CHRISTAFARI/AVION BLACKMAN UPDATE
Mar. 27, 2008 - Dear Friends,
The last time that I wrote you an official update, the CDs for Christafari's "To The Foundation" had just arrived from the manufacturer and we had humble dreams of what the Lord would accomplish through our small ministry. Thanks to your fervent prayers and the Lord's abundant grace, over the last 11 months we have been blessed like never before. We have seen the hand of the Lord expand this ministry beyond our wildest imaginations! It seems that our dreams were far too small in God's eyes. Not only did we receive very positive reviews from the press, but the album was also nominated for an award and even made the Grammy ballot! While CD sales have been on a major decline recently, "To The Foundation" quickly became our all-time bestselling album on our webstore GospelReggae.com. Through online sales alone it has more than tripled our previous bestselling title "Gravity"! Our touring has taken off also. Since our last update the Lord has blessed us with an astonishing 50 concerts in 9 countries spanning 3 continents!
TO THE FOUNDATION WORLD TOUR
Over the last few months we have had the privilege of seeing thousands come to Christ on our tours of Europe, the United States and Brazil. In addition to performing and ministering from stage, I have also done a lot more preaching in churches on Sundays and in between shows while on tour. When we were on the road Christafari experienced unprecedented band unity. That's incredible when you consider 9 guys and 2 girls touring together for 30 days, often staying in surprisingly modest accommodations, with little time for rest and relaxation. We have had our fair share of tough times though, like when 8 of us got sick in Brazil. One after another we caught a stomach virus while having to play night after night. As is expected with any frontline ministry, we have also experienced persecution and tremendous spiritual warfare. After an intense show in Holland last August, one pastor came up to me boasting that he had never seen spiritual warfare like what we experienced that night. He was excited because he knew that the Lord was doing a work that was threatening the enemy.
FRUITS OF OUR LABOR
While there have been trying times, we have also seen an unprecedented amount of spiritual fruit. The first show of our 2007 Brazilian tour is a great example of this. It was held in a massive church in a very small town and we packed thousands of reggae lovers into the building. So many people came that over a thousand were turned away at the door due to fire codes! That night we gave a blistering 2-1/2 hour-long concert. At the end of the night I remember the pastor coming up to me with a light in his eyes. "We have never seen so many unbelievers in our church before," He rejoiced, "And we have never seen so many people come to Christ at one of our outreach events before!" Then he handed me a stack of response cards with a huge smile on his face! God is great!
PERFORMING BEFORE 80,000 IN BRASILIA
Of all the 37 countries that I have had the privilege of visiting with Christafari throughout the years, Brazil is by far the most responsive to our ministry. It's the only place where you can find a string of churches that play reggae worship and a plethora of Christafari cover bands! Our music has had a huge impact in the country since the mid nineties when our videos started playing on MTV Brazil, and we are one of the most popular American Contemporary Christian Music acts in Brazil. Having toured virtually every major city, I am convinced that there is no more receptive country to gospel reggae than this beautiful place. After touring there extensively last November we have already received numerous invitations to return. Just a few weeks ago we got a call on a Monday morning from the Brazilian government asking if we would like to perform at a massive Christian alternative to Carnival that Saturday! We were promised an audience of 25,000. As you can imagine, we leapt at the offer and within three days were on a plane to the capitol of Brazil. They gave us the sweetest time slot of the event with the most popular worship team in Brazil playing right before us. Earlier in the night we were then told that at least 50,000 people were in the audience-no pressure! By the time we hit the stage the numbers had increased exponentially. We heard after the fact that the official number the Brazilian Military had counted while we were performing was 80,000 people! It was an unforgettable experience teaching so many people the various dances in our song "New Movement." In fact, we hope to submit our experience to the Guinness Book of World Records for largest choreographed group dance! After a spirited show we were told that the Brazilian Government thought that we gave the best show of the evening and they requested that we return to perform in front of 250,000 people! Only in Brazil!
80 CONCERTS IN 2008!
This year looks to be an even better year with numerous tours on the horizon. In three weeks we will be heading off to our first ever Hawaii tour. On this trip we plan to perform 9 shows on 5 islands playing everywhere from a mega church to a convention center and a park to a maximum-security prison. We are playing various dates in the USA this year including tours of the East Coast, West Coast and Texas. This Summer we could be in Europe for as long as 6 weeks and will be visiting countries like Iceland, Norway, Spain, Hungary and Slovakia for the first time! In October we plan to spend another month in Brazil. Would you please stand in the gap for us and pray for our tours? Please pray that the word of God is clear and leads to many salvations. Also please pray for our safety, health, unity and that the Lord provides for us. And please remember to pray for our new booking agent and tour manager Kevin McIntyre as he sets out to book us 80 concerts this year on as many as 6 continents! If you know of anyone that may be interested in hosting Christafari for a concert this year, please don't hesitate to contact our booking agent through email: kevin@pmareggae.com or via telephone: (512) 535-7642.
RECORDING AVION'S NEXT ALBUM
As I am writing this we are in the process of recording two albums. Reggae Redemption Songs II is almost finished, and we have just begun tracking Avion Blackman's highly anticipated sophomore effort. Would you please pray for this recording? Please pray for our physical health, our marriage, and that the Lord will bless every note, lyric and vocal recorded. Pray for our distributors, record label and webstore. Pray that this album will get out to as many as possible. Pray for the future listeners of this recording and ask the Holy Spirit to use this album to touch lives and bring souls to Christ.
OUR PLEA
Please pray for our finances. Ask that God will continue to provide for us as we do His work. Given our present financial situation, instead of digging ourselves into greater debt to cover the costs of recording, mastering, manufacturing and promoting Avion's new album, we once again humbly ask you to lend a helping hand. If you have ever been blessed by the ministry of Christafari and Avion Blackman, and enriched by our recordings, please consider blessing us with a monetary love-gift of any size. The honorariums we receive for concerts are not always enough to cover our expenses, and recording new albums is necessary to keep touring and preaching the word of God. Your generous donation will be greatly appreciated and enable us to finish Avion's album. Our need is real and immediate. If you are sending a tax-deductible donation, please make your check payable to THE SOWERS INTERNATIONAL, and put CHRISTAFARI in the lower left corner. Make sure your name and address is written clearly on your check. Then mail it to:
The Sowers International
Post Office Box 2260
Orange, CA 92859
If you are not looking for a tax write-off, please send your donation directly to us. Make your check out to CHRISTAFARI and mail it to the following address:
1942 259th Place
Lomita, CA 90717, USA
May you be showered with all the spiritual blessings from above!
Swimming in His Grace,
Mark Mohr and Avion Blackman-Mohr
1942 259th Place
Lomita, CA 90717
(310) 539-2539
(310) 350-1836
E-mail: mark@christafari.com
http://www.christafari.com
P.S. If you would like to stay up to the minute with our Christafari, Avion Blackman and Lion of Zion ministries please visit our website http://www.christafari.com
Please print out this e-mail and cut out the portion below. Use it as a daily prayer reminder. Thanks!
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PLEASE PRAY FOR MARK AND AVION MOHR AND CHRISTAFARI:
For continued strength in Mark and Avion's marriage and for the rest of the band members.
Pray that Avion's album will get out to as many as possible and bring souls to Christ.
For their health and the Lord's constant guidance and provision.
For the new musicians that are joining the group (Drums, Sax).
For pending tours and more opportunities to perform and share the gospel of Jesus Christ
A tour bus or a 15-passenger van for their local/U.S. tours.
For Kevin McIntyre, Christafari's new booking agent.
