It Takes a Village // Guitars For Glory Absorbs Midnight 30 Music

They say “It takes a village.”  And what they say is true. Over the last four years, you may have heard us mention how much we value our amazing team members…Upwards of thirty people that tirelessly and freely give their time to ensure that guitars come in and guitars go out, that our recipients are encouraged, and ultimately every aspect of our ministry gets the attention it needs. New York, South Carolina, Maine, Indiana, Belize, Netherlands, Spain, and Illinois…All places where our GFG family resides. Distance hasn't kept the family from growing. In fact, it's allowed us to be more intentional about communication.  I can personally attest that it's these people that have provided me with the greatest encouragement of my life when I needed it most. As my immediate family and I have walked through difficult trials, it's these people that have stood in the gap on our behalf. Today, I am eager to share about one of these people in particular and let you in on some exciting news!

If we were figuratively to rewind the film on the GFG story to the very early days of our ministry, when our vision was foggy, you would see that the only thing we really knew for sure was that God wanted us to put one foot in front of the other, moving forward and confidently with the vision He had instilled in our hearts.  Around that time, we received a knock on the door.  Of course, it was just a metaphorical knock, since we didn't even have an office or any sort of space at the time.  But the message was quite clear!  In fact, I just looked back to the very first email correspondence we had ever received and upon reading it again thought it best to share it verbatim with you:

1/16/2014

Hello,

My name is Joshua and I have a little guitar pedal building company called midnight30music that is beginning to do well. I follow you on Instagram and would very much like to be part of what you do.  My proposal is to dedicate 100% of the sale of one of my pedals to Guitars For Glory. I was thinking one pedal per month. Is this at all something you would be interested in? If not, I would love to know another way I can get involved in getting guitars in the hands of worshippers who need them. And I've got to tell you, I love giving guitars away!

Joshua of Midnight 30 Music in Belize, 2016 with Guitars For Glory.

As they also say, “The rest is history”.  Some of you reading this, who knows Joshua, whether it's through GFG, Midnight 30 Music, or his church, know that what his email expressed is a perfect word-picture of his beautiful heart. Joshua is never involved in anything for recognition or notoriety, but genuinely and intentionally desires to help people. His pedal company, Midnight 30 Music is a stunning reflection of who he is.  One can easily see this; not only in the beautiful pedal soundscapes he's spent countless hours perfecting, but also in the culture he has so carefully created with his customers. A few months ago in a moment of transparency Joshua shared about his discouragement with Midnight 30.  It’s not uncommon for a person to have moments where we question whether or not the work we are doing has value. "Is this really making a difference?"  It’s a question I think I ask myself almost daily.  It's a good thing to ask oneself.  A healthy dose of questioning may help ward off the risky status quo and dangerous complacency that so easily besets. Asking these same questions to a trusted supporter is especially beneficial, as they can often see what we cannot, both hard and good things.  In this case, Joshua needed to hear how his work had impacted our Guitars for Glory ministry.  So naturally when Joshua shared his “wonderings” with me, I shared this story with him...

Joshua of Midnight 30 Music teaching in Belize with Guitars For Glory, 2016.

A couple years ago in my own moment of "Is GFG really making a difference?" and during a time where money was so tight that I was unsure whether or not we were going to be able to meet the needs of a guitar applicant, I received a PayPal notification in our GFG account that Midnight 30 had sent us a donation.  It was that donation that allowed us to fulfill that need and our promise of a guitar.  How beautiful is that?  While we may not always feel the value of the work we are doing in every moment, others might. Let me also say, this happened on more than one occasion.  You see Joshua and his boutique pedal business have been woven into the fabric of our small non-profit from the very beginning. While others question the impact that a guitar can have in a ministry or person’s life, Midnight30 stepped in and said, "I believe in you."  And on more than one occasion, that is all it took to keep us going.

Two trips to Belize, dozens of pedal donations, bringing our team to his home church, involving and engaging his congregation to be supportive of GFG, worshipping together, and sharing family meals in his home brings us to realize that Midnight 30 Music IS Guitars For Glory.  After a recent conversation with Joshua, the opportunity arose for Guitars For Glory to absorb Midnight 30 Music into a new arm of our ministry.  We are incredibly excited and honored to transition M30 into the daily operation of GFG, while keeping the brains of the operation (Joshua) at the helm of his creations.  What does this mean? It means that 100% off the profit of each pedal sold will now assist Guitars For Glory in reaching more people than ever before. Each time you step on that switch on your M30 pedal, you can picture a smile on someone’s face that now has access to a guitar. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Each pedal will also be forever linked to a guitar recipient by a unique serial number.  That serial number will be housed in a database which will be linked to our website.  Simply type in your serial number on our site, and see who your pedal helped bless. 

For all you loyal Midnight30 customers, you may be wondering how this will affect business.  We’re here to assure you that it’s business as usual.  It will be a seamless transition over the next month and production lead times will not change. We are grateful to Joshua and excited for this opportunity.

Much love to you all! Stay tuned for more on this...

-Jeff