Calling Levi

Calling Levi brings the audience to their feet with 'Arise My Love', at Sunday's Unity in the Community service at Union Congregational Church in Avon Park. The quartet blended four-part harmony and a message of love from God to Jesus Christ to arise from death and fight for others. The service commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister who fought for civil rights in the 1960s, and was assassinated. - News Sun - by Phil Attinger

Members of the Christian music group Calling Levi spent most of Sunday traveling from Georgia to Tennessee in a 45-foot-long bus with 12 bunks and plenty of leg room.

They drove the 10-year-old bus from a church concert in Georgia to a recording session in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday. They’ll arrive in the same massive vehicle for a free 6 p.m. Sunday performance at Mount Airy Baptist Church in Mount Airy. A freewill offering will be taken.

These days, Calling Levi travels like rock stars. It wasn’t always the case.

Mark and Tammy Lashey and Rob and Stephanie Leight, the four vocalists comprising Calling Levi, used to cram together in a conversion van to performances for their musical ministry. And they suffered through a stint on a jalopy of a bus that frequently broke down and drained already tight finances.

Rob said the group prayed for the chance to travel in a more reliable vehicle. It came, courtesy of a businessman who was sympathetic to their cause and willing to give them a break on a loan no other financial agency would.

“We couldn’t get any bank in America to agree to a loan for a bus,” Rob said.

That’s because Calling Levi mainly relies on donations and is established as a nonprofit. The members make enough to care for their families but are by no means getting rich off the more than 200 days they spend on the road, Rob said.

Rob said they willingly gave up prosperous lives to spread God’s word through their powerful melodies. They typically perform at churches on weekends and at camps in the summer.

Tammy and Stephanie, who are sisters, met their husbands at Liberty University, an evangelical institution founded by the late Jerry Falwell.



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After graduating, they all joined the mission organization World Help and sang all over the globe.

The two couples settled into what Rob called normal lives in Delaware after that. Mark became an accountant. Rob helped with his family’s business.

After singing together at a family function, they decided to take their act to area churches.

Before they knew it, they had a full schedule. But to make Calling Levi work, they had to abandon burgeoning careers. Mark was making more than $100,000 a year.

The group’s name parallels what the singers gave up. The group, which sings Christian rock and traditional music, is named after the disciple Levi, or Matthew, who was probably the wealthiest disciple of the 12 Christ called. Levi, a tax collector, left his job behind to follow Jesus.

“To put it out there and give that control over to the Lord, that was scary,” Rob said. “We doubted it a bunch of times.”

Yet donations kept coming in. E-mails started pouring in from those who saw Calling Levi perform and change their lifestyles. One former concertgoer even named his son Levi after the band.

Rob said Calling Levi is readying for an exciting year, which will include the release of the group’s first CD with original songs. They are also headed to Israel in June with evangelist Rick Coram.

They’ll also be spending most weekends traveling all over the country in a tour bus Rob called a blessing, one of many the group has received during seven years of performing.

“God just continues to prove himself and confirm things,” Rob said. “It’s just been really cool.”
- By Brandon Oland, Times Staff Writer Thursday, January 14, 2010