By Becky Ahlberg
I”m still basking in the glow. Lives were changed: theirs and ours. Goals were met. Preparation spilled over into a variety of side benefits. Team building was fun and fulfilling. God”s Word came to life as we lived it out. Perspectives were changed. Christ was lifted up. God was glorified. We moved another step closer to becoming global Christians.
It was the fourth time I”d taken my choir on a short-term mission trip, and it proved once again what a remarkable experience such trips can be.
We went to England. Yes, you read that right, England. How in the world can that be a missions trip? Well you aren”t the first to ask that question. I had to think about it long and hard myself. How do we justify the expense, the commitment of time and resources? Wasn”t it really just going to be a vacation for the choir?
Our previous trips had been to Kherson, Ukraine; El Florido, Mexico, and a special tour of several Urban Rescue Missions and work with the Southern California Prison Fellowship. But . . . England?
In many ways it opened our eyes even more to the need to carry the gospel to the whole world. Too often we think our best mission efforts should be reserved for Third World countries. I in no way want to minimize those efforts. However, our experience in England was decidedly mission driven and is already bearing amazing fruit.
We had two goals for this trip: (1) to improve as a choir so our ministry at home is more effective and (2) to bring some encouragement and evangelistic impetus to some very small, struggling Restoration churches in England.
Ministry at a Music Festival
The first part of our trip was four days in Chester, England, as part of the International Church Music Festival. We joined forces with choirs from around the world in the beautiful, medieval Chester Cathedral. There were seven choirs from the United States and eight other choirs from Ukraine, India, Moldova, Netherlands, Slovak Republic, and England. We rehearsed ourselves to death for three days and then were part of two amazing concerts.
In the first concert on Saturday night, we sang some of the toughest music we had ever tried. We had been working on it since August 2005. Together, our 350 voices, wonderful orchestra, and amazing pipe organ made some incredible music””all to the glory of God. Even though we had come from all over the world, what we had in common so overwhelmed our differences that we were able to make a joyful noise unto the Lord””and a profoundly beautiful one at that.
Most of the music we sang for this concert will never be done in our worship services at home, but it was a truly inspiring (and perspiring) experience. It has made us a better choir, and we have come home ready to serve at a whole new level.
Musically we are significantly better, but we are also more in tune with the ministry that comes from a small group committed to the body of Christ and constantly seeking to convey the message of the good news in winsome and meaningful ways to those who need to hear it.
In the second concert on Sunday night, we were part of an awe-inspiring Concert of Hymns that was filmed by the BBC for their weekly Sunday night program, Songs of Praise. I can”t describe for you the sound in that historic building. The cathedral seats 1,200 and it was packed. We had a fabulous brass ensemble, tympani, Neilson and Young at two nine-foot Steinways, and that amazing organ again as we sang hymns from all over the world.
The program included “How Great Thou Art,” “Amazing Grace,” “How Firm a Foundation,” “When in Our Music God Is Glorified,” and “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing,” to name a few. It was electrifying. During “How Great Thou Art,” I just had to stop singing for a while. I found myself overwhelmed.
The BBC had decided to cover the whole festival, and they were looking for an angle. It ended up being us! We were a unique group because we had so many young people (half the group is under 40, a full third under 30), and we had brought all but seven members of our choir. They followed us around during the entire festival filming rehearsals and our “down” time.
One of the small churches on our list for encouragement was right there in Chester, the Saltney Church of Christ. We were going to do the entire service for them on Sunday morning, and they were using our visit as a chance to really publicize in their community and energize their members. The BBC was fascinated with our choice to go there and so came with us and filmed the whole morning worship service.
Talk about an elephant in the room! But it was a tremendous experience in every way. Attendance at the church that morning was more than anyone could remember. We sang together and took Communion together and prayed together. It was sweet fellowship. We had tea and biscuits after church, and no one wanted to leave.
And we will be woven through the presentation of Songs of Praise scheduled to be broadcast throughout Great Britain on Sunday, September 10! That”s fun for us (though I doubt all the hours of filming they did of us will amount to more than five minutes in the program), but it was a fabulous shot in the arm for the Saltney congregation. They were thrilled with their opportunities because of that publicity.
Long-Lasting Benefits
The second and longer part of our trip was visiting other precious brothers and sisters throughout England who are trying to be faithful in very trying circumstances. We were in a different town every night and met some wonderful people. Many of these small churches are out in rural areas and are struggling to stay open.
Young people are nowhere to be found in their congregations. They speak poignantly of the “lost generations.” None of the churches we visited had youth groups or nurseries. One of the most significant things we did was bring young people who love the Lord. In every place, we had as much impact during meals and fellowship after our concerts as we did in our music. It was a humbling and sobering experience. Our young people were profoundly affected.
We are back home now, but the difference is palpable. We made a wonderful presentation to our combined adult Sunday school classes the Sunday we got back. It was a tremendous celebration for our whole church. The trip had been a whole-church experience from the fund-raising, to the preparation, to the prayer partners.
Because we speak the same language (well sort of . . . ) with our new friends across the ocean, we can trade e-mails and pictures and stories and continue these relationships. Some of the young people are already planning a trip back to visit.
And that”s what makes short-term mission trips such a treasure. There are so many long-lasting benefits to the whole church because of the joint effort and the prayerful focus required. We brought home a “lump of leaven” that will be bubbling for some time. God only knows all the things that will come from this trip. We connected with each other, with Christians from all over the world, and with the tangible evidence of what happens when a congregation is committed to “go.”
Yes, I”m basking in the glow . . . of what Christ can do when we give ourselves to him and use the gifts and resources we have to be a witness to a world that desperately needs to hear the good news. To quote my favorite 17th-century music minister: “Sole Deo Gloria””To the Glory of God Alone.”
Becky Ahlberg is worship and family life minister at Anaheim (California) First Christian Church and executive director of the National Church Music Conference.
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