Hello friends…
I finished the Camino de Santiago a month ago. With accommodations for friends invited and wrestling with my own physical challenges, I went from Saint John Pied de Port, France to Santiago, Spain in 51 days…about 480 miles. We had a couple of short days, 5-7 miles, but most days were 10-15 miles. My pack weight varied from 12 lbs. to 34 lbs., depending on what I carried and what I shipped ahead. In Leon, I shipped the travel guitar and the recording studio back home with Jason and Carter Krenzler. What I had planned to create with those items didn’t unfold as I had hoped. And there is no need to labor with empty promises that you made to yourself…and I still have three or four songs to finish:-)
Coming home has brought its own set of challenges. 
The life of a peregrino ( pilgrim ) is pretty simple. You rise, you walk, you eat, you sleep…with thoughtful conversations thrown in haphazardly throughout the day. And then you do it again, and again, and again. When you cross back over into what used to be your normal life, you tend to experience more rat race than shared grace. Lists, calendars, timing starts to fill the edges of your experienced peace and the intentionality of the past few months starts to feel like sand slipping through your grasp. There is a herculean effort required to stay true to the walk of being present to the moment, hour, day at hand.
As I pursue Camino closure…putting gear, tools and toys back where they belong…I am also preparing for my summer influence project, Music and Mission. I changed gears this summer. I invited 5 young men into a deepening mentorship opportunity…spend 5-8 weeks 
living an intentional life ( spiritually, physically, intellectually ), writing music, doing small gigs around Portland and the Northwest and recording three songs ( 1 cover and 2 originals ) at a high enough quality that we can load them up onto Spotify and other streaming sources. Two of the five are committed to the process.
The first student started today on a three day recording studio internship. He does physical labor in the morning and does studio work in the afternoon and evening. The second student shows up this coming Saturday and will go through the same process…work of the hands and work of the mind. Then we head south of Oregon City to a small studio space where we will camp, write music and record for the next several weeks. We have gigs in Boise and Portland, but otherwise we are focussing on studio skills which will support these young men as they head to Nashville in the fall/winter.
The gift of this program isn’t about doing music. Music is the catalyst that draws them deeper into the things that truly matter…
disciplined creativity, curated communication, savored and explored failure-deepened determination and gravitational growth. We never sign up for these things. Image the billboard…come to camp and fail with us! And yet, it is only through that process we develop what allows us to be successful. And they come to realize that I am with them for the long haul.
So, while I am shifting worlds I am bringing this deeper journey to these young visionaries…knowing, via years of experience, that this summer will be life changing for them and for me.
That being said, our financial need will be between $5k and $7k, which if vastly different from the $25k we needed last year.
Thank you for supporting this ongoing endeavor to provide students with amazing opportunities! We are casting amazing influence for the kingdom in these unique programs.
Kevin
Updates…
1. Still navigating through the IRS kerfuffle. Hope to know more by the end of the summer. We presume a good outcome, but if not, we have been approached by other non profits who want to support what we are doing. They are willing to have our donations go through their channels at no cost to us. God has a plan.
2. Still spending a ton of time in coffee table ministry. I have 8-10 deep dialogues per week, usually with folks outside the framework of traditional church influence.
3. If you like the music I’ve been working on for the past 40 years, you can find it on your streaming devices under Kevin Brusett or The Hungering.
