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.
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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A New Direction
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Take It To The
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A Year Off /
Doxa Begins Again
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(c) Shikina
Publishing 2008