We have undergone a lot of change in this ministry over the last 10 years. We have moved the ministry once, leaving our entire volunteer, support, and contact base in Florida and starting again in Georgia. We have changed our name from davis54:2 to Proskuneo. Back in 2004, we changed our mission statement and focused on the God-given task of “bringing nations together in worship.” We lost a good friend and fellow-founder of the ministry, Heidi Goodbar, to cancer. We have had 3 staff members come and go. And now, while our mission statement remains the same, we are changing our focus a bit. Rather than scattering seeds so broadly, we feel called by God to focus our energies on a little town called Clarkston, Georgia.

With all the change happening, and sometimes at a staggering pace, it is easy to become disoriented. It is easy to fear the unknown. It is easy to second-guess. But, there is one constant. Our GOD is unchanging. James 1 says that He is the “Father of lights who does not change like shifting shadows.” I can’t tell you what a deep settledness in my soul this knowledge brings.

So many times, I go back to what I know of GOD’s nature. When money seems scarce, I remember that the GOD who provided for the first two years of this ministry’s operating expenses with an unsolicited donor (who had no idea we were dreaming of starting this ministry), is the same GOD that provides for us today. When the work of “bringing nations together in worship” seems too messy, difficult, and time-consuming, I remember that GOD has always had it in His heart to bless the nations (Genesis 12:3). And that He is working a plan that culminates in people from every tribe, language, and nation gathered around the throne praising Him (Rev 7:9,10). When I don’t know how I am going to lead through the next change, I remember that I didn’t get myself into this ministry. GOD did. And I know that the One who called me is faithful, “He will do it.” (I Thess 5:24)

[Audio in Spanish, with subtitles in English]

NIKKI: Some of my favorite things are singing with, working alongside, and “doing life” with my friend Josh Davis.  We’ve had the privilege since 2009, to walk together and experience these favorite things often.  We have ministered together all over the place (see above). The one place that we had not yet been “seen” together was Columbia, MD.  

Columbia, Maryland is the place where God has planted me as the Director of Worship at Bridgeway Community Church.  I have the immense privilege of leading a multicultural worship ministry of 100+ precious people at a 2500+-member multicultural church.  God has been good.  It was amazing to me that out of all the places that Josh and I have been, we had not yet ministered together in “my home”, “my turf”, “my space”.  It was a true gift to have my friend and ministry partner leading worship with me on a Sunday morning.  It was God’s gift to have him speak to and encourage the people that I lead here.  I am delighted that Josh Davis was “all up in my space”.  Bridgeway Community Church is a very different place because of Josh’s influence in my life and it was only fitting that he should lead them in worship that week.

JOSH: This past week, I had the chance to be on Nikki’s home turf, at Bridgeway Community Church (link to:www.bridgewayonline.org/home/) in Columbia, MD. Bridgeway is a thriving multi-ethnic church and I am so grateful to have had some time to see how beautiful and exciting the community there is. Here are some highlights:

I got to teach on “Uncomfortable Worship” to Nikki’s worship ministry retreat. “If I am unwilling to be uncomfortable, I will never even begin to truly worship God…” I could go on and on (but that is a book I am writing, so I won’t here). About 80 people from the team were in attendance! What an incredible group of people! We had sweet times of worship and fellowship together as well.  I also really appreciated watching Nikki’s leadership, and learning from her how to delegate and empower and inspire. Brilliant!

On Sunday, Nikki and I got to lead worship together with the Bridgeway band and choir. What a TREAT! Many of the songs we did were originals…
One Kingdom [bilingual english and spanish]
Father of Lights [brand new, unreleased song in 5 different languages!]
More/Más [in English, Spanish, and ASL]
Abba [brand new, unreleased duet with Nikki!]

…and these songs just came alive with such tremendous voices and hearts and instruments blended together. Bridgeway’s musical director, Ronald Greene, just has a knack for making my songs sound better than they really are. And, Nikki could sing the phone book and be captivating. What a joy! In one service, we had English, Spanish, ASL, Swahili, Korean, and Arabic swirling around in one beautiful mix! It was powerful to see and hear such a diverse congregation worshiping their hearts out! I look forward to the next time I get to worship at Bridgeway…

NIKKI: As Josh said, we did many things during the week that he spent with us at Bridgeway, but the most important part for me was being reminded that the ministry of reconciliation and multicultural ministry is so much better and more effective when two or more are gathered.  I am so grateful that the Lord was and will continue to be in our midst as we serve him together.  

I take one hour a week, usually first thing on Monday mornings, to learn a new worship song in a different language. I have already learned songs in Somali, Hebrew, Spanish, ASL, and so on…I have a long list of songs on the docket. I don’t think I am ever going to get to the end of it, but I am going to try. One hour a week. One new song a week. I am learning them just because. Just because I never know when I am going to need them. Just because God has given me a gift for learning songs in other languages. Just because this is the calling on my life! Just because I come alive in the process. Just because it’s a great reminder for me at the beginning of my week why I am doing all the other things I am doing. Just because, as John Maxwell says, “If you wait for an opportunity to appear before you get prepared, it will be too late.”

So, what are you doing to prepare for future opportunities?

Here are a few random pictures I ran across in preparation for last Friday’s celebration…a trip down memory lane!

[2001] Terri Hale and Heidi Goodbar with Our first cd!

#1. IT’S HARD TO PREPARE WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE PREPARING FOR. I ran a 10 mile trail run this past weekend. I had read about it online, but there wasn’t a whole lot of specific information. I had trained for it some, but about a 1/2 mile into the run I realized I hadn’t trained properly. In my training I was concerned with distance. I had essentially trained for a 10 mile road race. I was ready for that. But, this was no road race, let me tell you. Very early in the run, we ran through a creek for a short distance. That changed everything. All of the sudden I felt like I weighed several pounds more than normal, and it was all in my shoes! Water, sand, and rocks were my constant companions from there on out. Around mile 2, we climbed an extremely long hill that no one could run up…we walked, and even crawled, and by the time I reached the top I was exhausted. I am thinking about doing this same run again next year. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And now I know how to prepare differently. I would run about 15 miles on the road to prepare for 10 miles on the trail. I would do some serious hill work. (Those hills were all over the place! including mile 9! who designs a course like that?? ) And I would do some strength training. Now that I know what I am preparing for…

#2. LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE YOU ARE PREPARING FOR SOMETHING, EVEN IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PREPARING FOR… My good friend and Proskuneo board member, Perry Holley, wrote a great blog on this subject. He says it better than I could, so I suggest you check it out here. He states, “I personally believe that it is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” I agree. This past weekend, I was visiting some churches in Clarkston, Georgia, and enjoying connecting with some of the church leaders there. I showed up at a Sudanese church a few minutes before start time. My pastor friend said to me, “We have no one to lead worship this morning, will you do it?” I said yes before thinking about it too much. He then went on to say, “We need about 20 minutes of worship.” Ok. But, it was what he didn’t say that was so challenging to me. What was assumed in the conversation was that the 20 minutes of worship would be in Arabic. I don’t speak Arabic, but over the years, I have learned some songs and phrases in Arabic (most of them from my good friend and “twin brother” Abraham Deng!). There is no way that I could have led worship that morning in Arabic without prior preparation. But, there was also no way I could have known to prepare for that specific moment, because it all happened so spontaneously and suddenly! The preparation had to be way in advance. Preparation when I didn’t know what I was preparing for. At that moment, years of preparation came into play…Arabic lessons in the kitchen with my friend Abraham, learning songs for other worship services, attending Sudanese conferences, preaching at Sudanese churches, attending Sudanese worship services, recording projects where I sang background vocals in Arabic…the list goes on. Every one of those came into play as I led what ended up being considerably more than 20 minutes of worship music! I sang just about every Arabic song I knew (plus Yoruba, Lingala, and English, in good Proskuneo form, of course).

Do you have any good stories about preparing when you didn’t know you were preparing? or about how you wish you would have prepared differently???

Here is a picture of the drummer from the group:

And here is a picture of me:

Do you see a resemblance? I don’t. We are about 10 years apart in age. (I am older!) He is blonde. I am not. He is a lot skinnier than me (as one of my friends pointed out, thanks Bekah!) But, we were the only two white males under 40 at the Jazz Vespers Service. As I was explaining to the African-American gentleman that I wasn’t the drummer, I almost said, “No worries. It’s an easy mistake. All white people look alike.” But, I didn’t know how he would take it.

This encounter reminded me of an interesting phenomenon. People often find it difficult to differentiate between individuals of other races. We tend to think they all look alike. Here is an interesting article that suggests that there may be something physiological about it. My experience tells me that the more time I spend with people from a certain culture, the easier it is for me to distinguish between individuals in that culture. I tend to be able to perceive the differences more readily. And I also tend to be able to “tell them apart” from other related cultures.

What has your experience been with this?

So, here we are looking like total tourists when an off-duty bus driver pulls up and asks where we are headed. I tell him “La Cumbre”. And he makes a face and says, “You won’t find any more buses headed there tonight.” Now, the lady next to me had just told me that buses would run that direction for another 2 hours. I knew immediately that he was just trying to set me up to pay an exorbitant price for him to take us where we needed to go. So, I said “Yes, we will.” He made another face and started off. A few seconds later, he circled back around for another try. Again he said, “You won’t find any more buses headed to ‘La Cumbre’ tonight.” I repeated, “Yes, we will,”  this time a lot more confidently than I felt it. And, rather than offering to take us there, he didn’t say another word, and just drove off in a huff. He was just trying to rip off some tourists, and when he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he was out of there in a hurry. Honestly, I felt a strange mixture of pride and frustration. I was really proud that I was able to foil this guys plan, and that he didn’t take advantage of me! But, I was also really frustrated that he tried to rip me off. More than that, I was frustrated that he had made assumptions about me. He assumed by the color of my skin, by the way I was dressed, etc. that I was an outsider and an easy target.

I have found that people make a lot of assumptions about me.

People assume that because I am a musician, I listen to a lot of music…and that I know every “famous” song and “popular” band. That is simply not true. I hardly ever listen to music. For some crazy reason, I have never owned a vehicle with a good-working stereo system. My car rides are often in silence. And music can be incredibly (and wonderfully) distracting to me. I hardly ever listen to music while I am working. I do not know a lot of the songs and bands that you would think of as popular. Don’t assume.

People assume that because I am a White American (yes, like the cheese!) I don’t speak any other languages. I don’t know how many times people have been talking about me in Spanish thinking I didn’t understand. Don’t assume that (because I am white and male) I have never lived as a minority. Don’t assume that my heart language is English. It may or may not be.

Like it or not, we human beings are constantly making assumptions. Some friends of mine with strong Southern accents say that people assume that they are less educated. Some other friends who are third-generation Asian say that people assume that they are an expert on all things Asian (culture, language, etc). I have a third-generation Mexican friend who says that people always assume that she speaks Spanish. (She doesn’t). Other second-generation friends of mine get frustrated that they always have to answer the question, “Where are you from?” And when they say “Chicago,” then they get these weird looks and maybe even the follow-up question, “Where are you really from?”

What assumptions have people made about you?

I am finding that conversation is a great alternative to assumption. Ask questions. “What did you mean when you said ______?” “Why is this important to you?” “What is your background?”

Hebrews 12:1-3 talks about this very thing:

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. I just want to highlight a couple of those phrases…

Think about yourself as running this race for a minute…but you are not on some abandoned highway somewhere with nothing and no one for miles around.  Picture a race like I was talking about, with people lining the race way. Or picture yourself in a huge stadium, running on the track, with the stands full of people who are cheering and clapping and calling out encouragement to you. Who are these people?

Let’s take a look back for a moment…those who have gone before us…Joseph sitting in prison after years of faithfulness, Esther walking into the king’s presence with no guarantees, Moses in charge of leading hundreds of thousands of grumbling Israelites, Paul and Silas in a jail cell singing praises…(Interesting that all of these were cross-cultural and multicultural experiences….) What about Mother Teresa by a dying man’s bed or Jim Elliot giving up his life at the end of a spear for some angry cannibals?

Let’s look around the world for a moment. Maybe we need to look to our brothers in China who are joyfully meeting together in secret. Or to our brothers in Sudan who have experienced tragedy after tragedy, heartache after heartache and are still praising GOD.

Maybe for some of you, the encouragement of GOD is found simply by looking around you right now. You feel very alone in the ministry, alone in this task of breaking down cultural barriers, alone in caring about the nations…look around you.  And as you look around…realize that not only are the people around you part of the cloud of witnesses cheering you on…but you are part of someone else’s crowd of witnesses.