MY TESTIMONY, part I
As I write this, I am 32 years old and am a born-again Christian, having been active in Christian ministry for more than 14 years. Born and raised in southeastern Ohio, I was nurtured by a godly family in a rural United Methodist church. I knew God from a young age and was baptized at the age of 11 after accepting Christ at a Revival service.
I had always had a huge interest in music and --at the age of 18, shortly after graduating from high school-- I felt God calling me into musical ministry. My best friend (Todd Clark), Cammie Eddy, and I started a Gospel band which we called The Krusaders For Christ (KFC). I played guitar, Todd played bass, and Cammie and I sang traditional hymns.
A few years later, we were reunited with a childhood friend (Travis Wells) who had been living in Florida. He had developed an old-skool Christian Rap group (we had never heard of such a thing!) called Disciples Determined Together (DDT) and was the one who introduced us to contemporary Christian music.
As Christian youth, we naturally had a passion for reaching other youth with the Gospel. We had been noticing, however, that while the adult members of the congregations we visited seemed to love our music, the youth were less-than enthusiastic about it. And if the church youth didn't care for the music, imagine how much less the unchurched youth would like it. That's when "the Krusaders" was born.
We began to play and sing songs in the style that we liked to hear on the radio. We began to play and sing songs that CCM artists were using to reach millions of youth with the Gospel. And then, we began to write songs that presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the musical style of the Day's youth. Where we'd previously only been able to sing the Gospel to "church-folk", we were now able to bring that same message of Salvation and New Life to people who wouldn't have set foot in a church.
In 1996 and 97, I was also the male member of the Southern Gospel Trio New Purpose. Throughout that period (while remaining active with The Krusaders) I toured OH and WV with Cindy Schott and Machelle Eddy who recorded "Faded Footprints" with me for the IAM Precious Songs of the Spirit compilation.
In 1998, after repeatedly being confused with another local Gospel group with the same name, the Krusaders shortened our moniker once again to Krusade, which it has remained to this day. God has blessed our musical ministry in ways we'd never dared dream, including the recording of our music.
In 2003, I felt God calling me back to full-time musical ministry and I became the worship leader at the Real Life Community of Faith in Morristown, OH, where I helped develop the church's house band, The Real Life Band. Also in 2003, I founded Ohio Valley Web Ministries, which is a ministry in which I build, host, maintain, and promote websites for Christian churches, ministries, businesses, and individuals.
In 2004, I finished recording and released my first solo project, which featured some of the softer, ballad-style songs I had written over the past several years. I also played guitar, sang backup vocals, and helped produce a Country-Gospel CD with my friend Paul Hicks. Over the next year, RLB developed into a ministry all its own and now plays Christian rock and praise & worship music outside the church in addition to the regular services at Real Life.
In 2005, five members of RLB also branched-off to form MegaLife, a Christian metal band that brings the Gospel to yet another audience that has typically been alienated by the traditional church. After playing two public events, MegaLife disbanded and eventually re-structured to form a new band (see next page). RLB is rapidly gaining notoriety as an award-winning band and is currently planning to record their first CD.
I am now married and have a beautiful 4-year-old daughter. While appreciative of the many lives that have been impacted by the ministries in which the Lord has used me over the past decade and 1/2, I pray all the more that my sweet Shannon will grow up to appreciate musical ministry as I have. Every father has dreams for his child, as I know our Heavenly Father has for each of us. But as I hope that my daughter will one day follow in my footsteps; I pray above all that she will know and love our Lord, following His leading into whatever ministry He chooses for her life. And if this musical gift the Lord has given me has somehow blessed you, I am doubly blessed.
Kevin Lauer
01/28/05, revised 08/03/05, updated 01/21/06
