Three years ago Jeromy and Jennifer Deibler were busy traveling the road with CCM Pop/Rock sensation FFH, the band Jeromy had co-founded in 1991 in his hometown of Lancaster Pennsylvania. The band was approaching it’s 15th year together and Jeromy and Jennifer were about to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Their son, Hutch, was two years old and the couple was beginning to buckle under the strain of trying to raise a family on the road. They needed a break, and they knew that if it didn’t happen soon the health of their marriage was at stake.
In March of 2006 the four members of FFH unanimously decided that a sabbatical was necessary. They all agreed that the previous ten years had been a huge blessing but had left them devoid of a life apart from the band; one which each member wanted desperately to enjoy. So they played the remaining six months of concerts on the books and began an indefinite break from touring.
During those last few before the sabbatical Jeromy and Jennifer received a unique invitation to travel to Africa for an extended stay to lead worship for a small congregation there. They felt like the invitation was from the Lord so in September of 2006 the couple, along with Hutch (3 years old at the time) left for South Africa to spend six months training musicians and mentoring worship leaders at a small church just south of Cape Town. Little did they know how special those six months would be. “Our time in Africa was life-changing”, say Jeromy. “For the first time in our marriage we were able to sleep in the same bed for six months and worship with the same friends every week. The people of South Africa welcomed us with warmth we’d never felt before. Plus, we had a lot of time to think and process life and what we’d been through. We lived in a little cottage with no heat, no air conditioning, no TV, phone, or radio. So we read and spent a lot of time in the quiet. And we talked, finally, about things that mattered.” Not only did the Lord change the Deibler’s heart towards each other and their family while they were in Africa, He also changed their world view. “We lived among both the rich and the poor while we were in Africa”, says Jeromy, “And we lived on very little. Most people in Africa don’t have the things that we have here, the things that we feel we need but really get in the way of our time with the Lord and others. What the African’s fill the space with is relationships! They seem to know the importance of togetherness and they live on it.”
Just before returning to the States in the spring of 2007, Jennifer found out she was pregnant with their second child. She was to be due in November and the Deibler’s were ecstatic with the news. Sure that the Lord was going to reveal what was “next” for them when they got home, Jeromy and Jennifer returned to Nashville full of hope and excitement for their new life, still feeling like it wasn’t yet time to return to FFH. However, for the next six months the Lord was silent about their future, so they waited. It had now been a year since they had performed their music in front of an audience.
During the last year of FFH and the season in Africa Jeromy had been experiencing a lot of pain and unsettling symptoms throughout his body. Doctors weren’t able to pinpoint a cause so he went about life as best he could. However, in September of 2007 Jeromy experienced another “attack: and was finally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. “The news came both as a shock and a relief,” says Jeromy, “I was depressed about the news but glad to finally get some answers. I had been in so much weird pain for so long. The pain led to fear and the fear drove my family nuts. The truth hurt but was welcomed as well.” Jeromy and Jennifer spent the next few months trying their best to learn what exactly MS is and deciding what treatment would be best for them. In the end they opted to accept an invitation for Jeromy to take part in a clinical trial for a new MS treament that was promising but not yet on the market. The only problem was that Jeromy would have to wait for the trial to come to Nashville. So they waited, and waited, for seven more months, until finally in April of 2008 Jeromy received the first round of his yearly Chemotherapy based treatment.
In the midst of the waiting Hope Sadie-Claire Deibler was born. It was a beautiful birth in Nashville and Jeromy and Jennifer were so thankful to be able to have time off to get her settled. “When Hutch was born I had to be back out the road for a three month FFH tour six weeks later”, says Jennifer, “I never really had time to be settled with the baby here at home. With Sadie-Claire it was different. It was so nice to have some real time off and not worry about getting back on a tour bus.”
By the summer of 2008 Jeromy was through his treatment without have had any of the harsh side effects that they were told were possible. Sadie-Claire was 8 months old and Jennifer was feeling a little less tired. Hutch was almost 5 years old and was loving his life with his friends and his bike on their street. It had been almost two years since they had been in front of an audience and the couple began to feel like it was time to get back out in front of people telling their story. But they knew it needed to be different. Finally, in late 2008 the Deiblers decided ti was time to return to FFH and their audience.
FFH is currently accepting invitations for performances beginning in 2009. Jeromy and Jennifer currently serve as worship leaders at Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood TN so touring will be on a limited but regular basis. The announcement to resume touring will come as an early Christmas present to FFH’s fans and listeners who are partly responsible for the bands endless stream of top ten hits including seven #1 radio singles and their 1.5 million records sold. “The time away has been anything but routine,” says Jeromy Deibler, the band’s lead singer and co-founder. “Since our departure in 2006, Jennifer and I have moved to Africa and back, welcomed our second child, and dealt with my MS diagnosis. We’ve been walking the wilderness in brokenness and joy and learning that the two coexist. The waiting has been hard but the Lord knew we needed a break to deal with some deeper issues, both physical and spiritual, that just couldn’t be dealt with while on the road. We are beginning to feel like it’s time to renew our connection with our audience and start telling them about this chapter in our story”
