Yes, we are wealthy, but not independently. Our Father has wealth untold, but it doesn't seem to be in His plan to bless us with large sums of money at this time. Oh, you can relate, can you? :-) More importantly, He has and does supply each and everyone one of our needs and that is more than we deserve.

Some people are blessed with independent wealth and can use their financial resources to build the kingdom of Christ without the financial aid of anyone. We on the other hand, are more like Jesus' disciples. Jesus called us to give up our "normal" lives and go into full time ministry, and we have. We have given up jobs, which provided a secure income and a home, which provided a secure safe haven, in order to follow the call of Christ. We are now depending on Him to provide for us by means of His choosing. To some it sounds crazy, to others, courageous, but it is neither. It is simply obedience. We've lost nothing worth keeping in the long run.

Jesus supplied food for thousands with a mere loaf of bread and a few fish. He supplied money for taxes from the mouth of a fish. It's not hard to put our complete faith in Him, that He will supply our financial needs through any means of His choosing.

Do we require money from people in order to minister to them? The answer is NO! That is not to say that God does not choose to use people to provide for the financial needs of this ministry, because He does. However, when we state that we will come to minister for nothing in return, we mean it. If it will burden your church to take up a free-will love offering, then don't - that will not keep us from coming. Nor will we pressure you in any financial way when we leave. Often, love offerings from smaller churches make up for love offerings from larger churches and vice versa. God has and will continue to supply all of our needs.

Since we live on our buses, we do not require food or lodging either, but we do ask to connect our buses to the church power and stay overnight on the church property. If this is not possible or if it will be a burden to your church, again, this will not keep us from coming to your church to minister.

So, what do we really require to come and minister? Nothing!

If you are reading this and want to know more about how we can operate a faith ministry or if you feel led to help financially support our faith ministry, please see our contributions page.

I've heard this question quite a few times from pastors. I've tried to be clearer and word my letters differently, but the end result seems to be the same for those who do not understand what I am trying to convey. I do pray about where God would have us minister. I have never received revelations from God in a dream, an audible voice or anything like that. I simply seek the direction of God as I route our endless ministry tour across the nation, trying to follow His direction. I try to be the best financial and physical steward of what God has entrusted us with. Therefore, I try to schedule our ministry dates in the best (mileage) manner that I can, but that doesn't always work out for the following reasons, just to list a few:

• God directs us to a specific place, at a specific time, which requires modifying a better route.
• Some churches cannot or will not open the door to our ministry when we will be near them, while others farther away do.
• Some churches only want us to minister at certain times and days, like Sunday morning, and Wednesday night.
• We may have a cancellation, opening up a date.

So, although I seek God in the direction He would have us travel, I also seek Him as to what doors He would have us knock on. It is more often than not, that God will use people that have heard our ministry to encourage us to contact a particular church that is their home church, was their home church, is a relative's church, etc. I try my best to keep the details of these contacts and use them when I feel God directing us that way. God does direct our paths, but that is not to say that every place that we minister at is because God has to have us there at that particular time and date. I believe that wherever a door is opened up to our ministry, God will use us for His glory. Although everything is ultimately in God's plan, mankind can, and sometimes does, supercede God's will. I know that some doors that have been closed to our ministry, have been closed by God, but I also know that God has clearly arranged for us to be somewhere, and because of man, the door has been closed. Just like Saul, church members, board members, and even pastors, can be insensitive to the leading of God.

Now, here is what most pastors miss in my letter. I ask pastors to please pray and seek God about whether or not to open the door to our ministry. I very clearly say that if after praying, you sense that you should close the door to our ministry, then we will accept that and pray for another ministry opportunity. Many pastors do not respond at all to my initial contact. Most pastors initially respond with a list of excuses why we should not come; I think that I've heard them all by now. Some pastors respond in an unChrist-like manner; they are brash and respond as if they were dealing with a telemarketer. I am not saying Christians should deal with telemarketers this way either, because they shouldn't. It seems that few pastors, at least initially, really seek God about opening or closing the door to our ministry and respond as such.

Can you imagine a pastor telling his congregation that he would have to pray and seek God from Sunday to Sunday as to whether he should be a pastor or not? Pastors seek God in relation to how they are going to shepherd, not whether they are going to shepherd. When God has called a man to be a pastor, and a church door has been opened to his ministry, he will be effective there. Likewise, although we are just lay people, we are called to this ministry, and when the church door is open to us, our ministry is effective there. This does not mean that we are to supplant the ministry that a pastor has on a particular time and day. Then again, even if a pastor has planned something special by the leading of God, it certainly doesn't mean that God may not want to change those plans. That is why we request that you take some time and pray over the possibility of opening your church door to our ministry. We provide all kinds of references to help assure pastors that we do what we say we do, but this is not about our call to ministry or its effectiveness - it's not about competing for the pulpit- it's about allowing the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our paths so that Christ can be fully glorified.

Often times people miss the small working of God. Unless they've seen a vision or heard a voice from heaven, they are skeptical at the little things God uses. If you are a pastor / church leader and are reading this, but still have questions, please contact us and we will be more than happy to answer any questions or concerns that you might have.

I hope that you will not mind me trying to answer this question with a series of questions for you:

• Do you understand why we would like to come to your church? If so, do you believe that this is our true desire?
• Have you contacted any of the references that we have included?
  If so, were the recommendations all positive?
• Have you sincerely prayed over opening up your church doors to our ministry?

If the answer to any of the above questions was no, then please contact us so that we can clear up any misunderstandings that you may have. If you have not sincerely sought God about our coming, we would ask that you take the time to do that now, and then continue reading this later.

If the answer to each of the above questions was yes, then I would ask you the following questions:

• Are you concerned about our requirements?
• Are you concerned about the effectiveness of our ministry in your church?
• Do you have another time of ministry planned that you have prayed about, and feel strongly that our ministry would interfere with?

If the answer to any of the above questions was yes, then please contact us so that we can clear up any questions you have, and possibly work out a better time to be with you.

If the answers to the first set of questions was yes and the answers to the second set of questions was no, then I guess the last question would be, why not open your church doors to our ministry? There seems to be no reason not to. We are only asking for the opportunity to be servants of Christ, to minister to your church and community.

If you have other concerns not addressed here, please contact us.

We have ministered in nearly all of the major church denominations across our nation, as well as to the un-churched in resorts all across the West Coast. We have ministered to churches that range from traditional to extreme contemporary. Although the entertainment value of our ministry is subjective to personal taste, the effectiveness of our ministry has remained consistent no matter where we minister. Our music style is broad and generally accepted very well, but music is not the main focus of our ministry. If it was, it would be impossible to please every person's musical taste. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit blends our music and message in a way that displaces music style and replaces it with Christ-centered ministry.

I had a teenage boy come up to me recently and tell me how our music was not something he would normally listen to. He said it wasn't his style at all. But he said, "You know, there is just something about it that made it real to me." This teenager found help at the altar that night, not because of our musical style, (maybe even in spite of it), but simply because God uses willing and obedient servants that proclaim His truth and do His will.

Please see our Critics Say page for letters from many different churches with traditional and non-traditional styles of worship.

If you feel that we should minister at the largest church in your community rather than yours, and you can arrange to open that door of ministry to us, we would not be opposed to that at all. The larger the indoor seating capacity, the larger the opportunity for community outreach. You could plan to bring your entire church over to the largest church, and it could be a wonderful time of ministry for both churches and the community.

At least the plan sounds wonderful, but the fact is, this statement normally comes from a pastor who would be unable to open the door of another church to our ministry. This pastor seems concerned in meeting the needs of our ministry. While that is a Christ-like attitude, we would ask that if you are thinking this way because of these concerns, that you not let your concern get in the way of prayerfully seeking God about opening the door to your church to us. Just because you don't have a large church does not mean that God can't bless you through our ministry. We believe that if the door is opened to our ministry, and you do your best to advertise, instruct your people to come and invite others to come, that God will have the right people there.

I am happy to answer this question on behalf of the Fox Family. A church full of talent with overwhelming resources for ministry, sounds exactly like a church that God could use The Fox Family Ministry in. The Fox Family is an average, ordinary, normal family that God has called into full time ministry.

The Fox Family would not want me to say this, but I feel that it is neccessary to help churches to understand that even in a large church with overwhelming resources, The Fox Family could be effective ministers. The Fox Family is an average family as I said, but they are not your average ministry resource.

• Paul was a doctor of 17 years before he gave up his practice. He and his family gave up everything, including their home, to follow the call of God into full time ministry.
• This is a family who has a son who went through open heart surgery at the age of 8.
• This is a family who has a daughter, which developed diabetes at the age of 2.
• Pattie, the wife and mother of this family has, through the grace of God, survived terminal breast cancer.
• This is a family that God has used in thousands of churches across our country to build up His kingdom
• This is a family that has lived financially by faith for the past 19 years.
• This is a family that has lived on the road in a bus for the past 17 years.
• This is a family that has no musical training and yet God has aided them to fulfill His call upon their lives. They started out with sound tracks and now have a full singing group and band built in to their family. They write and perform most of their own music.
• This is a family that has the same dad and mom
• This is a family that has children who put God in front of marriage; and most of them have remained single because they have felt that it was neccessary in order to fully follow the call of Christ.
• This is a family that sees first hand, the needs of churches all across our country.
• This is a family that can provide an example to your church of what a Christian family should be

If your church already has a ministry resource like the family I've mentioned above, then I agree, you may not need The Fox Family to minister at your church. What you do need is to send that family out of your church to minister to other churches and families across our country, because brother, all churches could use the ministry resources of a family like this.

If you would like more recommendations from other critics, please see the Critics Say page.

If we are ministering to your church on a weekday, then we will try to arrive in the afternoon, from 3:00 - 4:00 PM at the latest. We like to have about 3 hours from the time we arrive until starting time. If a problem arises in our coming to your church and we are late, please do not be concerned. We've had to set-up in as little as 40 minutes and although it's not fun, it can be done. :-).

It is very helpful to us if you will make arrangements so that we can gain access to your church building around our arrival time, as well as temporary parking to unload the sound equipment from one of the buses.

Our buses and tow trailers are approximately 60 feet (total) length, each. Only one of the buses carries our sound equipment, so it would be helpful to have a temporary place to park that bus (as close to the church as possible) in order to unload our sound equipment. We do not need any church sound personnel to be on call since we unload, setup and run all of our own sound equipment.

We normally ask to stay the night in our buses on the church property if possible, so it would be helpful to have a place large enough to put both buses side by side or behind one another, as close as possible to an AC 220V/240V or 208V circuit breaker power panel and water hose connection. More about RV power/water connections in the following question.

We use a standard garden hose for water connections. We do not require sewer or phone, but if they are available to us, that's wonderful.

We use non-standard plugs for our bus electric hook-ups, so your church will not have a plug that we can plug directly into. If your church has two 50 AMP RV type hook-ups, then we can connect one bus to each of these power connection plugs, using our custom power plug adapters.

Most churches do not have any type of RV, electric connections and this is normally not a problem for us at all. We have a capable electrician in the family who can get power from nearly any circuit breaker box that the church has. If this has you concerned, please don't be. We do this nearly everyday and guarantee that we will leave your circuit breaker box in as good condition or possibly better than we find it. I say possibly better because we have prevented several potential electrical fires due to problems found and corrected in some church electrical boxes. Most church wiring is not done by electricians and though well meaning, this is the cause of many church fires.

If the church has an electrician, please do not call on him to assist us. Like setting up and running our own sound, we have found that by doing the electrical wiring ourselves, we can save time, energy and concern for all parties involved.

You are correct in that we do not require any food, but we certainly appreciate your thoughtfulness.

We are not picky eaters; we eat anything! With the exception of raw seafood, things still alive, and organs, we enjoy just about everything else. Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Southern, did I mention pizza?

We normally do not eat before a service. We have found that it's hard on us and our audience. :-)

Normally, we prepare are own meals on our buses, and we do not expect churches to provide food for us.