At a time when countless Americans are struggling with feelings of inadequacy in today’s fragile job market, Fireflight offers the ascending rock track “All I Need to Be” as a prayerful reminder of where a believer’s identity should truly reside. As Dawn explains, many people of faith experience recurring anxiety as they seek God’s will for their lives. Instead of seeing their calling to the Christian life as being definitive, believers often obsess over vocation as a potential calling. Says Dawn, “I went through a time when I was seeking God intensely, asking, ‘What is the path You’d have for me? Where should I go?’ And I felt like He said to me, ‘My path covers the whole world, and I walk in love.’ I felt like what He was saying to me was that as long as I am walking in love and listening for His leading, it doesn’t matter where I go or what I do, that I will have fulfilled His purposes.”
Even as Fireflight wrote the songs for For Those Who Wait, Dawn, who tragically lost a brother during her youth, saw another—Hunter—diagnosed with brain cancer and have to have surgery. “It really was like reliving your worst nightmare, having it come true again,” she says. “I just cried out to God, ‘If we lose him, what will we do? It will destroy my family, because we’ve only barely recovered from the first time.’ And God really impressed upon me that all great people have gone through impossible circumstances. But it’s those things that have defined their character and made them who they are now. That helped me to have faith and to have strength to make it through that whole situation, and now Hunter’s doing wonderfully.” Dawn echoes this insight as she sings, “I’m not what I have done/I’m what I’ve overcome,” in the moody yet explosive modern rock standout, “What I’ve Overcome.”
“We pray earnestly that God will give us good songs that will be able to help people,” she says. “And He’s come through for us, especially in our weakest moments. That’s when we’ve really gotten the best stuff.” This awareness of God’s magnificence amidst personal weakness is a defining trait forFireflight. It not only frames the band’s songwriting, it empowers Fireflight’s rejection of “rock star” entitlement and enables genuine relationships between the group and countless fans. “We work collectively as a band to answer every MySpace and ShoutLife question we get,” says the lead singer. “We believe first and foremost the Christian faith is relational. We try to show people God’s love, and you just can’t do that unless you care about them.” This manifests itself most directly as the band proactively interacts and prays with fans who “need to talk” after concerts.
In the most urgent cases, Fireflight connects its fans with ministry partners such as To Write Love on Her Arms, which helps individuals struggling with self injury, depression and addiction, andDawson McAllister’s HopeLine, which gives life guidance to teenagers and young adults. In fact, in a highly unusual move for a band, Fireflight recently took a hope coach from Dawson McAllister’s team out on tour for its fans’ benefit.
Beyond immediate relational needs, Fireflight also flexes its muscle in far-reaching compassion and justice efforts. Explains Dawn, “We’re passionate about helping people both in America and in developing countries, where just a little can do so much. Jesus was extremely interested in the orphans, and the poor, and the widows. That was such a big part of what He did and what He emphasized to Christians, what they needed to be doing. As a result, Fireflight’s work includes a focused partnership with The Legacy of Hope International, a ministry committed to serving the most immediate needs of Cambodia’s poorest children.
This active commitment to compassion and justice also serves as a signpost for fans asFireflight’s music encourages them to move beyond their personal struggles and reach out to a world eager to know healing in the waiting. Yes, learn while you wait, but love others in the process. This is the message Fireflight proclaims loud and true, whether appearing with Franklin Graham at an outreach event, singing on national television, or rocking for thousands on 2010’s “Winter Jam Tour Spectacular.” That’s because, when you get down to it, if it’s for those who wait, it’s for everyone.
