The Dartts: DARTT NEWS

A busy day today for Tracy, meeting with doctors, ultra-sound test & CT scan, among other things. The treatment for retained fluids has had some successful results. There are discussions about whether he will need dialysis, & what type he'll need if he does. One disturbing report this evening was that tests had shown he has a certain amount of heart failure (leaky valves), which we never expected to hear. So we end another day & hope to hear more news (preferably good news) tomorrow after his doctors investigate further. It does not look like Tracy will be out of the hospital in time to make our scheduled flight on Thursday, which means we have decisions to make about our schedule. Please pray for all of us to have wisdom & grace & strength as we make these decisions.

by Stone

Tracy is resting well in his room at Vanderbilt Medical Center & is going through some tests & expecting to meet with his new kidney specialist & a transplant committee in the morning (Monday). Please continue to pray.

Praise the Lord, a room became available & Tracy is currently in transit to Vanderbilt Medical Center via ambulance. Thanks for your continued prayers. We'll update as info becomes available.

by Stone

Happy New Year to everyone! It's been a long time since our last update, due to an extremely busy Christmas Tour season for The Dartts. We had a wonderful west coast tour with many souls saved & we've had a wonderful Christmas/New Years time with family here in our Tennessee home.
For the last 2 months, Tracy has been fighting a bronchial irritation that causes him to cough quite frequently & he's been experiencing shortness of breath, & more recently, some swelling. Also, his creatinine level has recently increased to over 9. He is currently in transition between his California kidney specialist & his new doctor here in Tennessee, tomorrow being his first scheduled appointment.
Because of the recent increase in breathing difficulty, and in order to not take any chances with his health, we decided to take Tracy into the emergency room last night (Saturday) in Springfield, TN, at the NorthCrest Medical Center where he is currently awaiting transfer to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.
We are praying for a room to open up quickly at Vanderbilt, & for the doctors to have wisdom in diagnosing & treatment, & for Tracy's quick recovery & improved health. Please pray for Tracy & the Dartt family & for the ministry of The Dartts.

by Stone

We have just booked a 7 night/8 day Cruise to Alaska in May 2010 and we want YOU to sail along with us! It seems like a long way from now, but we are taking early reservations to ensure a fun filled vacation for all of you! Singers scheduled to appear (but are subject to change) are: Billy and Paula Speer, The Dartts, The Puffers, The Weatherford, The Henry Family, The Johnsons, and other special guests including guest speaker, Wendell Calder. We have been asked by several of you to take a west coast cruise, so now is your chance to sail with us!
The Schedule is as followed.
DAY 1 LEAVE SEATTLE AT 4PM
DAY 2 CRUISING
DAY 3 JUNEAU - DOCKED FROM 11AM TO 8PM
DAY 4 SKAGWAY - DOCKED 7AM-830PM
DAY 5 TRACY ARM FJORD CRUISING
DAY 6 CRUISING
DAY 7 VICTORIA BRITISH COLUMBIA - DOCKED 9AM - 6PM
DAY 8 - DOCK IN THE MORNING INTO SEATTLE

The cruise is being booked by ALPINE TRAVEL
157 MILBRIDGE ROAD
CHERRYFIELD ME 04622
TEL 207 546-7651
Talk to Pam Farnsworth and tell her the Dartts sent you!
Deposits are being taken now and when you book before May 31, 2009 you can save!
Prices start at $1199 - $1799 and are ALL INCLUSIVE (including taxes, port fees, gratuities, meals and Gospel Concerts)
We look forward to hearing from you and sailing to the GREAT STATE OF ALASKA, home of VP Nominee, Sarah Palin!! For more information, request a brochure by emailing us at:
thedartts@darttmusic.com

Greetings from The Dartts! We are currently enjoying a day off in Arlington, Texas. We left from the Nashville area on Saturday the 2nd to begin this tour, which will keep us on the road for about 7 weeks. We kicked the tour off with a weekend in the Ft. Worth area, with temperatures over 100 degrees. It was very toasty. Kind of a "soggy toasty-ness". Anyway, on this trip we'll be singing in Texas & Maine & a whole bunch of other states in between. That should keep us busy.

House News: After our last report (July 17th) we spent two weeks on a roller coaster of "on-again, off-again" circumstances with our efforts to buy a home in Tennessee. We even delayed the beginning of our tour so that we could stay in town to try & finish our house purchase and move. From the 17th through the 24th we jumped through one hoop after another in order to make the finance folks happy. It was around then we were notified that the loan company division we had been dealing with was dissolving & we were being handed off to another financial institution. At the time, it seemed like a devastating blow, but we kept praying & hoping through every step of the way, & we knew we had a whole bunch of folks keeping us in prayer before the Lord. We actually had a rather large team of people working together trying to do everything they could do to get the house deal through.

We seemed to be "in the home-stretch", but then, on July 25th, we got word that another person had been given priority in the bidding, and they had until Wednesday, July 30th, to come up with the financing. If they couldn't get it by then, the house would be ours. So we were back in a holding pattern once again. The other bidder's time window came to a close on Wednesday night, & we once again had first priority.

On Thursday morning, August 3rd, we closed on the house & got our keys. We had Thursday & Friday to have all of our belongings moved into the house from storage, to change the locks, install utilities & alarm system, have some electrical issues resolved, & prepare the house & bus for leaving on a 7 week tour. Talk about a circus! And to top it all off, something even MORE important happened late Friday night; Forrest & Sabrina Dartt (Tracy & Sharon's Son & Daughter-in-law/Stone's Brother & Sister-in-law) had a brand new baby boy, Nolan, who makes a total of 9 Grandchildren for Tracy & Sharon. It was a great blessing to be in town for this wonderful occasion. Obviously, we didn't have time to even think about unpacking. We are looking forward to that project when we get home from this tour.

Thanks so much to all who kept us in prayer! We prayed many, many, many times that God would work a miracle. We prayed that He would "break this loose" for us & asked for His will to be done. There is no word more fitting than "miracle" to describe how this all came about & we are careful to give God the glory for blessing us with our Tennessee home.

by Stone Dartt

Please continue to be in prayer for the Dartts' house purchase. We did a final walk through for the home yesterday (Wed) & we are scheduled to take possession tomorrow morning (Fri), but we just got word from our lender that due to new rules that were just put in place 10 days ago, our home loan has been turned down. There is now no way we can possibly buy a home at this time unless God works an absolute miracle. We are trusting, praying, & waiting for God to work all these things out according to His will. Please pray with us. God bless.

by Stone Dartt

Today, we are in the Birmingham, Alabama area preparing to head over to a TV taping of the Alabama "Gospel Jubilee".
This is an exciting week for The Dartts, as we are hoping to complete the purchase of a home in the Nashville area on Friday. A few months ago, God blessed us with a very experienced real estate agent, Tracy Stanfill, who has done an incredible job for us. She was referred to us by a Nashville area church, and having lived in the area all her life, she has been an excellent advisor to us as we have tried to find a home that meets all of our needs (space, location, bus parking, etc.). We found a home back in April that we fell in love with, and we made an offer which was promptly accepted. We were very excited & when we got home from our Florida tour (Jan-April), we hit the ground running. We packed up all of our belongings & had them transported out to a storage facility in Tennessee. While our belongings were in transit, we were outbid by another buyer & ended up losing the house, along with the money we had paid for a couple of home inspections. It slowed us down a bit, but we pressed on & kept praying that the Lord would provide us the house He meant for us to have. Just a couple of weeks ago we found a house, made an offer, and it looks as if everything is going well. Please pray for us this week & beyond as we are hoping to get settled into this house before we have to head out on the 1st of August for our next extended tour. Also, please pray for us as we begin to reform the routing of our tour schedules from a new home base location in Tennessee. We need the Lord to bless us with new friendships and contacts, especially in the south and along the east coast. If you or someone you know would like to be blessed through the ministry of The Dartts, please give us a call at (707) 688-9762, or e-mail us at THEDARTTS@DARTTMUSIC.COM. We have a spot in our calendar for you!
We each had a little bout with a cold a few weeks ago, but we're all doing well now. Tracy is also feeling well & had an encouraging lab report within the last several days.
We've had some exciting opportunities over the last couple of months. At the beginning of June, we were at the "Great Western Southern Gospel Fan Festival" in Fresno, California, and had an opportunity to sing in a couple of afternoon showcases. This was our first time to actually sing at one of these festivals/conventions, and we had a tremendous response at our booth, with folks stopping by to pick up our music, to express their appreciation for "God On The Mountain", to share words of encouragement, & to ask questions about our ministry. Not long after, we were invited to sing in the main program at the "Great Western Southern Gospel Fan Festival" 2009. Also, the last day of June, we had an opportunity to sing at a taping of "The Jim Bakker Show", which was a lot of fun, and was a wonderful exposure for our ministry. They also gave us an open invitation to return to the show in the future.
Production continues on "The God On The Mountain Legacy" TV/DVD project, featuring interviews with Lynda Randle, The McKameys, and many more. Keep checking back for more information as the weeks go on. We are hoping to air the TV special this fall, & we're also hoping to have the DVD available by the year's end.

by Stone Dartt

Having arrived home from our Florida tour, we've been busy, busy, busy, spending our first week preparing to move to Tennessee. Lots of praying, sorting, cleaning, discarding, packing, & planning. We're getting ready now to head out for our weekend dates in the Fresno, California area, & we'll be posting more news soon. At this time, we would ask folks to be praying for The Dartts' Move To Tennessee. We need prayer for our home to sell quickly & at a good price, we need prayer for wisdom about how to move, prayer for the Lord to provide for & work out the acquiring of our next home. Additionally, we're all feeling well. Tracy's last lab test was good, with a creatinine level around 5.5. More soon! God Bless!

It's hard to believe we are well into our Florida tour with only a few dates left before heading back to California. We left home January and thus far have seen 132 Salvations! We attended the Gospel Fest Cruise in February and what a BLAST that was! The dates for next year have been set for Feb 28- Mar 5th. Mark your Calendars NOW!! We are blessed to have such a busy schedule with 28 concerts in March alone! The Gospel Jubilee in Orlando and Bradenton, Florida was a great success as we caught up with The Speers, The Puffers and The Weatherfords. Many thanks to Jim Farr who was our master of ceremonies, and did such a great job! The dates for next years Jubilee are March 6 & 7, 2009 - We hope you can make it!
We will be leaving Florida March 31st and heading to Nashville, TN where BJ will be recording his 3rd Solo project. Pray for strong vocals! While in Nashville, we will be recording more footage for the "God on the Mountain video". the McKamey's are being interviewed this week and there will be more to follow with Lynda Randle, Bill Gaither and Mana Music Publishing! Pray for production of this video project, we are so excited to see what God is doing. We will also be performing at TBN Studios with the Imperials on Saturday night, April 5th.
Several things have been happening with the Dartts and we are so excited! We thank you for your prayers and support over the last several months. Tracy's health is doing great and his energy levels are increasing daily! If we can only get 2 doctors to agree on the same thing, we would be in better shape. Please pray for guidance in knowing what to do with the kidney transplant.
New pictures and tour dates have been added to the website, so check them out and God Bless!

Greetings from the Dartts! December was a busy month for us as we toured around our home state of California singing 17 concerts in 23 days. We had a wonderful Christmas, with a visit from Peachy (Sharon & Tracy's daughter) and her kids while Peachy's husband, Major Stephen McLain, is serving in Iraq. An added surprise was a visit from 2 more of Tracy & Sharon's Grandchildren, Rain & Mikaila (2 of Frosty Dartt's 3 children) from Nashville, TN. We all had a wonderful time together finishing out the year with much thanks to the Lord as He blessed us with well over 500 souls saved in 2007.

It's been a great start to the year so far. We have been back on the road now for one week & we've made it as far as Phoenix, AZ. We're due to be in Florida by the end of January & we are very much looking forward to our Gospel Fest Cruise to Mexico and Beliz. There's still time to make a last minute booking!! (hint, hint) Tracy has been feeling great, along with the rest of us & we are still praying that his creatinine will lower. We're also praying for guidance & wisdom as we deal with the possibility of an upcoming kidney transplant for Tracy. His kidney specialist is pushing for it to be done soon, while the council in charge of approving the transplant says it isn't urgent. As you can imagine, that puts us in a kind of decision-making limbo, but in the mean time, donor information packets have been sent to a few potential donor volunteers. With all this we press on, continuing our day to day efforts to minister the Gospel through song & spoken word. We are living with faith that the Lord will give us direction in our upcoming paths, that He will continue to use us as ministering tools in His hands, & that our needs will be met in the event we need to take another break from the road in order for Tracy to have a transplant. Please pray for The Dartts; for good health & safety in travel, for guidance as we make medical decisions & scheduling decisions, & for the possibility of an upcoming video special & ongoing television program.

The Dartts

P.S. Please be in prayer for our friends who have experienced recent loss in their families, as well as for those who are struggling with special needs.

by Stone

Thanks for your prayers. Tracy has improved & we are going to attempt to make it to our concert in Roseville, CA tonight. Please pray that Tracy's improvement will continue.

Please keep Tracy in your prayers today. He had a nauseating headache through most of the night and all day today so far. He hasn't been able to keep anything down today. We are talking with his doctor & may have to cancel our concert in Roseville this evening. We will update.

Hello faithful friends and music lovers! Today is Sharons Birthday and we are celebrating by just being HOME and of course there has to be SWEETS!!! Tracy and Stoney arrived home Monday evening after a long drive from Nevada! Sharon and I arrived home last evening flying from Virginia and Tennessee. We had an amazing Fall Tour with the Speers and plans are being made for another tour next year. If your Church would be interested in hosting a concert, please give our office a call as soon as possible as dates are being scheduled already!
Over the past 3 months, we have seen over 200 people come to know Christ as Lord and Savior, making 484 decisions for the year! We praise the Lord for good health, safety and the amazing blessings He has poured out to us each day. Tracy's health is doing fine, in fact he had one of his best reports yesterday and we thank the Lord for a remarkable recovery. He is meeting with the kidney specialist again sometime later this month for another re-evaluation. We are praying that the kidney transplant will no longer be needed, so believe with us for a miracle!!
We will be home in California for a couple weeks before starting our Christmas concert series, so we will be spending some time preparing old songs, new songs and some medleys as we start right after Thanksgiving!
We thank you all for your prayers and support and we trust you truly have a wonderful Thanksgiving, remembering all that God has done for us and continues to do! The God on the Mountain, will still be God in Valley!
God Bless!

Join us January 28th through February 2nd, 2008 for a 6 DAY/5 NIGHT Gospel Fest Cruise on Royal Caribbean's 'Navigator Of The Seas' departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida! Enjoy great Gospel Concerts every day, at your liesure, featuring more than 20 different Gospel groups, artists, and Christian speakers! Cruise with us to Cozumel, Mexico, and Belize City, Belize! Tour ancient Mayan ruins! Experience unique shopping opportunities in tropical ports of call & choose from many different premium shore excursions unique to this luxurious & unforgettable type of vacation! Enjoy the best dining experiences you could possibly imagine... food so amazing that you will want to take pictures of it all to show your friends at home! Snorkel, shop, get a massage, rest, relax... so many options! One of the largest ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet, the 'Navigator Of The Seas' features multiple restaurants, a luxurious on-board shopping mall, multiple pools and hot tubs, on-board spa services, an ice-skating rink, miniature golf, in-line skating, a rock-climbing wall. Whether a first-time cruiser or an experienced ocean adventurer, this is the vacation for you! Don't miss this wonderful opportunity! Book your Gospel Fest Cruise today by calling Cruise Away International at (727)781-3997. Let them know The Dartts sent you. See you on-board!!!

Tracy's last blood test showed improvement in some important areas. We continue to monitor his lab levels every two weeks. His energy levels have been great as he deals with a rather busy schedule. He is due to report in to the U.C. Davis, California, Transplant Center for re-evalutaion of his need/eligibilty for a kidney transplant when we return home in November. Please continue to pray along with us that his health will improve so much that he won't need a transplant.

Greetings! We trust you had a nice Labor Day weekend. We were in meetings with Evangelist, Dr. Wendell Calder, at Living Waters Bible Conference in Danforth, Me. It was fun catching up with old friends and making new.
We are currently touring in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and are having a blast with the Speers. So far we have ministered in 12 Churches with the Speers in the past 2 weeks and have seen 20 people saved! We are truly enjoying the cooler temperatures New England and Canada have been offering. Today is about the first day off we have had since sometime in mid-August and it sure feels good! We are enjoying fresh seafood and the time with friends and family!
During the last part of August we released The Dartts' "Believing Him For A Miracle (SOUNDTRACKS)" and The Dartts' "Down To The Sea In Ships (SOUNDTRACKS)". They are NOW AVAILABLE online & will soon be available on iTunes and other digital retailers. Now you can sing along to our newest songs, including "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Believin' Him for a Miracle". We have published a few new photos online from our fall tour, but keep looking as we will try to update the photo gallery frequently! Thank you for all the prayers and please continue as we will sing 52 more concerts with the Speers between now and October 28th! A very busy schedule! We are hoping to see several more souls saved as we travel throughout the fall! God Bless you all!

Tracy has continued to recover very well. He looks good, feels good, and has done a fine job singing throughout the 8 concerts that we've done since his surgery. He is now able to eat pretty much anything, but in small quantities. His potassium levels have been a little high, so he's having to avoid potassium-rich foods. Right now, other than a calcium supplement, the only medication he is taking is a red blood cell-boosting shot every week or so. Over the last month, his creatinine level had continued to drop to as low as 4.7, but his most recent lab results indicated a creatinine level of 5.4. This is the number that we are watching in hopes that it will continue to drop. Please be in prayer with us that the creatinine level will drop and stay low. Tracy's kidney specialist doesn't think that the number will drop low enough to avoid the necessity of a kidney transplant. We are hoping and praying that we can avoid a transplant, due to the concern that travelling full-time may be too taxing on Tracy after a transplant procedure/while taking medications that will weaken his immune system, etc. At this point, Tracy doesn't have to see his bariatric surgeon again until January. However, he must still have his labs checked every 2 weeks, and his doctors have told us that a kidney transplant re-evaluation process should begin again in November. Thanks to all who have held us up in prayer, and to those who have given sacrificially to aid us financially through such a long time without regular income. We are still very much in need of your prayers on our behalf. With well more than 200 people who have received Christ under our ministry over the last year, we are confident that God can still use us for His purpose and for His glory. That is our desire.

Well, we are finally back on the road and in full swing! We left home July 10th for a short tour to Southern California and we arrived home last night, or should I say this morning at 4:00 AM! Our bus driver is taking the day off! haha! We had great services and over a dozen people saved! Praise the Lord! It was so refreshing to be back on the road and being with people who love us and most importantly, prayed for us! We will be leaving next week for 3 and a half months, so continue to be in prayer for that trip! We will begin in San Angelo, TX and travel through Misouri and on into Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Toronto, NY, Michigan and will arrive home sometime in November. Pray for God to use us in a Mighty way and that souls will be saved through our efforts! We will be joining my mom and dad, Billy and Paula Speer for about 2 of those months in New England on our third annual "Fall Foliage Homecoming" Tour. Several of the dates are already posted and many more will be filling the calendar this week, so keep a close watch to see if we will be in your area! Thanks again for the support, encouragement and prayers and may you continue to enjoy the rest of your summer!
God Bless!
BJ

Tracy is beginning to improve quite nicely and the doctor approved him to eat solid food this last week. Although he can only consume a half a cup serving, he is doing fine. His most recent lab results were better than the results from 2 weeks before surgery. His creatinine level dropped almost a whole point in a week's time. Praise the Lord!! We began practice this week, after not singing for nearly 2 months, and it feels good to be gearing up. We are looking forward to being back on the road full-force soon. We will be singing special music this week in Rio Linda, California, and Tracy will preach. Next Sunday night, July 8th, we hope to be back in concert in Woodland, California. We have a very busy fall tour that will take us out to New England, up into Canada and bring us home sometime in November, so please continue to pray for health and safety! God is so GOOD and has proven His faithfulness to us once again. We appreciate those of you who have stood by us and prayed for us and helped us financially over these last couple months. It has been a huge blessing and we are indeed grateful! We're not out of the woods quite yet. We're still in need of some financial help, as we will still have only a light schedule until August.

As the Dartts enter Tracy's time of surgery and recovery, we will be off the road and therefore unable to bring in funds from love offerings and music sales, which is our only source of regular income. The Dartts have many financial obligations and we are in need of funds in order to meet these ongoing expenses. OUR EXPENSES WILL CONTINUE, BUT STARTING NOW, OUR INCOME HAS COME TO A VERY REAL HALT. We are asking YOU to prayerfully consider helping us meet these financial needs. We are asking you to take action and have a part in helping us through this challenging time. You can help by praying for us, by making a donation, and by purchasing our music from our online store.
Donations can be made payable and sent to;
The Dartts
P. O. Box 1776
Suisun City, CA 94585

We are able to receive donations by debit card and credit card as well. If you would like to use this method, please call us at 1-707-438-7777.

Tracy continues to improve. There hasn't been a whole lot to report. He's getting more of an appettite, but not able to act on it quite yet as his food serving size allowance is still quite limited. Protien shakes & Green Food drinks have been a great help to supplement the small amounts of liquid foods he can eat. Tomorrow Tracy will be meeting once again with his surgeon, who is hoping, at that time, to increase his food allowances to include meats. Tracy is feeling good, looks great, & is still able to be without any of the pills he was formerly taking, for the time being, yet his numbers are still looking good as well. Please keep praying & thanks to those of you who have also acted to help with your financial offerings.

A good lab result for Tracy was reported today, showing an improvement in the reduction of his creatinine level. Also showing that his potassium, magnesium, & CO2 levels are good at present, in spite of the fact that since surgery, Tracy has hardly taken any of the supplements that his normal health regimen includes. His blood HCT count has improved, even though he hasn't had a blood building shot since he was released from the hospital. Across the board, Tracy's lab levels are all improving from what they were. Please continue to pray!

Tracy is still making some progress. The staple removal procedure went fine last Thursday. The doctor upped his intake quota of protien in order to deal with Tracy's nausea. That has been a definite improvement on cutting down his getting sick. His liquid/liquified food allowances were increased very slightly. He doesn't have much energy, though he is off of his pain meds now, unless he just has to have them. Tracy says, "Thanks to those of you who have been praying and thanks also to those who are reaching out to help us financially by sending their love offerings. Though I am improving, the process is slow, and the scheduling of upcoming doctor visits & my current physical condition has moved us to make the difficult decision to cancel our Pacific Northwest tour. We need to stay a little closer to home for a few more weeks." Please continue to pray.

Well, as of today, we are having to cancel our North West Coast Tour which takes us to Washington, Oregon and Idaho due to Tracy's slow recovery. We were hoping that we would be able to do this tour, but Tracy is just not ready. We apologize for any inconvenience to those who may have been looking foward to seeing us. Please continue to pray, as this means more time off the road. We are continuing to trust God to provide our needs while at home. We thank you all for the prayers and support given to us over the last several weeks. It is much-needed and we greatly appreciate it! God Bless!