Anyway, on Friday (Dec 24), we were supposed to reach church at around 5pm. However, due to some confusion about the meeting place, Rachel and I only met up with the rest at 5.30pm-ish. Then we went to the stage area to wait for Preacher Yi Xin.
We girls didn't really have to do much, but the guys had to help the movers move the instruments and equipment to the stage. I was only in charge of looking after the bags, so I just sat there and stoned.
Below are some photos taken when I was stoning:
Taken when I didn't know how to use the zoom function.
Taken after I realised how to zoom in.
Anyway, after all the moving and setting up, we went to eat dinner at Cathay. We came back at around 8pm to practise for later. All the choir members had to stand at stage right (means that from the audience's point of view, its on the left) while the musicians stood on stage left (naturally). Then we ran through several sound checks and practised the songs. Thereafter, the choir members were given free time to do whatever they wanted to do while the musicians practised the transitionings together with the 2 preachers.
10pm marked the start of the service! Rev Burke from the English Congregation first came up to light the candle, then one pastor from each congregation came to welcome the church members. We sang 3 songs, followed by a reading of a passage from the Bible. Rev Burke then gave a sermon on Jesus - where He is in our lives. We learnt that Jesus shouldn't just be the baby in the Nativity scene to us - otherwise He wouldn't be able to save us from our sins. Jesus had to grow up, die on the cross, resurrect and finally, ascend to heaven. Only then will we truly be saved.
After the short but impactful sermon, the congregation sang a few more songs, heard a few more pastors and preachers read passages from the Bible, and then sang the last 2 songs "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". The choir members then started releasing the poppers which created a huge mess. When the candlelight service ended, the congregation was invited to attend the Christmas service in the sanctuary.
While the service was carried out, we had to help clear up the mess from the poppers, as well as pack some of the props that we used for the stage (for example, the rocks and pebbles). It was really funny when the plastic bag that we used to store the pebbles gave way - all the pebbles spilled out! Deacon Kai Min (Grace's father) then brought a box for us to keep the pebbles instead. We also went to sort out the confetti from the poppers - we had to separate plastic from paper so that we can put them in the correct recycling bin. It was very troublesome, but I guess we now know how difficult the job of the people at the recycling centre is.
After that, some of us went home, while the rest of us went back in to the sanctuary to join the Christmas Service. It was a very tiring day indeed.
I shall post photos on another day!
~Li Ting~
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