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CBN.com – newsboys’ frontman Peter Furler had a problem; his ministry was killing his marriage.
"You can be putting your ministry above your family," he says. "It’s a huge mistake that a lot of senior pastors make and a lot of Christian musicians make. The enemy loves you to put your ministry first. Then what happens is you’re going to make your family, your wife and your kids, end up resenting anything to do with ministry."
newsboys had a humble beginning in Australia, but they developed a massive and devoted following in the almost two decades since then.
Summer Le Fevre is the daughter of music legend Mylon Le Fevre. So, the lifestyle of an artist was not a new thing.
"It goes back to my grandparents," Summer says. "The newsboys had come to Atlanta, and they opened up for my dad’s group, Mylon & Broken Heart. My dad invited them back to a Bible study we did… [Peter] came to the Bible study and that’s how we met. It was love at first sight."
The couple dated for a year and a half before getting married.
"We dated for just a short period and then I had to go back to Australia for about nine months," Peter says. "I wrote her a letter every day and called once or twice a week."
newsboys were becoming one of the most high-profile bands in contemporary Christian music. Peter felt the band was on the right track but his marriage was headed for a train wreck.
"You can be not involving your spouse in your life," Peter says.
"I love the newsboys, and this is what God has called me to," Summer says,"[but] I think that was it -- I felt left out of that.
"We had come to a place where we had acquired all the things you dream about: the nice home, the cars, and all that. Yet, if I don’t have my husband, I can’t enjoy this."
"How’s this going to work? You feel like it’s hopeless," Peter recalls. "I think it was really me. She was always just being faithful and rock solid. Summer’s always thought this will work."
"My parents had divorced after we married. We had seen them go through struggles, and I really believe God used it for my good as bad as it was. I looked at that and I said, 'You know, I don’t want that to happen.' It made me want to work even harder at my marriage," Summer says.
"When you see people that you look up to go through [that], you think, what hope is there for us?" Peter says.
Peter knew that Summer would stick with their marriage no matter what; however, privately, Summer was dealing with trying to be the perfect wife.
"I put Peter before God," she recalls. "Now I look back, and I feel like that was so much pride."
Ironically, Peter and Summer’s marriage was deteriorating while they were restoring their home in Franklin, Tennessee. Their only hope was getting plugged into a local church.
"I tell you it saved our marriage," Peter says. "You’ve got to just surround yourself with the strong. We’re in fellowship with them. They’re friends now. I feel comfortable around [them] because they know everything about us."
"I feel like our marriage is better than ever," Summer says, "and I just feel like we’re growing in the Lord. I look at what the enemy tries to throw at me. I’m going to turn this into something good, and it’s actually been a blessing to my life.
"I don’t go on stage one night without first calling Summer if she’s not there with me," Peter says.
"I would go on the road with him so I could spend more time with him, and I started really sharing in it," Summer says, "It totally blessed our marriage."
Now Peter knows what church is. "It’s about people coming together that are tethered together. People who are disciples, who are being discipled and making disciples, coming together to worship God. It’s not about the trends. They’ll all pass away. It’s about sticking with people the rest of your life no matter what. And, loving them out of reverence for our Creator."
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