Day 2 continued - Afternoon and Evening Worship

The afternoon consisted of a friendly soccer game between the NCV division and the Peru Division. I am sad to say that although we were winning 2-1 with a minute to go, Yohanis, Richard Li and Caleb all got excited over a corner at the other end and all tried to score but failed to realize they were all defenders and left the goal open. 30 seconds later Yohanis was watching the sky when Peru waltzed past him and scored (and the Peru DYS swears this happened by his watch) in the last second of the game.....However revenge was enacted in the second game when a slender 1-0 lead was held on and could of finished sooner had timekeeper Richard Li realized that he had forgotten to look at his watch and let an extra 3 mins slip by. A great time of soccer fellowship was had by all.

The afternoon consisted of electives and groups split up in percussion, dance groups and a vocal leadership track. The dance group was over 50 strong and rehearsals were in full swing getting ready for an exciting concert coming up in a few days. The vocal group was obviously experienced and was already singing Lord You are Good acapella style and the sound resonated around the room in glorious style.

Sports and recreation was next up and John Reeves attempted to teach the Peru kids how to play American football. Needless to say as night fell it was rather hilarious to see them try to stop each other with their tackles and kicking the ball instead of throwing it but as night fell DYB members took out their cellphones and lit up the game so it could finish.

Dinner was served at 8pm and it was a tasty meal of pasta and chicken noodle soup. However their chicken noodle soup is quite different from ours and the whole chicken is used, bones, blood and guts. Needless to say Richard Li and Daniel Yeo were excited to find a small chicken heart in their soup which they chomped down on and ate with much delight (much to the horror of the rest of us who decided that having a chicken beak or eye still winking at us was just too much to eat!)

Our evening concert section tonight has been written by Dr Kate Wholman:

Monday night’s evening program was a celebration of praise and worship from both ourselves and our hosts. Despite a long day, the concert began at 9:30pm and ran past midnight. There was little chance of drifting off, due to the frequent changes in genre and the extremely loud volume of the Peruvian praise team (note to future tour members – bring ear plugs).

The concert began outside on the grass, where the rain had just stopped and a smoke machine and strobe lighting had been set up, to accompany the Buenos Aires Corps in their dance feature. These guys had clearly been watching some sort of dance competition shows, and it was an impressive choreography ending with a triumphant Salvation Army flag being flown.

Back inside we were welcomed once again before the DYB set off on their first number, El Es El Senor - so far a resounding crowd pleaser on this tour. Lt Good opened the proceedings in prayer and then it was on to our solo feature, Dean Jones’s ‘Joshua’ performed splendidly by Kevin Downing. The audience was enthralled by his playing and the alternative techniques used in the cadenzas.

On to another corps dance team, this time the Virtarte Corps, who used a number of different styles of music in their backing track and had the audience up on their feet. This was followed by a piano duet from Kate and Joel (note to future tour members – bring a grand piano).

Bandmember Ellim Choi then shared her testimony, reminding us all that it is not enough just to do the right things for the right reasons, but that it a personal relationship with God that He seeks.

This was followed by the first set by the Peruvian praise team. Sometimes fielding as many as ten vocalists, this group knows how to worship loudly and with great energy. Although we found ourselves singing along to unknown songs in an unknown language, it was great to see the whole room flooded by the Spirit.

Capt Tim Delaney brought the evening’s message, with reflections on fishing midadventures (both modern and biblical), tightrope walkers, and poker players. All of these pastimes require the protagonist to go ‘All In’, and we shouldn’t be afraid to do that with Jesus, knowing that he is our Lord and Savior and will never let us fall.

The DYB then sang ‘Your God Will Come’, a work we have been singing since conservatory and sing in full voice. Then another dance team, a classic good-versus-evil duel with loud music, followed by another multi-song set from their Praise Team, this time with David, David and Kevin adding a horn line. Rachel Wiley and Joel then gave a moving rendition of Lord, I need you before our five-piece dance team had everyone back on their feet with You are Good. Our final offering was given by Kaitlyn who performed a solo dance which was warmly received. The meeting was closed by John Reeves in prayer.

Overall, a long and enjoyable evening that showed the similarities between our worship styles, and the universal language of Praise.

After the concert Capt Tim Delaney concluded with devotions and we all went back to sleep in our rooms for our first night with all 5 of us attempting to sleep in one room.......Goodnight......

PS Stephan talks in his sleep.....