This March, f2fmi and The Lifefaqs Foundation will launch our most aggressive mission in Southeastern Connecticut to date. Touring schools, group homes, youth groups and churches, Twelve24 will bring their message and music to teens throughout our region. Twelve24 will confront issues that teenagers face today by using their message and personal stories to influence the choices that young people are making. Bookings are coming in left and right and we expect to do more than 15 different missions during the week.

However, all this cannot happen without your help! We need to get the band here and the goal is to raise $2,500 for their airfare this month. Will you help us make history in Southeastern Connecticut? Give your gift today of any amount and it will be applied directly to the airfare of the band.

Click HERE to give a 1x gift through the Lifefaqs Foundation (Paypal) and be a part of bringing Twelve24 for their first USA appearance!

You can also send your check by mail and make it payable to:

The Lifefaqs Foundation
P.O. Box 38
Montville, CT 06353

What is a musicianary, you ask? Good question! Why we haven’t taken time to explain this in all these years is beyond us. A MUSICIANARY is a MUSIC-MISSIONARY. The term is not original… we tried to buy the domain name when we first thought of it. Apparently, others have thought of this term and all the good ones are gone.

How did f2fmi get involved with Musicianaries?
Good question! It all started when Amy and I were living in the UK. in 2004. I was a radio d.j. at the University I attended and was invited to m.c. an event with thebandwithnoname at the end of a schools week in Canterbury. I became great friends with the lead singer, chipK and was impressed with the powerful way the band presented the Christian message. They spoke a language young people could understand using MTV-style performances with singing and dancing in school assemblies, lunch time concerts, character education classes and at Friday night concerts.

On Tour with the Band
After returning to the USA, I received a book deal from Tate Publishing. As a way of cross marketing the book, I named my book after the band’s 2nd album – Schizophrenix. Then, I went on tour with the band for 2 months in 2005 running their sound, doing some preaching and sitting through dozens of auditions. At the end of the tour, there were several recruits and I opened f2fmi in Belpre, Ohio to help musicianaries get to England once they had been accepted in to a band produced by Innervation Trust.

Carissa & Kylie
The first two musicianaries that f2fmi sent to England were Carissa Jardio and Kylie Evans in 2006. Carissa was from Tampa and went to the renown hip-hop church, Crossover. Kylie was part of a dance studio in Missouri, hailing from Lee’s Summit. The two girls raised support in months and the next thing they knew, they had both landed parts in thebandwithnoname as backup dancers.

The Lodz Mission with Passion 4 People International
Another big happening in 2006 was a collaborative NGA mission to Lodz, Poland. I was recruited to direct the mission for Evangelist Brad Butcher of Passion 4 People International. I took thebandwithnoname in to the schools of Lodz leading to a concert at the end of the week for more than 800 students.

Lucy & Jennifer
The next two to go to England were Lucy Wells and Jennifer Elrod. Lucy’s parents are missionaries from England that moved to Atlanta, GA with Operation Mobilization. We sent Lucy back as a reverse-missionary to the country of her birth! Jennifer, also from Georgia raised support to be in an Innervation band. Lucy is our longest standing musicianary, performing in the all-girl pop band, tbc.

Genetik
Musicianaries were coming home before their contracts were up. We were troubled by this because of the amount of work it took to get them over there. The question was raised, “How do we prepare them better so they will stay?” Trainings were introduced. Meetings and phone conferences followed. Paperwork. The answer turned out to be using The Message Trust, another schools work organization, to train our aspiring music missionaries. The Message founded an academy for music and evangelism called Genetik. We began to send our missionaries through their program in order to see if they could cut it in the UK before offering them permanent positions in schools bands.

Ryan & Morgan
Enter Ryan Griggs and Morgan Dinerstein. When I re-opened the f2fmi office in 2007 in Connecticut, I met both Ryan and Morgan at my new home church, Calvary Chapel. Both of them were presented with the opportunity. Both of them went to Genetik. Ryan was offered an internship with The Message and toured for a semester in a new project called Genetik Revolution. When his internship was over, Ryan and the team were offered permanent roles with The Message. The band was renamed Twelve24 and thrust in to schools all over Manchester in the fall 2008.

tbc in the USA
f2fmi changed roles in 2009 from tour coordinator to regional partner. We hosted tbc in Southeastern Connecticut for one of their famous schools weeks! tbc did many shows throughout the week leading up to a main event at Connecticut College’s Palmer Auditorium for 400+. You can read the official Mission Report here.

How will f2fmi Support the work of Musicianaries in 2010?
2010 is already proving to be an exciting year. Both Ryan and Lucy will remain in the UK touring the schools in their respective bands. f2fmi remains committed to keeping them on the field and rallying support for their cause in 2 major ways:

1. f2fmi and The Lifefaqs Foundation will bring Twelve24 to Connecticut in March to tour our schools and reach students in our community!

2. f2fmi is also committed to finding another musicianary for Innervation’s tbc. Are you between 18-24? Do you rap, dance, or sing and have a passion to share your faith? Would you like to become a MUSICIANARY? For more information, click here.