Although she had left the Heart of Danville, her heart was still with the festival. She approached the Rock Da Ville planning committee and the Heart of Danville planning committee with an idea. She asked if the planning committee could be developed into a full-time ministry.
"The planning committee was comprised of members of different Danville area churches," Hamlin said. "They were very receptive to the idea of developing a full-time ministry."
The Rock Da Ville committee approved of Hamlin's plan, and the Heart of Danville board accepted it. The only provision from the board was that the committee not use the Rock Da Ville name for any of its own music festivals or other events and the ministry be clearly identified as a separate entity from the Heart of Danville.
"The board was very accepting and understanding of what I wanted to do," Hamlin said. "They agreed to let us form our ministry and let us put on our own Rock Da Villes, as long as we changed the names so the ministry and our music festivals wouldn't be mistaken for a Heart of Danville organization or event."
Thus, Infusion Ministries was born and Infusion Fests have been planned. And with the birth of the ministry and the planning of the music festivals, Hamlin says she has found her calling.
"While I was taking care of my mom, I was thinking about what I would do after she passed away," she said. "I knew I didn't want to go back to a 9-to-5 job. And I knew that the lord was calling me to a job that would serve him in some way. And that has turned out to be Infusion Ministries."
Building the network
The old Rock Da Ville committee now is the Infusion Ministries board. In addition to Hamlin, the board includes Kenny Slone of Willow Grove Baptist Church, Justin Gillespie of Indian Hills Christian Church, Dan McClelland, owner of Danville Christian Bookstore and Music Center, and Pete Presley of Mercer County.
"In addition to our board, we already have a network of more than 100 people from many different churches in the area who have been involved in one way or another in our ministry," Hamlin said.
Infusion Ministries already has planned and held small Infusion Fests in Garrard, Lincoln and Mercer counties.
A much bigger event, called "Mega Infusion Fest," had been planned for Sept. 27 at Millennium Park, but a shortage of funds forced the Infusion Ministries board to scale it back some and reschedule it for Oct. 18 at the park.
But the board didn't leave the Sept. 27 date totally vacant. It held a community prayer meeting at Millennium.
While Christian music festivals form the foundation of Infusion Ministries and have been the focus of its community outreach so far, Hamlin and her board have an ambitious plan of growing the organization way beyond its musical roots.
"We want to build a network of churches throughout the area and work with them to coordinate various programs, studies, lectures, missions, ministries and events," she said.
"We would be a coordinator, kind of a clearinghouse, that would identify program needs at various churches and call on those churches that have them either to help the churches that need them develop their own programs or make the programs available in some way," she said.
For example, she said, a church may have a strong Bible study program for senior citizens. Another church might want to start such a program. Infusion Ministries would pair up the church with the program and the church wanting the program.
"We envision partnerships between one or more churches, joint programs among several churches, and other connections, all developed through a network," said Hamlin. "It's a church to church, cradle to grave ministry that is there to serve all Christians of all ages in this area."
The basis for Hamlin's networking plan is her belief that there are a lot of resources individual churches and denominational associations possess and a lot of resources other churches and associations need to tap into. All that is needed is come centralized entity to make the connections.
"It's all about identifying what's needed, who needs it, who has it and sharing," she said.
And the formation of Infusion Ministries is all about a young woman responding to what she says is God's call.
"I was looking at going where God wanted to lead me," Hamlin said. "And God led me to this new ministry."
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Infusion Fest set for Oct. 18
Infusion Ministries will sponsor a Christian music festival Oct. 18 at Millennium Park in Danville. The time of the festival, called Mega Infusion Fest, will be announced at a later date.
For more information about the festival and also about Infusion Ministries, contact Tracy Hamlin by phone at (859) 329-1326 or by e-mail at infusion.ministries@yahoo.com
