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Phil, was your experience similar?

Phil Stacey Absolutely. When I auditioned for American Idol, it was because friends asked me to. I was reluctant to do it, but prayed about it with my family and church before going in. We ultimately looked at it as a mission opportunity. I only wanted to win if God would use it somehow—if God had a bigger purpose for me to affect the lives of others.

So you viewed it as a form of ministry, with a big groundswell of support offstage?

Stacey Churches and pastors [from my area] were coming together in prayer that God would be glorified through the mainstream market somehow. My wife was praying for me throughout the audition, as well as my family and church family. I certainly believe that God put me there. I auditioned with 103,000 others, and there's just no way in the world that I was going to be Top 6 out of 103,000 people. I have to believe that it's because there's something in my heart that needs to be shared with the masses. I believe God put me there to share that.

Mandisa, you were one of the most outspoken contestants about their faith on TV. What was it like sharing your faith behind the scenes?

Mandisa There were several people who were Christians in my season. Chris Daughtry and Paris Bennett, of course, as well as Kellie Pickler and Katharine McPhee, who had both recently become Christians at that time. There were others who were outspoken that didn't make the Top 12, like Brooke Barrettsmith. The two of us latched on to each other immediately. We prayed and fasted together for three days before going to Hollywood, because we felt like the Lord was going to do something mighty. And he certainly did, not just in my life, but in hers as well. [Brooke Barrettsmith releases her debut through Essential Records on June 10.]

There was great camaraderie overall. We would always pray together before we would go on stage to sing, and we'd always talk about the Lord. We would even have Bible studies on the tour. Many of them were at a point where they wanted to learn and grow [in their faith], and it was really great that any time they needed prayer, they knew that they could come to me. To this day, I still get phone calls from them saying, "Hey, I'm going through such and such. Would you mind praying for me?" That means a lot to me, because I know we point people to the Lord by the love that we show. It's not even about preaching at them, but how you treat others. I think that's vitally important for the body of Christ—to learn how to love others.

So you formed some strong relationships with other contestants because you were so open about your beliefs?

Mandisa I really think so. The "kiss-off dinner" is the one you have after you're eliminated, and everybody stands up to say something about you. Sometimes it's light and funny, but at mine, every single person that stood up … It was just so touching because they said, "We don't know what we're going to do without you now. You brought morality to us. You're the person that I know is always praying for us. You're the one that I know if I'm having a bad day, I can come to you and find encouragement." It meant the world to me that my faith was not just onstage. That meant more to me than anything else in the world. They knew what I believed, they knew that I was praying for them, and they knew that they could talk to me when it came down to the deeper things in life.

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