Faith:REFINED Summer '07 Newsletter I hope everyone is having a GREAT Summer!! Faith:REFINED has been taking some time off to write new music, make new contacts, re-organize and refresh. But don't worry, we will be back when the school season starts, with some new material, and maybe some new faces! In the mean time, we have kept busy with several songwriting competitions, church performances and life in general. Your e-mails have greatly encouraged us, and we love hearing from you. Feel free to drop us a note anytime at dlrice@debbielrice.com. You never know, you just may see your message here in our newsletter! Latest News: Praise God! We just received the following news: Congratulations, you have been selected to receive an Honorable Mention in the 11th Annual "Unisong" International Song contest. This year featured the highest overall quality of songs, lyrics, and writers ever submitted by far, with the most diverse and varied entries from a multitude of countries representing every continent on Earth except Antarctica (and songwriting penguins out there). The judging therefore was extremely competitive and to be singled out anywhere in the top 15% of all songs submitted was no easy feat. Your song, "They Chose Me" received an Honorable Mention in the L.U.N.C. H. category, (www.lunchensemble.com) where all net proceeds will go to benefit social programs they sponsor in the areas of hunger, homelessness, substance abuse, & domestic abuse. All songs entered in this special category had to address any of these four main themes or similar variations. Results are posted on our website at: http://www.unisong.com. Thank you Lord! (You can hear this song on our Indieheaven page: www.indieheaven.com/artists/debbielrice) Prayer Requests Please keep our wonderful vocalist, Melinda Bedrich, and her family in your prayers. Melinda's mother, Delores Key, recently went to be with Jesus after a long and courageous battle with Cancer. We know as believers that she is dancing with Jesus, but the loss is still hard to take. Mrs. Key was a beautiful lady, and she lead many to the Lord, including her own children. She was a delight to be around, and a source of inspiration and happiness to all who knew her. Our prayers and thoughts are with Melinda during this time. Featured Member of the Month: Nick Benevidez, Bass Player Extraordinaire!! Debbie L. Rice first met Bassist Nick Benavidez when they both served as counselors at Church camp. Nick was then a member of the Youth group, and although Debbie had seen him play bass with the Youth band at their church, this was the first time she had a chance to get to know him. "My son, Joshua, was in Nick's cabin at camp, so I was able to hear all about the fun Nick brought to their group...probably more than he wanted me to know!" Debbie says. Nick began playing bass at the age of 14. He played for the Willow Drive Baptist Youth for 4 years, and has played for various Churches and festivals along the way. He lives in Lake Jackson, and is currently attending college. Visit Nick at his MySpace page and say "Hi!" www.myspace.com/nicholasbenavidez Store: You can purchase our 1st CD, "By Faith" at our Indieheaven website. Songs are available for digital download, or you can purchase the actual CD and have it shipped to you, from the following website: www.indieheaven.com/artists/debbielrice We also have several of our newest singles, Including "They Chose Me" available for digital download. You can purchase these individually at our Indieheaven.com website. www.indieheaven.com/artists/debbielrice _____________________________________________________________________________ Faith:REFINED is: (left to right) Nick Benevidez, Melinda Bedrich, Debbie L. Rice, Pamela Bieri, Tommy Meador _________________________________________________________________________________ Our God is Awesome! I have a story to share with you. I hope you take the time to read this: Ok, this is going to be long, and I apologize in advance, but I have to explain things so I can show what an awesome God we have!! This is about our song, "They Chose Me" which was recently at the Number 1 spot on the Indieheaven.com FanFaves chart. Our former guitarist Tommy heard an interview that Mark Schultz did on our local Christian Radio Station KSBJ (more about them later). Mark was discussing his "Bike across America Tour" in support of adoption. Tommy was so impressed with the interview that he called me and told me we needed to write a song about adoption. I have an adopted daughter (Emma, from China) and my father was adopted at birth so I have a heart for the subject too. I asked God for the inspiration, and had the song the very next day. I've felt from the beginning that this song was not mine. It's meant to get out to a much larger audience than I can give it. So, I've wanted to give this song to Mark Schultz since he was the inspiration for it. But have you ever tried to communicate with a major CCM star?? Not happening!! I've tried all his websites, and the James Foundation (which is sponsoring his Bike Tour) but I've had no response. And that is understandable. I'm basically a 'nobody' in this business, and I understand how the system works, but I felt I had to at least try, right? Fast Forward: "They Chose Me" reached Number one on the Indieheaven.com Fan Faves chart fairly quickly thanks in part to this newsletter mail out and the support of all you! (Thanks again!!). Because of our excitement about reaching the top spot, I sent out another brief announcement to this distribution list just to let everyone know we had reached Number 1 and to Thank everyone for their support. I felt prompted to send the announcement to our local Christian Radio Station, KSBJ. Now, KSBJ is one of the largest Christian Radio Stations in the Nation, often winning the Major Market Station of the Year every year. I decided to send my announcement to the station Music Director, Mr. Jim Beeler. However, I did not have his e-mail address, and I had already searched the website and Google for it with no luck. I tired several variations of Mr. Beeler's name with the KSBJ e-mail address and sent my announcement to all of them. Because I use Constant Contact for my distribution list, I am able to see who opens my e-mails. Praise God, one of the variations was opened by Mr. Beeler within the hour that it was sent! So, I knew he had read it, and I didn't really expect a reply. It was enough just to know that he now knew my name, my song's name, and all about Indieheaven. Maybe he would stop by someday and listen. That was last month. A few weeks ago, I was listening to KSBJ and heard an announcement that stopped me in my tracks. Jim Beeler and KSBJ Station Manager Tim McDermont were traveling to Ohio to meet with Mark Schultz and take part in his Bike tour! Tim would ride along with Mark, and Jim Beeler would broadcast live from the tour! God told me this was not a coincidence. The one person at KSBJ that I had an email address for was going to be with the one person I really wanted to have my song given to! I immediately sent Mr.Beeler an e-mail explaining the whole situation to him. I included the lyrics and the song as an attachment. Now, in the real world, you would assume that...1st of all he would not open the e-mail because it had an attachment. 2nd, it might be filtered because of the attachment since this was his work address. 3rd, by the time I heard the announcement, they were due to leave in 2 days. Mr. Beeler might not even be coming back to work before he left on the trip, and 4th if he did, he may not take the time to read e-mails from people he didn't even know. BUT. This was a God thing, not the real world! Within the hour I had a reply from Mr. Beeler stating that he would do his best to give the song to Mark! That meant that at the very least he had to burn a CD and print out the lyrics. Praise God again!! I e-mailed him back, thanking him and letting him know I would be praying for him, Tim, their families, and Mark's mission. He replied with his Thanks. So now I had established an e-mail relationship with him. Maybe he would remember me. A few days went by, and I was able to keep track of their trip through Marks Video blogs of the trip. You can check out the blogs here: http://www.markacrossamerica.org/mapping_mark.php If you go to that site and click on the BLOG tab, then scroll down to the video that says "June 28th, 2007 East Aurora", watch that one. Tim McDermont is the one in the Yellow Jersey (he's the station manager for KSBJ), and you can see Jim Beeler with Mark at the very end of the video. He's the one holding the microphone in the Maroon shirt. Three days after they got back I could contain my curiosity no longer. I e-mailed Jim Beeler to ask him how it went. He told me he had personally placed the CD in Marks hands. (AMEN!) He said that Mark would probably not have time to listen to it until after the tour ended on the 15th of July. BUT HE HAS IT!!!! Our God is so awesome! Please, please pray that Mark will find the time to listen to the CD, and that the song will find favor with him, and that he will want to adopt it as his own. He has the ability to reach so many more people with the message of the song than I do. Or perhaps the James Foundation could use it in their promotional material. I don't know HOW it's going to be used, but I just know that it will be used mightily for God. Please keep this in your prayers! I know God would not have brought it this far to just let it fall by the wayside now. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Love you guys! Quick Links Indieheaven.com Faith:REFINED on MySpace Click HERE to vote for us on American Idol Underground! (We have two songs on the American Idol charts, "In Your Silence" and "They Chose Me") And, Just for some Summer Fun, we have added our favorite Kids song, "BreakOut" to the Indieheaven FanFaves Chart. Please give it a listen and your vote at: www.indieheaven.com/fanfaves.php Also, check us out on MCTMG Radio out of Nashville. They have a great site, and a way for you to download some FREE software that will allow you to listen to us and several other talented artists right from your desk top. You can find them at: http://mctmgradio.com (just click on the "Listen" button, and rate us when you hear our song!) and get the free software (Quick Picks) at: http://mctmgradio.com/MCTMG/qpod.php Get your free copy of CCM Magazine here: Hear our music on The Spirit Radio: ____________________________________________________________________ Question of the MONTH: Last month, we asked : What is the best gift you have ever received or given for Mother's Day? I must admit, that the best answer we recieved came from my own dear Mother. Her answer? Her children were the best gift she ever recieved! Awwwww, how could I not put that here? So Pat McCain (Mom), thank you for answering our Question of the Month! This month's question: What is the best Summer vacation you have ever had? Tell us where you are from, and the place you visited or the circumstances. Best vacation will win a FREE copy of our latest singles, including the Award winning "They Chose Me", so be sure and include your shipping address. Don't worry, I won't publish THAT information! But I will list the winner and runner's up here in our next newsletter. Send your information to me at dlrice@debbielrice.com Thanks! __________________________________________________________________________________ Have a Safe and Wonderful Summer!!!! The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126.3) Debbie L. Rice & Faith:REFINED