In partnership with Innervation Trust, this two month USA tour spanned 12 states and reached thousands of young people for Christ in schools, concerts and churches. thebandwithnoname tour is how f2fmi picked up its first two Musicianaries. The end of the tour resulted in the alliance of Innervation and f2fmi as Innervation’s US office.

The Mission to Lodz was an amazing success, reaching more than 2,500 people during the eight day campaign. Our team consisted of 13 unique individuals. The churches in the city had never worked together before and through the joint effort, 242 people came to Christ. Brad Butcher, of Passion 4 People International led the team in partnership with Luis Palau’s Next Generation Alliance. Dr. Tim Robnett also preached an evangelistic track of events along side Brad at Affinity Dinners throughout the city. Read the mission report here.

A MUSICIANARY is a MUSIC-MISSIONARY. The term is not original… we tried to buy the domain name when we first thought of it. Apparently, others have thought of this term and all the good ones are gone. From 2006-2012 f2fmi sent 8 young people to the mission field to share the gospel using music and dance to share the gospel in the public schools. Young people were recruited into schools bands that went into the public schools of the UK as their primary mission field.

“One Shot” is a multimedia tour by Chosen Records. The One Shot Event combines the use of several music styles and short film to set the stage for the gospel. Specifically, Bobby Bishop provides an explosive opening act with his hip-hop skills; the short film being woven in to his set. Then, Portland-based rockers, The Wrecking set the stage for the gospel with their unique sound. Finally the gospel is presented to teens. f2fmi participated in this tour in 2007 and this was our first event featuring Tom Miyashiro in the role of the Evangelist. Read the Mission Report here.

In its nine year impact in Southeastern Connecticut, Overtime was the peremiere all-night, youth outreach event. With thousands of kids in attendance, and hundreds finding faith in Christ, Overtime was an instrumental component in church until and evangelism in the region. Here are some of the mission reports from the years that f2fmi took leadership:

• 2008 Mission Report
• 2009 Mission Report
• 2010 Mission Report
• 2011 Mission Report
• 2012 Mission Report
• 2013 Mission Report

Through our partnership with Calvary Chapel of Eastern CT, Real Life Radio was a weekly broadcast that was syndicated on several radio stations throughout Eastern Connecticut: WCSE/WNLN, WECS and WCNI FM. The show was also streamed online and available as a podcast on iTunes. The show featured our work with musicianaries we sent out to the UK as well as interviews with top American CCM artists. 

f2fmi works to support existing youth leader’s networks, and where necessary, establish them in areas where the church is not working together. Since our earliest days in Southeastern Connecticut, f2fmi has worked closely with the Southeastern CT Youth Leader’s Network. We also helped to form the Northeastern CT Youth Leader’s Network and supported New London’s urban network, Ambassadors For Life.

In partnership with community businesses, churches and schools, f2fmi organized 11 events to bring the Talk of the Town Tour with Innervation’s all-girl UK Christian pop band, TBC. During the week, hundreds of kids were impacted by TBC’s character education program and were invited to join us for the main event at Palmer Auditorium on the final day. At the main event, 400 gathered to see Scarlet Fade and TBC perform followed by Tom Miyashiro, who presented a message of hope to those in attendance. 22 decisions were collected including 10 recommitments and 6 first time decisions for Christ. Read the mission report here.

Through our radio program, Real Life Radio, we came into contact with xxxChurch and joined them for a season in reaching those affected by pornography, offering them help and support, and a way out for those in the industry who had had enough. X3 founder, Craig Gross was first a guest on our radio program when he was on a national Porn Debate tour that came to Cambrige, MA. From there, f2fmi supported X3 at the largest debate at Yale University that was moderated by Martin Bashir on the nationally syndicated tv show, Nightline. f2fmi hosted X3 for a men’s breakfast called, Porn and Pancakes, where the topic was taken head on by churches in Eastern CT and joined the X3 team in New Jersey to hand out 5,000 Jesus Loves Porn Stars Bibles at a major expo in New Jersey.

In what has become an annual tradition at Calvary Chapel of Eastern Connecticut spanning more than a decade, Tom Miyashiro shares the gospel at Easter Sunday service annually. Over the years, Tom has shared the stage with many leaders including Propoganda and former CT Governor John Rowland. Easter Services have also fallen on significant events including the passing of Tom’s first wife, Amy, the global pandemic and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

The Transform: be exemplary schools tour and Friday night main event was our firsts attempt to do this model in Eastern CT. The tour took place one week before Tom’s late wife, Amy, passed away in 2010. The tour incorporated the best of what Tom had learned from missions in the UK and Poland. It also gave f2fmi a chance to bring back one of our Musicianaries, Ryan Griggs, who was recruited out of Eastern CT and placed in a UK school’s band known as Twelve24. The tour also feature a New London based hip-hop group that was known as Nu Life. Read the mission report here.

The tour was later converted into an annual school assembly tour through LifeFAQs to kick of mentoring initiatives at schools in Western MA and Eastern CT.

In 2010, f2fmi launched the Notheastern CT Youth Leader’s Network and with it, a brand new event called, Regenerate. Hosted by the Willimantic Camp Meeting Association, Regenerate  was a local outflowing of church unity resulting in more than 200 students gathering to hear great music and the Good News with 18 students making decisions for Christ. Read the mission report here.

After Amy’s passing in 2010, Tom got the opportunity to join Scottish Christian rock band, Superhero, for the Battle For Your Souls Tour across Wales, England and Scotland. Several of the tour stops included events in youth cafes, churches and even a castle. Young people across the country made decisions to follow Christ after Tom shared his powerful testimony of losing Amy to brain cancer.

In 2011, f2fmi teamed up with Passion 4 People Intenational. The mission included raising support to give slum kids flip-flops during a foot washing service (“Flip-flops For Fragile Feet), preaching at churches, youth events and at pastor’s meetings. This mission helped f2fmi shape its eyes for the community after working with some of the poorest of the poor on the planet.

In 2011, f2fmi released our next generation radio program in order to highlight our Musicianaries and their journey to share the gospel through music. At this point in the journey, f2fmi had sent more than a dozen young people to the mission field. This program featured their stories and introduced an American audience to the innovation coming out of the UK to make the Christian faith relevent for young people. The show also provided a space to raise up new talent in the show production as well as developing on air talent.

Wipeout mimicked the American comedy show launched in 2008 on launched by ABC in 2008. In parntership with Groton Heights Baptist Church and other area churches in Southeastern CT, our leaders worked together to build our own obstacles made out of wood, plastic bags, cardboard and a whole lot of mud! Students spent the afternoon getting messy in the obstacle course before hosing off, having some food and hearing a gospel presentation. This event was repeaed several times from 2013-2015.

THE STATS

5 Friend Challenge Tour
youth groups trained in evangelism: 23
students trained: 297+
students who took the challenge: 109+
golden tickets from evangelism trainings: 118
churches taking the LifeBook challenge: 16
LifeBooks distributed to date*: 525

Here to There Schools Week Assembly Tour
5 schools (roughly 3k students)
50 golden tickets from assemblies turned in (handed out by the band)

Additional Tour Dates for reGeneration
2 group home (7 highly at-risk girls during the week, 45 group home kids at main event and also at Alpha Tuesday night)
2 prison concerts (58 inmates, 9 decisions)
3 church services (5 first time decisions)

reGeneration Main Event
reGeneration attendance: 557*
volunteers: 72
key personnel: 25
church groups: 16
response team trained: 32
schools kids from tour: 50
registered decisions: 84

As plans for NY CityFest unfolded in 2014, the right opportunity reached our community. The Palau team prepared for a tri-state impact from the campaign surrounding the city: New York state, New Jersey and Connecticut. Next Generation Alliance partners, Faith 2 Faith Ministries Inc. presented the Portland CityServe story to 48 pastors of Eastern Connecticut, non-profit leaders, and the mayor of Norwich, Connecticut. Using the CityServe model, the CityServe team met with the mayor’s office in both Norwich and New London and asked our city leaders, “What can the church do to be a beacon of hope in our community?”

As a result, more than 20 collaborations were identified by church leaders as the church began to work together. Here are several of the initiatives that the community worked on together:

• Ringing Kettle Bells with the Salvation Army
• Fulton Park Clean Up and Community Mural in the park
• National Day of Prayer events in partnership with the mayor’s office
• Establishment of volunteer 24/7 Police Chaplaincies in our cities
• Launching coaching, mentoring and tutoring programs for our public schools
• Biblical and career skills training for the unemployed
• Going to motels/hotels to train staff to recognize and report possible human trafficking
• Quarterly dinners for pastors and para-church ministry leaders to share prayer, fellowship, and causes
• Churches, as a network within the broader network, taking ministry teams into detox, addiction recovery and sober houses

On Saturday, June 27, 2015, New London, CT saw evidence of this earnestly desired revival as 1,265 people came to Fulton Park to attend New London CityFest. The free event was hosted by a network of 16 churches and organizations from the New London area. These churches came together under the banner of the CityServe movement in order to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to love their city together. 

The Gospel was presented in Spanish and English during both proclamations, with a total of 97 people making first time decisions to follow Jesus Christ! The unity amongst the churches was evident, and the love towards the community was genuinely displayed and felt. The presence of God was very real and tangible as He drew the lost to Himself.

More than 60,000 people flocked to the Great Lawn in Central Park Saturday for one of the biggest Christian rallies New York City has seen in 10 years. The Argentinian born Evangelist, Luis Palau, and his organization, the Luis Palau Association, collaborated with the growing evangelistic movement, CityServe, for three years to organize NY City Fest. With the support of more than 1,700 churches and organizations across the tri-state area, the six hour music event held the city’s maximum capiticity restriction of attendees. Several artists and celebrities graced the stage including former New York Yankee Mariano Rivera and four-time Grammy Award winning artist Israel Houghton as well as other Christian artitsts Mandisa, Tobymac, Marcos Witt and Matt Redman. [full article]

f2fmi helped to mobilize and catalyze proclamation clusters within 100 miles surrounding NYC and also provided boots on the ground support to the NY CityFest ground team.

TOGETHER was an ecumenical Christian event held at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on July 16, 2016. The event was scheduled to feature over 40 speakers, including Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, who made a video address to the attendees of the event. Other prominent speakers included Nick Hall and Samuel Rodriguez, as well as musicians Lecrae and Hillsong United. The event is one of the largest Christian event in the history of the United States. The organizer of the event Nick Hall, stated that “We believe it’s time to lift up a message of hope. There’s all kinds of division, so we’re praying for healing and we’re praying for change”. f2fmi played an instrumental role in mobilizing CT, MA and RI to attend the gathering.