Texas Country Boys Updates Concerts 5/6/7

Concerts 5 and 6 were performed back to back in Izmail, a lovely city located on the Romanian border.  The tour bus had to travel through the “Green Corridor” of Moldova, which is Russian controlled to reach the ministry site.  The largest hall in the city was secured for the concert, but even this facility could not accommodate the local residents who wanted to attend the concert and there was a full house for both the 5:00 and 7:00 PM events.  The audience erupted as the band took the stage and with the immediate excitement that was shown, it was clear that the band would have no trouble preparing the overflow crowds to hear a well crafted message about forgiveness and acceptance from Michael Gott.  The double events took a toll on the band’s voices, but they gave their best in each audience.

Concert #7 was held in the largest building in the city of Belgorod, which happens to be the Baptist Church.  Sensing timidity on the part of the pastor and church leadership regarding the cutting edge style of outreach the Texas Country Boys and Michael Gott bring, the band adapted their set.  The Texas Country Boys came on stage wearing their hats,  but removed them before singing as an act of respect for the Baptist culture and church venue, something that was appreciated and helped ease the mind of church leaders who had initially opposed the concert.  The lower level of the building had a large constituency of church members who had invited friends and neighbors to attend, but the balcony was filled with a younger crowd, who had likely never entered the doors of the church before attending the concert event.  At the close of the concert, close to 200 positive decisions were tallied and members of the church approached Michael Gott asking for another concert!

Country Boys Update from Ukraine

We have received an update this Monday morning from The Country Boys updating us all on their first four concerts in the Odessa region. God is at work. As you read through this, lift them up to the Father in prayer as they continue this week. This update is written and provided to us by Amy Gott Pannell. (Micheal Gott’s daughter and MGI staff member who is handling their travel affairs)

Texas Country Boys 2018 Tour Blog – ODESSA CONCERTS

The Texas Country Boys returned to Ukraine and are off to a great start!  The American and Ukrainian support staff met the band at the airport in Kiev where all bags, instruments and band members arrived on time and in perfect working order; something that had been a matter of prayer prior to and throughout the time of travel.  The band immediately made the long journey to the famous port city of Odessa, located on the Black Sea, which would be their hub for the next 4 nights of concerts.

Concert #1: The House of Prayer Baptist Church, located in a densely populated suburb of Odessa hosted the band’s debut concert.  Those who attended witnessed a high energy performance that pointed to The Cross.  Michael Gott drew in the attention of the crowd as he interviewed Michael Bridges who shared a personal story of tragic loss, restoration, and the goodness of God.  This first concert was the perfect setting for the the tech team, support staff and the band to meld into a single team, united in a single purpose – sharing Christ with the people of Ukraine!

Concert #2 was set on the stage of a well known 1,000 seat Concert Hall in central Odessa frequented by secular performers.  Early on it was clear that the venue would be close to full capacity as the contagious energy of the crowd filled the large auditorium.  Any kinks experienced with sound or logistics had been worked out and the band hit the stage with confidence and power.  When Michael Gott stood to preach a hush fell across the room.  His message of forgiveness was skillfully translated into the Ukrainian language in a relaxed atmosphere of acceptance.  When the concert came to and end, hundreds of positive responses were recorded.

To reach the site of Concert #3, the tour bus and technical vans had to travel over 3 hours to a city rarely visited by foreigners.  This small city, whose name translates to “First of May” only has one concert hall – that proved far too small for the groundswell of interest by local residents.  It was obvious that the city was home to mostly low income residents lacking a hope filled future.  As the doors opened there was no doubt  that there would be an overflow crowd with no place to sit.  Realizing the reality of the situation, the local pastor enlisted the help of other church members to move through the auditorium and ask people they recognized as Christians to give up their seats for unbelievers.  For this reason it is estimated that the overfilled auditorium was packed with an audience that consisted of 90% non-Christians.  Undeterred by the lack of seating, the crowd pushed in and the aisles were packed with people who stood for over an hour to hear the Texas Country Boys and Michael Gott as they shared a message of hope and forgiveness.  Sadly, even the aisles became so overcrowded that more than 100 people had to be turned away.  Those who had given up their seat, remained outside the concert and prayed for the salvation of their friends and neighbors who were inside.  The band, moved by the energy and emotion in the room gave their all.  Michael Gott called the lost to receive the forgiveness offered by God through Jesus and the response was amazing, with almost 300 decisions being recorded!

Before the start of the 4th Concert the support staff did what they do before each Texas Country Boys Concert.  They fanned out through the 1,200 seat hall and as they touched each seat, prayed for the person who would be seated there.  Despite an unexpected change in the concert start time, the band remained flexible and delivered a high energy, high quality musical performance that was both entertaining and evangelistic.  With the hall near capacity, the crowd joined in and participated eagerly.    When the responses were tallied, one card in particular caught the attention of the staff.  Instead of simply checking “yes or no” as to whether he had opened his heart to Jesus, a young man wrote “I can’t. It’s not that easy.  If you have questions here is my phone number.” Upon seeing the card, Michael Gott immediately called the young man and after a brief conversation, the young man agreed to periodic phone conversations with Michael to talk more about God.  The next morning the band received an emotional phone call from the local host pastor.  The sound engineer from the concert venue had come to Sunday morning worship and during the invitation he responded and told the church that he had been at the Texas Country Boys concert the night before and now wanted to live for God.  The pastor said that although they had not even begun to start contacting people from the concert, they were already seeing the fruit of the clear and loving message that had rung out in their city.

Pray for Texas Country Boys 2018 Ukraine Mission

It has been a year since we have posted on this blog site. Several of our Singing Men members are ministering this week in Ukraine with The Texas Country Boys and Michael Gott once again.

They are coming up on their second week in country and have many back to back concerts coming up. They are doing a total of 12 major concerts. You have always been faithful to pray for the ministry in Ukraine. We are asking you to do that again.

They aren’t posting a daily blog, but they do have a website and a prayer guide that you can find.

Click here for their website:   Texas Country Boys Website

Click here for a PDF Prayer Guide:  Texas Country Boys 2018 Prayer Guide

You can also find them on Facebook at: Facebook/TexasCountryBoys

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray for the Singing Men and Michael Gott missions to Ukraine over the past 10 years. God certainly has done some amazing work.

Be watching this site in the next months as the entire North Central Singing Men group, along with Michael Gott, prepares to go to Hungary and Romania April 29 thru May 10, 2019. We will be posting in the coming months more details and ways to pray.

Blessings.

Final Concert in Zhitomir

The grand finale of the Ukraine 2017 Texas Country Boys Road Tour has taken place! It happened in a overpacked theatre in the center square of Zhitomir. There was an energy of excitement in the air that could be sensed as people flooded into the theater as soon as the doors were opened. By concert time there were more people in the hall than were allowed and people were still streaming in. The hall director closed the doors and would not let anyone else in. Concert attendees who were turned away argued and pleaded to be let in.  MGI workers asked the director to at least let the overflow crowd stand outside the doors and listen. It is estimated that at least 200 people were turned away.

Backstage, before the concert, the band prayed with a man who came with a heavy heart because his son has cancer and was too ill to attend.  They encouraged him and gave him a Texas Country Boys t-shirt to take to his son as a gift from the band.

The Texas Country Boys gave the audience a truly amazing concert, adding extra music, throwing t-shirts into the crowd and giving their all on stage. Those who had to stand throughout the concert did not seem to mind and remained standing in the aisles and along the walls to listen intently to Michael Gott as he spoke. Despite people being turned away and not getting to hear the Gospel in the music and the message, 529 people who were in the audience recorded positive decisions.

The response to this tour was so positive that invitations to return as well as new invitations to cities where they’ve not been are already coming in. Stay tuned for the next chapter in the Texas Country Boys story!

Poltava Concert

On Wednesday, the Texas Country Boys traveled to the city of Poltava. About 800 of the city’s 150,000 residents filled the concert hall to hear them.  Their brand of music was received with broad applause and vocal gratitude as some even yelled out and stood to cheer.

Michael Gott referenced a current article from an international magazine when he spoke to the audience of all ages. It was evident that the message was one that sparked the interest of those who heard as they listened intently.

At the close of the concert The Texas Country Boys left the stage to greet the audience in the lobby.  Thankful people surrounded them to express gratitude for the free concert and get a photo. Meanwhile, in a private room, a team was counting, and recounting the decision forms that had been turned in.  442 positive decisions were collected in the city of Poltava. The tour bus pulled out afterward to make the 5 hour drive to Kiev so that the band could prepare for the final concert in Zhitomir. Please ask God for His blessing on The Texas Country Boys and Michael Gott as they finish the tour on Thursday.

(Editor’s Note: As of the time this is posted (10/26/17 – 11:30 am Central Time the Country Boys are in the middle of their final concert. Say a prayer for them right now as you read. Pray that this final concert will produce a great harvest of souls.)

Kharkiv Concert

Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine with a population of around 1,500,000 people. It is located less than 20 miles from the Russian border and has remained stalwart in its stand for Ukrainian autonomy. This huge population center has a small percentage of evangelicals with only a hand full of small Baptist churches.

The evangelistic concert effort in Kharkiv presented special challenges. The Texas Country Boys were met with opposition by Baptist leadership who were uneasy promoting their upbeat style of music. Despite the Baptist boycott, a number Christian young people came not just as observers but as volunteers. Since MGI had completed an English Language Evangelism Event just 2 months earlier, the majority of the concert attendees were former MGI students who had been contacted with a special invitation.

In spite of intrusive interruptions regarding parking problems during the presentation of the Gospel message, Michael Gott and his translator were able to remain poised and clearly share. 353 people recorded positive responses to Christ.

Monday Concert in Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia, population 750,000 was the site of back to back concerts for the Texas Country Boys and Michael Gott on Monday.  Both concerts were at or beyond capacity, and in both concerts the audience was comprised of a majority of unbelievers.

When the Texas Country Boys sang a song to honor the 4,000+ Ukrainian’s who have died defending the Eastern border in the armed conflict against Russian separatist aggression, some could be seen crying openly. Others raised their cell phones, lighters or flashlights to pay tribute.

Before the start of the second concert, a woman shared with an MGI worker that she had come to the concert with a very heavy heart. In fact, she had been so desperate that she had been contemplating ending her own life. The prayer team prayed for her by name during the concert.  We rejoice in knowing that she was in the right place at the right time to hear the right message shared at the very point of her personal need.

When Micheal Gott spoke he started with a question , “Who can you trust?”, which is a poignant subject in the current uncertain Ukrainian political climate. As Michael shared a clear and simple Gospel message, crowds in both concerts sat spellbound. When given the opportunity to place their trust in Jesus Christ a combined total of 1021 concert attendees responded with a “yes” on their forms to indicate their desire to trust in Jesus.