A Village Concert

This morning we woke up to the routine crowing of the roosters at the crack of dawn and had our noodles for breakfast, which were delicious. After breakfast we offered three workshop sessions, and the workshop I taught was not being offered until the last hour so I got to observe other people teach. I decided to stay in the church with the cool water and functional fans, which meant that I got to watch the drumming session. While it is fun and more work to do the teaching myself, I also really enjoy watching other people teach their workshops because I get to see them grow as teachers and I love witnessing the “ah ha” moment on peoples’ faces when they finally understand whatever is being taught to them. I also feel excited for the people teaching and learning because being an observer in this situation also gives me the opportunity to see God work through other peoples’ workshops, and I know how rewarding this is for both the teacher and the students.

After our workshops we had another delicious lunch, a little bit of a break, and we were off to bathe and play in the river! It has been raining off and on since we have been here, which means that the current was a little bit stronger than yesterday. This made it harder to bathe, but way more fun to play in the river! Even though our bathes were not the most effective, the communal struggle to be clean and not grow smellier truly became a bonding experience and one of my favorite experiences here. After getting as clean as one possibly can in a river, we put on our best clothes and prepared to perform our last concert of the trip.

Performing in Pagalungan was really special because most of the people there have not seen a standard formal concert that we are so accustomed to. During their own concerts kids would stand up and sing at the top of their lungs and clap their hands, but for our concert they all sat silently watching with wide eyes absorbing the music that we performed. The people were so quiet and watching us with such intensity that it even felt like the chickens had stopped crowing for a minute. Moments like these are so powerful and intense that there is no doubt that God was felt by everyone in that room, and the music connected us all to Him. It seemed like all of our efforts had been validated in that one moment that everyone was moved by the music and felt God.

Our goal for being here was to share how we can use music to worship God, and tonight I felt like we connected on an inexplicably powerful level while worshiping together. I don’t have enough words to accurately describe exactly how it felt to be with these people in that place and time, but I figured I would do my best to do so anyway. Our concert ended with hugs and the exchanging of gifts, and then we were off to our temporary homes to pack up for an early morning ride back to Kota Kinabalu.

Hannah Thorp