Friends Helping Friends

What a night we had last night in McDonough! The Leadership Movement was at Avalon Church to host the Friends Helping Friends Volunteer Rally. For those of you who are new to The Leadership Movement or to Friends Helping Friends… Here is the short version. The Friends Helping Friends project is a Non-Profit organization whose goal is to raise awareness and funds for Childhood Cancer.

The event was particularly special for Christina and I as it was hosted at our home church, Avalon.

The evening started a bit late as the traffic on I-75 was delaying many of our guests, including a couple of people who were to be a part of the event. When we finally got started we had a wonderful crowd that seemed quite happy to be in out of the cold for an hour.

WSB TV was filming the event for part of a special that they are doing on the two girls who were the inspiration behind the Friends Helping Friends project. Everyone seemed quite excited to be a part of the process, and no one seemed to be bothered by the many cameras that were moving about the auditorium.

To make a long story short, the evening was a great success. There were two really high points (as I saw it) of the night (besides me and Christina!). The first was when Tim Kohl of Epic Bicycles along with Southern Crescent Cycling (we call them the bike club) rode out onto the stage and presented our young stars, Terry, Erin, Faith, and Arianna, with brand new bikes. The kids were thrilled and the crowd was moved to tears.

The second, and perhaps even more memorable moment, was when young Arianna sang and impromptu version of a song that she had written. She really got into it and so did the rest of us. It was really special and I think it made an impact on the people that were blessed to be able to see it. Way to go, girl!

The night ended with an exciting announcement from Pastor Ritchie Miller of Avalon. He shared his vision for Hope For Henry, a new ministry of Avalon. He detailed some of the plans that are already in the works that will have a profound impact on our community and the surrounding areas. God is doing some great things in Henry County and The Leadership Movement is proud to play a small role. Christina and I, in addition to our continued work with Friends Helping Friends, will be serving with Ritchie and the staff at Avalon in the Hope For Henry project.

Check back to find out more about these projects. You can also visit Ritchie’s blog by clicking here.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Donny

Tony Campolo & Mark Lowry

Hey, this post is from the Project Breakthrough Blog. I wanted you guys to see it in case you haven't made it over to the Breakthrough site yet...

Last week our good friends Tony Campolo and Mark Lowry were in town to film their podcast, Saturdays with Mark and Tony.

Tony Campolo is professor emeritus at Eastern University, and is the founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, an organization that develops schools and social programs in various third world countries and in cities across North America. He is the author of 34 books, his most recent two being, "Letters to a Young Evangelical" and "The God of Intimacy and Action."

Mark Lowry is the wonderful comedian known for his work with the popular Gaither Homecoming "family." Mark is also recognized for having written the mega-popular Christmas song, "Mary Did You Know?"

They came into town on Friday and stayed through Sunday. On Friday we held a surprise birthday party for Mark at Ray's house. Saturday was the podcast taping and it lasted most of the day. Sunday morning was a special day at our home church, The Village Church. Mark sang a few songs and shared some comedy and Tony Campolo delivered a powerful message.

To view the service online Click here...

Project Breakthrough

Last week at the Ashford Club in Atlanta, the Project Breakthrough team met with good friend, Ike Reighard.

Ike serves as Chief People Officer of Homebanc in Atlanta, Georgia where he is responsible for the recruitment, training, and organizational development of one of America's Most Admired Companies. HomeBanc was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as "The Best Place To Work" in Atlanta while Fortune Magazine placed HomeBanc at #39 on their 2004 list of Best Companies to Work For.

We enjoyed a great lunch as we discussed some of our upcoming projects. These are a couple of the photos taken during the meeting.

We're Back!

Well, we're back from Overland Park. Rick and I flew in yesterday morning around 8:00 AM.

Our time in Kansas was great. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and spent most of the day hanging out with our Road Manager, Mike and his wife, Adrienne. Adrienne's dad, Steve, came over later and we all ate dinner and went to the Plaza. Rick was his usual crazy self so we all spent most of the evening laughing.

The concert was on Sunday night and it was a fun night. During the program I was introducing Rick to the crowd and decided at the last minute to have him join me on stage to perform. He handled it like a pro. He shared a couple stories and ended with a hilarious song called "I wish they all could be Southern Baptist Girls." It was awesome and the people loved him. I have a feeling that the church will schedule the Laugh Soul Loud tour with Rick and Bonita as a result of Rick's performance.

Before the concert started I met two beautiful little girls named Mia and Emily. Mia was 3 years old and Emily was about 5 or 6. They were precious and sweet and they really made me miss my girls. During the concert I noticed that Emily was really enjoying the music. Mia fell asleep! Emily helped me draw names for a music giveaway at intermission and she was perfect. I don't think it was intentional but she managed to draw her own name which, of course, got a big laugh from the crowd.

I was able to spend a little time chatting with Emily and her family. Here is a photo of the two of us after the concert.
Check out more photos in my photo gallery.

See you next time.

Donny

Headed out

Hello, friends. I am about to begin packing for the weekend. I am flying to Overland Park, Kansas, where I will be singing at the Blue Valley Baptist Church on Sunday night at 6pm. I am looking forward to a great time with my friends out there. My friend, Rick Griffin, is flying over with me so that should make for some interesting and funny stories to tell later. I am hoping to be mentioned in his latest book!

I was flying out of town last week with some friends and the airline lost my bag. It is painful when there is nothing you can do about it. Even as I pack now I am beginning to worry that I might loose another one. I am going to run out of clothes by the end of the summer!

Anyway, If you are in the Kansas City area, come join us on Sunday night. I promise that it will be a lot of fun. I will be doing some of the new songs from my upcoming project (if I can remember all of the words and chords).

Check back on Monday or Tuesday for photos from our trip.

See you then.

Donny

Donny on YouTube

NSAI

Last night Bill Turpin, the administrator of Donny Henderson Music BMI, and I were guests at the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) regional chapter meeting in Marietta. Also on the panel was Pat Terry, an incredible songwriter (Help Me Hold On, Travis Tritt) and a pioneer in the world of Christian and Worship Music (The Pat Terry Group). The chapter coordinator is Jeff Silver, an accomplished songwriter (Forget About Love, Mark Wills) and producer.

The evening was quite special and we were able to make some new friends and get caught up with some old ones. There is something magical that happens when a gifted artist plays and sings music that is there own. It is hard to put it into words but when it happens you can feel it. We were blessed to have been able to experience some of that last night.

Here are a couple photos that Bill took for me. The first is Pat Terry and next is Jeff Silver.