was the message in Betesda from 50 American singers who seemed to be in good form.
As we wrote before the visit this is the first time that the church at Betesda has had visitors from the USA. It is no secret that the song tradition at Betesda is very old.
The choir at Betesda is 77 years old and right from the beginning they have taken part in the gospel services Sunday evenings. Some music groups have been active at the church as well. Apart from the Betesda choir there is a gospel choir consisting of 30 teenagers, a male quartet and a children´s choir.
Faroese and English at the same time.
The American choir who visited Betesda comes from Calvary Bible Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. The Senior Pastor of the church was also present. His name is Mr. John Munro; his wife is Faroese and her name is Gudny ( born Gunnarson ).
The service started with the singing of some hymns lead by Jóhan Páll, Tóra and Jógvan Høj. These hymns are in the Brethren hymn book called Hymn Book For God´s People . The hymns have been translated from English and therefore well known in the USA. The congregation sang in Faroese and the visitors sang in English.
The American choir was very powerful, and they nearly defeated the congregation it was fascinating .
Mr. Páll á Dul gave the choir a cordial welcome and thanked them that they had chosen to visit our small country so small that it is hard to find on the map.
Then the American choir took over by singing Ancient of Days Sadler/Harvill.
It is a bit difficult to decide the style of the choir. Perhaps we ought to describe it as traditional church choir singing, but with a modern flair. It was interesting to notice that soprano 1, soprano 2, alti 1 etc were mixed and not in groups, which may be more familiar to many people. This arrangement of the choir members gives another sound picture . There were 3 musicians in the group. Nancy Postman piano, Luke Cook cello and John Hoogenboom bass.
God Bless America.
It may not be common in Faroese churches singing songs where you praise your own country; it is different in the US. alti 1 etc were mixed and not in groups, which may be more familiar to many people. This arrangement of the choir members gives another sound picture . There were 3 musicians in the group. Nancy Postman piano, Luke Cook cello and John Hoogenboom bass.
God Bless America.
It may not be common in Faroese churches singing songs where you praise your own country; it is different in the US. You find this sing in most christian hymn-books in America. This song is a good mixture of praise to America and christianity.
This song is a prayer to God to bless America. Hearing the song performed by Americans gives you the feeling that they are very proud of their own country.
Then the choir sang some old famous hymns together with the congregation. This was a special moment and so powerful that the roof was nearly lifted off the building.
God Is In Control.
The Senior Pastor of Calvary Bible Church, John Munro, has made the journey with the choir.
He had a good message to the congregation, mentioning the situation in which the world finds itself today. He read Mark. 4. 35 41 where Jesus calmed the storm. Although Jesus had said to his disciples Let us go over to the other side , a furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, Teacher, don´t you care if we drown ?
Mr. Munro said that this shows us that even if we are obedient to the Lord we may meet tribulations and we may ask whether God exists. But this story also shows us the power of the Lord, because we do not only believe in God the Almighty, but in a God who cares for each and everyone. We read on in Mark. He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet ! Be still ! Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Dr John Munro went on saying that you Faroese know everything about the sea, so you know that it takes some time till the sea is calm after a storm. But in this case when Jesus got up and rebuked the wind the sea was calm instantly God is in control, never mind how big the storms may be, was Mr Munro`s message.
Good solosinging.
Towards the end of the service Dave Bartholomew sang The Anchor Holds together with the choir. This was the apex of the performance.
The last hymn sung by the Calvary Choir was a Faroese verse usually sung before having a meal. They did that in some style with good pronounciation!
Finally Mr John Høj conveyed thanks to the choir on behalf of the church at Betesda. Then he said with a smile, Since Faðir, vit takka tær
is a verse we sing before having a meal I presume you expect you are going to have a meal afterwards.
After the service members from the Betesda choir had prepared a nice meal which the visitors seemed to enjoy.
During the meal the conductor of the Betesda choir thanked the Americans for visiting Klaksvík. He said that most Europeans were grateful that the US had helped Europe during the World wars and most recently had done a tremendous job during the Iraq crisis.
A former member of the choir mentioned that when our choir was 65 some people considered going to America with the choir to sing in different churches. Now I have heard the Calvary Choir I am happy we did not go.
Dr. John Munro thanked for the pleasent stay in Klaksvik and invited the Betesda choir to visit Calvary Bible Church in Michigan, USA. Mr við Keldu thanked for the invitation saying the choir had made some trips abroad so maybe some day we´ll visit the US God willing.
