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Alright. These are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Hey, and welcome back to Words of Life. Today, we're going to share part one of a four-part conversation our host, Bernie Dake, had with some of the members of the Salvation Army's Southern Staff Band.
In early October of last year, this group of musicians set out on a 10-day tour of South Africa that would prove to be a life-changing event for everyone involved. As soon as this group returned home, they couldn't help share what God had done to their hearts during this trip. To learn more about the Salvation Army's music ministries, visit usmusicandarts.org. Welcome back to Words of Life. I'm Bernie Dake, and today is an incredible privilege for me because I am surrounded by people that I think of as brothers and sisters in Christ.
I'm excited for you to get to know them. They're all part of the Salvation Army's Southern Territorial Staff Band, and they've just come back from an incredible opportunity to be a part of an evangelical musical ministry in South Africa. Listen, you don't want to hear from me. Let's talk about the people all around me. Tell us who you are and what you do.
Hello, I'm Bethany Farrell. I am a member of the Territorial Music and Arts Department here in Atlanta, Georgia. And specifically, my role is over the creative arts side of things.
So we talk about theater, visual arts, and dance, and all sorts of creative, fun, and exciting things.
So it was fun for me to be a part of the band this week. And a little sidebar: Bethany's a mother of four daughters and a wife to her incredible husband who is helping her raise them. He's outnumbered. It is a crazy household, but it's lovely. Yeah.
And then across from me, I've got Daryl Brandon Crossland. Tell us who you are, sir.
Well, I am Daryl Brendan Crossland. I'm the Assistant Divisional Music Director for the state of Florida in charge of about 40 core or 40 churches that have music forces. We facilitate all the things that happen at those churches. As far as the staff band, I am the soprano player for them. Means I play all the high notes, get all the glorious endings and all stuff like that.
I've been doing that for, I guess, 20 years now, which is nuts to think about. But yeah. That's what I do. And Darryl's the daddy. I'm a young man and a husband to Lindsay, who's also a sister to me.
And we're grateful that she lets you come to be part of this recording. Very much so. Last but certainly not least, my brother Brad Roland, the award winning. Member of the Territorial Communications Department. Brad, tell us who you are and what you do.
As you said, my name is Brad Rowland. My actual job is whatever Bernie tells me to do. My title is Editorial Writer in our Communications Department here in Atlanta. In the band, I am part of the percussion section. Section leader.
I guess I am, yes. And setting things mostly about, as Bernie would know, mostly about setting things up. That's right. More so than actually hitting them with sticks. But we have a good time.
Yeah. If you're a percussionist in any band, you always have more equipment to set up than anybody else.
So you get a little love from me, Brad, as someone who is a, what do you say, an alumnus of this very same ensemble. But Brad and I actually go to church together here in Atlanta and get to play week to week. A regular ensemble.
So, you know about Brad. You heard about Daryl playing soprano. That's the high guy in the band that plays all the high notes and helps you hear the big finishes at the end specifically. And then Bethany is like a Swiss army knife. But tell everybody what you played in the band.
Okay, so I'm what you call a ringer, which is I'm not really a part of the band. I was like 20 years ago, which ages me a little bit, but I was called in kind of last minute because lovely, our second horn player was out having a baby. Very good reason to miss a trip. And so they called me in to step in and play alto horn second part. We play all the offbeats.
So oomp pop, oompa, oomp pop, pop. That's what we do. It was so much fun. To play with the band again. And in a brass band setting, the alto horn or the tenor horn, as our British compatriots generally refer to it.
It's like the French horn in an orchestra, too. They don't have to put their hand in the bell to make it sound good, but sometimes it sounds better when you do. Hey, you're listening to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. We're going to take a quick ad break, and we'll be right back. Faith shapes how we live, and it should shape how we steward our money, too.
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Can we talk about what it means to do a trip to South Africa so far away? What were you looking forward to the most? Where were you from a headspace point of view leading up to the trip? Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to the trip just because of the season that I'm always in in October. It is extremely busy with my job.
Every week has something, some type of event happening. It's hard to get away for two weeks, as well as I have a four-year-old, and I was like, man. Flying all the way to Africa. That's the only time I've ever had anxiety since I've had my son. And like just being afraid that, you know, something might happen so.
It was tough. I ain't gonna lie. I was thinking about not doing it and being like, all right, peace out. Y'all will be good. Find somebody else.
So I can relate to that, Daryl. That's true. Yeah. I think this is my first time traveling internationally since having my children. And so that's been, first of all, a long time.
But also, it was weightier to think about leaving. Like my prayers for preparation weren't about what they used to be, but it was more like safety over my family, safety for the band.
So true. You know, I was kind of thinking more about the logistics of things and all the things that needed to get ticked off the list and prepped, especially because I came into it a little bit later.
So it was such a stark realization when I finally landed. I was like, oh, now I'm here. Like it was all the preparation and my heart was just not prepared for all that was going to happen while we were there. It was really beautiful. What about you, Brad?
I'd love to hear where you were leading up to this ship. Yeah, without having children of my own. It was a different preparation. I had a little bit of what Daryl referenced about just the season and it being difficult to be away. Without going too deep into this, I have a bit of a side hustle.
I cover sports. On the side, both writing and podcasting. He's a big deal. All kinds of things like that. And it was knowing that what we were going to be doing, I couldn't plan on doing anything in sports for two weeks.
And given the time of year, that gave me some anxiety. And also just. A little bit of the realization of like what it was going to be, and I think just trying to be intentional, honestly, about the headspace. Once it became clear, like Daryl, we were going to go, we were going, yeah. You have to kind of get ready for it mentally, spiritually.
For me, a lot of that was encouraging myself. Be in the moment and not be distracted by what I wasn't able to do at home or what I was going to be gone for, or as I'm sure we'll talk about quite a bit, schedules and things that, like, I'm very buttoned up. I like to be on time. I got that from Bernie, I think. Not knowing what we're going to get into, honestly, having a schedule, but not knowing what it's going to be.
When we got there, this guy didn't matter anymore. It didn't really exist sometimes when we were there, to be honest with you. But being intentional about, Letting all of us, but especially me, just like be there and not be somewhere else mentally and spiritually. And then you also have a second role in the job per se, because as a writer and a regular contributor to our Southern Spirit publication here in the Southern Territory, you had a responsibility to think about how you were going to report this tour. after the fact and and that has a pretty heavy thing for you.
Absolutely. I was the one. Maybe other people did this too, but I had to do it professionally. I have. Quite a long set of notes from our trip.
Basically, every hour of the day for the 10 plus days we were gone, I have a note for somewhere, whether it was a quote or a reminder of what we were doing. And it's both good and bad. And sometimes I have to do things where I am in work mode, and that's not always the best. But also, it does help me to chronicle what we did and remember what we did, and having to write about it. Honestly, getting to write about it before we are talking now.
processing a lot of what happened. A lot of what we were able to do and Putting a little bit of myself in that, but also gathering stories from. People at this table and people that are not at this table that were with us, and talking to people throughout the trip about what they were getting out of it, and trying to get a feel for. what the band was experiencing both in the moment and then also after asking around like for experiences and memories and things. And that I think helps to put it all in context.
Yeah. And I don't know how you guys feel, but I'm glad that I came into it this way, not with like the stress or worry of what was happening at home, but 'cause I really, once we got moving, I wasn't worried, but I didn't have any expectations for the trip. Which Maybe it is a little different for me. I usually do tons of research and I have all of these things, but coming into this trip, I just felt like a blank slate of what the Lord was going to do and provide and bring on that trip. And so I'm glad that I went into it with no expectations at all and just open and ready to what was going to happen.
Beautiful. We pray that you're enjoying and being blessed by this conversation. Yeah. We're going to take one more ad break and we'll be right back. Faith shapes how we live, and it should shape how we steward our money, too.
That's why 316 Financial exists. We're an online bank created to help people align their finances with their faith and their values. At 316 Financial, 10% of our profits are given back to faith-based ministries, supporting work that makes a lasting difference. It's a simple idea. Everyday banking can be a powerful way to live generously, and you don't have to sacrifice quality to bank with purpose.
316 Financial offers modern online banking, no-monthly fees, free ATM access nationwide, and competitive interest rates designed to help your money grow responsibly. Whether you're saving for the future, managing everyday expenses, or looking for a bank that reflects what matters most to you, 316 Financial makes it easy to bank with intention. Learn more and open an account today at bank316.com. Banking services are provided by 316 Financial, a development Vision of Primace Bank, member FDIC. For our listeners, a Salvation Army band is, you know, a way that we can.
bring music to wherever we're having an evangelical service. We used to refer to the band as the portable organ because in the early days of the Salvation Army, the brass band would be used to accompany open air services and then they might march back to the church or what we call the core, and then people would be invited to follow the band back and There's some really great stories about that type of evangelism. But here in the United States, to put a band like this together, we bring people from all over the 15 southeastern United States.
So there's multiple flights involved to get people here to Atlanta. You would have had to have some rehearsal. They would have talked about the schedule and made sure everyone had all their uniform bits and pieces. But now we're ready to go.
So tell us. What happens when you leave Atlanta? What's next? First was a flight to very long flight. Multiple flights.
Where are we flying? Amsterdam. Amsterdam. Uh yeah. Just imagine uh like 17 hours of flying.
Yeah. With a four-hour layover. With a four-hour layover. And knowing, too, like what we're going to do. It's an interesting feeling knowing that we're going for a reason, we're not just going for fun.
Yes. but also having to wait that long to get there. Even when we landed, we got there very late at night. We didn't just dive right in. We kind of like, all right, reset a little bit.
But we did meet before in Atlanta, which I think I wanted to at least mention. We don't usually do that before a trip. We usually meet where we go. But we met in Atlanta for rehearsal. And I don't know about you guys, that actually was really important for me to play, to hear everybody, to see everybody.
I wrote about this, and I'll try not to get emotional. We played this arrangement that we do of a hymn called Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. That was the moment I think I was like, okay, I'm ready to go now. Having that little bit of a reset before we even went to the airport, knowing that, as Derek alluded to, the flight was coming. The flights.
were coming that I was kind of dreading. I don't really love air travel. And especially very long air travel. But to have that preparation was very helpful. Yeah, Bethany likes air travel more than I do.
I love it. Listen, I'm a mom of four small kids, so the fact that I got to sit in one seat for like 12 hours and nobody asked me for anything, they brought me snacks, I loved it. I agree. That pause in Atlanta is like a safe little cocoon pause where we got to rehearse, we prayed together, we kind of mentally prepared our hearts. That was a really good mention on the turn your eyes upon Jesus because it hit me in that moment as well.
It's like, all right. Di D focus focus on what we're doing, where we're going. Whole purpose of this entire trip is to tell people about Jesus. Like, so it was. It was good.
I love that you mentioned that chorus because the words are so special, and in case our listeners don't know it. The words are Turn your eyes upon Jesus. look full in his wonderful face. and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace.
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These are the These are the words of life. These are the words. These are the words. These are the words of life. Thanks so much for listening to Words of Life.
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Hello, hello. Ponice Petway here, co-host of the Your Daily Bible Verse podcast. Are you someone who loves to take a deep dive into God's Word, one verse at a time, to explore his will for your life and desire to draw closer to him? If that sounds like you, I'd love to invite you to head over to lifeaudio.com and search your daily Bible verse to tune in and subscribe for daily inspiration, life application, and spiritual transformation through the in-depth exploration of God's Word. I'm Mark Vinette, host of the Historical Jesus Podcast, which presents the new series, Miracles, focusing on biblical miracles from the Old and New Testament.
Join me on the Historical Jesus podcast as I explore the interesting, compelling, intriguing, and wonderful miracle stories of the Bible and the many great miraculous events inspired by the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
