For some time now, my teammate Amy has felt in her Spirit
that she needed to go into a bar and sing praises to God. With God speaking
worship so strongly over our team and our willingness to “go big or go home,”
we joined with her and knew that we should take every opportunity to make it
happen.
While our team went on a prayer walk last week, Amy stayed
back and God began speaking. By the time we returned an hour later, she had
written the lyrics that God gave her and come up with the melody. We knew immediately
that we needed to start looking for opportunities to go into the bars and play
this song, as well as others.
Being in Pattaya and so close to Walking Street, we knew
that it would be our first stop. We walked the length of the street as
prostitutes and men lined the sidewalks. We prayed for God to pave the way and
show us where to go. When we reached the end, we prayed as a team and headed
back onto Walking Street. We decided to take turns going into every bar on the
road until we were given an opportunity to play our music live. At the very
first bar, we talked to a woman who was more than willing to give us the
owner’s phone number and the location where we could go audition. We didn’t
even have to leave the first bar before God’s faithfulness began to show us
that what He was leading us to do wasn’t impossible. We turned to go to the
next bar and Nikki went in. 2 minutes later, she came out with news that we
were scheduled for an audition on Friday night at 10 pm…prime time for all the
men wanting to pick up prostitutes and during the biggest music/dance festival
in Pattaya! Little did they know that we planned to bring God into the darkest
street in the world!
So, customary for our team, we got together on the DAY OF
our audition to prepare. We had less than 2 hours to learn 1 new song and plan for up to 4 others. The amazing part is that I can count on 1 hand the number of
times Kelly and I have played the bongos and Tricia has played the drums! But
we had confidence that because God had given Amy the song and opened up the
door to play in a bar on a Friday night on Walking Street, that He would
somehow work through us all and make it sound amazing.
And that’s exactly what happened!
We arrived at Utopia Rock House at 9:30, walked in and sat
down, ready, but super nervous about what was about to happen. The owner
acknowledged us and told the band that we were ready to go. I can only imagine
what was going through their heads! 8 girls carrying an acoustic guitar, 3
bongos and a shaker…dressed to go shopping at the mall…walking into a rock bar
full of alcohol, black lights and the loudest rock music I’ve heard in a long
time!
And for a few minutes, I doubted that they would actually
let us on stage. We sat there until around 10:15 and just as I was getting nervous
that we wouldn’t get a chance, the lead singer asked if we were ready. He
unplugged his electric guitar as the rest of the band helped us set up our
stuff and do our sound check. At one point, the bassist asked Tricia if we had
a bass player and when she responded “no, we’ve never done anything like this
before,” he looked shocked and didn’t know what to think. He joined us on stage
and prepared to help us rock out.
And so it started! We played Amy’s song first and as soon as
we got past our nerves, God took it and ran with it! People were coming into
the bar from off the street just to listen to 6 white girls sing worship songs.
The ironic part was that this specific song was written for men going to find
“love” through prostitutes…and of all the people who came in to listen, the
majority consisted of these men.
We went into “Our God” and then played the song born on
Walking Street, “God of this City.” We got applause after every song, people
from the bar across the street were listening to us instead of the bar’s music
where they sat and one man who didn’t appreciate our songs about God was told
to be quiet from the house band member. We had God’s favor all over us!
And if that wasn’t enough, Amy was given a pic from one of
the band members himself and their lead woman singer came out to sing “I Love
Rock & Roll” with us afterwards!
There are so many things that should not have happened that
night. We shouldn’t have been offered an audition at a bar on Walking Street.
We shouldn’t have been able to play our instruments like we did. We shouldn’t
have been able to learn a new song in less than an hour. We shouldn’t have been
allowed on stage. We shouldn’t have had the entire staff look at us and not
judge us. We shouldn’t have been given the time to do 3 songs. We shouldn’t
have done any of this.
But God!
He rocked Walking Street Friday night! And He used us to do
it! He gave Amy the words and our band the talent. He opened doors that we
never would have been able to open on our own. He gave us favor and respect in
the sight of the house band and the owners. He opened eyes to see and ears to
hear. He excited curiosity in the people who passed by and came in to listen to
His praise and worship going out into the street!
It still feels so surreal to me. Had you asked me last
year…or even a month ago…if I could imagine myself playing bongos in a bar on
Walking Street, I would have offered to take you to the nearest mental
institute. I’m amazed at how God shows Himself to those He loves and how He
wants to woo His children back to Him in the darkest places!
His presence is truly here! I can’t wait to experience more
of Him. I can’t wait to continue stepping out of my own box and stepping into
His purposes and plans.
I can’t wait to see what else He has in store for His people here in
Pattaya!
Take a look at this video, made by Tiffany Berkowitz, to experience our worship on Walking Street that night!
