Singing with the Strength of the Lord!
The Benny Hinn Crusade 'Festival Of Blessings' Choir, Bangalore

At the recently concluded ‘Festival of Blessings’ conducted by the Benny Hinn Ministries ( Bangalore, 21st to 23rd January 2005, the backing choir comprised of singers from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai (Madras) and Kochi (Cochin), where Bangalore took the major slice of the 2000 plus combination of senior citizens to youngsters, girls, boys, women and men. The amazing part of it was that for the first time in the history of Bangalore, members from all the Christian denominations joined together to Worship and Praise the Lord Jesus. The common factor being the focus on Jesus and not on individual ‘traditions’ and ‘doctrinal’ issues that is usually the platform for separation and differences of opinion and hurting in the Christian Community. The outcome, a fantastic oneness that gave birth to a fellowship that Jesus being the prime-mover time became secondary, self-sacrifice getting a much needed priority.

The preparation began around end October 2004, with auditions and voice selections for 1st and 2nd Sopranos and Tenors, Altos and Basses. Around 400 - 500 members were to come from Hyderabad, 200 plus from Cochin and Madras, they practiced at their own cities, and only joined the Bangalore group on 19th January for joint practice. Bangalore was divided into many centers and dedicated choir tutors were in charge of each center. The group I belonged to started practice at The Tamil Wesley Church opposite the football stadium on Commissariat Road, with Ms. Leila Alveres Lynn in charge, (memories of the tea and bondas or bajjies still linger, faithfully brought for us by a Muslim woman and her daughter). There were at the start separate timings for the women and men with still further break downs of each individual voice slated at separate times and days, till there was some respectability of the group to combine as one and do a joint session at the center. Later in December, we had ‘joint center’ male and female voices practice on the weekends at the FGAG Church in Indranagar, till there was a period at the end of December that it was felt the choir was ready for a total full Bangalore voice practice.  It was a little after this period that I got an inspiration (seeing the aid being collected at the FGAG and sent to the Tsunami victims by lorry loads) to write a poem dedicated to the Tsunami victims called ‘ Shattering Silence ’. This was immediately published on the Net, and at one stage Regi even considered reading and sharing a few extracts from the poem at one of the practices.

What was surprising that the FGAG Church took the whole choir on two levels, the male voice up in the balcony and the female voice in the sanctuary with altos to the left, 2nd sopranos in the middle and 1st sopranos to the right. The choir leaders were all experts, and were under the guidance of Regi Chandy as the conductor (some of the names I tried to remember (with some prompting from Priya) were Veera Sequeira, Reena, Manjula, Priya Mendens, Miracle Ward, Rahea, Mark and Jude Lazaro, Bejoys, Rajan, if you know all the names and correct spellings, please mail me for additions and corrections). As usual with a combination of youth and senior citizens, there was always a balanced mix of playful and serious moods, which kept the group in good humour during the long hours. Time seemed to be lost once the practice started, and what was very strange, that even after singing for so many hours, tiredness and hunger was really never felt. The choir leaders were really filled with the Lord to keep on with the strength that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. At times we were all guilty of driving Regi to an exasperation that he threatened to write a book and put all the ‘odd’ happenings he experienced during these practice sessions, I am not sure if he really meant it, but if he did, I hope he may include some of these thoughts that I have put down here, in it!!

The choir members came in from all parts of the city, and never complained that they could not go back home early, if they got back by 10 p.m. that was early! In the first days of center single gender voice practice at FGAG Church, I would have to drop my wife Maisy for her 3-hour session, and then come back for the second 3-hour practice which was the gents combination, and she would have to wait for me till I finished the gents session, and then go back together. Looking back at the sessions and time spent, it was the effort of all that combined with the Grace of the Lord who was the mover that paid off in the end, we became a real well knitted group, who formed fellowships and warmth that was the key. Family relationships also bonded with inner healings and I personally experienced God’s touch in certain areas in my life, and especially regarding relationships within my own family. Of course, there were those who could not follow instructions, and time and time Regi would have to shout and stop the practice as the breaks in the music bars were not adhered to and some came in early in between the music rests.

Enough encouragement was given to all choir members in the form of CD’s or AudioTapes with the voice notations plus the whole music available in different combinations as required. More than a few took the media but never listened to it as perhaps they did not have any players or time, and so the next day they still were in the same groove as the previous day. This put a lot of pressure on the conductor and all, but then when you have a choir of this magnitude, it is an experiment each day and a real learning experience shared by all. The responsibility was on the head of Regi who had such drive that we were all put to shame and never complained of being tired. This slowly brought discipline and respect into the group and then the fun began, and all enjoyed the sessions thereafter, and it was really a fight to see who gets into the hall first, but there was also the reverse who gets out during the short breaks for a snack and tea which at times was totally war!!! A special word has to be written about a few people who worked behind the scenes for the choir. Barbara Lazaro was the force looking after the attendance slips at various centres and also arrangments for the uniforms, without her, the choir would have been in real trouble, she was everywhere, and with such a smile, and a joke or two to keep the choir members going. Sanjay Thomas and Niki were the key people who looked after the logistics at FGAG which covered the issue of sick passes, sound system at FGAG and distribution of music sheets and practice CD's. Bala, whose wife delivered a baby girl (Suzanne?) during the program week handled the Transport arrangements excellently. Many others helped these people in their own way, I know that Priya Mendens from Glorious with a few friends  took some responsibility for the measurements of the uniforms.

Amazing, one has visions of ‘American Idol’ auditions, and its quite remarkable how some of the singers of our choir ever made their way in? But then, God in His merciful goodness, encouraged all those who wanted to sing for Him and allowed it. Surprisingly, they did not sound too off at the end of the period of practices. Some of the numbers that were selected by the Benny Hinn Ministries were a wee bit old fashioned (for example one of the numbers, 'Just as I am', I heard sung during an early '70's Billy Graham Crusade) and did not initially spark off the enthusiasm that one expects from such an anticipated performance to come, imagine singing for 3 Million people!! But the more you listen to the 'old' numbers, they grow on you and you begin to really enjoy them, and the words come alive, I have tried to "sample" them for the memory of the choir members (try and click on the names of the songs listed, you may have to use RealAudio!). What really was exciting was getting together to perform as a choir and the challenges of being so huge and that too with a good majority of members not knowing how to read music. At the end of the session, they had the basic knowledge that if the black dots go up then the tune went up and if they went down similar pitching, and a white empty dot meant to hold the note, and so on and so forth. End result, a very dedicated professional combination of ‘all kinds of everything’ that came together to Praise the Lord in song. We all witnessed the effect of giving our effort to the Lord and to see His marvelous way He churned out the result like the potter and the clay. Effort was not lacking, leisure time was becoming a rare commodity, and even with the objective dates looming up, confidence was never short. A break was given for Christmas, with a condition that a full combined split voices practice for the Bangalore centers was to be held on 1st January 2005 at FGAG, and it was held with a little sadness because of the Tsunami dampening the joy of the celebrations. As expected, 1st January 2005 was ‘house full’ because of the commitment, and the seriousness returned as if there was never a break. Polishing up the main songs, and adding new choruses and local language adaptations were taken in stride. Nobody was surprised if suddenly Regi added a new number, the challenge just became second nature and all went about as if the same was originally listed.

Seeing the Hand Of God in the situation at FGAG was such a joy, as we were all being blessed in different ways, peace at home, fellowship with other Christian members of the choir, work place, and so many personal healings, I am sure there would be many a testimony given if ever asked for. I observed many a youngster who was ever so energetic during the practice sessions, later receive the ‘effect’ of the touch of the Lord in a mighty way during the ‘slaying in the spirit’ of the Choir, both on the 1st day and last day of the Crusade.
Photographs of the Choir Day 3 were generously given to me by John and Mark Lazaro to share with you all.
Photographs of the Choir Day 2 were generously given to me by Josy Joseph and Pastor Bro. Vadharaj to share with you all.

Although there were so many youngsters, discipline was always in the forefront and observed, and I have never come across any incident that would tarnish the image of the choir. There were about 1000 women and girls and around 700 men at any one practice. There was however, just one girl who I accidentally observed? who held her own in way of self-disciplined dress code, and she really stood out at FGAG. During the joint practice we had at the Campus Crusade, I pointed her out to my wife Maisy who remarked that she knew that girl as she was an old student of her school, this even shocked me as it sure did not look like a coincidence, and I left it. However, during the 2nd day of the program at Jakkur, I did pick up the courage to ask this young lady about herself and found that she was a Final Year Commerce student at MCC, and I did tell her that she did carry herself well to be outstanding in simplicity. But then, I may  have been very very wrong in my  judgement, I don't know, only time will tell, if I was right, as they say 'never judge a book by the cover'! Who knows, I have been wrong on other occasions, and I hope that I am not so in this case too!. There may have been many like her, but then, there was a 1000 of them and only one seemed to  be set aside and stood out!!!

The Choir was invested during the week at FGAG, (I think it was Saturday 15th January, and we did have a full day practice at Campus Crusade on 16th January) with a prayerful, Spirit filled ‘dedication’ service that committed ourselves into total obligation for the Lord, or was it the  9th January? I am really losing my memory! Anyone can help me with the dates?

First trip to the venue (Wednesday, 19th January, 2005).

We all went by bus arranged by the local organizers (Glorious, office) after being picked up from the respective practice centers. Having opted to be in-charge of the bus, a rapport with all members was fun and sharing of seats for those who could not 'squat' in the isle of the bus as 83 members had to be accommodated. One of the senior ‘aunties’ was given the heavenly duty of saying the prayer for the journey, and we took off in anticipation of what lay ahead of us. Reaching the site, we did get taken in with the size of the field, and the black covered over 60 plus large projection screens presented a real larger than life look to us. After winding through the maze of entrances, we finally did bring the bus near the stage.

First look at the stage for the choir, and it was frightfully high, can’t really say how many rows were used, but one definitely could not make out the face of the person in the last row!! The row was well spaced for a comfortable seat and place to stand, the problem it took 40 mins to load the choir up, and another down, so we were forced to go up much earlier than the scheduled start of the program. The sun, in all it’s glory shone through the cloudless skies and we were basking (on the choir stage) like seals on a cliff backed beach. Sitting on the choir stage, and looking out into the distance of the grounds, I felt a peaceful awesome endless calm, that could only be the presence of the Lord around the grounds, even my friend Sydney Mendens felt the same. Thinking back, we really did not feel the heat, and to complain was not an option, as all were in the same boat, you would not even think of it, as for both men and women, the experience was unaltered. After the rigmarole of arranging the choir in groups of voices, and doing what they called a voice check as the first lot of the Benny Hinn Ministries audio personnel were around to sample us. We did do a few sessions of choruses and songs and left to go back by 10 p.m. Tiredness did not seem to come to mind, and we all looked forward to the next day, (after all we were here to sing for the Lord), and then to experience the combination of the outstation choir members who joined us for the first time, the night was quite cold as we were all in the open. The buses dropped us at our respective practice centers late into the night. Food packets of 'Briyani' were given and we carried them home, as at the end of the day, it was easier to carry then to eat as we were eager to get back as fast as we could.

• Regi King of the Counter only for a moment!
• The Team building up
• The Choir members queuing up for ID Badges
• The Choir members from Hyderabad, Chennai, Kerala and Bangalore
• A very quiet Priya, the only seat in the house
• Barbara Lazaro before the storm!
• Glorious Team , Rahea and Miracle trading notes
• The 'monster' stage from the outside, first look!
• Getting the Tenors together, 'bus conductor' Ronnie back to camera
• John and Manjula sharing a moment
• Regi's kids with Priya Mendens and Jude Lazaro
  
• Choir getting the heat of the seats
• Rows left for the Sopranos to join
• Sopranos queuing up into places
• All kinds of everything
• Splashes of faces of all ages
• Sydney catching his breath with the 'genset'
• The main stage, a skeleton
• The stage with the sun going down
• The stage at night
• Regi and the Soundman, note the choir stage is not connected with the main stage
• Pastor 'J' getting a feel of the stage
• The sopranos in procession to the choir stage from the Prayer Hall in the background
• Regi making his words visual
• Glorious musicians setting up their kit
• The 'mike' silhouetted with the sun
• The sound equipment being set up on main stage
• Barbara and Esther taking a breather
• The sun going down
• A view from the top
• A case of 'humpty dumpy'
• Worship leaders getting a feel of 'nippiness'
• Veera Sequeira, the old time soprano
• Still getting settled in, the cold being felt
• Regi wrapped up for the evening, now there's a wise man
• Leaders doing a sound check
• Focussing on the Lazaro brothers with Priya in front
• A real 'pedal pushing' organ for the Benny Hinn musicians
• A good feeling, first steps
• More of that good feeling
• An instrumental break
• Rahea
• Pastor Paul T with Pastor from Bombay
• Mr. Soundman!
• Pastor Paul T being practical
• Lawrence, body language
• Raman Iyer, getting a grip of things to come
• Leaders going through the solos
• Miracle and
• Drummer boy Ashis
• The Benny Hinn Crusade Choir warming up
• A 'pan' view of the choir
• The 'Conductor' we love
• Leaders   grinding it out
• Mixing it up on stage
• Jude with 'brunette'  friend
• You  know, it was so  close, this close!
• Then it went that way, this way!
• Priya's Friends Inc.
• Esther, Regi's boss!

Second trip to the venue (Thursday, 20th January, 2005).

Having the previous day as experience, coats were carried, and water bottles much in view. The practice session was passed through without much ado, and changes in the positioning, as Jim Cernero the conductor of the Benny Hinn Ministries was present to give his thoughts and requirement. As in the previous day, food arrangements were made and snacks too were distributed. The uniforms somehow could not reach in time, and we gents were issued only our white shirts, and the women who were wearing sarees got the advantage they were issued a few days back to stitch the blouse, while some of those who opted for the salvars kameez had to wait till the next morning for the issue and then get into the same.
 

Day 1, Friday, 21st January 2005

Day 2, Saturday , 22nd January 2005

Day 3, Sunday, 23rd January 2005

With the Love of the Lord, God Bless,
Cheers, Love

Ronnie Johnson  (1st Tenor*) and Maisy Johnson (Alto)
Bangalore, India, 29th January 2005
* - The fat old guy with the 'Pony Tail' with a slim pretty wife!!
PS: I finally got to finish the sequence to 'Shattering Silence' called "Twilight After"!!

• Photographs, photographs and more photographs
  

If there are any of you choir members who would like to send in their experiences or photographs and would like to add the same to this, please send mail to ronniejohnson@vsnl.net or phone us at (91) (80) 22240145 . Please join the "Choir Family" by filling in the "Form", this will help you in keeping in touch with other Choir Members.
Some of us Choir Members are hopeful that the Benny Hinn Ministries deems it upon themselves to give us a copy of the Bangalore Crusade on DVD as many cannot afford it's cost of $40, hopefully as a kind thought that some of the Choir members even literally 'shed their blood', while others walked for miles at their own risk to be there on Friday, the 21st January 2005 to support the Crusade!!
It is indeed strange that  many have been through this page and a 1000 emails sent, but only a few have sent in any comments by email, it is a bit disappointing, I wonder if I should remove the page itself, someone please give me a feedback?
PRAYER REQUESTS RECEIVED FROM CHOIR MEMBERS: VIEW or SEND IN REQUEST