“It was a great joy to reconnect with Rev. Don Lloyd and Mollie at our recent “40th Anniversary Celebration.” They are now pastoring the Centenary UMC in Greensboro, so we hope to see much more of them in the months ahead.  Don was the drummer for NDI and Mollie was a singer and soloist.  We rejoice in their faithfulness to the Lord and to His church locally and globally.”

JL & Patt

Here are some photos of New Directions Alumni during the CBN TV show days.
ND’s at CBN

Here are some photos of New Directions in Concert.
ND’s in Concert

Here are some photos of New Direction Alumni lifelong friendships.
ND Alumni Friendships

Here are some photos of New Direction Alumni Musicians.
ND Musicians

Here are some photos of New Directions Easter Outreach at the Beach.
ND Beach Outreach

Patt and I want to thank each of you who made the effort to be with us for this historic “40th Anniversary Celebration.” For those who could not make it, I hope these pictures (40th Anniversary Celebration Pictures) give you some of the highlights of the weekend. They are located under the “Alumni” tab. Also, be sure to place your cursor on the pictures to read the accompanying captions (unfortunately we did not get pictures of the following alumni: Alicia Timmons, Danny and Heather Bunzey, Wally Kernodle, Donnie Lloyd, Dick Orcutt, Teresa Billings, Kathy Fuqua and Martha Denny).

We also hope you will join us for our next BIG celebration on November 22nd--our delicious feast and time of thanksgiving for all God has done for us, and for where we believe He is leading us.

by Greg Jenks of Zoe Ministry

I am the worst vocalist ever to be a part of the New Directions.  Period.  I tried to warn the guys who invited me to join that I couldn’t sing.  Yet early in 1980, members of the New Directions (specifically, David Morrow, Paul Smith, Joel Leith) assured me that they could teach me to sing.  I believed them. 

They were wrong. 

It’s always good to admit failure.  When Paul Smith advised me that it would be better for me to lip sync I realized that I had set a new standard for the New Directions in terms of talent.  I didn’t realize I was paving the way for future Grammy Award winning artists, Milli Vanilli.

How great it is to reconnect with ND’s and hopefully more so on August 1 & 2.  Got a lot to tell, but will wait and share then.  I am married to David Mincey and living in Raleigh.  David is, by the way, a Burlington native and went to church with Craig Duncan and his family most of his life.  As a matter of fact he was saying the other day that their family “spot” was right behind the Duncans all those years!  Wow!  Small world.

Dear ND Alumni,

One of the lasting fruit of the NDs is the friendships that were formed during those years.  Many of those friendships have only grown stronger through the years – and overflowed to our children and grandchildren.  Even though most of us are separated by time and space, the bond of love we developed during those musical years will last a lifetime and extend into eternity.  One of the Bible Studies that we often looked at together were the many “One Anothers of Relationship.”

Dear ND Alumni,

The Apostle Paul was so radical in his commitment to the Lord Jesus that he was willing to go to any end if it would advance the Gospel!  I am always challenged by that example – especially in our world where “socially acceptable behavior” is so crucial for advancement in almost any realm of influence.  But note these words of context for the verse above:

“I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.  We are fools for Christ’s sake”…To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now” (I Cor. 4:9-13).

Dear ND Alumni,

Through the musical years of this ministry, the Lord brought us a lot of wonderful musicians – the “Children of Jubal.” The very first mention of music and musicians in the Bible is the above verse from the book of Genesis.  As a contemporary musical group, we always believed that God was the Author of all good music – whether classical or contemporary.  It was His Holy Spirit who inspires “…psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19).  The great reformer, Martin Luther – who was himself a great hymn writer – said: “There is no reason that the devil should have all of the good music!”

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Here are three pictures for you.  First of all, notice the arrow on the group photo below from the summer of 1973.  That’s my cute brother, Robb Joynt.  He has so many fond memories of those months and of the many friends he met during that time.  We were recently with him and his wonderful wife, Lisa, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, because her daughter, Jordan, was graduating from Westminster Academy, the school at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.  Robb is head of the history department there, and also teaches at the Broward Community College.

Dear ND Alumni,

Through the years we took thousands of pictures of the ND’s in action in every ministry context imaginable.  But from time to time we tried to take a “promo picture” for reports or that could be used to advertise the group in churches, schools, malls, prisons – or wherever.  I have gone through our files and tried to pick the best of the “staged pictures” of the groups through the years.  I hope you will enjoy looking through them – and seeing how many times you can find yourself!