All Sons & Daughters Raise Money for Moore, Oklahoma: All Album Proceeds for Convoy of Hope
"We want to avoid suffering, death, sin, ashes. But we live in a world crushed and broken and torn, a world God Himself visited to redeem. We receive his poured-out life, and being allowed the high privilege of suffering with Him, may then pour ourselves out for others." - Elisabeth Elliot
The recent tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma may have broken the spirits of a community and town, but it's in those heartbreaking moments that sometimes God places people in our lives to uplift and help carry the burden of despair with us. This is exactly the mission of worship duo All Sons & Daughters.
Hailing from Franklin, Tenn., Leslie Jordan and David Leonard are going above and beyond their music calling from God, not only are they giving praise to the Father but they are also serving his people that need it the most.
"I first heard about the tornado from David. When I put on the news I couldn't stop crying," Leslie, the singer and guitarist of the group told The Christian Post. "The first thing I thought is, how can we help? We had just left there two weeks ago finishing up our April run."
For Leslie, her "How can we help?" question was answered quickly when she saw some tweets from Convoy of Hope: "@ConvoyofHope In response to yesterday's tornadoes and severe #weather we have deployed an assessment team to Shawnee, OK," and "Please pray and consider giving at http://convoyofhope.org," the organization wrote.
Now knowing what she must do, she called David up on the phone and came up with an idea to raise money with a music EP.
"What a cool way to help if we can raise money through our Noisetrade website," they said. Noisetrade is a popular website artists use to let people download their track for a donation of their choice.
Naming the EP Songs for Oklahoma, All Sons & Daughters are donating 100 percent of their proceeds to Convoy of Hope to work with the tornado victims. The EP features a song from one of their hymn projects and a few songs that helped them through rough periods of time, the group explained.
Singer and pianist David had a different story and a direct tie to Oklahoma through his family. David's wife is from Oklahoma and many of her family and friends are still there. David was happy to report that the family was doing well, but said a friend of his wife's had their entire home destroyed. The person hid in the closet, and that was the only part that remained standing.
"It was a God thing," he said. Another friend had just moved out of Moore a few weeks ago.
In addition to the work they are doing with the album sales for Oklahoma, they are also working with the feedOne Campaign, a branch of Convoy of Hope, that needs just a $10 a month sponsorship to feed one orphan child for the month.
Leslie spoke on how the organization started with just one person feeding others in the back of their truck, and now it has grown to help hundreds and thousands of children.
David said they will also be working with the Hands & Feet Project, which was started by Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline, and helps feed, clothe, and provide shelter for impoverished children in Haiti.
AS&D will be partnering and trying to tie the organizations together in October, and helping spread the word.
Aside from the charity work, the pair recently released a live full length DVD/CD titled Live on April 23 which immediately shot to no. 1 on iTunes' Top Concert Films Movie Sales Chart. David said they were happy about the nationwide acclaim, but that their main focus is their church.
"We are writing for the next season of our church," he said to CP. "May is a month for us to be home, write, and work in the body and community of our church and town. And we'll see where it goes."
"Our community is our first priority. We love traveling and seeing how God is using our songs through other churches and people, but for us it's always been about home. We are exactly where God wants us. It's a unique situation," Leslie said. "We can balance both [home church and traveling]."
Both Leslie and David agreed that their immediate plans are to just sit back and see how God wants to move and grow, and serve the church.
"We want to love well and be cared for well, and just continue God's plan," Leslie said.
On speaking about what they would want the fans to know, David said to "get plugged into local communities and bodies, and just dig deep. We have found so much life through support systems."
Once again expressing the importance of service to others, All Sons & Daughters wanted to reiterate how important it is to get involved if possible.
"Our goal for Oklahoma is to continue to spread the word on how to help and speak about these great organizations," Leslie said.
"God works through people and relationships," David added.
Download Songs for Oklahoma here.
Donate to Convoy of Hope here.
Get involved with feedOne here.
Be God's Hands and Feet by clicking here.