Well, my plane ticket has been purchased, and a bank account opened. Those are the big things that have been accomplished so far along with lots and lots of little things (like purchasing enough sunblock for 6 months of UV ray protection and buying tapes for my video camera and scouring the shelves at multiple bookstores to find just the right resources I might need for teaching some English and leading a study of the book of James in Spanish). One of the preparations I have made so far has been to put together a set of goals that I have for this mission trip. I realize that it's not in the nature of a trip like this to go just exactly as I hope or plan that it will...but isn't it better to go with goals and have to change them around a bit than to go with nothing? (the answer is yes)
Anyway, the point is, I have goals, and I'd like to share them with you so that you have a better idea of what we are going to try to accomplish in Ecuador. just to give you a little background, last year when I was invited to return for an extended stay in
I hope to establish a weekly band practice.
A weekly practice would help organize the worship, songs would be chosen ahead of time and rehearsed, any doubts about the order of service would be clarified during this time. A mid-week practice with only band-members present would encourage new youth to get involved without the fear of having to “perform” right away during a worship service. A weekly practice would also help teach commitment as it would be a couple hours during which these band members would have to “give up” whatever they would normally do during that time. This will help reinforce a commitment to God and the church, and it will help to communicate that serving involves responsibility and leadership.
It has been my experience that studying the Bible together as a group brings an element of clarity to the word of God, it helps one build relationships with other people, and it adds more depth to the dynamic of the group itself. Studying the Bible will bring spiritual growth and Biblical knowledge which is important for any believer and especially important for those believers who are considered leaders. Studying the Bible together as a band will not only help the youth to grow spiritually, interestingly, it will even help them to grow musically as a band. I believe that studying together and praying together increases the level of trust among the members of the group, and when there is more trust involved, there is more willingness to follow a leader without hesitation during the course of an actual song which makes the songs flow better and makes the energy higher (it’s actually very neat to experience this).
Part of growing as a band includes increasing the repertoire of songs the group knows as a whole. This is especially important in a culture that places a large emphasis on music during a worship service. As the band adds more variety to its inventory of songs, they will have an easier time choosing specific songs for a worship service. This will also help the more advanced musicians in the group to challenge themselves and each other and grow musically. Plus, it will help make the services themselves more interesting because the worship will be more frequently fresh and new.
2 comments:
Amy, I have absolutely no idea about music, but as far as organizing a group, one piece of advice I would offer, is the standard "let them direct the change according to your goals" philosophy. How that played out in teaching was this: I asked my fifth graders what they thought the class rules should be. Once they gave feedback, it was surpising how alike their mission for our class was to mine. So after brainstorming, we ended up with a list of five rules that were the same or better than what I had come up with---only with stricter consequences than I would have implemented, if you can believe that! Those little sweethearts! Anyway, it really helped throughout the year when disagreements or infractions would come up, because I could say, these were your rules, and you agreed.
Now as far as this could relate to your trip, if you come in and meet with them and ask them what their goals are for their group after much prayer, you may find that they would in broad terms say that they would like the same things for their group: more cohesiveness, focus, musical variety and a deeper relationship with God. They may even suggest meeting once a week. The change will be easier to commit to if they have had some say. I wouldn't be surprised to find that some of them have been praying about the very goals you listed. We serve such an awesome God. You are probably their answer to prayer.
Anyways, this quick exercise was taught to us as a secular way to build a team, but you will probably find that God has created a unity in their hearts already and all you have to do is open that gift. Or this may be a risky venture. It will depend on the culture (I don't know much about musician's temperments-I am so not creative, nor do I know much about Ecuadorian culture) and what kind of leadership style they like. Anyway, just something to prayerfully consider. I hope you have such a great time. I will be checking in on you! I am adding you to my favorites and that will remind me to pray.
You are going to have such a great time! Working with creative, passionate, committed people for God's glory! Twenty musicians working together for God, without even a leader? These have got to be some wonderfully faithful souls!
And they are going to love having you back! I am sure going to miss you! I feel like we barely started a wonderful friendship. But like I said, I'll be keeping in touch with you through this blog. And you have my address for email updates. I really am going now that I have broke every rule of blog comment ettiquette.
Have a great trip!
God is good!
Thank you so much! That is a great suggestion about having them decide for themselves their own goals. I bet you're right, and we are all on the same track anyway. I will give that a try for sure. Thanks so much for all your encouragement. I am going to miss you too, I feel the exact same way...It's weird, I always seem to be on the point of leaving when I start to make good friends. I hope we'll keep in touch :-)
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