A week or so into our month in Thailand, a friend sent me a YouTube link to a video that tells the story behind the song “God of This City.” It tells of a band from Belfast who gets the opportunity to play in a bar in Pattaya, Thailand – one of the worst areas in the world for the sex tourism industry (and consequently, sex trafficking as well). In the midst of such darkness, the band worships God, and out of that worship comes the well-known song “God of This City.”
Little did I know that some of our own would have that opportunity in Phuket. During the third week of ministry, Annie approached the owner of the Absolute Bangla Bar about performing, and he agreed! The bar is located right on Bangla, the main road of the red light district, and the music from the bar can be heard all up and down the street by everyone passing by. Without having heard or even seen a band of any kind, the bar owner agreed to give them a 30 minute slot the following Friday.
What went down the next Friday was nothing short of a “God thing.” Let me explain.
- There really wasn’t a band to begin with. We have several musically talented people on our squad, including several guitarists, several singers, and one drummer. However, that doesn’t give you a “band.” The only instruments were acoustics guitars and one small wooden drum. The rest of the instruments – electric, bass, drum set, would all have to be used at the bar.
- A rehearsal was scheduled for Thursday afternoon – the day before. The only roadblock was that, on Wednesday night, ALL of Patong Beach flooded and the bars themselves closed down, so there was no way to get to the rehearsal. So they never practiced. In fact, on Friday, we were told that the roads were still flooded and we wouldn’t even be going for ministry that night. We didn’t learn that the gig was still on until the band showed up at the bar with instruments and asked to play. (Oh, they ended up playing for almost an hour that night!)
- Annie had never played bass before, and Scott had never played electric guitar. Their first time was, well, during the performance. Woa.
- The crowd loved it. I saw people videotaping the performance (and no, not just the T-squad fan club seated in the first row). People stopped on the street to listen, or they came inside and sat down. One lady asked if the band knew specific worship songs. The servers in the bars were listening and even singing along once they caught on.
I have no idea what kind of impact the band had on Patong Beach that night, but I know this. God was in that place, and He is moving on Bangla Road. He IS the God of that city!!
To see the YouTube video, click here.
