Pilgrim

Just as the word “Pilgrim” derives from Latin for “foreigner” and today can mean “traveler” or “wanderer”, Joel and Sara have themselves each been pilgrims in their own way: spiritual and professional foreigners traveling unique paths that have recently brought them back together, and unexpectedly brought them back to Christian music, where they had begun 20 years earlier. NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST The youngest two of a four-child family, Joel and Sara were born and raised in rural Alaska to schoolteacher parents who fished commercially for salmon in Bristol Bay during the summers – an occupation they also participated in through their college years. (Not coincidentally, their father’s first fishing boat was named the Pilgrim). Though never trained musically, both had an ear for music and, growing up in the church, developed an appreciation for the spiritual dimension of Christian music. That appreciation led them to delay career pursuits in order to organize and manage a Christian music festival in Kenai, Alaska, in the summer of 1990 featuring then top-flight names such as Petra, Phil Keaggy, David Meece, the Imperials, and DeGarmo and Key. Nothing like that had ever happened before in Alaska. That festival was followed in 1991 with a similar event and other single concerts featuring more great acts like Whiteheart, Susan Ashton, Billy Sprague, Whitecross, and Larnelle Harris. That appreciation also led them to attend the Gospel Music Association’s summer event for aspiring Christian music artists in Estes Park, Colorado, for several years in the 1990s, where Sara competed in the vocal competition and one of Joel’s songs was a finalist in the Praise and Worship songwriting category. But family and career pressures took this duo in different directions. Both worked various jobs in Alaska. Then Joel obtained a master’s degree at the University of Washington in 2001 and joined America’s diplomatic corps as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State, serving in Mexico and Washington DC and traveling to Latin America, Asia, and Europe. His wife is a medical technologist; they now have three sons. Sara moved to Pittsburgh, PA, in 1998 where her husband is a county judge and where she operates a premium wild Alaskan salmon internet retail business. Together they have three daughters and one son who is entering the U.S. Army’s military academy at West Point. Though both Joel and Sara have participated on and off in their respective church’s music programs, the dream of entering the Christian music industry eventually faded away. This reflected not only the pressures of everyday life, but also their conviction that only God can call forth ministry, and that if they were ever to be involved in Christian music, it would be because God himself drew them into it. They had lost any appetite for pushing their way in. FROM THE ASHES A FIRE SHALL BE WOKEN Through the joy, hardship and heartache of life Joel and Sara have gained wisdom and insight that they could not have had when they were starting out. But while greater wisdom can improve the effectiveness of ministry, it does not constitute a calling into music. Why then have this pilgrim duo united for the purpose of music ministry. Because they believe that call has come. Later, we'll describe here how that has happened. But for now, Joel and Sara are taking one step of faith at at time, and waiting to see where this new phase of their pilgrim's journey takes them.