I arrived in Chipiriri on Thursday, around lunchtime. Seven hours later, I was the church drummer.
When we arrived at the church that night, pastor grabbed the drum (sort of like a bongo, but with a stick, instead of played by hand) and placed it in front of me, saying only “Andres!”* And so I was the church drummer. It was no small task. We must have sung almost a dozen songs, only a few of which I recognized. The rest, I had to try to figure out the beat, which was a challenge in and of itself since the three gentlemen playing the various sizes of guitar all seemed to be playing different songs simultaneously… When I lost the beat, you could feel it because the clapping got all goobered up (granted, there were only twelve people present). No pressure, right?
Fortunately there was only one song where I simply could not find the beat. And in the others, I only messed up once or twice per song. During a five minute song, that’s not bad! Despite all of my shortcomings, the congregation appeared to have a gringo beating the drum.
Immediately before dinner, we drafted a skit for the service – the team told me that was the most preparation they ever had put into a skit (because usually they don’t know far enough in advance to prepare).
When it came time in the service for the skit, we gave it all we had. Honestly, we didn’t do a bad job, but I clearly don’t have a future in a traveling theater troupe. Even if I did not meet our own expectations, the church folk loved the skit, and apparently I make a very convincing Jesus.
Toward the end of the service, one of the elders suggested that we get up and introduce ourselves, which we did. That’s a completely understandable request – the visiting group should introduce themselves. What we were not expecting was a canción. After we introduced ourselves, they asked us to sing a song. So we did. A cappella. I am the only dude with this team. Needless to say, my part stood out. But I sang nonetheless. And we got an encore. So we sang another. This time we got the closest thing to a standing ovation that you can get from eight people.
I’m having new business cards printed:
Drew Steverson
Gringo drummer
Convincing Jesus
Impromptu baritone
In reality, I am not talented in any of those things. I thoroughly enjoy church theater, but having only 45 minutes to prepare, with no props other than a Bible and a shaggy-haired beardo, are less than ideal conditions. But the church loved it. Our pastor acted like a proud papa, clapping enthusiastically at everything we did.
Do we have that sort of joy? The ability to enjoy thoroughly the efforts of others simply because they made the effort? Regardless of the quality. Think about it. I’m sure you grinned ear to ear, and maybe even cried when your kid’s kindergarten class sang an out-of-tune, out-of-sync rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” for Mother’s Day. Why? Because you love your child. Doesn’t Christ tell us that we should love our neighbor? (Hint: Matthew 22:37-40.)
So maybe next time somebody gets up and plugs in an electric guitar (clearly not a baptist church), I will appreciate the effort, love my neighbor, and praise God for the opportunity to worship Him in another way.
*(The team introduced me as “Andres,” so I told the church that my friends call me “Dru.” We’ll see if that takes.)
