Friday, February 18, 2011

Rob Brunner


Rob Brunner ~ Glory Road


 In 1974 I was a very scared, hurt, fretful, dreaming, high school  boy...

As a new Christian, I began attending bible studies through Campus Crusade for Christ. They met at another school and it was at one of these evenings that I signed up to go to a Bible Conference at Campus Crusade's headquarters in Arrowhead Springs, California.

My first day there, I was in awe... at the number of people there who believed like I did, and the love that they showed to each other. Somewhere in the next couple of days I met another guy who was also from Phoenix. His name was Bob.   


Bob and Rob
Everything that had encouraged me earlier in the week came to a screeching halt, as I realized that although we were all Christians, not everyone liked everyone. And I realized I could harbor some serious dislike too. It wasn't new to me that someone could hate me (or at least appear to). I was adept at avoiding all of the kids at school who taunted, teased and simply verbally abused me. I knew I could get past this, too. Bob and I avoided each other as best as possible.

At the end of the week-long event, I was thrust into a situation that would change me forever...  I had to share a ride back to Phoenix with this boy who pushed all of my buttons.
To pass the time during the ride through that desert night, those of us riding in the van began singing... and then at some point we began talking about music and I mentioned that I always wanted to sing with a band.

God moved.

This person who I tried to stay as far away from as possible said that he too wanted to be in a band and sing Christian music. He then did something miraculous and mind boggling... he asked for my number. As I died a little then and there, I learned that God does truly raise the dead (if in this case metaphorically), and I complied...

We met and found we had more similarities than differences and he told me about a place he knew called Hand in Hand. He also told me about a man named Bernie who was in a band of his own and a great musician. Bob set up a meeting.

For a boy whose only real musical training was a few years of grade school clarinet and singing into his hairbrush, this was eye opening.


Rob - John - Bob - Terry
Enter Terry Hann... a friend of Bob's (maybe Bernie's, I am old). We began meeting each week at the Hand in Hand building to sing together under the tutorship of Bernie.  I learned that this was something I really wanted to try... I learned to sing harmony... I learned I really didn't like the Doobie Brothers all that much.


Bob - Rob - Terry - Greg
Don - Bruce - Kim
More people were introduced to this grouping of musical newbies including Jay Haugen and a friend of his, Don Nelsen.

I guess, as they say, the rest is history.



There was a first concert... there was a second one... there was a fire lit within.

Rob 

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Hand in Hand Reunion info


Hey you guys, the Hand in Hand Reunion is April 2nd 
and you can now register to attend! 
Thank you Nancy Hann for creating the awesome webpage!
If you have not received your invitation through email, 
then here you go-


The invitation is for those who attended Hand in Hand and 1 guest (as of right now).  You will need to register and pay for both of you when you register. If we don't get a big response we can open it up to others, but we don't want to leave out alumni if they want to come. 


We would also love to have your story posted here. Please send me your story and if you don't include pictures, that's ok... I am sure I can find some off the Hand in Hand slideshow from the reunion 5 years ago. Send your story to-
linda@randythompson.org


Send photos and music from those Hand in Hand years to-
randy@randythompson.org


Check out these two Hand in Hand facebook pages-
Hand in Hand Facebook Group
Hand in Hand Reunion Facebook Event 



And last, but certainly not least... SPREAD THE WORD!!! 
Link the invitation to your facebook page. 
Send it to anyone you know that attended Hand in Hand! 
Just this past week I found out that two of my friends attended Hand in Hand 
and I had no idea!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Bernie Rolfe

Hi - This is Bernie –

There’s a lot of things about my history with Hand in Hand on the www.BernieRolfe.com website that you might find interesting.  Check it out when you get a chance.  There’s history, as well as some tunes. There’s also some visitors to the website who signed in that you might know or remember.

But what I thought might be interesting is one of the early stories of God’s Hands reaching out to the community to unusual folks through Hand in Hand.

It was a Saturday afternoon – Spring of 1975 if I remember correctly.  I’d just finished showering up at home and was heading down to “the building” to get ready to play at the evening concert.

When we were first getting things started at HIH, the crowds weren’t huge, so we felt it would be a good idea to get the word out about free concerts with some flyers.  And when I say flyers, I’m talking about a half-step better quality than mimeograph (look that up in your technology dictionary).  A freshly printed stack of mimeographed flyers could get you wasted if you weren’t careful.

They read:
Free Hand in Hand Concert!
2616 East Fairmount in Phoenix
8 PM Saturday nights!

Well, there was a Circle K close to the building, so I stopped in to get a drink and happened to carry some flyers in with me to see if the store would let me post one and perhaps leave a few in a stack.  I couldn’t tell if the proprietor couldn’t understand English by the way he looked at me when I asked him (after I paid for my drink) if I could post one of the flyers.  But he eventually agreed and pointed to the glass storefront by the front entry door.  The afternoon sun was pouring in from the southern exposure, so I couldn’t see outside very well. 

I used some masking tape to pin down the edges and was posting it and enjoying the aroma of mimeograph when a kind of rumbling outside got my attention.  Four loud-piped Harley choppers rolled up, two of them with a guy and a girl on them.  They unsaddled and the whole unsavory looking gang of them, maybe early 30’s or so sauntered towards the entry staring at me (I gulped) as I was finishing up.  There were tattoos with skulls with knives piercing them through the eye sockets, dew rags, sleeveless and tattered tank tops with perhaps unsavory and certainly unpublishable comments on them, and a generally intimidating sense of mayhem they carried with them. 

To my chagrin, they all stopped at the entry and looked at me and what I was just posting on the window.  Of course, I couldn’t be sure that they weren’t just seeking out the source of the acrid aroma, but the “leader”, the one with the most malicious looking tattoos, along with his girl, looked at me with what could have seemed an unfriendly glare, and then back at the flyer and asked, “What’s that?”

Playing it straight up, I swallowed hard and said, “I’m putting up a flyer for some free concerts we put on” smiling the best I could and trying to appear friendly and such, searching for reserves of moisture in my mouth that had unfortunately and immediately dried up, and gulping as indiscriminately as I thought possible.

“Is that for tonight?” 

“Yeah – yes it is” – I paused a bit, then to my own surprise I asked – “Would you like to come?”

“What kind of music?”

“It’s different – probably like something you’ve never heard before (of which I was reasonably sure) – I think you’d like it, though” I said “Why don’t you all come?” I asked again for reasons absolutely unknown to me.

A couple of the biker guys looked at one another and eyed me and then rolled by into the store to pick up whatever it was they’d originally come for – (sigh of relief – it may have been me or it may have been the store proprietor – I’m not sure).  I handed a free flyer to the guy who’d been talking to me – “I gotta go – See you there?” – a kind of questioning statement.   

He didn’t say anything, so I just smiled and hopped into BoLuxie, my beige Dodge van and as I was tooling on over to the building  I remember saying to myself, “What have you done?!! – What if they do come? – if the Hand in Hand attendee’s parents heard about Thugs at Hand in Hand they probably wouldn’t let their kids come ever again – Oh Lord!”

When I got to the building, most of the New Beginning band was there and we got ready the same way we did for every concert – with fear and trembling – hoping we’d remember the music and stuff, but pleading with God to reach the people He’d bring to the concert that evening.

I was half wondering if any of the bikers would show up.  Part of me was terrified that they would and part of me was wondering why the encounter had happened at all, but when 8 o’clock rolled around we started the concert, our pretty much regular crowd was there, along with a few new faces – no Thugs.


The lights were down during the concert, and of course, everyone in the audience was sitting on the floor.  We did the first half, then took our standard 15 minute break and then started up the second set.  I think it was about the third song, I could hear some rustling and movement in the audience and I could see through the darkness some shadows, about six of them moving from the back towards the front with the “red sea” of kids on the floor parting before them.

Lo and behold, coming to the front and sitting down with their dew rags and tattoos and very skimpy female outfits (coolly comfortable they must have been from the looks of them!) they came and sat down right in front looking up at us on the stage.

At first I wondered if there was anything different we would need to do in our program, but the quiet assurance of the Lord encouraged me to do what we’d practiced and He’d do the rest.  Part of me wished we’d really practiced “Long Train Running” by the Doobie Brothers but all we had was our stuff, and that was it. 

I can’t tell you how wonderful it was, knowing that my “band” was full of the love of Jesus and their words about Him were awesome.  Even when they talked about themselves, it seemed more about Jesus.

I remember sharing the message and sensing how harsh the phrase “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” seemed for some reason, and happened to glance down – all their eyes were on me – “but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus” – their eyes didn’t move – after a minute I surveyed the rest of the audience and offered the remainder of the invitation.

I remember wondering when I closed my eyes to offer the prayer if our “guests” would get up and leave.  Imagine my surprise when I offered the words of a prayer for those who wanted to receive Jesus and I heard a few male and female voices from the front rows repeating the words out loud enough for me to hear.  Part of me then thought the audience was helping me – oh well.

We sang our last song and bid everyone good night –“See you here, there, or in the air”,  but offered to chat with anyone who’d received Jesus to welcome them into the family of God.

Three bikers with dew rags, tattoos and at least one with a skimpy girls outfit came up to the stage and were standing before me with tears in their eyes, apparently speechless. 

I smiled (almost incredulously I must add) and asked “Did you receive Jesus tonight?”  Heads slightly bobbing up and down and a childlike “yes” chorus -  and hands wiping away tears, it was clear to me that God had answered our prayer.

“You’ve passed from death to life - Welcome to the Family of God” – hugs and tears on all sides from the dew rags and the band.

                                                                                    *****

The leader of the “gang” was called “Foot”.  His main squeeze was the girl in the skimpy outfit.  There was another guy, but I can’t, regrettably, remember his name (I’m glad God does – I’m terrible at names!)

A few weeks later, Bill Thrall married Foot and his Bride, who both wanted to honor God by getting married instead of just shacking up. The other guy came to Tuesday night follow-up meetings and always requested we sing the song,  “What a Friend We have in Jesus”.

Yes – We do.

Love to you my Co-laborers in the fields white with harvest, and Samaritans of Good Will.

Bernie

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Bill Folz


I first came to a Hand in Hand concert in 1975 
through the invite of a friend, Chuck McDevitt. I came with 2 other friends. 
We were smoking pot all the way to the door, 
not realizing we would have an encounter with the Lord.





These long hair hippies that we were, saw the Light and responded, 
"Jesus freaks, let's get the he.. out of here". Freaked us out. 
Only to find myself coming to Christ a year later 
and returning to Hand in Hand and Open Door as my home in 1976. 
I was asked to emcee and do the challenge to accept Christ by Tom Allen, 
which I did from 1978 to 1980. 
I stayed involved in the "follow up" program until the Lord chose to close Hand in Hand.
Still, the greatest impact on me was to be around the people who had a heart
to see kids come to Christ through the music outreach. 
It was a great movement of the Spirit in those times! 
Yet our God is not a one dance God, He has more to do through all of us, 
even if it never looks like what happened in the days of Hand in Hand! 
The remembrance of God in the days of Hand in Hand 
are a declaration of our God who is the same today and forever!
Blessed be His Name!
See you all at the reunion! 
Or as Bernie always said, "here, there, or in the air!"
Peace and grace be unto you all ~  Bill Folz 
Hey, check out that awesome sound booth!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Joyce Allen

Hand in Hand didn’t exist until chapter 3 in my musical journey.  I was a junior majoring in elementary education at Arizona State when I was approached by Bernie Rolfe and asked if I might be interested in auditioning for The New Beginning.  Actually that is even chapter 2. 

Chapter 1 begins with a shy young high school sophomore, named at the time Joyce Woolary, who had a passionate interest in music.  But, it was the furthest thing from her mind that her dream of being able to someday use that expression in her newfound life as a believer was even a remote possibility.  You actually had to have the courage to risk trying and she (I) had not even had the courage to join high school choir.

I had met Bernie and Dean as they were attending Bethany Bible Church, as was I, and was aware that they had founded a singing group called The New Beginning.  This was a radical departure for the late 60... fusing the gospel with contemporary rock and roll music.  
My freshman year at ASU I was dating the roommate of Bob Grove, who was also part of The New Beginning.   Threads in the form of friendships were being woven together for His purposes.  At one point, Bernie approached me about the possibility of auditioning.  They were needing….a soprano.  Okay, God, my dream....except for one detail.  I was/am not a soprano.  I had to graciously decline.  I knew it.  It wasn’t meant to be.  Then one day early fall of my junior year, Bernie again called to ask if I would like to audition.  This time they were looking for an alto.  I have no idea how I mustered the courage to sing in front of , first Bernie….then the rest of the band.  Suffice it to say, I did, and they VOTED me in.  Had I realized there would be a VOTE, I dare say I might have declined the offer as too risky.  I mean vote implies the possibility of rejection.  


Chapter 2 became years of two a week practices and weekends filled with concerts.  It was a magical time.  Concerts filled with curious seekers wondering who this Jesus was that we so passionately sang and spoke about.   It was a movement, the genesis of Contemporary Christian Music.  We would hear of others with this same message….Love Song, Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts and The Way (which featured current CCM artist Phil Wickham’s father).  Hundreds were choosing to believe and follow this Jesus.  It was also a season of marriages and baby births and balancing everyday life with ministry.  After several years of traversing every nook and cranny in Arizona with a couple forays into California we began to dream of a building where we could do concerts weekly and actually have the opportunity to follow up the fruit of our ministry.  This dream became solidified after spending time at a local coffee house ministry called The LOC.  We prayed…..fervently.   God provided.  Actually, that was what He had intended all along.  He just needed to spend some time with us on the road first.  


I remember the first time we walked into “the building” which would later be christened Hand in Hand... but would forever remain affectionately referred to as just “the building”.  It was eerily just as Bernie had described in a vision during one of our many heart-filled sharing sessions.  We knew it was meant to be.  It was our new home and would be for the rest of our years together as The New Beginning. The beauty of what God formed during those foundational years of ministry goes beyond any building.  It wasn’t about the building at all. The building was simply the place that ministry happened and relationships formed.


I am blessed to say that some 40 years later The New Beginning still exists.  No, we haven’t done a formal concert since 1976.  But it was never just about the band, either.  That, too, was far more than about music.  The New Beginning is family, bonded forever together by a common passion to express through music what was gifted to us through our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

Addendum:  A couple years later I was brought out of “retirement” at the ripe old age of 28 and invited to sing with a band called New Song founded by former bandmates Steve and Barb Tessitore.  It was a blessed 2 years spent singing with a whole new crop of talented, albeit much younger, musicians.  

Monday, February 7, 2011

Linda Larson Schlitz

... of Linda Larson & Friend

I don’t think anyone has any idea how far reaching the impact of Hand in Hand has had on the Kingdom of God because of the way those of us who attended and ministered were transformed. I was a brand new Christian when I moved to Phoenix in 1976 and just a bit confused. I had grown up a Lutheran, was engaged to a Catholic, was living with two 7th Day Adventists and was attending a Bible Church on the end of the block. I don’t remember who told me about Hand in Hand but what I know is that it was THERE that the Word of God came alive to me and music became my means of worship, solitude and serenity. It was those of you who sang and played there and those of you who started those discipleship classes that have forever changed me and consequently North Central Wisconsin and soon the world. Let me explain.

By the time I came back to Wisconsin I was well grounded in Christ and ready to do whatever he was calling me to. Clearly, to me at least, once I played the song I wrote for my brother in law’s wedding , “In Love” to the other Linda Larson, and she immediately came up with a beautiful harmony, I knew where we were heading. With me being the Mary Magdalene of the community, my conservative BFF Linda who had been walking with Christ since she accepted Christ at 16 while watching Billy Graham on TV, had every intention of teaching me a thing or two about being a “good Christian”, but little did she know the Holy Spirit revival I had been involved with already in Phoenix, was going to, as she puts it, “Rock her world!”

Lots of miracles happened along the way and funny things to reminisce about like opening for the Barry McGuire concert. We were warming up and he came and asked if he could tune to us. I said “sure” and as soon as he plucked the first string he asked if I was tuned to an E and I said “Huh?” And he asked if we tuned to the piano and I said “not really, we just kinda turn the knobs till they sound right” and he asked where us girls were from and we said “we were farmers from Wisconsin” and we all laughed as he asked where he could find a piano to tune to. So that was that.

As exciting as it was to open for Barry McGuire, it was just as exciting to open for Randy Thompson at that very first Hand in Hand concert. When Randy called after that concert and asked for Linda, she hung up the phone and said that she was quite sure he was mixed up and he really must have thought he was talking to me. It took me awhile to convince her that she was the one he was really interested in.

In 1981 I faced some real trials in my marriage and with much sadness I moved back to Wisconsin with my husband. I soon found out I was pregnant so I was glad to be home nearer to family but I was still quite alone in Wausau. I poured myself into ministry in Wausau with ACTS “Active Christians Together in Service” an ecumenical organization that did outreach and Bible Study to young people. Within the first few months ACTS had decided to hire me part time to start a new ministry to the community. Wausau’s Hand in Hand opened in September of 1982 with Randy Thompson sharing the night with Linda Larson and Friend! We started with having concerts on Saturday nights and within months we were so packed and the demand so high we had to move to a bigger building and increased to having concerts on Friday and Saturday nights. We had bands traveling from all over the state and the new Hand in Hand was located above the only gay bar in town so we would get people wandering in by accident and getting saved on purpose. Over 250 people came to Jesus through Hand in Hand before I was asked to step down because I was going through a divorce. Many of those saved are in full time mission work today and it’s incredible to see the ripple effects of Hand in Hand. The last church I was at, I found out that the Church Moderator and Worship leader were saved at Wausau’s Hand in Hand. I still have people coming up to tell me and saying what an impact that ministry had on them and their loved ones.

In 1998 I remarried and in 2001 my husband Ralph, my daughter Heather and a co worker and I started a new ministry in Wausau to reach out to homeless veterans and others who had chronic mental health and chemical dependency issues. Because it was Randy Thompson’s music that had the greatest impact on Ralph’s Christian walk and our marriage and Randy and Linda have been the kind of faithful examples that we would like to follow after, we named our new organization “Randlin Homes”. In the last year we were nominated Red Cross Heroes of the Year and I got the Athena Award for our work with Randlin Homes ONLY because we are doing what those of you who started Hand in Hand and what the Thompson’s have done in just doing what God called us to do. My plans to come to Phoenix were originally to start my inspirational/training/speaking tour where I will share with others what we have done in Wausau to help the chronically homeless transform the world around them. The reunion gave me a target date to get going and hopefully somebody out there can hook me up with an opportunity.

Thanks for letting me rattle on and on… clearly this is a book for Linda and I to write that is just waiting to happen. I will be looking forward to seeing you all again and having you meet my daughter Heather. And I, like Linda, will shamelessly invite you to our website, which will invite you to my blog that she encouraged me to start. I work full time for the state of WI as a Career Counselor and I oversee our 43 beds in 5 houses at Randlin Homes so I don't have as much time to blog as I’d like.
Check out www.randlinhomes.org and my blog Hope for the Hopeless.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Randy Thompson


I had heard about Hand in Hand for years but never was able to find it. Then I was introduced to Gordon Barr through a girlfriend's Dad who knew I did Christian music and he worked with Gordon. He had Gordon over for dinner and introduced us. Gordon told me about HIH and I immediately told Rand Mozingo about it and we both decided to check it out and then we auditioned. We did a couple of Sat. nights together introducing ourselves as "Rand and Randy" and all night long switching names so people were confused about who was who. That was fun!


Then we began to talk about forming a band - SPARROWE. I was overwhelmed with college and work and wasn't able to make the commitment to the band so they went ahead without me. (I have always wished things had been different and I could have been a part of the group.) I started doing Sat. nights as a solo artist and was booked often at HIH. Then one Sat. night when I was scheduled at the West side Hand in Hand at Trinity Bible, I came in early to get set up and there were these two really cute girls going through their music and I introduced myself to them. I have since found out that they were kind of disappointed because they thought they were opening for Glory Road. They introduced themselves as Linda Larson & Friend. I couldn't help wondering which one was Linda and why the other was only - Friend. Then I found out that they were both named Linda Larson, grew up a few miles from each other in Wisconsin, and no one was getting top billing. I also knew one of them was engaged to be married from their sharing during their set that night.

They were in the process of putting a cassette together of their music and I was interested in finding out more about how they were going about recording and so I called and asked for the Linda that was not engaged. Then I ended up asking her for a date, which was not in my thinking when I called. (OK, maybe that was in the back of my mind.) That began the relationship that lead to us getting married about a year and a half later. (Tell me God doesn't have a plan and He is really good at making things happen perfectly!)

31 years and three children later... and having served on staff at HIH, and Open Door as High School director, Janitor, Worship Pastor and now as the Lead Pastor, doing University Fellowship on ASU campus, Open Door at Night, PC Fellowship on the Phoenix College Campus, and Randy Thompson Ministries for 10 years traveling and singing at churches all over the Southwest and Midwest, and 7 CD's later we are still newlyweds, and still dreaming of how we will be used to share Christ and minister the message of the Gospel in the next season of our lives.


All of this because I walked through the doors of that funky building with patchwork carpeting, barn wood and burlap and murals on the walls, and a really neat wood stage and a sound booth that was in a little room you had to climb a ladder to get into. My life was changed for having the opportunity to be used to share both my talent and my passion for Christ, my Savior. I got to share the Gospel and invite people to give their lives to Jesus and to see many, many young people give their lives to Christ, follow them up, and see God turn their lives around and become part of the Body of Christ, and get involved in this community of believers called Open Door Fellowship.

Linda and I have been so blessed to have been a part of this incredible place and God's perfect plan for us. All this because a few people had the dream of reaching their friends for Christ through music and allowing me to be a part of that dream. It set the path for the rest of my life and I thank God every day.

In Christ,
Randy Thompson
Randythompson.org

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Linda Larson Thompson


"So what's Hand in Hand?" I asked.
“Well, it’s a place where kids go and hear bands and sit on the floor and then someone shares the gospel”.
My friend Linda had heard about Hand in Hand the year before and had high hopes that we would sing there some Saturday night.
She also said we’d be going there that first Saturday night upon arriving in Phoenix.
Well, she might as well have said we’d be going out for Mexican food when we arrived, (which we did, by the way- cheese crisps at Don Jose’s on Thomas) because seriously, I had no idea what she was talking about. It was 1977 for crying out loud. I was not familiar with Christian music… or Mexican food.
I was a Norwegian farm girl from Wisconsin, in a two-door Opel, with all my worldly possessions, on my way to Phoenix with my best friend. The other Linda Larson.


Let me back up a bit.
Linda & I grew up in the same farming community in Wisconsin. Linda was two years older. We went to the same school, both cheerleaders and played on the same fast-pitch softball team. And we had the same first and last name.

But after Linda graduated from high school in '73, our paths took a drastic change.
Linda took a walk on the wild side. I started my walk with Jesus.

Linda eventually ended up in Phoenix and wrote me a letter that blew me away. She had found Jesus and she was on fire! God had done a miracle in her life. She was coming home for the summer and she wanted me to think about coming back to Phoenix with her in the fall.

Well, long story short, Linda came home and we began to sing and write music together. We sang everywhere we could. And we spent hours together, forging a spiritual friendship that would prove foundational in my resolve to “deny myself, take up my cross and follow Jesus (and Linda) to Phoenix.”  And I can honestly say that I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.


Linda and I sang at our little Lutheran church that beautiful September morning in 1977. And yes, that's Linda & I wearing the matching denim outfits I made from old blue jeans... just moments before hugging our family and friends goodbye and embarking on a journey of faith that would rock my world. We had 2 cassettes on board... 2nd Chapter of Acts and Keith Green. I had never heard such music. It would change my life.

We immediately found a furnished apartment. The next day we bought brand new Takamine guitars from DC Seville at Melano’s Music... who, unbeknownst to us, would be our record producer 6 months later. Then while trying to find Hand in Hand, we got lost and ended up at another Sat. night concert venue at People’s Church in Scottsdale, where we met Don Burchfield who was also a concert promoter. We sang for him two days later and he immediately booked us to open for Barry McGuire.

When we, Linda Larson & Friend weren’t singing somewhere, we were attending Hand in Hand. And yes, we were major groupies. We loved the bands, the ambiance and the sweet sense of family.
And all the while we were trying to get an audition so we could sing there someday.

Well, it was at that Barry McGuire concert months later that the guy who did the auditioning for Hand in Hand, came up to us and said he'd put us on the schedule. And it was at that very first Hand in Hand concert that I met my future husband. Yes, we were scheduled to open for Randy Thompson! 
Think about it, that very first week in Phoenix literally set the stage, pardon the pun, but literally set the stage for me to meet my future husband at that very first Hand in Hand concert 6 months later! Still blows my mind!


And the only reason Randy asked for our phone number that night… Linda and I were in the studio recording "Quiet Times" and he wanted to get some studio info. So when he called, he sorta accidently asked me out. Which can be rather confusing when you consider that Linda and I had the same first and last name... so thankfully he thought to ask for the Linda Larson that was not engaged. haha!

Anyway, that’s how I heard about Hand in Hand. And it would change my life. I would experience God using me in ways I never thought possible.

And now I can’t wait to hear your story. Please take some time and write your story and email it to me along with a few pictures. And if it’s only a couple paragraphs, that’s ok. We want this to be a safe place to reflect and remember and maybe reignite your passion for music, songwriting and sharing Jesus.

And now a shameless plug for my personal blog- lindathompson.blogspot.com
Love & miss you all, 
Linda