Obviously, it was not our musical expertise, equipment or looks that made us successful!  It was a combination of faith, love, youthful zeal, contemporary music, interracial complexion and joy in the Lord that God so wonderfully used to bring thousands into the Kingdom of God.  While we were usually in a church service every Sunday morning and evening, the rest of the time we were “in the streets.”  And oftentimes the Sunday morning church services were just a means to the end of getting out into the market place with the Gospel.  It mattered not whether it was a street corner…shopping center…city park…prison…beach…parking lot…race track…high school auditorium or college quad – we went there with the love of Jesus!  And through the years our “uniforms” and “hair styles” changed – but not our passion!

Quite frankly, we should not have survived some of the places we went to!  Places where an interracial Christian group had never been before.  But God was gracious and always brought us back with “fruit for our labors.”  However, most of those “street ministries” were just times of seed sowing that we will only know the full results of when we get to heaven.  But God showed us enough tangible fruit to know that “His Word never returns void” (Isa. 55:10-11).

So, I hope the following pictures that I have picked from hundreds in our files will bring back some wonderful memories.  I also hope they will remind you to continue to be “radical for Jesus” – regardless of your age or sphere of influence!

Finally,

please send this on to any ND Alumni that you have contact with

– along with other family and friends who might enjoy this “walk down memory lane” with us…

In His Faithful Love,

JL & Patt

PS:  Don’t forget to

mark off the first weekend of August

to be with us for our exciting “40th Anniversary Celebration.” It will be Friday evening through Saturday evening with some free time in between to visit local family and friends.  So PLEASE be with us for this wonderful time of meeting old ND friends, singing, sharing, eating, laughing, crying and rejoicing over all God has done in and through our lives!  And bring your children and grandchildren!

My last report revolved around some of our early “Easter Beach Outreaches” on the Grand Strand of Ocean Drive and Myrtle Beach.  I hope you enjoyed seeing those pictures.  Isn’t it amazing that we survived those radical invasions we did of the beaches?  Were we crazy, or what?!  God was so good and gracious!  I will do another report on the Easter Outreaches later with more pictures.

Another pioneer ministry venture for us was when we did two years of musical programs at CBN.  As you will recall, Pat Robertson wanted to branch out from the “700 Club” with a program that would reach out to young people.  Somehow we were chosen as the musical ministry to pioneer this concept for them.  And for a month each summer, we literally lived in the studio night and day filming – after first spending days and nights recording the songs here in Burlington so we could lip sync the words on set. 

As you will recall, Walter Clark did a lot of the choreography while Patt did the staging – telling everyone where to stand.  And on set we were “mov’in and groov’in!”  Amazingly, those programs were aired all over the United States – in spite of our outfits!

And it was through those programs that Moose Smith and Bobby Page ended up going on staff full time with CBN for a number of years.  God indeed works in strange and mysterious ways His wonders to perform!

We hope to show a few selections from these programs at our BIG “40th Anniversary Celebration” the first weekend of August.  It should be a hoot!  And as you will see from the following pictures, “Elvis is still somewhere in the house!”

Finally for now, I still have scores of different stories to write about with pictures in the weeks and months ahead leading up to our reunion.  So please help me network these reports with any of the ND’s that you have contact with.  And PLEASE plan to be with us for our reunion Aug. 1 – 2.

In His Hilarious Love,

PS:  If some of you want me to put your children on this special “ND Alumni List” so they will receive these emails, just send me their email addresses.  However, some of you might not want them to see you when you were a teenager!

An Action Experience in Christian Love

Charles Alston singing: “I Did His Way”

Marie :Mama Soul” Curry singing “Oh Happy Day!”

Who remembers the song to go with this set?

Steve Hearn leading the group.

Paul Smith belts forth “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”

Marie and Charles sing a duet with Duffy playing away on the drums!

Steve “Moose” Smith, prepares to film one of his songs. We could never have done these programs without his creative musical directing!

Who of us can ever forget “Proud Mary . . . Rollin, Rollin, Rollin down the River!”

ND’s, can you find yourself in this picture. All who do, please send us an email.

Did I really have hair that long?!

Yes, Elvis is still in the house!

Early 1970’s in Haiti on TV

1981 at Aldersgate

1980’s at a Music Festival

1980’s in a mall

In a High School

In Concert

Sunday Morning with the New Directions

In Church

In Church

In a Shopping Center

Faithful Sarah Lea never missed being in her place on stage!

Sarah and her ND sisters, Joan and Joy

Sarah always was attentive to whoever was sharing their testimony or speaking.

Always smiling on stage!

A more faithful teammate you could never find than Sarah Lea!

Frankly, we had to be a bit crazy to do what we did then!  To invade Myrtle Beach as an interracial Christian singing group was a bit suicidal!  It is a wonder we survived as we set up our flatbed in the horseshoe at OD across from the Pavilion…or Spanish Galleon…Fat Jacks…or the Pad – and sang about Jesus!  And then to go nose-to-nose with the Budwiser Clydesdales, Bush Mountain and the Coers Silver Bullet was a bit insane!  But God blessed both our faith and foolishness!  Lives were changed for time and eternity because of the songs we sang…the testimonies we gave…the messages we preached.

Since this is our “40th Anniversary” as a ministry, I am posting a few of the Easter pictures from the earliest trips around 1973 until our last ones in the latter 1980s.  I hope you will enjoy looking at them and that they will bring back a lot of special memories.  Even more, I hope and pray that these pictures will freshly inspire you to be just as “radical for Jesus” now as you were then!

Finally, I will be ministering in Haiti this Easter so I do covet your prayers as I once again invade the bastion of voodoo with the liberating Gospel of the Lord Jesus.

In His resurrection love and power,

JL

PS:  I want to again remind you of our special “40th Anniversary Reunion” the first weekend of August – so mark it off on your calendars!  And please pass this email along to any of the old ND’s that you are in contact with.

This was not only a promotional event for Marie’s new CD, it was also a time to promote the “Charles Alston Memorial Church” we are going to build in Haiti.  With your prayers and support, it will be ready for dedication in the summer of ‘09.  We also hope that many of the ND family will go down with us for the dedication—along with Marie and her family.  We will have some special concerts at the same time in Haiti—just like in the “good ol’ days!”  So start planning now to be with us for this exciting trip!  Many of you ND’s could take your children along and let them experience Haiti just like you did as a teenager.

Finally, don’t forget to reserve the dates of the first weekend of August for our historic “40th Anniversary Celebration.”  We will kick off on Friday night with lots of “mini-concerts” by ND Alumni who are still doing musical ministry.  Then Saturday will be filled with more music, sharing, laughter, tears, videos—and lots of good food!

In His Faithful Love,

Marie, Jennifer and Josh singing Marie singing with her two daughters, Elizabeth (left) and Jennifer (right) Marie can still play a tamborine! Mama Soul can still deliver the goods! Marie singing with all 4 of her children, Jennifer, Emmanuel, Josh & Elizabeth (left to right) Josh singing songs he wrote—sounding just like Charles Josh was like watching and listening to a “Little Charles” on stage! It was such a privilege for me to pray for Marie and her new CD Patt and me with the “Charles & Marie Alston Clan” Marie with her girls, Jennifer and Elizabeth Does this not look just like Charles smiling?! Faithful Alumni, John and Jane Fraser were there to celebrate with us Marie, her children and musicians The CD’s by both Charles and Marie for sale to help build the church in Haiti

If you do not have this latest CD, you can either order it directly from Marie or from NDI.  -  JL