Living the first nine years of their lives in Indonesia has had a lasting effect on Bread of Stone brothers Ben and Bill Kristijanto.

They remember the difference between their view of poverty while living in Indonesia versus what they saw and learned about the poverty there after moving to the United States.

"Being younger, we were kind of secluded from what was going on there," Ben said in a phone interview. "If you're that person (living in poverty), you don't know any better. You don't have anything to compare it to.

"I remember I was a happy kid."

On tour with Christian pop punk band Stellar Kart, Bread of Stone will perform at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Rosebud Theatre in Effingham. Also on the bill are Fireflight and Esterlyn,

The four bands will also perform as part of the President's Day Palooza Show at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Grand Palace, on the campus of Heartland Community Church. Local band Greenwood will be the opening act for the Decatur show.

Based out of Sioux City, Iowa, Bread of Stone consists of vocalist Ben, guitarist Bill, Sean Brown on bass and Jeremi Hough on drums. It is promoting its 2007 sophomore album "Letting Go," which includes the songs "Somewhere," "My Obsession," "Never Buy Your Love" and the title track.

Ben said the concept of the album deals with being able to surrender and letting go of one's pride.

"It's saying, 'Here I am Lord. I'm handing over everything and want you to take over my life,' " he said.

Their first album, "Broken Vessels," was more of the band "trying to find their way," Ben said, but this album is "very defined and more to the point."

The band members created their music ministry when they came together four years ago. They eventually worked toward expanding the exposure of their music.

"We really felt the Lord really wanted us to go out" and minister to people through music, Ben said.

The up-and-coming band has opened for such Christian performers as Toby Mac, Jars of Clay and Chris Tomlin, and it has ventured on LifeLight Tours with Phil Joel and Foolish Things, the Drifter Tour with DecembeRadio and the Farewell Tour for Petra.

The band members have also given of their time in rebuilding homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and they have distributed more than 85,000 copies of two full-length Christian albums in Indonesia, each sung in the Kristijantos' native tongue.

English is Bill and Ben's main language now, but it is still a second tongue.

Ben, the main songwriter of the band, said he spends a lot of time on lyrics, in part because of the language barrier.

"To tell the truth, I'm not that great of a songwriter," he said.

But giving it a second thought, he figured maybe he wasn't too bad.

"It's just an artist approach to everything," he said. "But I'm getting there."

WHO: Stellar Kart, with Bread of Stone, Fireflight and Esterlyn.

WHERE: Rosebud Theatre, Effingham; Grand Palace, Heartland Community Church, Decatur.

WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb.17, in Effingham; 5:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 18 in Decatur (doors open at 4 p.m.).

TICKETS: Effingham: $17.50, $12.50; call 540-2787 or online at www.therosebudtheatre.com; Decatur: $10 at the door.

EXTRA: The Decatur opening act is local band Greenwood.

ON THE WEB: www.stellarkart.com, www.breadofstone.com, www.fireflightrock.com, www.esterlyn.com and www.myspace.com/greenwoodlovesyou.

Alicia Spates can be reached at aspates@herald-review.com or 421-6986.