Bangladeshi Christmas Dinner

I sang tonight in a fundraising concert that followed a Bangladeshi Christmas Dinner.

I hooked up with a member of this group a few months ago when I last sang at All Saints Church. This group was holding regular Christian music concerts to help fund rural schools in Bangladesh. I'm always ready to use my talents to help underprivileged children, especially in the area of education, so I said I would sing in the next concert. And as it worked out, it was in this short time that we're back in Toronto.

We gathered at 6pm for a traditional Bangladeshi meal, full of curries and rice pudding. Sooo good. Then the whole crowd moved into the sanctuary of All Saints for the concert. There were only 2 other performers besides me, so we all had a fair amount of time to fill.

"Nueva Trova" is the choir from a local Spanish congregation. The 9-member-group sang traditional songs and hymns in Spanish, accompanied by guitars, tambourine and a rain stick. Robert Baidya, one of the night's organizers and our fabulous chef, entertained us with traditional Bangladeshi songs and instruments. The performances were intriguing because of the different sounds and languages, but the most captivating part was how sincere everyone was in their desire to praise God through music.

I did 2 15-minute sets. The first was all gospel music, and I accompanied myself on guitar. I wanted to throw in some originals, so I did "Infinitely More" and "I Call Out Your Name". Gerald joined me for the second set, which was all Christmas. We did "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime" with djembe, and "Welcome to Bethlehem" with dueling guitars. He also accompanied me for "The Joseph Carol" and "Mary, Did You Know" - our Holy Couple set!

The acoustics are so beautiful in All Saints that we did everything unplugged. The sound obviously carried well, because the feedback was very very positive. I was even invited to sing at another church, which we can hopefully work out on one of our return trips.

I had so many gigs cancel on me this Christmas season. For a while, I was very frustrated by the whole situation. But tonight was something good. It was a little reminder that God's plan in still in place. I will continue to say, "Yes, Lord."