Tales From Wales

Clean Slate's 1999 European Tour

Part III of IV.

Hi again! Here's the next installment detailing our trip to Wales:

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Day 5: Wednesday, 13 Oct 1999

Towards the end of the evening yesterday, Matt provided us with a description of our intended location in Pontyprydd (PONTY-prith) for Market Day Wednesday. He described a site where we'd have to run in power from a second-story window, up and over the street, and down to a smallish traffic island where we would set up. The description didn't sound overly inviting, and due not only to this description, but also our realization that we were getting extremely tired and fearing being unable to keep up such a hectic schedule, we decided to skip the Ponty market today and concentrate on door-to-door work in Pentrebach in preparation for this evening's concert in the Labour Club (yes, I spelled that correctly).

For many at our sponsoring church, the idea of playing in the Labour Club was a bit upsetting. This was literally the local 'hangout', where you'd expect to see the local folks who'd have nothing to do with the Church, and everything to do with the bar/club scene. In other words, exactly the kind of place where we saw a need to bring the gospel message (especially considering our experiences in the marketplace the previous day). We know of at least one individual who flatly stated he'd never come to see the band at the Church, but was more than willing to show up for a concert at the Club!

We gathered at the Jerusalem Church in the late morning (allowing most of us [except poor Vickie--she stayed up too late working on invitations to pass out today] to catch up on some much-needed sleep) for a quick prayer time before setting out door-to-door to invite people to one of the two remaining concerts (club tonight, church the next night). Once again, we were in for a surprise. In relating our various experiences during the week so far, we all found that we had already had some pretty 'deep' spiritual events happen to us in the previous few days. The prayer time lasted well over 45 minutes, and for many ended up being a highlight of the entire trip. It was during this prayer circle that we all realized how close together we had been drawn during this shared experience, and how God had managed to use each of us in a unique way to minister to people in the valley so far. Well, after prayer, there wasn't a dry eye in the church, and we left to canvas the village with quite uplifted spirits.

We split into pairs and canvassed the entire village of Pentrebach. We introduced ourselves to the residents, invited them to come and hear the remaining concerts, and made ourselves available to answer their questions or discuss any aspect of the trip with them. Many of us who had really feared this part of the trip ended up having a delightful time getting to know folks in the village in a way that was not at all threatening or confrontational. We were quite struck at how many people said they were famil iar with the church (many had even been married there), but had for some reason or the other drifted away from it. Though we couldn't really say for sure, we hope that this effort may have planted a seed in some folks to return to the church and see what it was that brought such an intense interest to this area.

Dinner [lunch] at the local Pentrebach Pub followed, then it was off to the Labour Club for yet another setup, sound check, and concert. Rich used the time to polish his message which he would give to a gathering of Ladies at the Pentrebach Church that evening. There, Rich led a "Sisterhood" meeting at the Jerusalem Church. This was a time of singing, testimonies, a short Bible study and plenty of socializing.

The crowd at the Labour Club was, again, smallish. The individual who said he wouldn't show at the Church was indeed there. His attendance and resulting conversation there that night was such a significant event in the eyes of our sponsors that they said if no other good could have come from our trip to Wales, that having this one individual present for this one night at this one concert would have made the entire effort worthwhile! Also in attendance were several people who came after having heard the band in Merthyr the previous day.

To our surprise, it didn't seem that one single person attended as a result of our door-to-door efforts during the day. I'm still not sure what to make of it, but even our sponsors said that it was quite unusual that a different crowd wasn't on hand that night. My own theory on this is quite simple: I think our invitations may have actually served to 'dis-invite' quite a number of people to the club that night. It's possible that we 'scared off' several regulars that evening. This may not be a bad thing if you think about it. Through us, the Lord worked in keeping some people who may have squandered the evening at the bar at home; and transformed a place associated with less-than-Christian behavior into another wonderful evening full of praise and worship songs.

We came to realize just how tired and 'strung-out' we were as a band that night. Everybody seemed to be making new mistakes in the music, and we kinda lost focus several times during the evening. Worse yet, Vickie had a very bad experience, almost collapsing following the concert. She later related that it was a very unusual experience for her, as the difficulty she felt came on quite suddenly, was affected (improved) by prayer, and disappeared without a trace the following morning. However, we did reach some different folks that night, and in several discussions afterward, many people thanked us for coming to the club and said they had a really enjoyable time that evening.

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