by Lee Ming Rui
Not many of us get a chance to sing in front of our congregation. However, at Mustard Seed Service’s (MSS) Open M.I.C (which stands for Mustardseed In Concert), we were given the chance to do so! On 28 June, MSS Open MIC took place in a casual and relaxed setting, with the Shaw Hall beautifully spruced up with cushions and fairy lights by members of the MSS Music Ministry. With that, our usual Sunday service hall was transformed into a cosy setting all good for a fantastic night of music making and evangelism with the friends whom we invited down for this event.
Some of us formed bands within our cell groups and ministries and presented two songs each. The Music Ministry band kicked off the night with ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ by The Killers. There were hot Top 100 tracks like ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay and ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol. Also, our gospel genre favourites like ‘Oceans’ and ‘There Is None Like You’ were covered by our very own bands from MSS. The audience was also treated to a moving performance and a short message by our Youth Ministry staff, Christopher Chan. Quite a number of people responded and we thank God that He was indeed working in our midst.
I was blessed to work with my cell group’s (Elpizo) band for two songs, ‘Love Song’ by Sara Bareilles and ‘Oceans’ by Hillsong. Despite our busy and differing schedules, with some of us working, holidaying, schooling, or in the army, we still managed to work out some productive rehearsals. For most of you who may not know, I have pretty bad stage fright, and I still get the jitters even though I have performed in front of huge audiences by being in choirs, or by acting in plays. However, God has His own miraculous ways of teaching me how to trust Him in all my performances, especially when I sang ‘Oceans’. I stepped onto the stage not knowing how my singing would turn out, especially whether I would go out of tune again. In all that uncertainty, I am pretty sure that He was the one who gave me the peace of mind to just surrender all my fears to Him and purely sing to glorify His name.
God was working amidst us that night, be it helping me overcome my stage fright, the little things like making some faulty fairy lights function magically again in the middle of a song, blessing us with the good food catered and the awesome green tea cookies, opening the hearts of our friends whom we invited down to hear His word, and many more. Open M.I.C would not have been possible without the organizing committee from Music Ministry and the performing bands, but most importantly, it would not have been possible without God bringing the committee, the bands, the music, the talents and the audience all together.
Writer’s Profile
Lee Ming Rui is a free-spirited 20 year-old who enjoys anything chic and whimsical. She does design work, café-hops and shoots photos on her 30 year-old film camera. Mingrui also writes on her lifestyle blog about her Kdrama-like life, baking adventures and lots of good food.
This article first appeared in Issue 11, August 2014 CHORUS Magazine.