Two or More

The course that brothers Walter, Eddie and Renatto Aguas--better known as Two or More--have navigated in their lives has been something akin to that of the first men who sailed into the unknown sea in search of the New World.

Two or More's world has always been filled with music, though their ultimate destination, and how they would come to fully use their gifts, for years remained a mystery waiting to be revealed. But as surely as the wind and stars and tides drew the great explorers towards inevitable but unknown futures, the hand of God has led Two or More to a place of both peace and pofound purpose. As the title song of their Pamplin debut, Walking On the Water, so eloquently puts it: "Come and follow Me.......down a road you cannot see."

 Walter, Eddie and Renatto's parents are natives of Ecuador, where their mother had been preparing for a career as a professional singer until her father intervened and put an end to what he considered an inappropriate pursuit for a proper lady.

The Aguas' were married in southern California, where they settled and started a family. The boys grew up hearing their mother's beautiful voice through the house as a matter of course, as well as their father's album collection, heavy on a style of salsa-sounding South American music called cumbias. But American boys will be boys, and it wasn't long before the brothers plugged into Top 40 music. Eddie and Walter started playing guitar and drums, respectively, while it became clear that Renatto was destined to hold a microphone.

After forming innumerable garage bands, the brother's musical focus changed in the early 1990s, after Renatto gave his heart to the Lord at a Harvest Crusade meeting. Eddie and Walter soon followed suit, and the Aguas' began writing and playing Christian songs.

Over the next three years, while Walter, Eddie and Renatto went about the business of living--holding down full-time jobs and getting married--they also pursued any opportunity they had to minister, using their gifts to glorify God. In early 1997, feeling the call to full-time ministry, they moved their families to Nashville. Since their relocation, they have played more than 200 concerts. All three brothers readily recount works and changes the Lord has done in their lives, individually and collectively.

"We were surprised at first," says Walter," because we'd seen ourselves as playing more to an audience of people in their mid-20s, and 30s and up, when, in fact we wound up playing a lot of venues and events to teenagers. An acoustic guitar/vocal thing and our witness and testimony for Christ was not always what they were expecting either. But God had us there for a reason. We took a stand, and gave them some good music, and shared Scripture. And we've wound up leading a lot of kids to Christ."

"It taught me to be bold for Christ," says Renatto, "and also that there are better ways to reach people than hitting them over the head. If you can communicate the Gospel to a 13-year-old, you can probably get through to anybody. Even though our audience is changing now as a reflection of the new songs on Walking on the Water, those are lessons I'm going to hold onto."

"I've learned to really let God into my life and let Him work in me," concludes Eddie. "That's made the music very real, and people believe it. We used to be so pre-occupied with the artistic side of things....so concerned about playing and singing precisely and technically perfect. If there's one thing the Lord has shown us above all else--and it's very apparent on the new album--is that it's not just the art...it's the heart.