Worship Around the World

I love worship.

The Lord speaks to me so strongly through worship music. Starting at training camp I was completely wrecked by the Lord in our corporate worship times and He has continued to use worship to speak to me throughout the race.

This adventure has given me the experience to worship in many different ways in different countries and even different continents.

Month 1 we went to the same church every Sunday. I loved it – it was a sweet and welcoming church. Worship there was fairly similar to worship back home. They had a worship team and occasionally a women’s choir would sing. They had a guitarist and a drummer – maybe a bassist would join in. They sang many of the same songs we sing at home, just in Spanish. I know a good number of worship songs in Spanish, so I was loving every second of it.

Month 2 we traveled to many different villages and churches and never went to the same church twice. These were small Quechua churches. Worship to the Quechua people looks very different than our worship. They all sing loud and proud. There is usually an electronic keyboard playing in the background that may or may not be playing a tune that is relevant to the song being sung. I found the music to sound kind of like whining and was not really my favorite. But the Quechua people love their music. Any amount of songs is never enough. They always want to sing another one. They worship with their whole being. Their songs tell stories of Jesus and they love to sing them out.

In Month 3, Argentina, we went to several different churches again. These churches were often filled with people from Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela and other South American countries. This again does not vary much from our worship in America, only that it is in Spanish. It was so beautiful to worship with people from so many different countries, all coming together to worship the same God. Several of the churches we went to in Argentina had very talented musicians and worship leaders. We were there in December, so we also sang Noche de Paz (Silent Night) a bunch of times. It was beautiful.

Month 4 and 5, Togo and Ghana, the worship looked drastically different from worship back home in my experience. The people here are filled with joy. They overflow with it. Worship is wild and crazy and fun. Songs are generally in Ewe, but sometimes in English. Songs are long; you just keep on worshipping and singing. There are always drums involved, 100% of the time. While we sing and worship, people dance around the building and often we dance in a circle in the front of the church. Most people have handkerchiefs that they wave around as they dance. It is a party – and it is loud. The people here in West Africa love to worship and they have so much joy as they dance around. The joy is contagious, and we now get quite excited to join the dancing and worshipping.

There is something so beautiful about people from vastly different places coming together to worship. There is something incredible about embracing a new way of worship but all with the same purpose of worshiping the father. It is a glimpse of heaven, where all nations and tongues will worship together. It is my favorite thing and I usually pause and look around and just take it all in. I never imagined I would travel to these places, meet these people, or get to worship alongside them. I never imagined I would learn to worship in Quechua and Ewe. I love looking around the room and seeing people from all different backgrounds and places with eyes closed, hands raised and praising the Lord. I can’t wait for what worship will look like in the next 6 places.