International Newsletter April 2017

Brian “Head” Welch, the lead guitarist and co-founder of the band, had a radical conversion to Jesus in 2005. He then left the band, but after years of maturing in his faith, he recently felt called to go back to Korn and use that platform to share Jesus after the shows.

Last year, Brian joined Steiger’s ministry Come&Live! as an official artist. He is a regular contributor to our “Provoke & Inspire” podcasts, blogs and events held around the world.

In March, Brian spoke at Provoke & Inspire events in Kiev (Ukraine), Berlin (Germany) and Warsaw (Poland), alongside Ben Pierce, David Pierce, Luke Greenwood, Misha Nokarashvili (lead singer of the Steiger band, “Nuteki”) and others. At each of the events, the venue was packed with artists from all over the country - many of them non-Christians.

In Kiev, five well-known secular bands were in attendance. The Steiger Ukraine team is excited for the influence that God has now given them to engage the secular music scene in Ukraine.

At the Berlin event, Brian and the team spent about three hours praying for everyone who wanted prayer afterwards. Many were young artists wanting to share the Gospel using their God-given talents, while others were non-believers, who we were able to lead in a prayer of salvation. A girl from a Hindu background prayed to receive Jesus after talking with and asking questions of Brian and Luke Greenwood.

In Poland, the Provoke & Inspire event was part of a Steiger Compact School that drew well over 400 people from all over the country. On the first night of the Compact School, Luke Greenwood did a seminar on reaching the Global Youth Culture. At the end, around half the audience responded on their knees asking God to send them out as missionaries to their own cities.

This was then immediately put into practice, as 50 participants went to the location where Korn was playing that night. Their goal was not only to invite people to hear Brian’s testimony the following day, but also to start up deeper conversations and offer prayer to the Korn fans. It was an amazing night, as many were doing this sort of thing for the first time, and they were very excited to report great conversations and powerful moments of prayer.

As this was happening outside the venue, inside our Steiger Poland team was helping Brian gather people for a “meet & greet” backstage. Brian passionately told the fans that gathered about Jesus and how He has changed his life. He then introduced David, who told them why Jesus came and how he died to set us free. He said that God is not a dead tradition, but a powerful, good Father, who wants a relationship with us. Many knelt and gave their lives to Jesus, while others watched, or got angry and walked out.

The next day, over thirty Korn fans came to the Provoke & Inspire panel.

The panel included a man named Litza, the largest name in Rock music in Poland, and a surprise guest, Darek Maleonik. Darek is the bandleader David talks about in his book Rock Priest, who was saved at the “forbidden band” concert at the famous Narochin Festival in the 80’s.

They all shared about why Jesus was the most important thing to them as artists, and talked clearly about using their platform to share the Gospel.

After the panel, Brian passionately shared his testimony and David preached a strong message and invited people forward to respond. Of those that responded, 20 were people wanting to meet Jesus for the first time, most of them Korn fans. Brian and Luke Greenwood took these guys backstage and spent a few hours praying for them all one by one. One thing that has really struck us in working with Brian is his humility and his huge heart for the lost. He was most concerned about the Korn fans and others who didn’t know Jesus yet. He wanted to spend however long it took to pray individually for each of them, and has continued messaging us afterward, asking about specific people he talked to, to make sure they are being followed-up on.

We are now working with Brian to provide support teams at all of his Korn concerts, and to ensure that there is good church follow up in place for those who receive Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support! We could not do what God has called us to do without you!

For the lost,

Aaron Pierce