There is harmony in diversity. Music can overcome barriers between cultures, religions, and nations. Three examples from the New Apostolic world illustrate this.
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Photo: NAC South East Africa
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Photo: NAC South East Africa
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Photo: NAK Freiburg/Offenburg
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Photo: Frank Schuldt
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Photo: Frank Schuldt
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Photo: Frank Schuldt
Follow the music!
At midday on Sunday, 24 April, a total of 76 members gathered at Phiva congregation in South Africa with the express purpose to invite guests for a service at three o’clock. First, the members started by making music. Aided by speakers, the strains of the choir could be heard by the entire community. When Evangelist Themba Chibi asked how—without the name of a street—it could be explained to people how they can find the church, Priest Patric Lubisi answered with a smile on his face, “Just tell them to follow the music.”
As it turned out, 172 people participated in the divine service, including 53 people from the village. After the service many stayed to enjoy fellowship.
Six nations join to make music
Youth from Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany thrilled Swiss audiences at the beginning of May in Zurich and St Gallen. The youth are members of two symphony orchestras—one from Switzerland and one from Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia). The Swiss started the concert, and after an hour’s performance and a break the German musicians came on stage. For the finale, the two orchestras joined to play “Thank you for the music” by Abba.
The young people from Germany had kind of given the impulse for the founding of the Swiss youth orchestra. On a trip to Switzerland in 2011, the youth orchestra from North Rhine-Westphalia had thrilled the Swiss and inspired them to establish an orchestra of their own—which happened in 2013.
Christian choirs join to help
The New Apostolic Church of Freiburg and Offenburg and a choir from the Roman Catholic Church of Breisach and Merdingen (Germany) organized a benefit concert to raise money for an initiative that assists refugees in the area. The private initiative, which is comprised of 130 members, would like to start a library with language books and computers to give refugees the possibility of learning the German language independently. The donation of 4,000 euros was handed over to the association Runder Tisch für Mitmenschlichkeit (Round table for humanity) in the area.