Real Life Does Happen

I am writing this blog backstage at a concert on the Willet 2010 New Zealand Tour. As I read the purpose for “The Advocates of Love Project”, I realized that I had an opportunity to truthfully share my experience over the past week as a Christian artist. As a band, and in my life personally, I have always tried to be transparent on stage, off stage, and through our websites / social networks online. For one, as a Christian I think that we have that responsibility to be genuine, and two, I think its vital to share the “highs” and “lows” of life in community with other believers. Many fans of Christian music make the mistake of assuming artists “have it all together” just because someone straps on a guitar, sits behind a drum set, or steps on stage at a “Christian event”.


This is far from the truth.

Every tour, and specifically, every show, I do attempt to be open to God’s will for that moment, and respond as I feel His leading. Some nights, I feel as though there is a tremendous connection and it is very clear as to how God is using Willet. Other nights, I take the stage and quite honestly, am broken. I’m broken because each show for me is an emotional battle because of what Willet stands for. Getting on stage each night in a different city and sharing about poverty around the world can easily become “routine”, and in fact, last year, during our Christmas tour, I fell into a pattern when I spoke where I didn’t actually “feel” the burden anymore. I would get up and present the stories, share the statistics, and ask for people to respond. People did respond, and great things happened for children living in poverty! But, I refuse to let speaking about children in poverty come across as a “commercial” or “promotion” of some sort.

This is real life.

Because this is real life, and because poverty does kill thousands every day, I needed to make sure that it was personal again for me. On January 12th, 2010, God broke me down in a way that I wish to never experience again.
As a band, we were in New Zealand enjoying an off day with some friends we met. They invited us on a 9 hour hike on a mountain summit, and we accepted. As we were down to the last 3 hours of this journey, we received a call. It was a friend of ours back in Auckland that just heard news that a massive 7.0 earthquake had just hit Haiti, and leveled the country.
My heart sank.

My wife moved to Haiti as a full-time missionary back in November of 2009. She was living in an orphanage during the time of the earthquake.
I was helpless. I wanted to get on a plane and fly to Haiti right away to make sure she was OK, but no one could get in or out of Haiti for several days, including relief groups. For 2 1/2 days, I waited anxiously to hear if my wife had survived the earthquake. I didn’t sleep at night, had trouble eating, and tried to ask God, “Why?”. Finally, through a string of short text messages, my family back in the states heard that Kathleen and all the children survived, and were currently sleeping in tents!

The next day, we took the stage for a small festival we were headlining in Levin, New Zealand for 500 people. In the middle of our set, I shared the emotional story of the Haiti earthquake, and gave glory to God that my wife and the orphans were OK. I shared from stage that it was really difficult for me to take the stage that night knowing that my wife was surrounded by death and destruction. I expressed my feelings towards the fact that over 200,000 people were killed within hours of a natural disaster, and how I was broken. I asked people that night that if they didn’t know Jesus as their Savior, that they needed to repent and invite Jesus into their hearts.
That night, 12 people trusted Jesus as their Savior!

On this tour in New Zealand, I do not have it all together. I am broken. I am confused. I wish I could be in Haiti helping…But, God is still moving and changing lives through that brokenness. I am about to take the stage in front of several hundred people tonight. I will do the same tomorrow night. In a few days, I’ll get on stage at Parachute Festival with Switchfoot, Underoath, and Leeland in front of thousands of people. Each night will be an incredible opportunity to share about Jesus, and what He has and is doing in the lives of people around the world. God can use our brokenness for good. He is sovereign and He is listening to our every cry for help.

Many of the Haitians following the earthquake said it was as if, “Hell came up”. Our response to their situation will determine whether or not they feel “Heaven came down”.


If you don’t know Jesus, put your trust in Him.

- Jeremy Willet (lead singer for Willet, co-author of carried.)