In Dallas

I'm in Dallas, TX for the month of January, but not because the Cowboys are in the playoffs (are they still? I don't really follow sports).. I'm actually taking a language survey course at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics while exploring ethnomusicology and other opportunities for missions involvement. I'm still trying to figure out where I 'Go From Here'. I'm hoping this month will give me some clarity.

I arrived in what I thought were 'warmer climes' only to discover that it is currently the coldest it has been here in Dallas in over ten years. I guess I brought the cold with me... needless to say, I am glad for all the sweaters my mom made me bring. =) Thanks Mom!

Reviews

A friend recently got in touch with me on Facebook, saying he ran across a review of my latest album (Breathe Deep) on The Phantom Tollbooth. Intrigued, I went looking for it and sure enough found it was posted on June 16th, 2009. Here's an excerpt from the review, and you can link to the full review HERE:
  "What makes this album, Breathe Deep, so good is Hiram's penmanship. He is a great songwriter/wordsmith. Combine that with the airy guitar-based folk of his musical style, it makes for an enjoyable listen... It is poetic, musical, and honest. Hiram has put together an excellent album full of hope you can sit down and contemplate your navel to, or just play for enjoyment." 4/5 stars! - Robert Boynton, The Phantom Tollbooth
I just ran a Google search for 'hiram ring breathe deep review' and found another great review HERE on Adequacy.net - excerpt below:
   "Ring’s debut record suggest that there’s no suffering or turmoil that can’t be at least neutralized a little bit through some inspirational six-string strumming and a dose of hopefulness... there’s a heartwarming sincerity to be found in his fragile tenor and in the percussive beating of the guitar... If you feel like your life is in the doldrums, Hiram Ring’s music can probably help dig you out... His music, like his faith, is all about finding and embracing the light that can come out of dark places." Adam Costa, Adequacy.net
At the moment I'm packing for Germany, where I'll be joining a team from my church in teaching conversational English to German highschoolers for three weeks. I'll be video blogging on my YouTube site, and will try to keep this blog updated as well. When I get back, work will continue on the Sacred Songs project I started with Matthew Monticchio - we're also working on updating a Pageant Music blog, and I'll let you know when we get that up and running.

Vlog Day 56 - Grandview

I wandered around Grandview, Missouri a bit today - had lunch with my friend Phil, visited IHOP's prayer room, which has teams that keep prayer and music going 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's pretty cool - you'd have to experience it for yourself. The facilities are a bit spread out within the town of Grandview (part of the sprawl that is Kansas City), but part of the land is located across the street from the Truman Farm, which is where President Harry Truman spent part of his life, learned to farm, and 'gained his common sense', according to his mother. I stopped at what is left of the farm and was able to take the cell-phone guided tour. Pretty interesting, and not super involved, which was nice.

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 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 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 30 - Wycliffe Headquarters

Today I visited Wycliffe in Orlando, met with some folks and visited with some old friends. I love the folks here - very welcoming and friendly and excited about what they're doing. Missionaries are some of the coolest 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.