My family had the honor of attending a fundraiser for LifeCare of Brandon, a non-profit organization which offers counseling and support for women enduring an unplanned pregnancy or a past abortion.

This benefit concert was headlined by Ryan Hughes and his “To Be Determined” band which was an amalgam of artists playing guitar, sax, drums, and provided backup vocals. It was an amazing show and I took the opportunity to talk to Ryan briefly about the experience.

Brandon Jones: “New Day” is the first song on your album “Step Out Again” and, in my opinion, it’s a great concert anthem song, so tell me a little about how it came to be and how you approach it with the audience.

Ryan Hughes: I have always loved the verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Romans 8:1 similarly reminds us, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

I believe that more than ever people need to know that they are not bound to be what they’ve been in the past. Instead there is new life and freedom moving forward in Christ. In many ways our lives are yet “to be determined” by the choices we make. Accepting Christ into our lives is a choice we can make which brings us into a “New Day”.

Brandon Jones: I think it’s a great message.

One of the great moments of the show was when you brought your two sons up on stage to join you and your wife, Patty, in a number. I know it makes you proud, but tell me did this experiment start and could we expect more of it.

Ryan Hughes: Life is full of blessings that we often are too busy to recognize, I appreciate you mentioning it. It was truly a highlight for me to share the stage and a ministry moment with my entire family. Prior to the night of the concert, we had only performed together as a family once before. I am glad I chose to include them, and I will continue to include them in the future.

Both boys are self-taught, and simply play from the passion that God has placed in their hearts. Patty has been with me since I started in ministry, and helps share the workload for keeping our group together.

BBJ: That’s amazing. God has truly blessed your family with an incredible musical talent.

Now, during the show the emcee discussed an incident years ago in which you were injured and by all medical explanations, probably not be playing the piano and performing. Can you tell us about this amazing deliverance?

RH: When I was young (probably 8 or 9) my parents went on a date night, leaving my sister and I with a babysitter. We accidentally locked ourselves out of the house and I thought I would save the day by finding the “spare key”. The key had been stored inside an outdoor air-conditioning unit in a magnetic box, but my parents had decided to move it for safety reasons. Unfortunately I did not know they had moved it, and thus stuck my hand farther into the unit expecting to find the key box. Instead the unit turned on and severely cut my four fingers.

I remember instinctively holding the fingers into place but truthfully they appeared severed. I even remember the words of “encouragement” from my neighbor “your gonna lose those fingers”. My neighbor was a nurse so those words struck fear in my heart, but to her credit her bandaging of the wound and transportation to the emergency room no doubt played a part in my full recovery.

At the hospital I received the surgeon that was on call for the evening. I again remember his remarks to my parents just arriving, “I can’t explain it other than a miracle, but no major tendons and arteries are severed and no bones are broken.” He proceeded to sew my hand back together and I later recovered to full use of my hand – including the piano I play today.

What happened between the time I pulled my hand from the air conditioner until the time the surgeon saw me was in fact miracle. While the scars still serve to show where the fan blade struck on multiple spots, the fact I didn’t lose any use of my hand speaks to God’s ultimate purpose for my life.

Not until I was living in Florida 30 years later, did the story finally complete with my full understanding of what God orchestrated that fateful day. I was playing golf with a random person I met at the golf course. The person turned out to be a doctor that specialized in hand surgery. He was intrigued by my scars, thus I told him my story. When he asked who performed the surgery I responded with the name. He stopped with a dazed look and then responded, “do you have any idea who it was that performed your surgery!” He then continued to tell me that the surgeon I named was someone he highly admired and had studied about. In his opinion, I had one of the top 5 hand surgeons in the world that night on call. While I can’t verify his claim, his conviction in his statement hit me powerfully. I indeed was blessed even more than I realized.

BBJ: The benefit concert for LifeCare was a success, so can we expect a follow-up or a similar fundraiser in the near future?

RH: Presently we are playing on average once a month for various churches or events. We have also played and shared with Cynthia Pinckney’s Food Ministry, Amazing Love Ministries, and Somebody Cares Tampa Bay to name a few. The Life Care Concert was unique in that we were the featured artist, and that it was a concert setting. I was grateful to sponsors and those attending for helping us raise $2,000 for this worthy charitable organization. Truthfully I prefer the setting of a concert to that of a festival, because it is more effective for spreading a message and connecting with people. Hopefully God will provide many more opportunities in the future.

I want to thank Ryan for answering some questions and for his mission. I’d encourage our readers to check out the links below to hear Ryan’s music and stay up to date on performance as well as research the great organization Lifecare of Brandon.

http://www.myspace.com/stepoutagain
http://www.rrhmusic.com

For more information on LifeCare or to make a donation please visit their website:

http://www.lifecareofbrandon.com/

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