The Missions Choir
Oct 29th, 2008 by Rex
After two months of practice, we finally went onstage to challenge the congregation. It was the Missions Musicale and we were the Missions Choir.
It was last August when we started our practices. Althea was invited me to join the choir and while I was in the process of explaining “I don’t sing” and “I’m not sure if I have the time,” she has already introduced me to ten choir members including the conductor. Before I knew it, I was standing right beside the grand piano learning the notes of Go Forth and Tell! With that song, I knew I had to attend the next practice.Before our first song that night, the children from Sunday school sang a medley including “Jesus loves the little children.” I recall about 10 or 11 years ago when I sang in the Christmas Cantata. Back then, our choir pieces only contained words and we simply sang the melody of the song. That was my only choir experience prior to this. Interestingly, little fragments of the songs we sang a decade ago still ring in my mind from time to time, like a case of LSS (last song syndrome).
Our first song in the Musicale was One by one. It was the last song we learned. When I decided to regularly attend choir practice, I thought we will be singing only one song. I immediately entered the notes into Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 so I could learn the song at home (and in the office). To my surprise, we were given a new song piece the next week. Then came another, and another, until we had a total of four songs to learn. I promptly entered these into the computer so I can listen to the MIDI files once in a while. Weeks later, I converted these MIDI files to audio CDs and shared it with some of my comrades in the bases who were having difficulty with the songs.
Towards the last part of the worship service, we sang our three remaining songs, Put Your Life into the Master’s Hands, Here am I Send Me, and our finale was the first song we learned - Go Forth and Tell. The first shall be last and the last shall be first eh?
It felt absolutely terrific to belt out notes of praise knowing you couldn’t be singing a better song for a better purpose. I later listened to a video (embedded above) that my father took with his phone and I was amazed that we did sound like a real choir… errr… we are a real choir!
On the other hand, I told myself I shouldn’t be doing this because I feel good doing it or because I just enjoy being in a choir. There’s nothing wrong with those, but they shouldn’t be the reason why I go to practice sessions despite my workplace being 25 kilometers away and school 40 kilometers away. This is not a leisure activity nor a source of entertainment. I should be doing this to bring glory to God and let the world know of his grace that brings salvation.
I would like to extend my thanks to Ma’am Connie, our conductor, who patiently and cheerfully guided us through all the songs. I consider ourselves blessed to have a very encouraging teacher. Thanks also to the other choir members especially Althea who invited me with extraordinary determination. The choir’s voice was at 97.6% theirs. My sincere appreciation also goes to my grandmother and father who came despite my (very) short notice. It meant so much.
Wait, why do I sound like I’m concluding the choir experience? This is only the beginning!