Doxa Begins Again
(Sarah plays piano with the new Doxa Band, Summer 2000)
Following exactly 11 months off, Doxa began again on June 4th, 2000 for a series of summer services at Central Heights. The opening night saw Central Heights jammed again to capacity, a trend which continued until the end of the summer. When we took our summer break, Sarah, Dustin, Jared, & I travelled to Green Bay Bible Camp to speak and lead worship at their Teen Camp. We also went to Pemberton, BC to play at the outdoor Canada Day celebrations and played at Unityfest Worship Festival in Langley, BC.
(Doxa at the MCC Sale, Fall
2000)
In September, we again led worship at the MCC Sale outdoor
concert event and saw hundreds of young people attend. I
remember announcing that Doxa would be starting again as a
weekly service in October to a thunderous cheer from the
crowd which was heard by my pastor, Steve Berg from his
home. He told me the next day that he assumed that I had
said something that the crowd wanted to hear.
(Vijay, Dustin, Sarah, Jared, 2001)
The next year included weekly Doxa services and trips to
Delta, Kelowna, and Pemberton for speaking or worship
engagements. A powerful year of ministry was capped with
our biggest challenge yet as a team. Central Heights was
not prepared to host the service any longer because of the
demands on their security staff.
(Doxa at Green Bay Bible Camp, 2001)
In order for us to
continue there, we would need to find someone to head up
the security detail and they would have to be a member of
the Central Heights congregation. We had already tackled an
obstacle when our sound man, Kevin, had to hang up his
headphones. As the time approached for Kevin to move on he
would ask me: Have you found
someone yet? My strangely calm
answer was that the Lord would provide someone and I
wouldn't have to search.
One
day following a Doxa service, Will Anderson approached me
and asked if he could help in any way. It turned out that
he had a great deal of experience in mixing sound for
church events. We praised the Lord and welcomed Will onto
the team. Will's friendship would become a source of
strength for me over the years as he unwaveringly holds
fast to the teachings of Christ. Will would also become
someone I could count on to help when no one else would.
Justin Harnett joined our team as well at this time. He had
been, what I would have called, a 'hard-core' Doxa attender
in the early years. I remember wondering,
Who is
this guy?! He would stand directly
in front of me week after week and praise the Lord with an
enthusiasm that was unparalleled by any of the rest of us.
Justin began to help with setup and teardown, operating the
powerpoint, and even providing beat-box sounds when needed.
He and Jen were a welcome addition to our team and another
important set of friends.
(Jeff and Patrick)
Kristy Dougall, one of
Sarah's best friends had taken on the task of leading our
Prayer Team and was working with a solid group of about 15
people who would meet before each service to pray. Kristy's
sincere love for the Lord and for us made her an invaluable
addition to the team. My father, David Manuel, was also
praying with our team which included some fun-loving and
crazy guys named Patrick & Jeff and their buddies who
brought life and encouragement to each prayer time. Randy
Dahl was a faithful friend and supporter and his humble
prayer support strengthened my work more than he knows.
Each of the people who would come early to pray were an
amazing source of strength to all of us. When our rehearsal
was done, we would gather together in front of the stage
and commit the evening into the Lord's hands. It was
awesome! Members of the Prayer Team would also come forward
to pray for people on the special prayer nights.
(Doxa Setlist, April 22nd, 2004)
The service was
averaging somewhere around 800 people weekly and the
results of each night of worship were fantastic. I was so
blessed each night. It was exciting to know that there were
other services in and around the Valley that were also
leading people in worship as per the challenge they had all
received just a year or two earlier at Doxa. But now we had
to seek the Lord for wisdom. We had a nice-sized crowd for
the Central Heights facility, but one that would challenge
the South Abbotsford building. Steve Berg again opened the
door for Doxa to come to South Abbotsford, and Steve
Nicholson, my father-in-law and Carey McEwen, his
brother-in-law agreed to run the security detail for us.
They essentially ran their own ministry to the people in
the foyer and served with a great deal of love and care.
One week they arrived with specially created
Doxa
shirts for
everyone on the security team, the band and other friends.
(Steve Nicholson, Carey McEwen, Dan Klassen, Walter
Anderson)
South Abbotsford was
filled with 500 - 700 worshipers weekly and we were seeing
God at work through the responses to the Gospel. People
were encouraged to bring their non-Christian friends to
Doxa, and then to follow up their commitments to Christ
after the service. There was a place on our website that
also allowed people to let us know of their commitments and
if they wanted us to connect them to a church in their area
for follow-up.
(Doxa returns to South Abbotsford, 2001)
I
had established a Board of Directors to help me make some
of the important decisions regarding Doxa. Serving on the
board were Chris Douglas, Senior Pastor at Central Heights
Church, Steve Berg, Senior Pastor at South Abbotsford
Church, Brian Doerksen, Worship Leader and Leader at the
Abbotsford Vineyard, and David Manuel, Pastor of Evangelism
& Communication at South Abbotsford Church.
(Doxa Board of Directors Left to Right: Chris Douglas,
Steve Berg, David Manuel, Vijay Manuel, Brian
Doerksen)
Together, these men
became a source of real mentorship and encouragement in my
ministry with Doxa. Brian involved me in the Love
Abbotsford Recording in 2001, selecting two of my own songs
for the project: LTCOBY (Love That
Can Only Be You) and All For
You. The latter went on to
be played on Praise 106.5 for the next year, an experience
that is still somewhat weird (hearing yourself on the
radio). I would routinely have students, parents, friends
run up to me to tell me that I was on the radio. The funny
part was that they were announcing my name as if I was of
Mexican descent: [VEE - hay, man-WELL]. One of my students,
Nick, still calls me [VEE-hay]. Brian also asked me to lead
with Doxa at various city-wide events including a gathering
of the church at Tradex which saw 10,000 Christians gather
to worship God.
(Flying Free, 2001)
Doxa ran weekly for
another year at South Abbotsford Church with a consistent
following of 500 - 700 young people. We also recorded our
fourth CD entitled Flying
Free which was released with
12 new tracks. This one was special for me because it
included some very cool Indian vibes added by my father's
musical talents on the songs Pops,
Take Me
Now, and 54.
It also felt like a real team effort involving the input of
all four of the band members. It was quite fun to record
with Sarah because every time we came up with something we
thought was really cool, Sarah was sure that it had been
her idea. I still lay claim to the idea of involving Pops
on the album.
Pops has played an important role in my life since I was
very young. He has always taught me to follow Jesus with my
whole heart. Quite often he talks about what he believes,
but mostly he lives it. The example of a godly father was
extremely important in my development. This model has been
my inspiration as a father to my children; may they see
God's Spirit alive and at work in me until the day I leave
this earth.
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2008