Christian music. Worship. Praising Jesus. These words make many teenagers yawn. All they can think about is the boring worship at their respective churches. Finally we have another option. No more Gaithers!! At the recent Youth Together 2002 held at the Salvation Army Citadel in St. John's, Newfoundland, I was introduced to an awesome new Christian band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Starfield is made up of young men from the Winnipeg area. Aside from being VERY cute, these guys really know how to get a crowd on its feet.

The band is made up of Tim Neufeld, 26, Jon Neufeld, 20 and Adrian Bradford, 20, with bass player James Johnston, 18 and keyboardist Carlin Lemon, 27 added for this particular tour. Tim and John grew up together, leading worship at their church in Winnipeg and as they got older, realized that God was calling them to share their talents with the rest of the world. And boy are they talented!! Tim acts as lead singer and also plays acoustic guitar. Jon provides back-up vocals and electric guitar and Adrian plays drums. When I asked them why they decided to be a Christian band instead of trying to break into the more lucrative secular market Carlin answered, "It only makes sense." They enjoy leading worship and all members realize that God has put them on this earth to praise Him, and music is the "most effective" way to do that. Says Jon, "Our goal is to encourage a broad/mass appeal to a large audience."

Well, audiences don't get much bigger than the audience the band describes as their "best gig ever" YC Newfoundland 2001. Over 2000 young people from all over the province attended this event. While I wasn't there then, I definitely plan on being in Gander for YC Newfoundland 2002. And I was there from April 5th to 7th when they brought all 200 teenagers to their feet with their parody of Christina Aguilera's "What A Girl Wants". The band put their own unique twist on things with "What a Squirrel Wants." And their song "For the Cross" brought tears to many an eye, including my own. But, like Adrian and Tim said, "It's not always milk and honey or peaches and cream. Sometimes it's more like gin and tonic." The guys sometimes do have bad gigs. Like one night, when they performed two concerts in two different locations an hour apart. But for the most part, the guys are just happy to be praising and worshipping God in the best way they know how, through their music.

The band also is associated with World Vision, a Christian organization that "is committed to building a future for poor and needy children throughout the world". (http://www.wvi.org/home.shtml)

The band sponsors a child and throughout their time at Youth Together 2002 urged all in attendance to do the same. Starfield believes in the Scripture verse that says "Whatever you did for the least of these brothers, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).

I personally believe in Jon's statement, "Don't look for temporary satisfaction in things like pop culture. Be more concerned with your relationship with Jesus." Hopefully, Starfield won't just be temporary satisfaction. I want them to be around for a long time to come. Tim, Jon, Carlin, James and Adrian, you changed my life through your ministry and it was definitely for the better! VISIT STARFIELD ONLINE AT http://www.starfieldonline.com .

	Tim Neufeld – Lead Singer
		Jon Neufeld "Be…concerned with your relationship with Jesus"