The Sent Ones
You may remember that in 2017, Two Eight created an immersive experience called Our Story, Our Time—a powerful blend of live music and video designed to confront the reality of the opioid epidemic in Indiana.
It wasn’t just a performance. It was a window into real lives—into pain, struggle, and the weight of addiction. Through story, video and live music, audiences were drawn into the raw truth of substance use, the stigma that keeps people silent, and the courage it takes to seek help. And it didn’t end with awareness—it ended with a call. A call to step in, to care, to act within their own communities.
We brought this experience into churches, community centers, and recovery festivals across the state. What we witnessed was more than engagement—it was movement. Our Story, Our Time became a catalyst, directly leading to the creation of Indiana’s state-sponsored Summer of Recovery Tour, where we helped produce over 20 festival-style events, each one designed to amplify hope and empower recovery.
But the story didn’t stop there.
Last year, Eric—Two Eight’s founder and relentless visionary—began to dream again. Two Eight was originally born as a music outreach focused on global missions, helping spark disciple-making movements around the world. And a question began to take shape:
What if we took the immersive model of Our Story, Our Time and used it to awaken something deeper?
What if, instead of focusing on recovery from addiction, we invited the next generation into a life of mission?
What if we could create an experience that carried people through the full arc of the Gospel—creation, brokenness, death, and resurrection—and then placed a calling in front of them? A calling to step into a life fully lived on mission?
It turns out, we weren’t the only ones stirred by this vision.
We shared the idea with our friend Josh Howard—a pastor and global missionary—who brought it to E3 Partners, a global missions organization. They believed in it enough to fund its development as part of their ‘Sent Ones’ initiative. Then we reached out to our friend and artist Josh Kaufman, winner of Season 6 of The Voice, and he immediately caught the vision.
And just like that, the work began.
Recently, we hosted a pilot event—bringing together musicians, videographers, and production engineers—to bring this vision to life for the first time. It was a moment to test, to refine, and to capture what this experience could become.
Now, we’re dreaming even bigger.
We see this on college campuses. At student conferences. In rooms filled with young people searching for purpose. We believe this experience can challenge them—deeply and personally—to step into a bold, missional life for the Kingdom.
Right now, it’s still in progress. We’re building, shaping, and refining, with the hope of completing it by summer and launching performances this fall. But we wanted you to see what’s been unfolding behind the scenes—alongside the student conferences and recovery events that continue to define our work.
Because this isn’t just another project.
It’s an invitation.
