Traveling all over the world from California to China, the Carpenter Tools International (CTI) ministry made their way to Fresno, bringing live worship to the FC high school chapel, Feb. 9.

The team consisted of eight members, each person contributing to a different aspect of the group: Kelly Ervin as a vocalist, Jordan Chiu on drums, Christina Tamai as sound technician, Gretchen Otness on keyboard, Abe Dahlby on guitar and vocals, Hannah Olson on bass, James Peil on guitar and Jenni Kalt as a vocalist.

CTI offers a summer program, whose purpose is to “be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” A year program is also offered, allowing people to be “trained and motivated to lead others in discipleship, equip them for ministry and evangelism, and grow them in Christian leadership and character.”

Participants must be at least 16 to apply for the summer program, and the year program is open to anyone from 18-30 years old. Once an application is filled out, an audition made and three references are given (musical, character and spiritual), the team leaders decide whether or not a person can join the team.

After a few weeks of training, learning the ropes of touring and gradually learning a repertoire of 24 songs in the Midwest, the group travels overseas to Hong Kong.

“The whole ministry of CTI is based on God and sharing the Gospel,” Ervin said. “Our goal is to grow in Christ to serve others. If filled up by Him, we can share with others. I love the team and getting to grow closer to each person. We do devotions together, pray together and are surrounded by growing in Christ all the time. Instead of staying in hotels when we travel, we stay in host homes. I enjoy meeting different people and hearing about their lives.”

While there are many members of the team, the group has a team leader who acts as a liaison between the CTI office and them. Team leader and drummer Jordan Chiu joined the ministry after intrigue when CTI visited his home town, Toronto. When a friend went to Guatemala with the group and recommended it, Chiu went for himself in 2009.

Due to his position as team leader, Chiu has to make different decisions for the team, and makes sure that the group is doing what they need to do. Along with organizing the logistics, Chiu says that he loves the opportunity of meeting people all around the world.

“I make decisions for the team, and make sure that we get where we are supposed to be and meet the people we are supposed to meet,” Chiu said. “It’s always neat to meet non-Christians and Christians, and to hear various life stories. I love being part of the growth as a team, getting to meet people all around the world and sharing the love of Christ with them.”

After initially learning about the ministry and discussing her vocal experience with them when they came to FC last year, ’11 alumna Bree Ainley joined the summer program to visit Singapore for the summer of 2011.

“I heard about CTI because they’ve been at Fresno Christian before,” Ainley said. “I didn’t really know who they were but when they came to visit last year, I was telling them a story during leadership about my zero period ensemble, and one of them overheard me and asked if I could sing. I told them, ‘I like to think that I can,’ and they asked if I wanted to come out and audition. I didn’t really think it was a possibility for me, but I ended up auditioning, and later joining the summer program to Singapore.”

Before going to Singapore, Ainely trained in Minnesota for two weeks, attending workshops and learning how to play and sing for overseas trips. After long days of training, the CTI team partnered with Singapore Youth for Christ (YFC) and traveled to Singapore where they did shows for various schools, events and meetings.

Most everyone in Singapore speaks English, so it was really easy to talk to the people and get to know them, Ainley said. During her stay, she spent a week with a family in Singapore and got to know and love them.

“In Singapore they speak English so it was really easy to talk to kids — because mostly we talked to kids — so it was really easy to talk to them and get to know them,” Ainley said. “I stayed a week with a family in Singapore and got to know them and love them, and I was just really blessed by literally everyone I met. It was such a blessing.”

Throughout the program’s duration, Ainley was part of a closely-knit ministry, and learned mixed lessons about herself and her relationships with others.

“CTI is like a very closely-knit family ministry,” Ainley said. “I guess I went in with all these expectations of what it was going to be, and just like anything else, it was totally not like what I expected; it was so much better. I learned so much from learning to work hard and be unselfish, to having my relationship with God and my relationships with others grow. In so many ways in my life I changed and grew dramatically.”

Reflecting on her experience with CTI and considering the opportunity for other students, Ainley considers it a beneficial ministry to spend time with.

“I would definitely encourage them [students] to do this,” Ainley said. “You have so much time for school and there’s so much time to do whatever it is you want to do. It’s so worth it to just take out a summer, or even a year, and use it to serve God and serve others with something that you’ve been blessed with. I would totally encourage other people to go for it, it’s awesome.”

Editor’s note: Check back soon for a video of CTI in chapel.

For more features, read the Feb. 9 article, Hopper takes next step with PieceMakers.