Three New Communities for 14-City Choir Competition

Basking Ridge, N.J.– Registration is now open for How Sweet the Sound™, which is back in 2010 and bigger than ever with the expansion to three new communities. Now in its third year, How Sweet The Sound – a national program created by Verizon Wireless – gives church choirs nationwide a chance to win the title of “The Best Church Choir in America” and up to $50,000 in cash and prizes.

How Sweet the Sound is much more than a singing competition for choirs – it is an opportunity to celebrate the unique ways that music connects people within their communities. Interested choir representatives can visit www.HowSweetTheSound.com or select Verizon Wireless retail locations for more information and to register for a chance to compete at concerts that will take place in the following cities:

• Houston
• St. Louis
• Washington, D.C.
• Philadelphia
• New York
• Detroit
• Chicago
• Atlanta
• Memphis, Tenn.
• Los Angeles
• Oakland, Calif.
• Jacksonville, Fla.
• Cleveland
• Charlotte, N.C.

“We are excited to expand How Sweet the Sound to add Jacksonville, Cleveland and Charlotte and to bring the joy of Gospel music to a new audience, ” said Joe Saracino, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless. “Gospel is a genre that attracts people from all walks of life and we are proud to have created such a special program that celebrates music and recognizes the many volunteers who make church choirs such an important part of the community. ”

Last year, Atlanta West Pentecostal Church Choir was named the overall winner for the How Sweet the Sound tour. According to choir director Brandon Frazier, the choir is using their prize money to record its first Gospel music album.

Entry and Selection Process How Sweet the Sound invites choirs affiliated with a church or other church organizations (as defined by the organization’s tax-exempt ID number) within one of the 14 tour regions to enter (visit www.HowSweetTheSound.com for specific geography). Choirs interested in a chance to perform onstage in their cities must submit an application and audition video no longer than three minutes. All registration forms and audition videos must be received by May 17, 2010. To register online, visit www.HowSweetTheSound.com. The audition video may be submitted by mail, uploaded online, or dropped off at participating Verizon Wireless Communications Stores. To enter by mail, send tapes to How Sweet the Sound, 125 E. Broad Street, Greenville, SC 29601.

Small and large choirs are eligible to enter the competition. The Few Voices category is for choirs consisting of six to 35 participants, while the Many Voices category is for choirs with 36 to 100 participants. Audition videos will be reviewed by professional music producers, music executives and Gospel radio personalities from each city. The judges will select up to 16 choirs – eight from each category – from each stop of the tour. The video submissions of the 16 choirs will be posted on www.HowSweetTheSound.com where members of the community can vote for their favorite choirs.

Once the online voting is complete, four choirs from each category will be selected to perform onstage in the regional event where two winners, one from each category, will win $10,000 for their choir. One overall winner will be selected at each regional concert, and each choir member from the overall winning choir will also receive a Verizon Wireless phone and a $50 gift card. The overall winning choir from each city will also advance to the grand finale where they will compete to win more than $25,000 in cash and prizes.

In addition, the Verizon Wireless V CAST People’s Choice Award will be given to the choir that captures the heart of the audience at each regional performance and at the grand finale performance. The V CAST People’s Choice Award winners will receive $5,000.

Verizon Wireless will select a local artist in each city of the 14 cities to represent their city during the How Sweet the Sound 2010 tour. The selected artists will create a custom fine art piece that pays tribute to the event in their hometowns.

HopeLine®
Verizon Wireless will collect no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and accessories — in any condition and from any provider — at stores nationwide and in bins onsite at every How Sweet the Sound event as part of the company’s ongoing HopeLine program which raises awareness of domestic violence. The phones are either refurbished for reuse or recycled, and the proceeds from the program provide wireless phones and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness. In 2009, more than 7,500 phones were collected during How Sweet the Sound, and at the grand finale, Verizon Wireless donated $25,000 to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to support its Women of Color Leadership Initiative. Additional details will be announced as the selection process gets underway. All details about the entry and selection process and the official rules can be found by visiting www.HowSweetTheSound.comor by calling 800-230-0053.

It’s been over 3 years and we’re so blessed to still be publishing Path MEGAzine.  To God be the Glory!  We do our best to bring you your favorite Gospel artists, news and entertainment in a unique and engaging way.  Amidst all the opposition and trials, God has blessed us to help others stay on the Path during the work week by providing positive programming on the internet.  The Path represents staying on God’s Path, and finding the purpose he has for your life.  Tuning into inspirational programming can feed your spirit with encouraging entertainment and products that will align you with the word of God. 

The Path MEGAzine’s biblical theme states,” In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.”(Proverbs 3:6)  Furthermore, Apostle Paul writes “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about these things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the peace of God will be with you.”(Philippians 4:8-9)  I feel that the greatest continuous sensation someone can experience in life is peace.     

 I encourage you to check Path MEGAzine daily for the news, music videos, and interviews that will uplift your daily living.  Get involved by submitting your testimonies in the Article/Testimony tabs so others can be encouraged by what you’ve been through.

Now in our fourth year, we will be doing some ground-breaking things with Path MEGAzine.  This Thursday we’re announcing our partner referral program, where we will be paying our subscribers for referrals given to Path MEGAzine.  That’s right.  You can earn money by sending advertisers to us!  If the referral leads to a sale, you can either choose money or a free E-Blast to promote your ministry, product, church, company or service.  That’s a $200 dollar value for just one referral.  This is a way for us to say thanks for the past 3 years of spreading the word about Path MEGAzine.com.  The referral program begins on Thursday, March 25^th and goes on through Easter until Tuesday, May 7^th.  Full details will be released this upcoming Thursday via Email Blast and the Path MEGAzine’s website.   

Stay tuned for our Annual subscription drive in April.  You’ll have the opportunity to win thousands of dollars worth of free merchandise and gift certificates.  Travels this week take us to Bobby Jones in New Orleans annual taping and showcase.  For a list of our travel itinerary visit Path MEGAzine on Facebook.com/PathMEGAzine.   I wish everyone success in the days endeavors, and make sure you “Stay on the Path!”

Singer, songwriter, and producer Kirk Franklin adds another title to his resume as the Fo Yo Soul/Verity Gospel Music Group artist is penning a brand new book. The new effort, titled The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms, is set for release on May 18, 2010 and will also be available on audiobook. In support of this release, Franklin will embark on a 9-city book tour which kicks off on May 18 in Atlanta, with stops in Washington, DC, New York City, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, and Houston. The tour concludes on May 28 in Los Angeles, CA.

Fresh off her Academy Award nomination for best actress, the overnight celebrity Gabourey Sidibe is forced to deal with harsh criticism about her weight.  The very blunt Howard Stern couldn’t get anymore disrespectful when he calls Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, “The most enormous fat black chick I’ve ever seen!” He claims she’s “Going to die in two years” if she doesn’t lose weight and the only role she could ever play in Hollywood again would be in The Blind Side 2, as the linebacker. He even says Oprah should have an immediate intervention with Gabourey. Peep the video for the full rant.
  

The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards are asking fans to weigh in on their two significant awards categories. Fans can now vote for the categories of “Artist of the Year” and “New Artist of the Year” once online and via text message. Nominees for the “Artist of the Year” category include Mary Mary, Francesca Battistelli, Casting Crowns, Jason Crabb, Jars of Clay, tobyMac, and Skillet. “New Artist of the Year” nominees include Kari Jobe, Crystal Aikin, Brian Courtney Wilson, Jonny Diaz, Revive, Sidewalk Prophets, and Bluetree. Voting takes place at the Gospel Music Channel website, with polls closing on April 20, 2010 at midnight ET. This year’s GMA Dove Awards airs on April 25, 2010 at 8p ET on GMC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ashley Miller, Publicist
Phone: 615.749.6290
Email: acmiller@abingdonpress.com

NASHVILLE, TN—The Hurt Locker, the 82nd Academy Award’s Best Picture of the Year for 2010, reveals the toll that war exacts upon the lives of soldiers. The film portrays the dangers of combat and the emotional, physical, and spiritual wounds soldiers endure. It shows how much the experience of combat changes people, making it very difficult to come home to a normal life after war.

“One of the biggest challenges facing returning wartime veterans is to face bravely the trauma of combat and then not allow those experiences to scar them permanently,” says David Thompson, co-author of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: Ministering to Returning Combat Veterans. “Many soldiers find it hard to adjust to life, work, and relationships on the home front after the combat has stopped. When the veterans come home, many feel they have lost their place in civilian life, where jobs no longer fit them, family relationships feel strained and conflicted, and they sense only their fellow soldiers really understand them.”

Beyond the Yellow Ribbon addresses the challenge for soldiers and families of adjusting to life after war. It provides guidance for the faith community to reach out to those in uniform and help this next greatest generation of veterans come all the way home from war and find their place again in civilian life, far from the fields of battle.

Thompson goes on to say, “Hanging up your uniform after war is not easy. How can you emotionally switch from being in combat, living with daily threats to your life and seeing the chaos and carnage of war to adjusting to a peaceful civilian world with normal family life and regular work routines? It takes time and patience from everyone to help our returning soldiers make this transition successfully.”

Authors David A. Thompson and Darlene Wetterstrom offer straightforward, challenging practical help for returning soldiers and their families. Thompson has experienced three deployments and clearly understands the challenges families and communities face. He was a military family life consultant serving the Minnesota National Guard and is a licensed professional counselor and retired Navy chaplain. Wetterstrom is a licensed independent clinical social worker. She works with families and youth in a variety of settings including foster care, adoption, and the military.

Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: Ministering to Returning Combat Veterans 978-0-687-46575-0 • December 2009 • $13.00 • 144 pages • paperback

Request a review copy

About Abingdon Press
Abingdon Press is the publishing imprint for The United Methodist Publishing House. Abingdon Press has a distinguished record in religious publishing for a broad ecumenical audience and specializes in products for church leaders, as well as scholars and students engaged in theological education and the practice of ministry. Abingdon Press offers a wide array of quality academic, professional, reference, and devotional titles published each year.

The Path MEGAzine had an amazing timeworking with Helping Hands to Haiti on this mission trip to Haiti.  The experience gave me a new perspective and understanding on what’s really happening.  Our production company Parallel Path Entertainment videotaped the entire journey, and it was exciting to look at the footage when we got back in town.  We’ll have video documentation available soon, but I wanted to give everyone an update on the state of Haiti as I saw it.

When we arrived at Port Labadee, the Haitian officers informed us that things could go badly if we delivered the goods our self.  Just last weeka group of Haitians blocked the roads and jumped supply trucks and stole everything off of them in a ruthless and violent manner.  Getting into the city was one thing, but getting out was another.  We were to leave the Port of Labadee, and enter the city of Cap Haitian, which is about an hour away from the severely devastated Port of Prince.  The 12 of us were the only ones allowed out of the Royal Caribbean owned Port Labadee.

Few out of our group were detoured by the warnings.  We all had the danger in the back of our minds, but we were determined to at least make one stop to the orphanage.  Father Duken owned the orphanage.  The task was left up to Father Duken to pick us up in his Ford F-150 and take the twelve of us 30 minutes into the city of Cap Haitian.  We journeyed on rough terrain and un-paved roads, piled up in the back of a truck with mission shirts of the same baby blue color.  Y’all I was scared.  We looked like tourists, and to make matters worse we quickly realized that the locals weren’t exactly happy to see us. 

They were bitter, distraught, and yelled things in their French-Haitian dialect that wasn’t conducive of someone who was glad to receive aid.   Our Haitian translator Roger, rode in the back of the truck and calmed the many Haitians inquiring about our visit down.  Roger spared us many of the translations, but I do know we were being called white and pigs.  That was odd to me considering that all of us who went were African Americans.  Mass inquiries even prompted Roger to tell one of the locals we were Haitian-Americans coming back to help.  If you saw how this guy came up on our truck you might have said the same thing!  Many locals didn’t want to be photographed, even slapping the hands of one of us, screaming “No Photo.”   The ride was slow, often crawling through thousands of people who blocked the streets.  Many of the Haitians rode scooters for transportation. Some had cars, but most people walked.  While walking, the local women would balance unbelievable amounts of laundry and fruits on there head.  Father Duken our driver and orphanage owner stated, “90% of the people had no jobs.”  Before the earthquake the city of Cap Haitian held 800,000 people.  Now people were pouring in from the badly hit Port of Prince raising their population to an estimated 1.5 million.  The city simply couldn’t hold it.  People slept on the streets at night, and walked the streets during the day.  I saw several men urinating out in the open, because there was simply nowhere else to go. 

When we arrived at the orphanage, workers locked the 20-foot Iron Gate behind us, and we heard a touching sound.  The children from the Orphanage were singing to us in French.  They emphatically sung, “Welcome home, you are home.”  We toured the orphanage and we were elated that our money and two of the pallets of supplies were going to this particular orphanage.  Father Duken was doing a wonderful job with the children. Most of them were brought to the orphanage after their parents were killed in the earthquake.  We took pictures and hopped back in the truck, trying to hurry back before the ship left us and before it started raining again.  But there was one little problem.  It seemed that we broke the tailgate on the truck.  So we spent about 10 minutes trying to fix it to no avail.  So two of the men had to hold the tailgate up and/or ride on it while holding themselves down on the incredibly bumpy ride. 

As soon as we made it out on the street a United Nations UN truck pulled in front of us.  I rode inside the truck, and reminded some of the passengers that if we didn’t spend that 10 minutes working on the tailgate, we would have never been behind this UN truck which was definitely providing security for our ride back.  God was working this thing!  The UN truck must have known we took a risk, and followed us all the way through the city.  We were safe. 

About 5 minutes from the cruise ship we see this huge truck coming at us on a one-way street.  We had to stop and back up, while guards hopped out the truck and motioned us to move aside.  The truck pulled up next to us.  And it was our goods on the truck!  Labels saying, “Haitian Relief – Helping Hands to Haiti” covered the goods being brought into the city.  Everyone started cheering, and I rushed to turn on my camera to document the achievement.  Our mission was complete.  And for Pastor Gregg Patrick, a dream realized.

We continued into the Port, relieved and satisfied that we made it safely.  We said our goodbyes to Father Duken, and all I could think about were the faces of those little kids.  I felt like a hero.  I felt a little guilty returning back to the luxurious cruise ship also.  I realized how fortunate we are.  This was an experience that will definitely make me count my blessings and reassess my needs.  The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:11

No matter if I have a lot or a little, I know God will cover the basics.  And the basics to us is more fortune than some people receive in a lifetime.  Through it all I will never forget Haiti.  The majority of the people were curious, kind, and thankful.  Their motivation for survival beamed through their facial expressions.  I’m just glad I got the opportunity to make someone’s day better. 

If you would like to give to the Haiti relief effort, please contact 1-888-92-HAITI or visit www.helpinghandstohaiti.org.  They will make sure your contribution gets into the hands of the Haitian people.

See all the pictures from our Haiti trip on our Facebook page! 
CLICK HERE

The PathMEGAzine will be going to Haiti with the humanitarian group Helping Hands to Haiti.  The group has collected tons of supplies needed to aid the Haitian people.  We will be videotaping the trip as it relates to the efforts of Helping Hands to Haiti.  We hope to report the progress the Haitian community has made since the devastating earthquake ravished their community.  One thing’s for sure, Haiti needs our help now more than ever as government corruption and greed threatens to stall relief efforts put forth by thousands of donators. 

The Lord is Making a Way!

Helping Hands to Haiti has broken new ground in the efforts to get aid directly into the hands of the Haitian people.  The organization has partnered with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line to ship the materials to Haiti.  Once in Haiti various political connections and direct contacts will ensure the delivery of these materials pass the ports.  Helping Hands to Haiti is the vision of The Bridge, Southwest Community Christian Center of Houston, Texas. Through the vision of its Pastor Dr. Gregg Patrick, the group has received great favor in securing the delivery of the supplies.  Pastor Gregg Patrick says, “This is 1 of 3 initial trips that Helping Hands to Haiti will make to render aid.” 



We Need You!

Donations can be made by credit card at 1-888-92-HAITI
Send Checks to Helping Hands to Haiti, 14880 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, Texas 77083.  Materials can also be dropped off at this location.  For a list of supplies needed most CLICK HERE to visit the website www.HelpingHandsToHaiti.org 

ABOUT HELPING HANDS TO HAITI

Helping Hands To Haiti (HHH) is the vision of The Bridge, Southwest Community Christian Center of Houston, Texas.  Through the leadership of its, Pastor, Dr. Gregg J. Patrick, the church has begun a monumental effort to get humanitarian aid directly to the hands of the Haitian people; where it is so desperately needed.

The 20 year old church, has established and supported many charitable events over the years, and distributing over 98% of the funds directly to the agencies involved.

During the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Pastor Patrick and The Bridge were one of the first (and only) churches that consistently came to the aid of the displaced Americans who had to flee to The Astrodome in Houston.  Pastor Patrick worked tirelessly with the Red Cross and other agencies to help and insure physical comfort and spiritual aid to thousands that were there; many of whom have remained in Houston, as members of the church.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, The Bridge (a registered Red Cross disaster agency), again opened its doors to help and relieve the suffering of the homeless and needy, through the giving of many concerned citizens.

Pastor Patrick, a major gospel artist, had a top-ten CD “Crossover” in 2009 (Billboard).  Through his gospel industry contacts, HHH will soon produce a major gospel concert to support these efforts.


Contact Information
www.HelpingHandsToHaiti.org
Email: Pastor Gregg Patrick of Helping Hands to Haiti – Pastor@swcbc.net
Phone: 1-888-92-HAITI
Address: 14880 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, TX 77083