was sick, and there was not a worse time for it to happen. We were originally scheduled to have played a school this morning, but mercifully, that was cancelled. I knew I was in bad shape with chills, no voice, and no energy. Time for drastic action.
 
The rest of the band, however, was having a splendid day. We met for lunch at our home church, and the band enjoyed playing some very fun Brazilian party games with our hosts. They were a bit like charades, blind man’s bluff, and musical chairs, but each with a twist. And oh yes, we have great video of Rhianna acting out a Manatee and Karis being a Spider Monkey J (Did I mention Ps. Doug in a blindfold?) Very fun indeed! I, however, chose to gracefully bow out and rest up my voice for the evening. I must have guzzled a gallon of water and tea, not to mention throat lozenges. By mid-afternoon, I ws feeling better—just in time for our sound check at the Arena.
 
We drove to the Multiuse Arena on the local esplanade. It was BIG. 5000 seats. Cavernous acoustics. A real load-in port. A green room. Full light rig. An expanded sound system. The works! This was the real deal! We set up our gear and began sound check. My voice was doing OK, but I still had to baby it. This was the day we have been waiting for; months of preparation come down to this night! No pressure.
 
I was able to get a prescription for anti-inflammatory medicine, which helped a lot. We ran back to the hotel to change into our performance outfits and then returned to the Arena to await downbeat. There was a line at the door even before we arrived. We spent time praying, tuning our guitars (and our hearts), snaking in the green room, praying some more, reviewing testimonies, peeking at the incoming crowds, praying again, and generally getting ourselves “in the zone” for the show. The crowd was big. Over 2300 people were there to hear us. The biggest crowd we’ve ever played in front of.
 
The show was a smash! Everyone was pumped to play. I know I’m supposed to be all high-falutin’ and spiritual, but lemme tell you, it is a BLAST to play in front of a crowd of 2000 people who are full of energy! What a night. Rey, Rainbow, and Tami all did fantastic jobs sharing their testimonies, and I got to share a little about each song before we performed (in addition to having translated lyrics projected in supertitles). My voice did ok through the first half of the concert, but started to go after singing at the top of my lungs on “Wake Up, Dead Man.” But I held it together all the way to the end.
 
Now, this concert was a little different from our Australia and US shows in that we did not have an official “Altar Call” moment where people would come forward to receive Christ. Trying to do that with a crowd so large would have been beyond our ability to handle. Still, the gospel was presented, and I trust that many hearts will turn to God as the local churches continue the work of winning souls using the new avenues LightStream has opened with them. This was a show unlike anything we’ve done before (at least since I’ve been in the group), but I pray it is a sign of things to come. LightStream has always had to evolve through the years, and now that we live in such a globally interconnected world, I believe LightStream will continue to develop and explore new paths and methods for ministry. I would love to believe that we are just beginning to step onto a larger stage, into a new era, into uncharted territory. No matter what new doors God opens for us, be they large or small, our message is timeless: All have sinned, and all need to repent and run to the arms of our God of Love, through Christ’s atoning work, or else stand before him on the Day of judgment and see Him as a God of Wrath.
 
May God bless the last few days of this trip, and may He indeed bless the future of LightStream. Only one more concert to go, and a couple more blog entries. Feel free to contact us via the links on the home page. We’d love to hear from you!
--Mason

Days 12 & 13

Another two-fer! Saturday was a much needed recovery day after our big show. We took a relaxing boat ride out to one of the islands in the bay where there was an old colonial fort built by the Portuguese. We felt a bit like Pirates as we dashed from building to building, pretended to repel invaders from the ramparts, “fired” the cannons, and hid in the jungle. What fun!
 
Later that evening, we all went to Ps. Luis’ home for a dinner of pizza… even more chocolate pizza! We were up late (again) but enjoyed every minute. I, however, continue to battle this stubborn cold. L We also shard a special time with the ministry team who has worked so hard along side us these past two weeks. Gifts were given, words were shared, tears were cried, and hugs were passed out freely. A lovely time, indeed.
 
Sunday was the day of our final performance here in Brazil. The day was spent in typical relaxing fashion, with the bonus of a very special lunch prepared for us by our home church. It was a special feast called a fedjoida. It takes several days to prepare, and we were most appreciative of the effort that went into making it. Besides which, it was delicious! It’s kind of like a jambalaya, but with less spice. Hard to describe in words, but if you ever get a chance to come to Brazil, I highly recommend it!
 
My voice was teetering on the edge all day, and I was wondering how I would do that evening. I managed to hold on just long enough for a few songs, and the band, of course, sounded wonderful. The church was thrilled to have us play for them one more time, and even Ps. Fabio joined in on keyboard on “I Am Free,” which has become our most requested song here.
 
We said out goodbyes to the church family and packed up our gear for flight. We also bid farewell to our sound crew who has been with us at every performance—setting up, fixing glitches, loading the heavy gear. Real pros, man. A great team of guys and oh that we should be so lucky as to work with folks like them in the future.
 
One more day to go, and then its “Forward to Fresno!”
--Mason

Day 14

Today was our last full day in Brazil. I am sitting here in my hotel room, getting ready to pack up my clothes and bid farewell to this beautiful land. It’s late, 11:00pm, and I know I’ll be up for a while yet. Rhianna has picked up my cold (sorry, love), although I am feeling much better—thanks for asking. J

We bid an early adieu to Tami and Karis today. They are heading back a day early for work, and are taking two of my guitars with them. I’m sure they’ll have a few adventures traveling back to the States that we’ll share when we join them on Wednesday.
 
We got a tour of the rural part of the island today. What an experience! We were really out in the boondocks, and had a very special treat: live, fresh oysters! No joke! We stopped at an oyster farm were the local fishermen grow oysters the size of your fist in submerged cages. We saw a bit of their operation, and them came the real treat. The older of the two fishermen, who looked just like a character from Hemmingway, pulled a cage of oysters fresh from the water, cleaned them, and then the younger fisherman opened them up with his knife and… bon appetite! A little lemon juice, a little intestinal fortitude, and bottoms up! We all (well, most) had a go at it, and to our surprise, they tasted good! I even had seconds. Now THAT is a story worth remembering. The rest of the day consisted of a leisurely drive around the island capped off by dinner at yet another friendly, local church.

Everyone is busy packing up and paying laundry and Internet bills. I am so proud of this team. Everybody has done such a great job. Pastor Doug and Carol have lead us with class and a deep love for each of us and a passion for God. Jeff has kept all the technical and traveling details running smooth as well us providing us with his trademark dry sense of humor exactly when we need it most. Ken and Kerie Holck have done a great job with their eye for details that may have gone unnoticed by others and making sure all the important odds and ends stay even and true. Jonathan has once again made us feel like TV stars with his ever-present digital video camera. Brittany was a master of stage co-ordination and always reminded us that no matter what, a positive attitude is key. Karis kept us smiling with her incessant optimism, pure and joyful heart, and her “willing-to-help-wherever I can” attitude. Tami once again proved to everyone she is a wonderfully outgoing sweetheart with tremendous talent, infinite potential, and a never out-of-tune voice. Laurie showcased her natural leadership abilities and blossoming showmanship at every concert— she’s got enough energy to power a small city and enough heart to stick through even the toughest situation and come out smiling. Rey was rock-solid as a drummer, and inspired us all with his passion for every note we played or story we shared. His wife, Norma, was always a perfect example of class, grace, and support, and we are all glad to have gotten to know her. Daniel “The G” kept us in stitches with his wit and humor, and made us feel confident every time we took the stage with his tasteful musicianship, can-do attitude, and heart for ministry. Jason was every bit of what we’ve come to love over the years: goofy, playful, and VERY talented—the boy can play a mean guitar—but also showing maturity and focus when needed most. Curt kept a cool head even at the most stressful times, and really reminded us that for all our on-stage antics, sometimes it’s the laid-back “cool-guy” on stage that people connect with most. And of course, Rhianna was everybody’s favorite “big sister”(even to those older than her) with her leadership, focus, and sincere love and support for everyone, especially the man who needed it the most- me.
 
And let’s not forget Pastor Luiz, Pastor Fabio, Luana, Nayla, and all the local church leaders for their vision, guidance, and prayer. They are true brothers and sisters in Christ, and without them, this trip would not have amounted to much of anything. Long after we have left, these are the people who will see that the seeds planted by LightStream find good soil, and produce a great harvest of souls.
 
Yup, this has been a team I’ve been proud to be a part of. I’d better start my packing—it’s a long flight back to Fresno. As much as I’ve come to love Brazil, there really is no place like home. And thanks to everyone who’s been reading my ramblings in this blog. I invite all of you to contact us and tell us what you’ve thought about this blog, the website, the band… whatever! Thanks for your prayers, and we’ll see you all when we get home.
 
Blessings to you all, and “Obrigado!”
--Mason