The Humming Choir

 

  Many of you know of my love for music and my story about my promise to God that I wouldn't ever sing a solo in Thailand unless I could do it in Thai with fluency.  The desire to sing in Thai was my motivator for going to language school everyday.  Even when it took me longer than anyone else I knew to learn to speak, read and write Thai well enough to follow a simple hymn, I trudged along to meet the goal of one day singing with fluency in Thai.  That day finally came after three years of studying and since that day the Lord has blessed me with many musical experiences far beyond what I ever have dreamed.  I can now even write songs in Thai.  (that took more than 20 years)  One of the things that has boggled my mind is how to teach my Thai national partners to sing.  It has been a desire of mine for some time.  This desire was accentuated by our new house church in Plang Yao.  Such wonderfully dedicated new Christians with a heart to lead worship. It has been so obvious from the beginning how much time they put into selecting the worship songs and how they pour their heart into the worship time.  Yet, how can I teach people who have no idea how to make music with their voices, how to lead with confidence and notes that others can follow easily?  It has been quite a mystery to me for many years.  A few months ago I came home from a Sunday morning desperate for an answer.  So I began to pray.  "Lord, I know your word says we should make a joyful noise until the Lord.  We got that down well,  Lord how do I teach them to sing?"