MISSIOPHONICS

Life-reflections, lyrics of my music, book reviews, paintings, pics, and some foods for the heart.

Friday, October 20, 2006

First Hong Kong Filipino Baptist Choir Festival

When I first came to Hong Kong last 2000, a vision inside was conceived: to see Hong Kong Filipino Baptist churches united in one meaningful cause of the kingdom of God. As my visitations led to an almost annual event, the burden grew stronger. I know I was not alone on this. As a visiting Pastor-Teacher-Musician, it created an exciting anticipation that one day this dream will come true.

I was not anxious though. I know that if it is God’s work, all I have to do is join Him wherever He works. Whether it is possible or not, it is all in God’s hand to orchestrate. I’ll just surf with the spiritual wave. So as a Christian musician and minister, my involvement in serving God’s community in HK ranged from having seminars, workshops, concerts, speaking and singing engagements—ministries where I felt God is using me in one way or another until now.

Hong Kong Filipino people are dear to my heart. These are the men and women who came just for the sake of supporting their love ones—and for other hundred reasons—and became strangers in a foreign land. Many suffered shaken and broken relationships with family and friends. Many came to know the Lord when they were here. Most of them are domestic helpers, but many became church leaders who served God in their various capacities and spiritual gifts.


This year, I have had a significant ministry in serving these believers. Through a teaching schedule with the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary in their Theological Education for Filipino Leaders (TEFL) program, I did what I always love to do: train kingdom leaders. Thanks to the TEFL director, Dr. Jerry Juergens, who invited—and also trusted—me to come and teach his beloved subject Baptist Distinctive and Polity (added to this is teaching Small Singing Group in the Church) every Sunday afternoon.

Nonetheless, the vision remains. One possible avenue to encourage church unity without competition is through worship and music. Just like a jigsaw puzzle, God arranged everything to make this vision possible—a reality. With the help of the TEFL council, the final preparations were on the way. I was appointed as the organizer—but as I prefer, the backstage worker—to lead the first ever Filipino Baptist Choir Festival. The purposes were established: to exalt God our Savior and Lord through spiritual songs, to encourage all participating believers, and to evangelize the lost ones.

The arching theme I gave for this historic moment was “God’s Mission: Our Ministry, Our Music.” God’s redemptive love through Jesus, the Son of God remains our focus in the ministry, missions, and music.

With only three months to go, the preparation went smooth, despite of the indifference of some. When the posters were released, I was quite inhibited to distribute it (Well, I don’t mind if the Dr. is a prophecy for me). Though it is fine for me to have a mini-concert, God knows the highlights of this concert are the participating choirs. A hundred-voice choir for the grand finale to symbolize the unity of churches would be good enough for me After all, it’s been eight years or more that I did not conduct any choir performance. But God will challenge my goal.

2 October 2006 was the awaited time. After all the heavy preparations and with the enormous assistance of key choir coordinators and pastors, the first Filipino Baptist Choir Festival was a vision come true. The event was held at Tsim Sha Tsui Baptist Church (31 Cameron Rd.). Seven Baptist churches (with their choirs) participated. They are the following. City One Baptist Church (Citimark), Filipino Baptist Church (Mong Kok), Faith Fellowship Baptist Church (Sheung Wan), International Baptist Church (Central Island), Kowloon Filipino Baptist Church (Kowloon), Shatin Baptist Church (Sai O), and Tsim Sha Tsui Filipino Baptist Church (Tsim Sha Tsui). I’m grateful to the respective pastors of these churches.

Of course, I’m so grateful to Arnel Cedeño, a man with a huge talent with humble deportment. This new friend added the teamwork that I have been looking with other musicians who came to support the ministry. His work as a key musician in Disneyland HK drove us to pray hard that he will be granted a one-day leave (on a peak season!). I knew then God will make the festival a successful one. He was given one. We started dreaming that the festival will become an annual event. Though God loves fiestas—just look at the many OT festivals—we trust on His grace to work on it.

I may have failed to join the 2003 Asia Baptist Congress Songwriting festival to sing my winning composition “We Will Stand”—or even watch the interpreter sing it as one of the ten winning entries—at least, this song became my tribute to the Baptist people for unity. It remained my utmost pleading, my melodic call in this first Hong Kong Filipino Baptist choir festival. The song was timely.

God doubled my expectations. As I was conducting the 200 voice-choir in the grand finale, “We Preach Christ,” overwhelming joy and passion filled my heart. Every time the congregation joined their voices in worshipful singing, it was a foretaste of heaven. I may have been so tired—I could barely read the lyrics on the monitor—hungry and thirsty, but the sheer desire to fulfill the task drove me to endure. It was great to experience the presence of God. When all has been said and done, I could not help but kneel in secret corner giving glory to the King to whom all glory belongs, here and ever shall be.

For a servant who came just to lift up the Name of his Master, there is no greater joy than to see Him adored. The encouraging responses because of their freedom in worship, the lost souls who found their way in the embrace of the Great King and the unity of God’s children in the midst of our diversities made a lasting imprint in my heart.

My prayer is that Jesus, the Ancient of Days, will shine among his churches and their communities in HK; that this united worship event will continue to encourage the HK Filipino Baptist churches. For I believe, when God’s children worship in unity, God is more pleased. When we worship, we witness. Missions will not be drudgery, but an outflow of God’s love and presence in us and through us. We would rather be worshipers first, then workers (or worshiping-workers at best).

As we were created for the sole purpose of worshiping God, worship becomes a life giving river that nourishes the soul of saint, seekers, and sinners alike. Until nonbelievers see that God is, indeed, among us, how will they believe? If they cannot be in God’s redemptive knowledge and love, how will they live?

Until now, it saddened me most how discords, divisions, differences, and distrust marred the body of Christ repeatedly. It’s like a vicious cycle. But Jesus’ prayer was that we, his church, will be as one as He and the Father are one (John 17:22). When we realize that our petty differences were not actually the essence of faith or the love that Christ demands, it is the kingdom of God that will heal the scars we ourselves have inflicted upon the body of Christ.

In God’s future kingdom, there’s no such thing as primitive, independent, southern, northern, fundamentalists, moderates, bapticostals, evangelicals, charismatics, Pentecostals, traditional or what have you. In the eschaton, all of us, God’s children, will find our way and place in this eternal ministry: to worship God forever.

So why can’t we worship together in unity and love? I’m glad we did. Because we can!

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