“As November draws to a close, there is so much to be thankful for.
We worked steadily towards our worship night – “Sounding Adoration”. The kids and staff gave their all, putting in extra two-hour rehearsals immediately after our afternoon programs and on weekends. Our team had a few primary things on our hearts for the night: 1) To give glory to Jesus, proclaiming His love and His greatness and giving thanks to Him, 2) To bring people from different walks of life together in worship, 3) To help children develop stamina and to see them engage and lead others – all the children would be involved in leading the entire hour of music. It was amazing to see the Lord bring these visions and plans to life.
In our final week of preparation, flu and colds hit a number of our core team, but on Monday, a new team of seven girls from Adventures in Missions arrived with beautiful voices and willing hearts. Sarah, one of the volunteers, quickly learned the songs and helped to lead so that Cornelius could rest his voice until the actual night. We were also joined by friends from YWAM, Timion, the Global Community and Victory Gap Year. I am thankful for all the people who rallied around us.
In the process of preparation, I was challenged to keep in mind this underlying, long-term aim – that the children learn to worship Jesus, listen and respond to Him, and listen and respond to others, not only with their music but with their lives. My default mode of perfecting a carefully crafted arrangement was broken and taught me a delicate balance between giving enough detail and notation for beginner music students and leaving freedom for improvisation. The surrender allowed me to give space for “wrong” notes, mistimed entries and jarring/discordant experiments. In the final stretch towards Friday night, I saw children and musicians worshiping rather than performing – and it was beautiful.
Our November spelling bee went well and we are focusing on our Christmas play. These children are incredibly gifted and quick to learn. I am keen to see how they continue to develop as their gifts are nurtured. We have also had to deal with a lot of tiredness and difficult behavior lately. School ends soon. Pray we will have strength and joy to finish strong.”
With love, Grace Wong – Beats and Books