About

About Joey & Erin

In summer of 2014 when Joey turned 50 he suddenly and unexpectedly broke his hip. Life came sharply into focus at that point. We knew that God wanted us to do something with this music we just didn’t know what. So, a year later, after his hip had healed, in August of 2015 we invited 7 couples to our home, people we knew, loved, and respected, and he shared his musical gift. We asked them to write down their thoughts and let us know what we should do. They gave US great encouragement and inspiration to keep playing. So, then in December of 2015, we hosted another night, where we served a potluck dinner and Joey shared his testimony and his music. God moved, and we began then to write a list of everyone we knew. Though we had been serving in a very small congregation for 12 years, we had a long list of people that we knew in different circles of influence. That January of 2016 we began hosting groups of people every month. Each month we would invite different guests. Our kids would invite friends, friends would invite friends, and God kept bringing us an audience.

We decided very early on that we just wanted to give, to use what we had been given, our home, our family, and our music, to share the gospel and love on the guests God sent us. Like David when he went to battle Goliath, he threw off Saul’s armor and used what he was familiar with five smooth stones and a slingshot. Joey picked up his slingshot, which was his acoustic guitar, what he was familiar with, and began to share his music to anyone who came. We weren’t looking for a record label, or a producer, just an audience that we could share with in an intimate setting.

Thanks to an incredible team of volunteers, faithful coalition of supporters, and godly board of directors we have been able to host hundreds of guests and numerous GATEWAY events free of charge while we continue to tell our story.

We believe that everyone has a story to tell and we want to help people find the Lord, find their voice, and use their talents for his kingdom. Once our events ended, we began to have multiple ministry opportunities as a result. Some people needed prayer, some needed mentoring, and some needed resources.

We began to see that we had begun to grow a network of believers from all walks of life and we wanted to connect people with churches and local businesses helping them find jobs, and a church community. Our tribe was forming. We see that everyone has a gift to give, something they are familiar with that can benefit the kingdom of God.