India Day 8-12: Nongrim Hills and Mowkyndeng

I did more exploring of Shillong recently, and I'll be posting a few photos in subsequent blogs to try and capture what I think are great views of the city. I'm staying with some friends in Lower Nongrim Hills and I often cross through Nongrim Hills to get to Laitumkrah where I meet friends for lunch/dinner or language research. The quickest (and least crowded) way to get there by walking is to climb the hill where people live in houses stacked on top of each other, pretty similar to what I saw in Norway. Here's a view looking back down the hill toward Lower Nongrim after climbing past a bunch of houses.

I took that photo before I went to work on the Pnar language spoken in Mowkyndeng village, a few hours away, where another friend was going home for holiday. I went with him for a week to learn what I could about this dialect and begin to document the language. I stayed with a wonderful family of vegetarians who kindly gave me fish and chicken, though secretly I loved their rice and vegetable dishes. Here's a picture of me and the family, along with all the children boarding at their house while they attend the mission school.

Mowkyndeng is probably best known as a mission station for the Catholic church in that area. When Catholic missionaries came to these hills they came directly to Raliang and were given land at Mowkyndeng to build their mission and start schools. Here's a picture of the church at Mowkyndeng, which has a lot of ties to the work of Don Bosco and the Salesians, a Catholic society that he founded. Early in June the relic of Don Bosco's body will be coming to the northeast of India and staying at the church in Mowkyndeng for a bit. I don't know if I'll make it to the viewing, but people from all over the area will be there.

An MP3 Christmas Gift from Hiram!

[ EDIT: The free MP3 download offered below has expired. However, stay tuned to this blog for more free Christmas music in the coming week, including this song on iTickets.com on Dec 22, 2009! ]

O_Little_Child-Hiram_Ring.mp3 (one week only!)

This Christmas I want to give you a song that is still very close to my heart - newly re-mixed and mastered for 2009. It's a song that I wrote in 2006 as the holiday was approaching. I had just read GK Chesterton's 'Christmas Poem' and was thinking about his last stanza:

"To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home."

Beautiful words from a gifted writer whose thoughts continue to capture us. I began to think about how God left His home to become homeless on the earth, to become a little baby, and began to wonder whether He knew what was happening when He was born, or whether He simply had to rest in the arms of his mother, to be and do what all little babies are and do. The wonder of God growing older from infancy, preparing for the sacrifice of the cross... through which there is full redemption and forgiveness of sins... I picked up my guitar and this song wrote itself that evening.

"O Little Child, o tiny babe, are these your hands that came to save?
Held in your mother's warm embrace, remember me this Christmas day.

O Little Child, your tiny feet will bear the cross toward calvary.
Now tightly wrapped on mother's knee, on Christmas day I think of thee.

That God would come to us on earth, He who Himself did give us birth,
That the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.

O Little Child, you must be fed - you who will give us living bread.
The final Word is said, it's yours to say - do you remember Christmas day?

That God would come to us on earth, He who Himself did give us birth,
that the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.

Now let us sing with one accord jubilant praises to our Lord!
Join with the angels' heavenly choir, proclaim this wondrous clarion hour!
That God would leave his heaven above to live with us a life of love,
that the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.

Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, Goodwill to men!

O Little Child, your eyes still sleep, your tiny form a mystery.
Come with the world on bended knee - on Christmas day I think of thee."

(if you would like a PDF chart of the words/music, please let me know - ringrecords AT gmail DOT com)

Musicians:
Hiram Ring - guitar, vocals
Alisha Ring - violin, background vocals
Matthew Monticchio - piano
David Green - bass
John Haughery - drums
Yolanda Mott - cello

Baltimore and Xenia

Saturday afternoon, after packing my things in the car, I drove from Lancaster to Baltimore - an uneventful, hour or so drive on a beautiful day. I played at The Patterson, a renovated historic movie theater that is now home to The Creative Alliance of Baltimore. I was one of the artists/bands performing for Grace International Church's website release party, which was tons of fun. Also performing were Parris Bowens, Prayz1 and The Underdogz, and Failure to Excel. Here's a video tour of the building:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxIt1G0hp8
Sunday morning I got up really early and drove to Xenia, Ohio (near Dayton) where I played at my friend Hannah's church, GracePoint. They meet in what used to be an apple restaurant, and there was a decent crowd - I was really blessed to be there, and the sound was some of the best I've experienced. It also happens to be near Yellow Springs, where my mom's cousin Bruce lives, so I got to spend Labor Day with family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfb4bbXnLAQ

Germany Installment #4 - Eltz Castle, Worms

The weekend after the second English camp, we traveled around Germany for a couple days, visiting some beautiful cities and other places. The very first place we went was Eltz Castle, a pretty little castle in a valley that served as the home of three noble families who shared ownership. One of the families has since taken over the whole castle and still lives in part of the castle. The other part is a tourist attraction very well-worth seeing. In this video you can see the castle as we walked down the hill toward it, and also some of the inside - the treasure chamber and the courtyard. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
After visiting Eltz castle, we went to Worms, where Martin Luther defended his 95 Theses. Our friend Marius lives there and we walked around the town with him and a friend who gave us a tour. We visited the cathedral of St. Peter where the Diet of Worms was held (rebuilt since being bombed out in WWII), wandered through a Jewish cemetery, and had some Italian ice. Back at the church where we were staying, Joella and James raced little karts around the halls. I got to race too, but Joella won. She must be built for this kind of thing! =) Joella, you missed your true calling...

Cornerstone Music Festival

I have been out of the loop for a few weeks, with good reason. I took some time off working for Math U See in order to go to Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois this past week. The festival is run by Jesus People USA, an intentional community in Chicago that has been around since the early 70s. Last time I was there was in 2001 with the Wycliffe World Music Band as a roadie, and this time I just went to enjoy the festival. It was a blast!
I actually did end up playing at the Impromptu Stage to a crowd of 15 people, 8 of whom bought CDs (pretty good average since 5 of the people were friends who already had my CD), but the highlights for me were Stavesacre (back together after 6-8 years), Dave Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) and Rosie Thomas. Family Force 5, Anberlin, and Me Without You were pretty cool too. And Brian 'Head' Welch (former Korn rocker). I brought my video camera, but totally forgot to carry it around with me. I couldn't find the song I wanted on YouTube, but here's someone else's video of Dave Bazan's show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19oHHGfifgU
And in this video of Brother Red Squirrel's show you can see me dancing and clapping at 10 seconds with the black shirt on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW1103I46WU

Vlog Day 58 - Ithaka Fellowship

I slept in today, then got up and went with Duane, his son Calvin, and his father to pick up some things from Normal - fence for the two dairy goats they are getting next week, the PA system for tonight, and some bricks and mortar for repairs around the house. We drove four across the front seat through mile after mile of fields that are empty, waiting for the rainwater to drain so that the fields will be dry enough for planting to begin. Duane's dad is full of knowledge about the area and the process of farming, so I learned a lot on the drive.
On the way back we drove part way on Route 66, which goes right through here on its way south to St. Louis. Then we made preparations for the event tonight, and at 7pm people started arriving. Here's a piece of the event - my car song 'Steer Into the Curve'.

Vlog Day 55 - IHOP Kansas City

I'm staying with my friends the Samuels south of Kansas City. They are part of the International House of Prayer, which is dedicated to praying for the nations and teaching the gifts of the Spirit to the younger generations. It is a really neat place full of people here to seek God and to learn from the scriptures. They had a guest speaker this Sunday, Bill Wiese, who shared his experience of a vision he received about hell. It was really interesting to hear about his vision, and to hear the scriptural references he found to back up the experience. He's a really good storyteller.
I went with the Samuels to their home group in the evening, and we sang some praise songs together, and I also played 'I Am Not A Thief'. It's a great community they are part of, and I was blessed to be able to spend time with all of them.

Vlog Day 48 - Church

I visited my brother and sister-in-law's church today for the 11am service. It's quite a large church, and they have a scan-in system for the kids, which is pretty cool and necessary, I'm sure.
The church is named Fellowship Bible Church of Northwest Arkansas, and they unveiled a new song that one of the members has written - it's actually a decent song, and here's a piece of it.

Vlog Day 46 - World Garden

I drove the 8 hours from Nashville to Bentonville, Arkansas today - stopped in Memphis for lunch, which I discovered was not conducive to a streamlined drive. Did you know that on half the streets in Memphis (maybe more) you can't turn left? This means that turning left involves intense circumlocution and lots of extra time. But all's well that ends well.
In Bentonville I played at World Garden Salads, a new soup and salad place that just started last fall and has a really neat focus. Through their sales they provide funding for orphanages around the world - a seventh of what they make from their soup and salad bar goes to seven different orphanages, so when you eat there (and the food is really good) you are making a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of children who otherwise would not benefit. Their food is great and they roast their own coffee - which is also phenomenal.
Rick and Mark's vision is to provide a fair-trade network for coffee growers and farmers both locally and worldwide that also benefits those who normally go without. They want to extend their food and craft resources to many different countries by purchasing coffee, tea, and spices directly from farmers, and crafts directly from artisans or through other trade resources such as Ten Thousand Villages. It is a really unique idea and one that really is working and making sense. World Garden is now beginning to think of franchising. You can hear directly from Rick in the video below - pardon the excited girls in the background. =)

Vlog Day 41 - Easter Song

I hung out with my friend Andrea at her church (Stonebridge) this morning, and then we had brunch with friends of hers nearby. Brunch was fabulous (I remained stuffed for several hours) and we also had fun hunting for easter eggs and sat in the sun talking about spiritual things. I played 'I Am Not a Thief' as well. Playing songs for friends is probably my favorite thing to do - totally unplugged and relaxed. Isn't GRACE amazing? I could go on, but read the Gospels for yourself.

Vlog Day 31 - Wycliffe Tour

Today I took a tour at Wycliffe, led by my friend Chris who is also a connector/facilitator at Wycliffe. She had some interesting things to say about the work that gets done here at the office and around the world.

We were also able to meet with a national translator from the Brazilian Amazon who is here to develop relationships and partnerships with Wycliffe. You can hear some of our conversation in this video. There is much more about the tour that doesn't fit in this short video, though, so I recommend that you visit the office in Orlando yourself. You can also find out more on their website. Everyone is needed to accomplish the task of Bible translation.

Vlog Day 27 - Micanopy Fellowship

It rained a bunch last night, which folks around here say is needed - they've been waiting for rain a long time. Woke up to damp surroundings, but with the sun up it was a gorgeous day. I went to church with Warren, Mike and co. at Micanopy Fellowship - today was sharing Sunday, so I shared a couple of my songs (The Problem and I Am Not a Thief) and was blessed by other people's testimonies. Particularly Lenora's - she has an incredible story of how God brought her out of abuse and drugs, and is now working with Teen Challenge in Lakeland, helping others find hope and joy in Christ. Other people's stories were also powerful, with one family in the church having lost two children in a recent car accident, their third is now in the hospital slowly recovering.
We then shared lunch together - potluck and conversation, and afterwards Warren and I visited Hunter in the hospital. I was able to sing one of my parents scripture songs to encourage Hunter and her family, sans guitar. We went back to Mike's and rested, and then set up at the fellowship in the evening for the concert. You can see/hear Chasing Shadows in the video below. People were really responsive and encouraging, and as they prayed for me afterwards I could sense the Spirit of God in this place, among these people.

Vlog Day 20 - Church and Josh Garrels

It was truly a sabbath today - I slept in a bit, attended Waxhaw Bible Church with my friends (where I said hi to a bunch of the kids from the JAARS youth group) and then relaxed the rest of the day. I read up on the book my friend Joshua in Harrisonburg gave me, called "Three Cups of Tea" about Greg Mortensen, a TCK from Tanzania who became a climber and then built schools all over the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. Quite a good read.
Around 4pm I called Josh Garrels' house, since he lives in the area. Josh is a soft-spoken singer-songwriter who has played at Cornerstone a few times and has a decently large following for an independent musician. I met him when he played up in Lancaster, PA with my friend Katie Becker and know him as a solid believer. He invited me over, and our subsequent conversation confirmed my perceptions.
I rode my bike over and had coffee with Josh and his wife while their little daughter climbed around - Josh's wife grew up as a Wycliffe MK as well, and it turns out that I share a birthday with both her mom and Josh's mom. I wanted to hear the story of Josh's musical journey, and he obliged - telling me about his start and what his journey has been like. It was super-encouraging to hear about his path and his passion for the Gospel to extend from his songs. It turned into a great conversation about purpose and vocation, dreams and aspirations, and ultimately submitting to God's will and holding all of life with an open hand.
Afterwards Josh showed me his studio and guest room which was built into the top of the garage, in a separate building from the house. JG spent last week recording an EP for his friend Josh Rosen, and so they sequestered themselves in this space to get it done. I didn't do a great job with the camera work - it's kind of hard to see everything, but partly because I was so busy drinking it all in myself. The picture of Jerusalem on his desktop sparked a conversation about missions and I mentioned that I have the opportunity to help engineer a worship album for musicians in Spain in May-June. It turns out Josh knows a friend of mine from Indiana who is an MK from Spain but was with me in Tanzania with a Houghton College program. The world is a small place.

Vlog Day 17 - JAARS

Today I visited JAARS (Jungle Aviation And Radio Service), which is the technical arm of Wycliffe, serving translators with air, maintenance, IT and other kinds of necessary support. My family has come through here several times when we were on furlough from Ghana, but I had never taken the tour before, so I figured I should probably do that. It was a really interesting tour. In the first video, you can hear a bit about how Wycliffe (and thus JAARS) was founded by Uncle Cam Townsend.

We then moved on to the Cabinet and Maintenance department, where we received an animated lecture on the subject of cabinetry and maintenance. Then on to the hangar where I felt almost like I had returned to the National Air and Space Museum - except that this is an active training facility, where pilots are trained to handle planes and helicopters as if they were in a remote area where even the military don't venture. Here we got to see the first new Kodiak airplane that JAARS/Wycliffe has purchased for missions use from the manufacturer, Quest. It's bigger and more efficient than the Helio Courier it will be replacing (JAARS has its own machine shop where parts for the HC have been made since the 70's when it went out of production), but does need a slightly longer runway. You can read more about it HERE. The next stop, after lunch, was the Alphabet Museum which I do remember visiting as a kid. It has since been expanded and is a fascinating look at the history of alphabet making and written language.

In the evening I played music for the JAARS youth group, which is made up mostly of MKs, TCKs, and the kids on the JAARS center. It was cool to be able to play for a group that I didn't have to explain the cross-cultural stuff to. Most of them had grown up just like me, and could relate to a lot of the things I had to say. I captured a bunch of their faces, and of course Uncle Bruno.

Vlog Day 14 - Charlotte

So moving right along, I left Charlie Jones and the Peculiar People in Greensboro and set off for Charlotte. An uneventful drive, and along the way I stopped to visit my friend Doug, who is a project manager (IT/website) at a packaging solutions company.
Doug was a project manager for Samaritan's Purse in Afghanistan when I interned with them in the summer of 2004. He was responsible for the drenching welcome I received when I arrived (buckets of water from the roof now greet all new arrivals to the Afghanistan office). He worked with SP for a few years after that in Indonesia, Uganda, and now is married and lives in Charlotte. A really cool guy that I haven't seen in a few years. It was good to see him.
Doug put me in touch with his sister, and she and her husband Tom had an extra room I could spend the night in. So I hung out with them for the afternoon (great conversations about the work their church is doing in Sierra Leone and internet marketing techniques), and then took off to the open mic night at the Evening Muse here in Charlotte.
My goal for playing at the Evening Muse was to meet some of the local musicians and share some of my music. You can see bits and pieces of the evening below. I gave out some cards, made some cool connections, and generally enjoyed myself. A couple cool bands/groups I discovered/met in the folk/rock (softer) genres: The New Familiars and Elonzo. If you live in Charlotte or near where they'll be playing, you should definitely check them out.

Vlog Day 13 - Greensboro

This morning it was still raining. We went to City Church and connected with the group of folks that meet in a theater downtown. A really neat service - Charlie preached and I played 'I Am Not a Thief'. We went out for Vietnamese food and then home for naps. I made a few phone calls and then went off to my next appointment.
Harvey Robinson is a really talented videographer in Greensboro. He does with video what I try to do with songs - tell stories. His framing and techniques are really good, and when I saw his work on monkeywhale.com I knew I wanted to be part of his latest (ongoing) project 'Harvey's Kitchen'.
What is Harvey's Kitchen? Exactly what it sounds like - he films (among other things) musicians playing music in his kitchen. So I brought my guitar, sat down in a chair in the middle of his kitchen, he set up his equipment and filmed as I played a song. It was really cool to meet him and Carolyn, and I can't wait to see what they do with the film!
For dinner I met up with Philip and Miriam - their family was with us in Ghana, and they both happen to be attending UNC Greensboro, so we had dinner and then they showed me around the campus. Tomorrow I head out to Charlotte.

Vlog Day 11 - Greensboro Grub

If you come to Greensboro, get in touch with Charlie Jones of Peculiar People. You will not regret it, particularly if you can manage to time your visit with his and his wife Ruth's regular 'family meal' for 50+ people. I call it a meal - it's more like a feast!
Like any feast, it takes a lot of preparation. Charlie and Ruth spend quite a bit of time thinking through recipes and making food selections. Every 'Grub' has its own theme, and this time the theme was St. Patrick's Day (which also happens to be my birthday) - so Irish food reigned supreme.

Charlie starts cooking the day before, and when I got up in the morning I jumped into the fray, hardly stopping until guests arrive at 6:30pm. Charlie never stops hosting, nor does he sit down to taste the meal. His meal is the event itself.

After a scrumptious meal and dessert, entertainment begins. Everyone has the opportunity to share their creativity, to read or recite something that has touched them, or simply to sit and watch and listen. What a wonderful mixture it is! In the video below is just a sampling of the gifts expressed - jokes, a bluegrass band, and poetry by one Josephus.

And last but not least, my song about Spring - 'Breathe Deep'.

Vlog Day 10 - Harrisonburg to Greensboro, NC

I spent the night with my friends Joshua, Emily and their daughter Miriam (thus the cute face to open the video) after my show at EMU's Common Grounds. It was really great to hang out with them, learn more about what they're doing and where they hope to go, and their couch and shower were a great blessing as well. We have a lot in common, and it'll be cool to connect with them down the road.
Hitting the road, I decided to take a couple detours from my direct route to Greensboro, NC. I visited Lexington, VA (home of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee for some years) but didn't have much time there, moving on to the Natural Bridge surveyed originally by a young George Washington, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. As at the National Mall, I wish I had more time to spend in these places - I can understand why tourism is such a big pastime: there's just so much great stuff to see!!
In Greensboro, I'm staying with Charlie and Ruth Jones. They're actors who run Peculiar People, and on Friday I'll be helping them host their newest gift, Greensboro Grub. It is a really cool thing where they host a dinner for 60 people in their home - people from all walks of life and backgrounds who live mostly in Greensboro and are creative. After dinner, we all gather to share our creativity or something special to us. I am SO excited to be part of this! Check out the video below for a tour of the apartment, and stay tuned for tomorrow's installment (s)!

Vlog Day 6 - Leesburg, VA

Another wonderful day today - church with the Kucks, then lunch, a nap, and the concert in Leesburg. On the way to the concert we visited Fireworks Pizza in Leesburg, which makes some excellent pizza in wood-fired ovens. And I have some of the coolest friends.
The youth group I played for were really into the music, and we had a lot of fun. Especially afterwards - they were trying to teach me some line-dancing steps, and you can see me trying to do the moves in the video below. I was cracking up while editing - so much fun making a fool of yourself among friends! =)

Vlog Day 2 - Washington Christian Academy and Severna Park

Here's some video from my second day of tour - it was a pretty full day, but lots of fun. I started out by playing at Washington Christian Academy where my friend Christy is a teacher. The kids really enjoyed it, and I was told some of the girls came up to her afterwards and said "I think I'm in LOVE!" =) Does that make it a success? I submit that it does. In this video you can watch some of my performance of 'Go From Here'. I apologize for the less-than-ideal sound. I also got to interact with some of the kids, which was a lot of fun. From the classroom to sliding down the hill on cafeteria trays. I won't give out any names for their own protection.. =)

The next bit of video is from Severna Park, where I played at Trip Beans' youth coffeehouse event. I was originally supposed to play there on Sunday, but bad weather canceled the event, and so Trip scrambled to set it up for Wednesday, which I really appreciate. Trip and his family were such a blast to meet, and it was a ton of fun to hang out with them and the youth group at the Evangelical Prsebyterian Church.