Music

At the beginning of this school year the Kabiufa church asked Bill if he would be willing to be the music director. Well, I can't say he was overly enthusiastic. As many of you know, music is Bill's passion, and he has a hard time accepting anything less then perfection. First of all, the church piano is in terrible condition! When we first arrived Bill spent hours tuning the piano and trying to fix many broken parts. In spite of his hard work, it is still in very poor condition with many keys not working. 2nd of all, the sound system in the church was a total mess and the church itself has a very high ceiling which contributes to very poor acoustics. 3rd - the congregation had absolutely no concept of music theory. Their sense of rhythm was appalling and made it almost impossible to accompany on the piano.

Approximately 700 high school students attend Kabiufa church. Young people are the same the world over and music speaks to their hearts in different ways then it does us older folks. We had been hearing "rumors" that the students were very dissatisfied with the music program at the church. After a bit of agonizing Bill finally agreed to take on the task of being the music director and hopefully bringing about some positive changes.

The very first thing he did was organize a praise team of 7 students. 3 of them play the guitar and one plays the keyboard along with Bill on his keyboard. We have them over to our home every Friday night for a practice session. Right from the beginning Bill started teaching the team some basic music theory, rhythm, and how to read music. The kids were so enthusiastic and just took off. They were then challenged to teach their classmates. Often, at the beginning, when the congregation was singing a song all wrong, Bill would just make them stop, teach them the correct way, and start over again. It caused a few laughs, but they are quick learners and the change has been amazing.

The second thing Bill did was to improve the sound system with some new equipment and several microphones that Roger Millist helped the church to acquire. Now the congregation can actually hear the praise team instead of totally drowning them out (The people of PNG sing VERY loud and very enthusiastically!) and this allows them to follow the song leaders lead and sing with the proper rhythm. Believe me, it makes a huge difference.

The 3rd change Bill made was incorporating choruses that the students enjoy singing, instead of just hymns. He also changed the order of service so that the music leads up to a very worshipful spirit by the time the pastor is ready to preach.

It has taken some time and patience but the worship service at Kabiufa has been totally revitalized. The kids are loving it and you should hear them sing! We have had staff come and tell us that between Sabbath School and Church they have always had to be outside rounding up the students and herding them inside. Now, the minute the students hear the music starting they come running from all directions because they don't want to miss out on anything. Village students that aren't required to come to Kabiufa church are making sure they are there every Sabbath. The church is usually packed out.

Never underestimate the power of music. (-: