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"It's great to minister to the Church here in the West,
but I think we sometimes need to go beyond the typical boundaries
and venture to places where the people are hungry for the Truth."
Jen G: Now your mission work doesn’t stop here in the states, but you’ve taken it abroad to Indonesia. You guys gave a way like 85,000 albums!
Did you guys actually produce the albums in Indonesia?
Bill: Yes, we did. We produced two albums that were all original songs written by the people in Indonesia. What we did was helped them with the production and editing of the music and gave them the masters for duplication to be made there.
Jen G: How have the people of Indonesia responded to your music?
Bill: Surprisingly, it was taken very well. Even with the majority of the population (90%) of the people being Muslims, they seem to enjoy all sorts of music, as long as they’re good music. For the most part, the lower-income classes are able to purchase boom boxes, but are not able to spend much money on cassettes. So being that the cassettes were given away for free, they were able to obtain it and listen to it over and over again.
Jen G: Why is it important to BOS to share the gospel through music overseas?
Bill: We think it’s important to take the message of  Christ to places that might not have the opportunity to be presented with the Gospel. Its great to minister to the Church here in the West, but I think we sometimes need to go beyond the typical boundaries and venture to places where the people are hungry for the Truth.
Jen G: Your album Letting Go has a really good feel to it. It’s upbeat and uplifting. Tell me what a true friendship with Jesus is to you?
Sean: A true friendship with Jesus to me is the willingness to make sacrifices. To be a true friend means not just living for yourself, but for others, and in this case, for Jesus. John 15: 13-14 says, “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
Jesus is the ultimate friend because He made the ultimate sacrifice for us – He gave His life over to death so that we could have new and eternal life. Whatever sacrifices we make for Him could never compare to what He has done for us.
"Jesus is the ultimate friend because
He made the ultimate sacrifice for us
– He gave His life over to death..."
Jen G: How has becoming more humble drawn you closer to Him?
Ben: Yes, definitely. I know for certain that before a relationship with Christ is established, we must first surrender our life, including our ambitions, dreams, and desires, and lay it down before Him. And pride is the single most destructive spirit that any human can have. It’s the root of sin itself.
Jen G: Not My Own is one of the best songs on the album. My favorite line is, ‘The only thing I have to offer is my weakness…’ What does those words mean?
Ben: Coming from my personal status of being useless in almost all aspects of life, I think that its so amazing to see how God can take someone as weak as I am and to give me strength to do what the Lord has called me to do. That is only done by the grace of God.
Jen G: Since this whole album is basically about getting closer to God, which song would you say speaks the most to you guys personally?
Sean: The song that speaks the most to me personally is “Take My Life” –  it lays out exactly what Jesus did for all of us (“You came down to earth to show me what I’m worth, You gave Yourself for me, Changed my life and set me free”) and reminds me that I owe everything to Him.
Jen G:I Want is a great song for the uncertain who feel as though they’ve messed up one too many times. What would you say to our readers who don’t seem to feel God’s presence?
Ben: I can only speak from my own experience. Whenever I felt far from God’s presence, it wasn’t because He was not near me, it’s because I was running away from Him. God is always there waiting for us; He’ll never leave us. Most of the time it’s us who ignores him, because we think that there are more important things in life. We get so busy with junk that we forget the whole reason why we’re here on earth. I encourage those who feel the lack of God’s presence, to seek Him first in your daily life and put Him first before anything else.
Jen G: What would your words of encouragement be to those who feel like they’ve lost all that matters most and their lives will never be the same?
Sean: James 1: 2-4 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Life is truly worth living for, if you look.  Find the place you need to be and just hold on. Just know that God uses big trials in our lives to bring us closer to Him.
Jen G: Would BOS invite our readers to Come To Jesus?
Sean: Definitely. Through faith in Jesus we have access to grace and love and when we come to know the Lord as a friend and truly trust in Him, He can work through us to bring His love to others.
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