Keith and Kristyn Getty have been writing and performing hymns for over 20 years.

Their songs have been sung by millions in churches all over the world.

“We began to look at the songs we were singing and we were going, "Are these songs that we will carry with us and pass to the next generation? Are these songs that are helping us think more deeply?”  Keith continues, “so we realized there was a need alongside what is being sung today to really try and recreate, I guess, the hymn genre, but it's really just deeper songs written in a more classic way. And so we started with “In Christ Alone" with our friend Stuart back in 2001 and it's really just become our life's work ever since.”

Kristyn comments, “I think the initial idea, "Why do we have this song and how will it be used?" That is often the beginning of all of our creative conversations. When we think of the church service, when we think of the church's year, when we think of the things going on in the world, when we think of pressures in the family, all those things. What parts of the Bible, what main ideas would it be a really great idea to sing?”

Keith adds, “What do we learn about the Lord in this song? How do we go deeper into His word? That's the first thing. The second thing is, is it great to sing? Not is it singable, because anything is ultimately singable, but is it great to sing? Can you hear a large group of people singing it? And thirdly, could you see yourself grow old with it?”

He continues, ”Kristyn started the hymn of the month with the girls, and I was driving them to school from our old house one day, and they started singing "Be Thou My Vision" And I thought of my girls, and that was the prayer for their lives, "Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart" Then with carrying their little screens into school, with all they might learn in education, "Be Thou my wisdom" Thinking about them leaving us some day, singing "Be Thou my battle shield, sword for the fight, Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight" Thinking that they will grow old, I want them, however successful or unsuccessful they are by worldly terms, I want them to say "Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always" And then, all of us one day will die, and I want them to sing "High King of heaven, after victory won, may I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun" But the joy of that is, I know they will carry that song for 50 years, because even beyond my best songs, there's no evidence yet, people will sing my songs for 50 years, they'll sing them for 20, 25 years, but they're not singing them for 50.”

Kristyn responds, “It's a lofty goal for us as writers, but I think it's worthwhile going after what is so wonderful about that, and how can we follow in the footsteps of those great hymns, and write into our time and our generation.”

In 2017, the Getty started the Sing Conference, gathering writers, performers, pastors and churches from all over the world to join the chorus praising God.

“We want the conference to be a wonderful experience, and people to enjoy being with one another and singing, but we don't want it to become just that,” says Kristyn. “We want it’s use to continue on into the months, and so it's very important as we're planning the Sing Conference, what does this mean for next Sunday in these churches? What does it mean for families? What are they actually taking away with them? And it's been encouraging over the last few years, watching those who come back, those who are new because they've heard about it, and the expansion of some of these ideas It's been really, really important.”

She adds, “I think that's the most encouraging thing, when someone will text us or send a letter and say, "We tried this song in church on Sunday, it worked really well" Or our congregation are going through the Sing book to learn some of the ideas behind this, or next year we're going to bring the students with us.”

The Gettys are excited to bring their Christmas tour home to Ireland this year, and are working hard on a hymnal full of great songs, prayers and more.

Keith smiles, “Sing 25 is a real moment in our history. It's the most exciting sing we've ever had because we're launching the hymnal that year with our friends at Crossway It's opening at the Grand Ole Opry House with a special gala hymn concert for everybody who's coming, but also for the whole city of Nashville It's going to be a massive hymn singing. It will feature City O'Light, ourselves, our writers, guests.”

Kristyn adds “Celebration of hymns, old and new, but the core of this gospel story, and lots of voices telling it. That’s what so exciting about it.”

Minkah Fitzpatrick is fast, physical, and flourishing, playing his game with disciplined freedom, declaring, “Jesus Christ freed this free safety!” The play on words plays on the field where the 3-time NFL All-Pro is the standard of accomplished focus and commitment as the leader of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.  

Question: “What makes the Pittsburgh Steelers the best fit?”

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “Pittsburgh itself is a blue collar, you know hard-working, family-oriented city. The Steelers reflect that as well in the way that we play, in the way the organization is run. That’s how I am as a man, as a player. I come from a blue-collar family, family-centered. Pittsburgh was a perfect fit. God definitely made it happen for a reason!" 

Cam Heyward, Steelers DT: “What makes Minkah unique is he can play all over the field. He is professional through and through and when he’s on your side you feel confident. His leadership is more of a walk than talk. I’m proud to call him a brother in Christ.”  

Question: “You are considered the league’s elite free safety, moving all over the field. You’re a chess piece! What are the common traits?” 

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “It’s the instincts. It’s the intuition. God has gifted me with a lot for sure in my physical ability. But He’s also entrusted me with a lot in regards to my preparation and my responsibilities. You need to prepare as if it is an honor. You prepare as if it is a great responsibility. And then your result is reflected off your walk throughout the week. And that’s kind of what I pride myself on.”  

Question: “Same qualities in your spiritual journey?”

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “A hundred percent! Your walk is gonna dictate your character and your destiny and how you move through out your life. So, the faith journey is relying on God, but there’s things we gotta do as well. He places things within our reach but not in our hand for a reason that require us to get closer to Him in order to get through those things.” 

Question: “Your pre-game tradition is walking around that field. I think it’s twice. What are you hoping for, what are you asking, what are you praying?” 

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “Yeah! It’s usually a worship song. I let it play as I walk around. Most of the time I’m praying for my people, praying people on my team. And then I pray a specific prayer once I’m done. I always pray that the stadium becomes a place of worship of God and not of men.”  

Alex Highsmith, Steelers LB: “His faith, and he has a firm foundation in Christ and so, you know God has given him and blessed him with the abilities and talents he has. He truly plays for and glorifies God in all that he does. And it's so cool having a teammate like that!”

Kent Chevalier, Steelers Chaplain: “I feel like Mink is finding his spiritual voice on this team - leadership, accountability, holding guys to not just the standard of football, but also the standard of Jesus. And he’s helping guys stay in that.”

Question: “The greatest attribute a leader can leave or draw out of someone?”

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “It’s leadership! I think great leaders create great leaders! My coach in high school, Coach Hansen was great at that. Coach Saban in college was great at that. Coach T is great at that. They’re winning coaches for a reason. Because they hold people to a high standard whether they like it or not. All of us become better men. And I believe the better man you are, the better player you’ll be.”    

Question: “2011 - Hurricane Irene. Watching foundations of your house taken out. What do you have to show for out of that experience?” 

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “If I didn’t go through that period of my life I wouldn’t be where I am today. There was a crack in the foundation, water got into it. So, even from the outside it looked good, the foundation was collapsed, we weren’t able to live in it. God was telling us we need to create a strong foundation for the life ahead of us, for my life ahead of me, to establish a foundation in Him, on Him.”     

Question: “You honored your siblings with the tattoos on your hand and in Hebrew?”

Minkah Fitzpatrick: "It’s my siblings you know what I’m saying, they’re going to be with me forever. I’ll always have their back through whatever. I chose Hebrew for a simple reason, I just didn’t want plain English and Hebrew Aramaic is what Jesus spoke. We got a cross with a crown of thorns and around it says, ‘take up your cross and follow me.’”  

Question: “Your dad was raised Muslim, found Christianity. You grew up in a family with both demonstrations of faith, determining how things can reconcile, with deep unconditional love instead of going dualistically to hate.”

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “As Christians, our job is to learn and understand that which is different from us. We don’t always have to agree with it. One of the greatest commandments is love your neighbor as yourself for a reason. When you do that you create a peace and softness in other people’s hearts and love them, as we’d like to be loved. Break bread with them. Understand them. And then we’ll have opportunities to pour into them.”

Question: “A three-time All-Pro. But for you, what is the greatest connection, Minkah, as to who you are?”

Minkah Patrick: “Um-hm. Honestly, Son of Christ, brother in Christ, following Christ. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my journey, on my faith walk, and the story of Job, the guy that had everything and had everything taken away from him, but at the end of the day – he still praised! God showed him the entire universe and said, ‘who are you to question my ways?’ My identity is tied up in being a Son of God and if I lose sight of that then I’m going to struggle through this journey.”  

Question: “How has Jesus Christ freed this free safety?”

Minkah Fitzpatrick: “Man, He’s freeing me every day. Every day is a fight. Every day is a battle. I got to lean on Him. I got to trust in Him. I’m a young man, I’m still learning. Still growing. The only thing that I know for sure is Jesus is Christ, is that I’m forgiven, is that I’m loved, that I have a Savior in Him – so I get to fight with Him and in Him.”

Sofia, three years old, was born with a crossed eye. She lives with her mom and two sisters in a remote village on the top of a mountain in Guatemala. Her crossed eyes made it difficult for Sofia to navigate around the house and yard. “I noticed when she started walking that she turned her head to the side,” her mother Adelina told us. “She did not look straight ahead.”
 
When a family member saw Sofia’s eye, she told Adelina that it could be repaired with an operation. Adelina had not been able to afford to take her daughter to a doctor to check her condition. One day, at a free medical clinic, Adelina found out how much the surgery would cost. “They told me that it depends on what kind of surgery it would be.They said the cost was up to $1500 dollars!” 

To save for the operation, Adelina moved far from home to work on a banana farm in another part of Guatemala. Her mom took care of Sofia. “I always thought I could earn enough to pay for surgery. But it was not as easy as I hoped,” declared Adelina, the emotion now pouring out. “There are times that I get emotional. It’s hard not to have support because Sophia’s father abandoned us.”   

So Operation Blessing arranged for Sofia to travel to the city to see an ophthalmologist. We then set up a free operation to repair the weakened muscles in Sofia’s eye.

Adelina: "She no longer turns her head to the side to see. My daughter says: ‘Mommy now I can see well and my eyes don't hurt.’ I want to thank you to Operation Blessing and all the people who helped my daughter get free surgery."

JANE’S CALLING AS A DEBORAH 

It might surprise people familiar with Jane and her family’s longstanding ministry that she didn't grow up in the church.  However, she did sense God’s presence at various times in her youth. “When I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior at the age of fourteen, I had a deep sense of divine destiny within me that there would be more to my life than going to college, getting married, and having a career,” she remembers. 

By 1978, Jane was a 16-year-old who wanted to know God’s plan for her life.  As she sat in her room one day, she prayed and then waited on God, not knowing what to expect.  She says she was amazed when she heard His Spirit speak to her.  What He communicated, Jane says, was that His plans for her were not the plans she’d made for herself: “Instead of going to that (secular) college, I am going to send you to Bible college.

When you get there, you are going to meet a man and you will get married young.  I will send you to the nations of the earth.  Sometimes he will preach and sometimes you will preach because I'm going to make you a team in ministry."  She looks back at it as a calling to be a “Deborah-like” leader in ministry.  

Jane attended Bible College, met and married Tom Hamon, son of Christian International Ministries founder, Dr. Bill Hamon, and entered ministry. God led her into ministry, and she says His leading has challenged, comforted, and instructed her along the path of destiny.  "I longed to impact history, not for my name or fame, but that God would be glorified, souls would be saved, women would be empowered and even nations could be transformed by the power of God,” she says.

FIGHT TO WIN

After decades of ministry, Jane has watched countless others endure spiritual attacks, oblivious that it’s even happening.  With a desire to open our eyes to the thief who is robbing us, Jane decided to write her latest book, Confronting the Thief. The focus of the book is helping readers discern the truth, overcome loss, and reclaim what has been taken from them. Sadly, Jane says that so many believe the trials and hardships of life are normal.  She calls it the “just life” mentality. 

The Bible specifically warns us to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, ESV). 

Jane shares practical advice to:
1.    Identify the Enemy's Tactics: Hamon outlines how the "enemy" attempts to steal, kill, and destroy your life.
2.    Enjoy Restoration and Recovery: Giving guidance on how to move from feeling like a victim to becoming victorious over life's challenges.
3.    Take Practical Steps to Reverse the Damage: With biblical teachings, prophetic insights, and practical decrees and prayers, Jane shares how          to move from a passive approach to an aggressive approach—confronting the enemy and taking back what he’s stolen from you.  

For more Information on Jane Hamon click the Link 

CREDITS

Author, Latest: Confronting the Thief, (Chosen Books, 2024) / Senior Leader, with her husband, Tom, of Vision Church at Christian International in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida / Prophetic voice, teacher, pastor, and sought-after speaker / Jane and Tom have three grown children and seven grandchildren.