AMY HALL


I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa in a comfortable, middle-class neighborhood, the youngest of three kids and the only girl. Both of my parents were artistic and musical. My dad was a high school foreign language teacher and my mom stayed home and took care of us. Our household was very religious. We attended a Plymouth Brethren congregation four times a week (twice on Sundays as well as Tuesday and Thursday nights). There, I memorized scriptures and learned my way around the Bible. I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my heart when I was only three, and again every time there was a bad thunderstorm just to make sure I was really safe if I died!

When I was seven, my mom fell mysteriously ill. She was never again able to resume normal life. Our home was turned upside down. My parents were overwhelmed with searching for answers and cures. Because of our huge medical debt, we quickly lost many comforts that average Americans take for granted. I felt lost and alienated from everyone. On my own, I decided to read the Bible from beginning to end. It was hard for me to understand most of what I read. I didn’t get very far before I gave up and just concentrated on the Psalms, but I could feel God comforting me when I read it. So began my closeness with God, a bond that has strengthened throughout my life. Whenever I have questioned whether God exists and loves me, my personal experiences have overridden my doubts. It isn’t so difficult for me to believe that God exists as it is to believe that He actually cares for me intimately. He’s there in the loneliest places. Psalm 139 says it all for me.

Barry is renown in our town. We met when I recorded something in a studio where he was working. Years later, he, Seth, and I were attending the same church, when he announced that he and Kristi would be taking his music ministry to Northern Ireland. It struck a chord with me, as if Someone was telling me to go, too. I suddenly wanted to be worthy of doing the same thing with my life and music. I started to pray about it. But, at the time, I was in college “finding myself” (more like: getting myself totally lost and confused). I wasn’t stable or spiritually mature. When Barry heard that I wanted to come over to N. Ireland and sing, too, he was very receptive to the idea. He and Kristi prayed about it. I don’t know how long they prayed, but I prayed for about two years, just asking God to make me ready for something like that. I couldn’t conceive of being useful to God. Finally, I came to an identity crisis from not living what I believe.

This is the hardest part of my life to describe because it’s so unlike who I really am, who I’ve always been. I wanted to commit suicide. How did I come to that? It wasn’t that the world was so cruel to me. I hated myself. I couldn’t get away from myself. I was such a hypocrite, so full of baffling contradictions. No one could count on me. No one could lean on me or ask me for advice. I wasn’t good to my family—in fact, I was pretty pathetic, coming to them only when I needed them to bail me out of something or let me use the washing machine. At my best, I was a flake. I was ashamed of myself. I thought they would be better off without me. A friend told me, “You should go home to your parents and tell them about this.” I have the best parents in the world. They stopped what they were doing and sat me down between them on the couch. They listened to my whole story, all my confessions, and my crazy conclusion, and then one of them said, through tears, “God didn’t create you to die like that.” Somehow, I heard that truth echo inside me, as if God said it inside my spirit at that same moment. A light cut through my darkness. My whole outlook transformed in an instant. I felt that familiar touch of God, and even though I still felt so stupid and ashamed, He told me that I’m not worthless or hopeless. He had plans for me! Plans to make me useful to Him.

Not long after effectively changing my lifestyle to match my true convictions, I was invited to Northern Ireland, as if God was rewarding me. Barry and Kristi thought I should stay with them for a couple of months! Seth helped rally the church behind the cause, and they raised money to sponsor my trip. I was blown away! I went (1996), and every day of my life in Belfast with Barry and Kristi was a gift, a new life lesson. Even though I had many opportunities to share God with people there, I was the main one who got witnessed to.

My trip also served well to make me miss my new boyfriend and pray for him. I wasn’t sure about us when I left him in the states, but God told me while I was away, “If Travis asks you to marry him, I want you to say ‘yes.” I believe that this was another reward God gave me for being faithful to Him and faithful in prayer about who God wanted me to marry. Three weeks after I got back from Northern Ireland, Travis asked me to marry him. I wouldn’t have trusted myself to answer that question correctly if God hadn’t told me what to say! Travis and I have so much fun together. We’re still converging, becoming more compatible all the time.

And now, there are many more reasons to believe that God loves me. We now have a happy little home with a 4-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son (just like Craig!). Me, me, me! I sound very self-centered, but it’s only because I can’t contain my gratitude for all of this contentment. I want every person alive to know that God loves YOU the same way!

Travis is a writer and a music connoisseur. He is so excited about “Wear That Shoe”! He’s decided that he will drop everything and be our roadie, once we’re touring the country in our own bus. That seems like a dream, but who knows? I’m just so happy to be included in this group. I feel very at ease being the youngest and the only girl, because these guys are my spiritual big brothers!

AMY'S INFLUENCES:
Barry Bynum
Paul Simon
Bob Dylan
Nat King Cole
Lennon/McCartney
Keith Green
Don Francisco