"Thank you for your performance," Miguel said with a smile to the musicians wrapping up microphone cords. "I was heading home to kill myself tonight, but thanks to you I'm not." Michelle and Dan stopped mid-wrap, stunned but relieved at the response to their concert just minutes before.

It was no ordinary rock concert that had elicited such a retort. Eleven college students and three Campus Crusade staff members had hit the road for three weeks last summer under the name "Santa Fe" to tour the Midwest and East Coast. Using skits and songs from the '50s to the '90s, the band illustrated the search for true love and pointed its audiences to the only satisfying answer: Jesus.

While not everyone's response to their program was as dramatic as Miguel's, the message hit home. In 12 concerts, during which approximately 2,300 people were exposed to the gospel, 54 indicated that they had asked Christ into their lives as a result of hearing the band's message.

"I think Miguel was an awesome reminder that what we're doing really does matter," says student Dan Harrass, reflecting on his encounter. "God is honoring this and using it in expanding His kingdom."

Such a response also highlights why Keynote Communications, the music and media ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, started their summer project three years ago.

"We want to train Christians how to use music as an effective tool to reach people for Christ," says Michael Russo, director of Keynote's training center, which teaches musicians how to add evangelism to their repertoire.

Training is what Dan Harrass wanted. The 21-year-old jazz-studies major at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, had years of guitar playing and singing under his belt, but not much music ministry experience. "It was exactly what I was looking for," he says, remembering back to when he first learned of the summer project. "Combining music and presenting the gospel; it looked like a great opportunity."

After sending in an audition tape with his summer project application and being accepted for the band, the college senior joined the group in June at its Indianapolis training center. That's where the real work began.

Normally, Keynote takes four months to train and prepare staff members for the road. On the summer project, however, time is at a premium, and training gets distilled down to the basics.

For three weeks, students spent their mornings studying such topics as apologetics, evangelism and communications. Afternoons found the newly formed band members in rehearsal, learning their music and blocking (choreography).

A good part of the preparation period was also devoted to Bible study and learning about unity and conflict resolution.

"We often like to say that we would rather send a team out on the road that's fully prepared spiritually and only half prepared musically, rather than the other way around," emphasizes Michael, "because God can make the rocks cry out the message if He wants to. If our hearts aren't right with Him or with each other, we're not going to have the success we want."

And success for this group equals changed lives. So after the groundwork was laid, everyone boarded the '73 GMC bus that would be their home for the next three weeks and set out to see what God would do.

Traveling to such venues as the inner city of Chicago, the suburbs of Philadelphia and the beaches of New Jersey, the students interacted with a broad spectrum of people. In each locale, the church or group bringing Santa Fe to town provided housing and some meals for the band members.

"It's fun to meet people in different cities," says Dan, "and see how they live and how God is working in their lives." That attitude is important, since the band members stayed in a new home every few days.

Setup began four hours before each performance. Each band member chipped in to unload equipment, set up instruments and check sound levels. Every location differed from the last, ranging from hilly parks to city sidewalks to beach boardwalk band shells.

Just before each concert, band members grabbed a quick dinner, changed into costume and prayed for the audiences. Then¬show time.

As the group flew through decades of songs, audiences frequently clapped or sang along. Moving from the bubble-gum pop of the '50s all the way to the '90s, the band portrayed broken hearts through the ages.

"People come to Christ in so many different ways; none is better than another," comments project tour director Andy Kellogg. "But music is an important platform for believers to take advantage of, because people in our culture seem to be interested in what musicians have to say."

Through that bridge of music, the students pointed the audience toward God at the end of the concerts. And that gentle nudging worked.

"I thought it was really appealing, especially for the youth," says Lynda McCourt, an audience member in Bethlehem, Pa. "I noticed when the concert dealt with relationships, the kids got really quiet. It hit home for them."

That's the intent.

"We spent a lot of time talking about what it means to be a minister to people as opposed to a performer," says Dan. "Trying to be a person who uses music to build people up as opposed to satisfying our own desires to be on stage."

While the final note still resounded through the venue, band members jumped into the audience to talk further about God. Conversations varied from church members encouraging the band to non-Christians asking serious questions.

"God has consistently led students to non-believers or people that just needed to talk to somebody about the Lord," observes Andy.

Sometimes the training in evangelism comes in handy offstage as well. On an off day in Wildwood, N.J., the students headed out to the boardwalk on their own initiative to talk with people about Christ. Amid the call of carnival barkers and the crash of the ocean, Dan talked with Arben, an Albanian visiting the United States, who embarked upon a new relationship with God that sunny day.

Dan's experience proves how useful the summer project training will be back on campus also.

"We took a class on how to lead worship services," remembers Dan, who has taken part in two Keynote summer projects. "I used that format [last year] to put together worship programs back on campus.

"The training we received on the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit book is really helpful," Dan continued. "My school is a Lutheran-affiliated college, so a lot of the people have heard the gospel at one point or another, but they may have a hard time understanding how it's applicable to their life."

As a result of the training center, Dan knows how to tell fellow students why God is important, and he also knows how to use his musical gifts to glorify God.

"My hopes for the project were that the students would see a bigger picture of who God is," says Andy, "and look for avenues where they can share their faith using the gifts God has given them."

Dan sure got the picture. Now, backed by his experience with Santa Fe, he's looking forward to going home and touching the lives of more people like Miguel and Arben.

For information about the Santa Fe summer project, or to learn how you can more effectively minister with music, contact the Keynote Communications Training Center at (317) 571-4200, or browse their Web site at http://www.keynote.org/