With My Song I Praise Him

Our youngest son has been growing in his reading abilities quite a bit this past year.  One of the milestones we’ve seen is for him to be able to read God’s book for himself.  It was in this way he discovered a verse that he absolutely loves.

A jump for joy!

“The LORD gives me strength.  He is like a shield that keeps me safe.  My heart trusts in him, and he helps me.  My heart jumps for joy.  With my song I praise him.”

Whenever he gets to the line about jumping for joy, he jumps up in the air with a big smile on his face.  One of the great things about kids is how much joy they have—and they’re not afraid to show it.  As we get older, we seem to keep the jumping to a minimum, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have joy, and often we show it through singing.  

Islanders love song.  Wedding events are full of singing.  They listen to a wide variety of music and create a good bit of music themselves.  But hardly any of it is praise music.  In the strictest and most orthodox orders of their faith, music is not considered holy and worthy of being directed upward, and that seems to trickle down to the islanders’ thinking to some extent.  Yet, even at their religious ceremonies, they still sing.  They do not consider it “singing” but outsiders would consider the chanting and simple repeated prayer choruses as song.  And just like all over the world, music helps express emotion and lets our soul sing.  I have seen people chant with heavy hearts at a funeral, and reach ecstatic states of joy at weddings.  Music lets our souls speak in ways that words simply can’t contain.

Singing at a men's event

What joy, then, to see songs of praise being created.  Songs that sing of the joy of forgiveness and new life, a good father and help in troubles.  Song creation is of great importance.  It is something that every community needs.  It is a sign of growing maturity and health.  It is a way of reaching out and reaching in.  It is a way of binding a family together and drawing them into the act of worship.  In short, music is a powerful gift, and it is being given on Clove Island.  In the past few weeks two new praise songs have been written.  They are beautiful and catchy and we find ourselves humming them throughout the day.  But more than that, is the blessing they will be to others.  As they are sung and loved, they will uplift and encourage those needing hope.  They will bind together the body with greater love.  They will invite others to join in the praise, and they will give many people great joy.

Singing at a women's event

We English speakers can easily take music for granted.  We want a new worship song—there are thousands to be discovered at the touch of a button.  But here we get to participate in firsts.  When we sing an old hymn like “Be Thou My Vision,” do you realize you are singing an Irish hymn written in the 6th century?  Still we sing it and love it over a thousand years later.  Here we are witnessing songs being created and sung in the island tongue for the first time.  Some may pass and be forgotten, but others may last and become the old hymns of tomorrow—blessing the islands for years and years to come. May it be so!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our colleagues on the big island had a big meal with island brothers and sisters— 17 came! It was an encouraging night. Ma Imani returned to the two villages that she has shared at before. The plan was for her to spend a night in each village and study more with the people there. We haven’t heard how it went yet, but we are thankful for her faithfulness!  The recording of music is going well (despite one session where a faulty mic left a buzz on the recordings). We haven’t heard specifics from our contacts in Chad, but we are thankful that fighting didn’t extend down into the capital, although there is still need for prayer for the future of that country and what the coming months will bring.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A friend of a teammate has had several vivid dreams which she shared with our teammate last week. Our teammate was then able to show her verses from the Book that corresponded to some of the things she saw in her dreams— she was deeply impacted by the similarities and was going to think and ask others about it. Pray that this would be an opening for truth and change in her life. Tom has been going most afternoons to study with some longtime friends who have been searching for a long time but scared to make any decisions. Pray for a breakthrough. In less than a month we are supposed to welcome a short-termer for 2 months, pray that all the logistics of his travel and stay would work out smoothly and that his presence would be a blessing and encouragement to our team.