Witness

The Messengers of Hope

    Perhaps God called four men five years ago to do a job for Him as a gospel quartet in Maine proclaiming His love.  Three men answered (no idea who the fourth could have been) and became a trio: "The Messengers of Hope."  They can be found most Tuesday evenings practicing at Elm Street United Methodist Church.  They sang the first time at their home churches of Elm Street and Westbrook UMC's on June 15, 2003.

    They are still going strong and forwarding His message of hope.  They ask no fee as they consider this God's work, and their reward will come later.

    The members of the group are Charlie LeFreniere, tenor, of Windham and Bridgton; Steve Link, bass, of South Portland, and Bob Tiffany, lead singer, of Gorham.  They are all sinners who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  They are all plain working men working 8 hours a day who believe they have been called to serve God.

    They have not yet set a distance as too far to sing and have not refused a request to sing that they could fit into their schedule.  They have sung all over southern Maine and points beyond: from Eliot, to Naples and Bridgton, to Sweden, to Saco, to West Kennebec, to Blue Point (OOB), to West Paris, to Randolf, to Brunswick, to Auburn, and to Newport.  They've sung in Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, Church of God, Seventh Day Adventists, and Salvation Army services.  They've sung at a group of Methodist ministers' Christmas party, a sunrise service, a retirement service, mens' club meetings, a Christmas dinner in Westbrook, women's' club meetings, nursing homes, charge conferences, several benefit shows and fund raisers including the annual Woodford's CCC hospital chaplaincy benefit twice, Westbrook's Christmas tree ceremony, Long Creek Youth Center in South Portland, and the 2007 Hope Revival at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine.

    As they have traveled to many, many churches to sing, they made an astonishing discovery: every church has a selfless, dedicated, anxious-to-please, caring, God-loving, talented church organist/pianist.   How thankful the trio has been to work with these folks!  And the pastors: they took the trio on faith, made them feel welcome, and allowed them to share in the worship leadership.  The trio thanks them sincerely.

    To request the group's participation in a program or service, please call Steve Link at 799-3952 or e-mail at rlink@maine.rr.com.   Their repertoire is available here as a PDF.

Elm Street UMC Cable Ministry

    If you are a cable subscriber in Cape Elizabeth or South Portland, you can watch our services on South Portland Community Television (channel 2) on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM.