Monthly Archive for March, 2006

You did what? Where?

Published
by
Chris
on March 26, 2006
in Latvia, Music and Worship
. 2 Comments

So, attempting to follow Waylan’s advice, I’m taking a bit of typographical Imodium… well… not to say I’m going to stop writing… but anyway…

Today, I joined Ieva & her worship team, which is made up of primarily high school students. We were at the Baptist church in Talsi. Now, if you’re like me, you’re not going to expect an incredible time of worship at a Baptist church. No offense, but it just doesn’t usually happen in America. This Baptist church, in many ways, is like those in the US, in that the service is structured & predictable. And although I understood this Sunday afternoon gathering to be made up of mainly youth, I saw some stoic, elderly faces in the crowd. Oh well… God moves on old hearts as well as new.

So, I was amazed at this team. Ieva led on vocals & acoustic guitar, & then I joined in on my acoustic. A very tall guy (I’m guessing he’s about 6′6″) and a medium height girl sang backup (everyone is short next to Andis). Peteris joined in again on bass & Janis on percussion (they’ve played with me when I’ve played on Arta’s team). Lidija was on keys & Linda was on violin. All of them were incredible musicians. I’m still blown away by these guys’ musical skill level.

Aside from skill, Ieva & Peteris have really been impressing me with their genuine love for God & for worshiping Him. Ieva specifically is just so open to express how she feels about God, which I find to be so refreshing, especially in a culture that’s not prone to open communication. Peteris is just a really cool guy with whom I think I have a lot in common. We both just really wanted to play that song by Xenos!

So, yes… in a structured service at a Baptist church in Latvia, we had a free time of worshiping God in music like I haven’t experience in a long time. I like to look at it like there’s a fence around a playground. It doesn’t suppress your imagination… it just keeps you safe.

~t

So much to learn

Published
by
Chris
on March 26, 2006
in Latvia, Music and Worship
. 5 Comments

The last couple of days have afforded me an interesting opportunity to observe Latvian youth culture (at least of the Christian variety). Two weeks ago, I was invited to help lead worship with a young worship leader & songwriter named Arta. She had the vision to create an environment where young Christian musicians could get together, worship God & share music that we would each know, whether a worship song we’d learned or something we’d written.

There were about 10 people who showed up to the first meeting, mostly teenagers, some of whom I’ve met in other capacities. We had a time of worship. It wasn’t earth-shattering, but you could definitely tell that God was enjoying our music to Him. After worship, Arta opened up the mic for anyone to come up & share a song. Ieva, of course, jumped up & started playing some stuff that she’d either written or knew. I’ll talk about Ieva in a bit.

It was all so awkward for me through the whole thing because I’m so much older than everyone else who was there. At the same time, though, I chose to squelch the nervousness that came from the awkwardness. I’m glad I did. Arta told me that she had a blast, & she felt that it was a success. Other people obviously enjoyed it because a lot of the same people came this past Friday again, two weeks later.

I’ve taken a lot of time to understand the reason I felt the awkwardness that night. I said that it’s because of the age difference. Well, that’s only part of it. Another part is that I don’t know any of these people well at all. Another part, which I think is more significant, is that, as an American Christian, I’m used to structured programs. I’m used to defined leadership roles. Basically, I’m used to just plain knowing what’s going to happen next. This is not always the best approach to something that God wants to do. Yes, God is a God of immeasurable order, but He’s also quite chaotic within His order.

This past Friday, we had another musicians’ night. Instead of 10, 39 people showed up, most of whom were female under 18 (I’d guess at about 75% of the group). Seven of these people were young ladies from a Creative DTS in Norway spending 5 weeks here in Latvia.

We had a time of worship, which again, was powerful & special. This time things were a wee bit more structured. Arta made sure to encourage people to come up to the mic. This time we had two youth worship teams share at different times, & one of the girls on the Norway team shared a couple of songs. It was quite interesting.

Arta then invited me to join her again with her team the next day to lead worship for youth group. This time, the worship time seemed even more powerful. The team from Norway was there again & shared a drama/dance presentation that was incredibly moving. I only wish that I’d gone with my gut & brought my video camera.

Ieva… she’s 17, looks so small, but she has a huge voice & a solid character. She’s also an incredible songwriter, like Arta. Ieva asked me to give her guitar lessons. I’m still dumbfounded by this, since she already plays as well as or better than I do. Anyway, the first lesson, we worked a little on some strumming & fingering techniques. The 2nd lesson the next week, I asked her to bring some worship songs written in Latvian. I lead worship in Latvian, & I want to learn some more songs in Latvian, so I’m not playing the same 10 songs for the next year.

Anyway, she shared two songs that had been translated from the original English into Latvian. These were actually very good translations, as they not only kept the message of the song intact, but they also worked well musically. If you’ve ever sung a song in a language that had been translated, then you’d understand that it’s a very difficult thing to find a well-translated song. Languages have different rhythms, so to translate music is quite challenging. It’s not just a matter of translating the words, but you have to work with the rhythm of the song, also. Usually a song that’s translated ends up having a very different word rhythm than the original. Anyway, I digress.

Ieva shared two more songs that she had written. Wow. I asked her to help me understand the content & wow. Only 17 & she already has such a good understanding of God’s character.

So this lesson was my time to learn. We laughed a lot as I muddled through the new words for me in Latvian. We had a lot of fun.

So, finally I come to the observation that I talked about at the beginning of this novella. From my perspective, it seems that when you go into a new culture as a missionary, you get this “savior” complex where you think, “I’m going to be the one to change this culture for the better” or “I’m going to be the one whom God uses to show these people the real way of life & freedom in Christ”. To some extent this could be true, but there’s a major piece missing: knowing who they are first. It’s impossible to be a positive influence in anyone’s life if you don’t know them & they don’t know you. The other thing to consider is that maybe God brought me to this culture for me to learn how to live better & for me to better understand the real way of life & freedom in Christ.

Also, it’s more important to step back & see what God is already doing in a culture. God is not in the business of “changing” cultures. He’s in the business of redeeming them. He loves diversity & the last thing that He wants is a bunch of culture clones. So, I’m in the market for His business. Already I’m seeing that God is doing huge things in this country. These two young ladies, Arta & Ieva, that I’ve been privileged to interact with are excellent examples of how God is moving on the hearts of Latvians. As I spend more time with them & their friends, I realize more & more that I have so much to learn from them about God & worshiping Him.

If you made it through this, probably my longest post to date, I congratulate you & I ask you to please leave your comments. What are your thoughts as you read this?

Cheers,
~t

The Konkurss

Published
by
Chris
on March 6, 2006
in Latvia and Music
. 1 Comment

Saturday night my wife & I went to a Youth Music “Konkurss”. We didn’t know what it was, only that our teen friend, Anna, & her friend were playing a song in it. Anna is this tiny girl with a huge voice & a giant smile who, whenever she sees me, she nearly breaks my neck with her hugs. She & I have led worship together a couple of times. She’s really an awesome young lady, so I was glad to walk into this “konkurss” not knowing anything of what to expect just to see her play & support her.

After we found one of my wife’s English students (who turns out to be her biggest troublemaker) who politely told us what to do (buy tickets & go in there & wait for the line to move), we bought tickets, went in there & waited for the line to move. The line consisted mainly of about 200 teens & pre-teens from all over Talsi & beyond. I didn’t have to wonder where the kids were on this Saturday night!

We stood there feeling a little old & yet kind of enjoying being “out” for a change. After a while, the line, in fact, began to move… and rapidly. It was like watching sand go down a funnel. Giddy excitement surrounded us, as we tried to cautiously make our way into the gym without getting condensed.

We located some seats, which didn’t turn out all that great, since they were against the wall a meter or so away from the main seating area, & folks found that standing in front of us was the best way to locate seats down below. I guess that we were located center stage didn’t help either.

I forgot for a while that the “acts” were actually teens (usually) & I plunged into a massive critical time, which proved humorous to me & mildly embarrassing to my wife. The term “wet wriggling puppies” came to mind as this girl in orange sherbet shorts & top sang a mediocre version of “Walking on Sunshine” while two, I must say attractive, yet terribly rhythmless young men, dare I say danced? No, I dare not. They were wriggling. That’s just all there was to it. That was embarrassing to me.

Finally after about 5 such strange hormonal displays, Anna & her friend took the stage. I didn’t know she had such long hair… down to her bum. Normally she has it tied in a bun… kind of odd for a 17-yr-old, but hey, she’s a musician. They sang a gentle song of “You’re my angel” & it was a special time. You could sense that it was special, & refreshingly different from the other boom-boom-boom. It was just Anna, her guitar & her friend.

When they finished I think there were one or two more songs by a couple other acts. Then there was a 10-minute intermission. We decided to leave, since the whole reason we came had come & gone. As we began to make our way out, we saw another friend, Arta. She’s a young Latvian lady who’s in university. I first heard of her because when Anna & I along with another friend led worship together for the first time, we learned a couple of songs that Arta had written. I was amazed & wanted to meet this lady. I have had such opportunity a couple of times since, including this time.

Arta talked with my wife & me for a few minutes, as we related in having a mutual friendship with Anna. Arta then invited us to attend a musicians’ meeting that would take place in Talsi. I was floored! This is the very thing that I was hoping to find or start myself… and here it was presenting itself to me! I, of course, accepted the invitation, & after a phone call from Arta, I was again invited to help lead worship with her for the meeting! Once again I was floored.

We left the konkurss & went home. A little while later, we received an sms that Anna & her friend had won 3rd place. Not too bad for the first time in the competition (which is, by the way, what konkurss means in Latvian).

So I’ve got practice Thursday night at 7 pm with some of the brightest young musicians in the region who love God. We plan to meet for the musicians’ meeting on Saturday, I think. I’m so excited about this! My heart is to see these young musicians write original worship music in Latvian & to see them & their music promoted in this country. I so want to see Latvians be Latvian & worship God in their special Latvian way.

Cheers,
~t