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Praise band helps Baptist Children’s Homes
J. Blake Ragsdale, BCH Communications
May 24, 2013
4 MIN READ TIME

Praise band helps Baptist Children’s Homes

Praise band helps Baptist Children’s Homes
J. Blake Ragsdale, BCH Communications
May 24, 2013

The band members of Awestruck Worship will tell you that creating music is as much about helping others as it is about writing and performing.

When the group, the worship team of Awestruck Church in Gibsonville, N.C., began production for its sophomore-recording project in January, they started looking for a ministry they could help support. The band discovered that ministry was within a 30-mile drive in Thomasville.

“My wife and I were Googling orphanages on the Internet, and we ended up at the website of Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina,” said Tyler Ricketts, a singer, guitarist and songwriter for Awestruck Worship.

Ricketts is also the worship pastor at Awestruck Church. Ricketts grew up in Greensboro and attended a Baptist church, but he had not heard of Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) until discovering it on the Internet. For nearly 130 years, BCH has provided help for troubled and hurting children, as well as others with special needs, throughout the state.

“It was almost this instantaneous feeling that we needed to get to know BCH and help,” Ricketts explained.

“There aren’t just children overseas who need help – there are people right here in our backyard.”

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Contributed photo

Awestruck Worship’s song “Enough” costs less than $1 to download. All proceeds from the sale will help the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina with its “Sweet Dreams” bed sponsorship.

Ricketts brought the idea to the other band members and leaders at the church.

“It was really a no-brainer,” Ricketts said. “And the song ‘Enough’ is a small place for us to start.”

“Enough,” the first single from their upcoming CD, was released March 19. And just as the group connected to BCH through the Internet, the band hopes to connect to listeners through online music stores, including iTunes, where “Enough” is being sold.

“The message of the song is that God alone is enough,” Ricketts said. “No matter the hard times you’ve gone though, He’s always there for you.”

“Enough” costs $.99 to download, and the band is donating all proceeds to purchase BCH “Sweet Dreams” bed sponsorships. The band has set a goal of reaching 10,000 downloads by Christmas so that multiple bed sponsorships, enough to help boys and girls living in three children’s cottages, can be purchased. The bed sponsor program is a way for individuals, churches and groups to help provide a safe bed, hot meals and caring house parents to meet the residents’ daily needs for a full year.

“We are grateful Awestruck Worship has chosen to use their music to impact the lives of Baptist Children’s Homes’ boys and girls,” said BCH President Michael C. Blackwell.

“This is a remarkable gift of both financial resources and God-given talent. And it serves as a powerful example of Christ’s hands and feet to the children in our care, many who are learning about the love of Jesus for the very first time.”

“It’s such a small price that goes a long way,” Ricketts said. “We don’t want to stop with 10,000 downloads. It’s also about awareness – that’s the big thing. People can ask their co-workers and other people they know to download the song, and they can let them know about BCH.”

Awestruck Worship and BCH are promoting the initiative on their individual Facebook pages. The band also plans to share about BCH when they perform at upcoming shows throughout the year.

“Awestruck is always about someone else,” Ricketts said. “If we create music for fame or money, then we’ve missed the point of why we’re in this.”

“I hope the children at BCH see us as the hands and feet of Jesus,” he added. “I want them to feel welcomed and loved.”