Take me to Africa: RainSong Guitars
As I look back at the last four years at Guitars For Glory, it' easy to see a clear trail of God's provision for the organization. Big things, small things, and what we thought at the time were unanswered prayers proving to be all but that, through clearer and better plans. I've personally had times where i've questioned the validity and importance of GFG and our mission. "Is all this time we're investing into this thing really worth it? Are we making any difference? It'd be a lot easier to find another Netflix original and throw your feet up." I don't think those questions are necessarily bad things, especially if they lead to a place of refocus and prioritization our goals. One of things that God continues to use to validate the effectiveness of Guitars For Glory is through our industry partners and givers.
As a non-profit that is giving guitars to people in need, it's quite common to have individuals and businesses to latch onto what we're doing. I mean, it is pretty cool! Let me be clear, we are not cool, but giving guitars away is cool. We get the question, "What can we do to help!?" We usually send over a list of things from financial support, to helping generate awareness, subscribing to our coffee platform, or sending product donations that get passed along to our recipients. More times than not, not much comes from it. We know these requests to get involved are well intentioned! But good intentions often get trumped by whats easy, and it's easier to go about your day to day routine than to sacrifice time or money. I'm not pointing fingers. If you were to give me a rating on the 1-10 scale (10 being the highest) how good I am at follow-thru, i'd probably score a 3.5. And thats probably being generous. All that being said, in those moments of doubt its our handful of supporters and partners that remind us that GFG has a purpose, and that we need to keep on keeping on.
Every other Thursday night our team gets together and prays for the ministry, each other, and for all the people that have received guitars from GFG over the years. Recently we had a request come in for a RainSong guitar. If you know anything about RainSong guitars, you know that they are made of 100% graphite. They really are an incredible feat of engineering that solves a huge challenge that we run into often. RainSong guitars are immune to jumps in humidity and climate changes that wreak havoc and destroy guitars. Warping necks, sharp fret ends, failing glue joints, lifting bridges, bellying soundboards, buzzing notes, wood cracks and other humidity-related issues are no longer an issue. Well, you can also imagine that a guitar like this might carry a pretty hefty price tag. When we received the request, we all but wrote it off. The retail price on many of their guitars surpasses the $2,000 mark. For $2k we could place almost 10 guitars! One of our team members said, "well, lets just pray that God will meet this need, and see what happens."
The request was pretty specific. The guitar would be used for worship and to minister to kids in Togo, Africa. The recipient's Martin guitar succumbed to the humidity of Togo and had to be sent to the USA for repair. There is absolutely no way to protect a guitar in Togo. They try, but during the Harmattan season the humidity is all over the scale, sometimes super dry, sometimes very wet. Their best efforts to maintain consistent humidity and care are foiled. The rest of the year, the humidity is always 70-90 percent so keeping the guitar dry is pretty tough.
Long story short, we prayed for weeks. We connected with our good friend Lance over at Geartalk, who put us in touch with some great guys over at Worship Musician Magazine, who new some guys over at RainSong. They passed us their information, we reached out, and RainSong decided to do some big things for us. It's amazing how God ties us all together, makes connections that we could never make on our own, and weaves together a plan to get a graphite guitar off to Togo, Africa.
It would have been easy for RainSong to not return our call or email. It would have been easier for them to see lost profit, instead of a person. It would have been easier for them to go about their business as usual. Instead, they gave us a shot in the arm and changed someone's life forever. The guitars arrived last night. I have to admit, before opening them I was skeptical that a guitar made of carbon fiber could match up to my Martin. I've heard a few in the past, and have always thought they sounded great, but I'm a Martin guy. With something so bulletproof, it's easy to think that the company must have had to compromise on the purity and sound that comes with a well-crafted wood instrument. Let me tell you, you're not compromising anything with one of these. It's beautiful, and they sound incredible.
What's even more incredible. This guitar you see pictures will be making beautiful music in Togo, Africa next month. Thank you, RainSong!