Dear Friends,
Over the last two decades, Debi and I have had the opportunity to travel overseas doing mission work many, many times. This is one area of ministry that we know we are called to pursue at different seasons as the Lord opens doors for us. Most of our mission trips have been focused on ministering in England, but also several other countries in the United Kingdom. Since the mid 90’s, we have traveled to England fifteen times either with just our family, or leading large teams. We have also had the opportunity to minister in Israel, and on the small island of Cyprus.
Because one of our main thrusts in ministry is music/worship, using an acoustic guitar as our primary instrument, we always transported our own instruments with us overseas. Through the years, we have always found it difficult to work with most airline companies who do not understand the importance of transporting an all-wood guitar correctly on an extended flight. Carrying a wood guitar on a mission trip can be very difficult because of temperatures changes, altitude pressure, and the concern of those who handle our baggage. For each trip we have taken, we have always made it a top priority to pray for God’s divine favor and protection over our wood guitars, which are prone to break and warp if they are not stored in the right compartment.
During one of our last mission trip flights we took, we had a bad experience where the attendants did not accommodate us as we asked, and stored our guitar in a non-pressured compartment where the temperature dropped to extremely low freezing temps. When we arrived in Cyprus and the guitar was brought to us from where it had been stored, the case felt like it had been in a freezer compartment and was covered in cold condensation. Because we still had a couple of hours to travel by car, we did not open the guitar case until we arrived at the host home where we were staying. Thankfully, because of God’s protection, the guitar was ok and had no noticeable or playing damage, and we were able to use it for all our ministry engagements during our stay. Unfortunately, on our return trip back to London, we experienced the same negligence, and our guitar was returned to us very, very cold again. We made a decision then and there that we needed to find a guitar company that made and designed acoustic instruments that could endure all the hardships of flight travel.
It wasn’t to long after that horrible experience, that we discovered RainSong Guitars, a company that makes professional, and high quality acoustic guitars out of a high endurance carbon fiber material. They are the world’s first all-graphite acoustic guitar company. The guitars that RainSong makes can endure extreme low and high temps and can’t be affected by high altitude pressure. The all-graphite guitar soundboard will not belly, sink, or crack and the all-graphite neck will not warp with changes in climate. It will also never twist, warp, bow, or need any adjustment whatsoever. RainSong uses the same technology in bonding its bridges and necks that is used in making planes, rockets and satellite equipment, which is stronger than the bonds of any wood glue or off-the-shelf epoxy. A RainSong guitar is the perfect mission-trip guitar and most of all, sounds absolutely amazing for a non-wooden built guitar. (www.rainsong.com)
Just recently, I was selected to participate in a special program by RainSong that offers a discounted price for one of their guitars. This program is only available to certain musicians/singers they carefully chose, and that would best represent Rainsong to endorse their products. To become part of this program, I have been asked to use this guitar as my main performing instrument, and as much as possible, to make mention of it during my worship concerts, and church related meetings. I have also been asked to post photos with the RainSong guitar on their Facebook page occasionally, and if possible, when recording music videos or new CD projects, to use the RainSong guitar. The list price for this particular Rainsong model is $2000.00 but sells for $1499.00. For this special program they are offering me, RainSong will sell me one of their “Smokey” models for only $875.00, which includes the shipping costs. This discounted price is almost half the cost of a new one from most distributors, and is an excellent deal for the money spent.
Because a RainSong guitar is best suited for flight travel, we are believing for this need to be provided for, and are asking God to speak to those who will help us raise the necessary funds to purchase this guitar ASAP. Besides using it as our primary mission trip instrument, it will also be used as a one of our main guitars for all ministry/worship events in the US. If you would like to be apart of helping with the “RainSong Guitar Mission Project”, and make a donation to help with the expense, we would greatly appreciate your gifts. To receive a tax-deductible receipt, please make your checks out to “D&D Ministries” and designate your gift for the “RainSong Guitar Mission Project”.
Please mail all correspondence to:
D&D Ministries
P.O. Box 126
Vass, NC 28394
D&D Ministries is a 501c3 organization and all gifts are tax deductible.
For those who would rather give a gift online, you can click here:
* Please note, that our host website will charge us 3% of each donation we receive through our on-line service.
Many Blessings and Thank You for your generous gifts,
Don & Debi Gatlyn