“Music is one of my favorite things about humanity. It is such a universal language. Almost every tribe and people group under the sun has their own distinct song. I can’t wait to communicate the love of God with people all over the world. Yes, with words and action, but also through the means of timbre and melody.”
I wrote this in a post here shortly before my Race began. (Yup, I’ve begun this blog by quoting myself. You’re welcome.)
In Ukraine this past month, my team and I gave presentations about our travels and taught English in many local schools. When we first introduced ourselves to students, often in large assembly settings, we would inform them a little about our lives before we began the World Race. After I would say, “In the States, I am a musician. I teach piano and voice to mainly children and I play piano and sing in churches,” without fail, a hand would shoot up and a young voice would pose the question, “Will you sing for us?”
The very first time a student asked, it caught me off guard. A barrage of thoughts came to mind. “I’m not warmed up…” “I hope I’m not worse than they expect…” “What should I even sing?!” My teammate Amanda quietly answered my silent question, “Hey… sing Amazing Grace.”
And so, I did.
At School 5.
At School 1.
At School 9.
At School 4.
At the technical college.
At the after-school English club we led.
I can’t pin down the exact moment, but I became struck by the beautiful magnitude of sharing, through song, about the amazing grace of my Jesus to hundreds of Ukrainian students at their request.
At one of the assemblies, after I sang, our ministry contact took some time to explain to the students, in their native language, what the words I sang meant. A few students and teachers approached me, thanking me for the song and that they loved the meaning behind it. “And that is true?” a student asked. “Yes. Completely.”
When fundraising for this trip, I sent out magnets with my support letters. Written on them are words from Isaiah chapter 12:
“Give praise to the Lord…make known among the nations what He has done and proclaim His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things. Let this be known to all the world.”
Before I even left, I, perhaps unintentionally, was proclaiming that when the question is, “Will you sing for us?” my answer is a deep, “Yes.”
(Mom and Dad, thanks for encouraging me to and helping provide for me to get my music degree. I’m literally using it all around the world.)
From my heart,
Erika Venese
