Global Day of Prayer, London
On Sunday 11th May millions of Christians spanning 176 nations prayed for the needs of the world on Pentecost Sunday as part of one of the largest global prayer events to ever take place. On that day I was part of the Psalm Drummers team that took part in the London Global Day of Prayer. Around 20,000 people gathered to pray for London, the UK and the World on a very hot day in Millwall Football Club’s ground.
What really made the day special was that I looked at the people gathered together as part of the Psalm Drummers team and thought to myself “what an ordinary bunch of people”. Also that there were both young and old. No superstars here. I was so amazed at the grace of God in choosing a bunch of people to make a sound that was dynamic, raw and aggressive as an expression of worship.
The day was a little disappointing from a ‘performance’ point of view as we were supposed to be doing 2 pieces - 15 minutes at the start and 10 minutes towards the end, plus a piece with a gospel choir. But in the end we only did 6 minutes and 6 minutes later. But that’s the way it is with live events. Not everything goes smoothly and you get chopped! But there was a real sense that we were contributing to the surge of prayer and worship that was rising, so job done!!!
I’m always really keen to see how we look and sound as when you are playing you are locked in to a groove. If anyone has any video or audio footage from the day please let me know. I find it useful for seeing how things can be improved.
Psalm Drummers in Camden Town
What an awesome weekend! As part of the Psalm Drummers team we were involved in the Pentecost Festival.
On the Saturday a small group of about 12 met in Camden Town at the canal. We walked playing our drums along the high street pavement. It was crowded! I don’t think I’ll ever say that Belfast is crowded ever again.
For me there was a strong sense of joy as we walked and played. Many people stopped to take photos and videos and smiles from many said it all. Many walked by and showed no expression but many were clearly moved by what they saw and heard. The motto for the Pentecost Festival was “Ladies and Gentlemen. The Church has now left the building“. The whole idea of the festival was to make an impact in our communities by being more visible, not locked away in a building, but visible; helping out practically in community work, taking its music to the streets, pubs and other gathering places. I feel this is what we did. God is a god of Joy and delights in music. There was a colour about what we did - bright t-shirts, loud, infectious rhythms and smiling as we did it.
The best bit for me was when our team leader motioned towards the entrance to McDonalds as we approached it, so we walked in and played an impromptu set for about 30 seconds and walked out!!!! I think we stopped just about every conversation!
If you were around that day and saw us please leave a comment here and let us know what you thought.
