The timing of this trip could not have been more perfect. The Shalom Choir would never have expected this, but the history of our church over the past year would become extremely relevant in our morning discussions. We met with the choir committee – a subset of leaders in choir. Long story short, for 2.5 hours we discussed a vision of Oneness, including the Mark 12 text, the FOR ONE song, and praying for someone to share God’s love with. We then spoke about the unity and friendship of the Sr Pastor and the Worship Pastor, the role of the Worship Pastor to the team, the more. Our morning concluded with Colleen and Lisa discussing how to craft an order of service, and how to include purposeful, creative moments within a service. They even demonstrated the underscoring music of a prayer and a simple Cardboard testimony (where individuals turn over pieces of paper that have a single word on it that describes God’s work in their life, as it relates to the message. Ex: Forgiven, Changed, Free, etc…)
You may wonder if the way we plan and program a service in our culture works in the culture of Rwandan church. The answer is, Yes. They loved it because they have been craving unity, clarity, a more effective service, and how to lead people in a response to the Sunday theme.
To date, the choir uses only a keyboard for music. All instruments were basically created from sounds from the keyboard. We talked about the importance of creating the need for more people joining the choir to use their gifts. So, we taught them more on the drum and gave them a gift of an acoustic guitar and cables for outputting through their speakers. We prayed for their ability to learn how to play and for someone to come along side them to help them learn. We also prayed for the new people that God would bring to the choir to play the instrument. They we very excited. In fact, a nearby friend came to visit shortly after we dedicated the instrument to them. He agreed to teach them how to play the guitar. Are you surprised that God did this??? P.S.: The guy’s name is Fabulous. How cool is that?
Our afternoon was spent with the whole choir learning music and instruments. So far we have learned 3 songs with more to come, tomorrow.
Just to remind you, we started the day without a clue of what it would bring. Just goes to show that when you trust God and are simply ready for Him to work, great things happen. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
You may wonder if the way we plan and program a service in our culture works in the culture of Rwandan church. The answer is, Yes. They loved it because they have been craving unity, clarity, a more effective service, and how to lead people in a response to the Sunday theme.
To date, the choir uses only a keyboard for music. All instruments were basically created from sounds from the keyboard. We talked about the importance of creating the need for more people joining the choir to use their gifts. So, we taught them more on the drum and gave them a gift of an acoustic guitar and cables for outputting through their speakers. We prayed for their ability to learn how to play and for someone to come along side them to help them learn. We also prayed for the new people that God would bring to the choir to play the instrument. They we very excited. In fact, a nearby friend came to visit shortly after we dedicated the instrument to them. He agreed to teach them how to play the guitar. Are you surprised that God did this??? P.S.: The guy’s name is Fabulous. How cool is that?
Our afternoon was spent with the whole choir learning music and instruments. So far we have learned 3 songs with more to come, tomorrow.
Just to remind you, we started the day without a clue of what it would bring. Just goes to show that when you trust God and are simply ready for Him to work, great things happen. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
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