Chapter 9

9.  The New Adventure
The ad touted an ecumenical music-missions group located in California that traveled around the United States and the world taking the message of Christ through song and prayer to those needing His light.  It had four full-time ministry teams and were looking for people to join three additional teams for summer tours.  Reading further, I felt that there was no way that I would ever be accepted for a group like that.  Though I’d played the piano since I was seven, the violin since fourth grade and had sung with our little family band locally since the age of nine, I was not nearly disciplined enough to make it into a professional music group.  But, shrugging my shoulders, I figured I would send in an audition tape (yes, that’s right an audio cassette tape) with my competition violin solo on it, plus a song for which I sang while I accompanied myself on the piano.  If they accepted me, then I would go.  If not, I still had my application ready to send out so that I could to go to Oxford University for summer classes – and yes, that’s the Oxford in England.

So, out went the tape and I said a little prayer as it went.  I showed my boyfriend the ad and told him my summer plans.  He was less than ecstatic about the thought of me being gone anywhere for three months but he was very sweet about it and told me that whatever God had planned was good enough for him. Or something like that anyway.

Mid-winter came and in Michigan, that can be quite a depressing and very cold time.  But I was happy, taking classes I liked, dating a nice guy, managing the illnesses and panic pretty well.  Soon a letter came in the mail and I discovered that I had been accepted to the ministry as a keyboardist.  “A keyboardist!!  What in the world does that mean?” I thought excitedly.  It appeared that the team would be made up of about ten vocalists, an orchestra of various instruments, a sound technician and a light technician.  The three summer teams would be going to Greenland, Central America and Bulgaria.  Soon I would be getting the recordings and the sheet music I needed to prepare for a ten-day rehearsal camp in the mountains of California.  I needed to be there by early June and we would be on the road performing ten days later.  What?!?!

My family and I were so very excited about this incredible opportunity. Needless to say, the rest of my second semester at college flew by easily and without my active participation.  Today when my parents and I talk about it, we laugh about how naïve we were.  Racing me off to the west coast to join a ministry we knew nothing about sounded a little like a cult actually.  But it all worked out for the best and I joined the Central America team.  When I discovered I would be playing not one, but two keyboards at the same time I cried for about 2 hours. But after that I did all right.  And soon we were on our way.

Chapter 1

1.  Setting the stage
Growing up as the oldest daughter of Christian music-ministry parents, you’d think I’d have received all I needed to know in order to not make some pretty goofy mistakes in my life.  And of course, I did receive much of what I needed.  I just decided I needed to make sure it was all true.
 
My name is Angel Christine and I’m somewhere in my thirties.  Blonde-haired and blue-eyed, with an average build and beautiful straight white teeth, I might be considered a good looking sort of woman.  Regardless of other opinions, I know I am treasured in the eyes of God and of my husband.  I grew up in the metro-Detroit area in Michigan.  Born in the Soo (Sault Sainte Marie) in 1975 to Harold and Gail, ages 20 and 19 respectively, I moved six weeks later to a little town in Minnesota.  My little sister, April, was born there 2 ½ years later, much to my great joy.  After all, it was awfully kind of my parents to provide me with a live doll to spoil, coach, dress up, tease and otherwise try to run her life.  By the time I was 4 years old, we had lived in Minnesota, Kentucky and Oklahoma.  We were settled into a little house in Mount Clemens, Michigan before I started kindergarten at the local public school.
 
Although the doctor supervising my birth believed I'd have developmental problems because my mother had a difficult and dangerous delivery, the Lord proved him wrong.  I was an exceptionally bright student, always participating in the cutting-edge scholastic programs, joining any and all academic or music programs.  I avoided athletics like the plague but otherwise was very active in the public school system through middle school.  Then, after much prayer, my family decided that April and I would be better served academically by attending a private school for my high school years while April started in middle school.  Looking back, for my sake I believe it was definitely the best decision.  I’m not entirely sure April’s experience there was quite as rewarding, however, this is my story.  Wink, wink.
 
I graduated from that Christian high school as valedictorian in 1993 and went to a nearby University the following autumn.  I’d like to say that I prayerfully considered many schools, applying all over the country and carefully weighing my options.  But I didn’t.  We had no idea how to properly apply for scholarships or what deadlines we needed to meet.  Even so, I make quick decisions and am well-known for thinking I know what I’m doing straight out of the gate.  This was no exception.  I enrolled in Latin American courses my first semester, as well as the general required courses but quickly decided that I would make more money if my Bachelor’s degree was earned in East Asian studies.  So I spent a great deal of time and money learning all about East Asian cultures, specializing in the Japanese language and culture.  In the Motor City, this appeared to be a wise choice and a great plan but I really had not sought the Lord as much as I should have.  I think my readers will perhaps agree with this assessment as my story continues.
 
All this information is great, you may say, but what about my spiritual growth and my personal experiences?  Well, I’m glad you asked.