Charmaine
by Trisha Bleau

CS: We have heard a little about the traveling music ministry you family has and your involvement there. How did you get started in music beyond what your family already did?

C: Well, it’s quite a long story. I’ll try and give you a nut shell version! When I was 15 my parents thought it was time for me to do a CD on my own in Australia. There had been talks about it before, and we all felt that this was the right time to do it. I had been writing songs since I was 9, so we had a few that it was felt we should use for the album. Now, making a solo album wasn’t one of my life-long dreams. It really wasn’t something I was pursuing myself. It was something that my parents and the ministry itself wanted to try leaving every area open to God. It was not done in the hopes of making me into any kind of artist but just to broaden our ministry by reaching the youth through this project. My dad took this CD to the GMA week (Gospel Music Awards week) when he and his brother visited the USA in the hopes of learning better ways of developing their ministry in Australia. My dad knows in Australia David Smallbone’s brother Ian (David Smallbone is Rebecca St James’ manager and father). Well, Ian hooked my dad with David and they met that week here in Nashville. My dad’s intention for this meeting was to learn as much as he could about the music industry. How he could better his ministry at home and also find out if the production we had done of me was in the right direction. Well David took that CD home and the next morning he called my dad up and offered him a recording deal with me as the artist. That’s how it all started. I don’t share this with you to tell you of my accomplishments, but only to point out how God led my family and me. I see my ministry as an extension of my parent’s ministry. When I was 11 my dad came to me with the idea of doing a solo CD. I realized then that I couldn’t and didn’t want to do this without Jesus leading me . I gave all that I was and am to him that night. He took that prayer and brought me here for his glory!

CS: What kind of relationship do you maintain with your audiences? Do you fellowship with them? Or do you remain distant as the performer?

C: I hope to connect with my audience to fellowship and worship as a family would. I pray that they see beyond me and look to Jesus. I try to allow people to worship along with me. The whole point of me being up there is to direct them towards Jesus. I don’t feel I should perform, but rather express what God means to me.

CS: Could you please share a short testimony?

C: When my parents started their ministry, they were planning an 11 month tour all around Australia, New-Zealand, America and South America. It was their first official tour and they had been it planning for months! A few weeks before they were about to go on tour, they found out that they were expecting a baby! It was a surprise and left them wondering what to do. The idea of having a baby on the road did not seem very appealing to them. They prayed and left it in Gods hands so, my mum and dad stepped out in faith leaving it all to Him trusting that He would provide. You see, they believed it was His deal and not theirs! It so happened that I was eventually born in West Covina, California. At the time my parents could not afford to have me delivered in a good hospital. As it happened, a man at a church was touched by their ministry and wanted to bless them back, so, he offered his services as a gynecologist. My parents found out that he actually owned three hospitals! He delivered me in LA and he gave the best room he had to my mum. He even provided private nurses to attend to her. Well, obviously, God was providing! Having been born in America has made it easy for me to work here, because even though I lived in Australia most of my life, I have also shared citizenship with the United States.
Now who in the world would have foreseen that or even planed it? Only God could have planned something like this! People often ask me what worship means to me. Well, I simply look at my life and say: wow!! He takes care of all the details in our lives and He is so loving, so caring. He loves me enough to want to plan my life in such a beautiful way! He cares enough to see little ‘me’. Isa 43:1 is one of my favorite verses. It says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name you are mine.” He redeemed me at the cross; He took my destiny and made me His child before I was even a thought! What an awesome God I serve!! It makes me want to give back to Him and the ultimate gift I have is me and that’s my act of worship, a living sacrifice!

CS: What is the hardest thing about ministering through music?

C: I think that what is hard about ministering through music is trying to find the right tunes or lyrics. Trying to express my experience with God in a few sentences and making it real so that it is appealing to my peers. Being on the road is not always easy. I have to be prepared to miss birthdays, weddings, church youth activities, outings and general social events. These are ‘normal’ things to most people, yet, I treasure them a lot.

CS: Do you write your own music? Where do you get ideas for your music?

C: Most of what’s on the album was co-written with two other people apart from me. When I read the Bible it inspires me, as well as just looking at nature and what God has created. Sometimes I’ll just have a melody before lyrics or vice versa! You never can be sure when you’ll complete a song. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes, other times it could take days!!

CS: Who are some of the groups you have performed with and what did you think of them? What has it been like to tour with and learn from Rebecca St. James?

C: I’ve been with tree63, fusebox, Rachel Lampa and Go Fish. All have been on the road with Rebecca St James. Musically I really look up to them all. Each have awesome talents. What impressed me the most was their heart and their drive for God. What kept them going for 5 concerts a week and long hours on the road away from families and friends was Jesus and sharing Him with others through their music. Touring with Rebecca has been a lot of fun. She has been a great role model for me because who she is on-stage is who she is off-stage. It has been a privilege to be a part of her ministry. To see so many come forward to give their lives to Jesus is exciting and fulfilling.

CS: Are you involved in your own home church? What role do you have there?

C: Although I’ve been on the road a lot lately, when I’m home I usually help out with praise and worship at my church or my youth group will come over to my house and have a short bible study and then just hang out and play games! I love to get involved with my church every chance I get.

CS: Are you involved in any other ministries?

C: I’m involved with one of the greatest ministries of our time: Compassion International. I’ve been supporting this awesome organization for 8 years now since I was 11! I think it’s the most effective way of reaching our world today, one child at a time. I hope one day to visit the two little girls I sponsor. Encouraging them and just telling them about Jesus is so fulfilling to me!

CS: What is your musical background? Did you take lessons to gain the musical skills you have now?

C: My parents ministry in Australia is a vocal band that has been going pretty much since the year that I was born. I’ve grown up on the road and I’ve been home-schooled most of my life. My family is very musical. Almost all my uncles play an instrument or sing and most of my aunties and cousins sing really well! My cousins and I would get together at family gatherings and do shows and concerts! It was and is a lot of fun (we haven’t stopped)! In the last few years I have taken regular singing lessons.

CS: Do you feel people look down on you for your age?

C: Sometimes I do only because I’m thinking that older people will be saying “how would she know what I’ve been through”?
What encourages me is 1 Timothy 4:12 ‘Let no one despise your youth but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith and in purity.’ I’ll just do my best at keeping close to my friend Jesus and He’ll do the rest! He works through my weaknesses even if I’m young.

CS: Do you have any advice to give to the youth of our world?

C: I just want to encourage my generation to keep looking up at Jesus. Everything that they are searching for deep down inside is found in Him! They don’t need to look into things that will hurt them in the end because they will find true joy, true peace, pure and true love in Him! He is really the answer to all our insecurities because when you get totally lost in Him you forget and lose yourself. That’s the best place to be in…and that’s true worship.