Strike Up The Band

Psalm 101:1  I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.

Who do you make music to?  That's the question the Lord asked me during a recent trip to an indigenous village.  This village is like many communities here in southern Mexico.  Simple.  Poor.  In the eyes of the people living there: Forgotten.  We were visiting this village with the hope of finding an open door for future ministry.  Our missionary assignment is to partner with USA and Mexican churches so that communities with no churches will be able to have a church.

Usually when I enter a village I follow a simple plan:  Talk to people.  There is usually a small store in each village and that is usually where I start.  I'll buy a coke and try to start a conversation.  That is exactly what happened this time and I was able to have a conversation with a lady about her village.  I usually try to ask about things the villages take pride in but I did not have to ask in this particular village.  This lady told me (and the folks from the USA who were with me) about a group of young people who have been learning to play musical instruments.  'In fact,' she said, 'they will be practicing in just a few minutes.'

We were interested in hearing these young folks play their instruments but we had no idea what to expect.  I've certainly had long nights in some villages as the local 'band' played for weddings and celebrations.  I wouldn't consider these experiences to be very 'in tune.'  But, we really wanted to get to know some folks in this village so we gathered at the school for the rehearsal.

We found a group of thirty teenagers who had a whole orchestra of instruments.  The Mexican government was providing a music teacher for this village.  When the music started we were very impressed because the students could play very well.  We were even more impressed to know they had only been playing the instruments for a few months.

This orchestra played on for hours filling the village with familiar marches and patriotic anthems.  But, there is no church in this village to help people make music to the Lord.  Our prayer is that a church from Mexico or the USA will come and seek to start a church among these precious people.  This village band could learn how to make music to the Lord if someone would be the missionary to this small people group.  Will you join us in praying for the village of PV?  Who do you make music to?