Mike Rimmer spoke to ED MORALES, CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, CROSS CONNECTED, AVANTE and pioneering independent distributor BROKEN RECORDS.

CROSS CONNECTED
www.crossconnected.com
Cross Connected are built around husband and wife team Ritchie and Susan Garcia although they weren't always obvious candidates for music ministry. Coming out of the New York rock scene, it took a series of car accidents and the miracle of salvation and healing to change the course of their lives.

Susan Garcia tells the story, "We were in three car accidents before we became Christians and we truly believe that God used these bad circumstances to bring us to a place where we were ready to accept him and realised that we needed his help."

Avante

Over a three-year period, the traffic accidents placed Susan in a wheelchair and then the third accident also put Ritchie out of commission for almost a year with a serious back injury. Susan remembers, "At this point we had no income, we were both living in doctors' offices and Physical Therapy and our lives were just miserable."

Surgery and time didn't heal the injuries and their marriage began to come under pressure. Susan recalls, "I started to realise that I needed something in my life. Ritchie and I had been arguing a lot - it's very rough going through something like this. I had been in a wheelchair, unable to walk for about six months at this point, and life had become very tense. I was so depressed that I'm sure it was extremely difficult for Ritchie at that time."

One day Susan asked to be taken to church. She'd been a believer as a child but had backslidden. "We finally found Morningside, our home church. From the moment we went there we knew there was something special going on. It's an Evangelical Bible based church and I rededicated my life to Christ. A couple of weeks after going to Morningside, Ritch gave his heart to the Lord too and we found a joy in our lives that we never thought possible."

A year passed and Susan was able to get around with a cane and a walker. Although she hadn't written any songs since before her first car accident, God gave Susan a new song. She says, "The next day I sang it for Ritchie and he was in shock. He started writing again and next thing you know we were playing in church. We couldn't go up onto the stage because I couldn't walk up the stairs, but we would go down in front of the altar and play from there." God then spoke to Susan and called her into music ministry. "I felt like Sarah, I almost laughed. I was not getting any younger and couldn't even walk up onto a stage -but I figured anything was possible with God - so I accepted it in faith. 1 told Ritchie and at first he wanted to laugh too, but he also accepted this calling into ministry and so we just kept writing and praying and believing."

Susan continues sharing her testimony, "Five months later I went to a Women's Aglow meeting. They had a Messianic Jewish Group come in to speak and lead worship. The speaker, Jody, spoke a prophecy over me, "that today the shackles were being lifted off my feet." I had never had this happen to me before, but I knew that it was from God.

Later we had a praise and worship service. It was really beautiful. The music and dancing - they had prophetic dancers with them. I had never even heard of prophetic dancers before. I was sitting in my seat, watching everyone dance around the room in a traditional Jewish dance of praise, when one of the dancers came over to me and said, Take a step of faith,' so I took half a step. I got up and started following the other women around the room with my cane in hand. I just limped around and every time I passed Jody, she said, 'Susan release it.' The third time around the room God spoke to my heart and said, "You are healed.' I put down the cane and started dancing and praising God - and I haven't stopped since. The other women from my church could hardly believe it. People who knew me were amazed because my spine had been twisted and I had a terrible limp. My right leg was almost two inches shorter than my left leg because of this. I also could not put any weight on or bend my left knee because of all the damage done to it. I had three damaged discs in my back as well. We all cried and laughed and danced and prayed - it was the most amazing day of my life."

Cross Connected are a band born out of a testimony of God moving. They're also an encouragement to anyone who has felt God's calling but have been frustrated by circumstances. Susan sums it up, "I now realise that when God calls you, he equips you. Even if you think you're not ready or your circumstances don't look right on the outside, if God calls you, he will make a way."

AVANTE
www.avante.mb.ca
Canadian couple Marshal and Malynda Zacharias are in the UK holidaying, sussing out the scene and being interviewed on Cross Rhythms radio. Their R&B tinged pop album is impressively filled with good solid pop tunes, strong harmonies and a clean fresh sound. Later in the day we muse over life, love and music as we eat in my local Harvester. We begin swapping life stories and I cajole them into telling me how they met. Malynda confesses, "I met Marshall about five years ago. He just popped up all of a sudden and started appearing in several of my circles of friends. It was so funny because I knew that while I had many great friends, there was no guy in sight that really interested me. But all of a sudden he was there. And, while I hate the thought of telling a sappy, love at first sight' story, I have to admit, a deep knowing resonated 'yes' in my heart of hearts the first time I talked to him. We got married a year later and devoted our entire first year to cultivating our relationship and laying a foundation. We even stepped down from the ministries we'd been involved in to do this. It didn't take long for our individual passions for music to merge in an outward expression."

The couple began writing together and then invited Marshall's sister, Sharalee, to join up for their first album. Sharalee has recently married and has left the group to invest time in building a strong marriage. Avante's debut album was released in the summer of 1999 and since then Malynda and her husband have been touring and developing ministry opportunities. Malynda admits, "What started as a modest seed has been growing in boldness as God waters and conditions the ground of our hearts. We are becoming more and more excited as we anticipate sharing with people their true identity and seeing the repercussions of that truth in their lives."

For Marshall and Malynda, the issues of identity are very important. Malynda becomes animated as she tries to express how she feels about it. She thinks of the lives of the teenagers to whom they minister. "Okay, so you're 15 years old. You've got pretty much everything you need to live comfortably. You're parents are great people, but they've spent their lives pursuing material goodies because they perceived their identity to be synonymous with their status. Somehow the value of relationships was lost, you realise, as you sit in the wake of the broken dream: a broken marriage, a broken home. You turn on your TV, or you flip through a magazine, or you walk down the street. You are constantly bombarded with a steady diet of unrealistic images and concepts. Sometimes you feel more like a shadow than an actual person - a media shadow, measuring yourself against projected ideals. So who are you, anyway? Where does your sense of value come from? You're open to something entirely new - the answer's got to be out there, somewhere. Identity is an important issue because it is the quest of a youth culture. The truth behind their identity is the freedom for an entire generation."

Avante minister through concerts and through praise and worship events. They are prepared to do one or the other or even a combination of the two formats but prefer to spend a few days or a weekend to minister. "That's most effective as it allows us to develop a rapport with the students." Malynda explains, "This paves the way for greater impact. We most often tour with a full band, playing for youth groups, citywide events, conferences and festivals. Marshall and I are also involved in youth ministry in our home church where we have developed and maintain long-term relationships with students. We make ourselves available through email for continued personal contact and encouragement following our ministry times."

As for the live performances, she confesses, "The atmosphere in our concert settings is really of fun and freedom. Teens have been responding to this really well. Surprise surprise! We've experienced a wide range of responses...from dancing to beach balls! The praise and worship settings are very interactive as well, and sometimes I think we taste a little bit of heaven. I am overwhelmed at how eager teens are to worship God."

This has influenced their plans for the future. Malynda explains, "Because we've felt a desire and seen a need, we are preparing to record a bumpin' R&B praise and worship album this spring. Following its completion we'll tour again. But before that, the first thing we've got to do is order more copies of our latest album...it's really been catching on. Then who knows..."