Worship Workshop

“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Eph. 3:20

The above verse from Ephesians describes how I believe God answered your prayers about the music workshop held last weekend at Central Baptist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. Any time we are led to do something for Him, Satan always tries to get in the way. Sure enough, his attack was to the sound system amplifier on Thursday evening before the workshop was to begin on Friday evening. Friday morning the amplifier was taken in to be repaired and by Friday afternoon it was in place ready to go. God is so good!

The workshop was led by our nephew, Bo Coburn, and his wife, Hailey. Bo is a minister of music at Trinity Baptist Church in St. Charles, LA. The workshop was attended by music teams from about six churches including Central Baptist with about 70 participants. Bo taught us the Aspects of Worship that God has been teaching him as we met on Friday evening and the first part of Saturday morning.



Then he and Hailey took turns leading in practical sessions, too, such as Aspects of Planning a Service; Aspects of a Good Rehearsal and Aspects of an Effective Music Team Leader. One of the most beneficial and fun sessions was when Bo worked with the men and Hailey worked with the women on basic vocal techniques and warm-ups. They also allowed plenty of time for questions and God led them to give excellent answers.



At noon the workshop concluded for the other churches. After a light lunch our praise and worship team had the opportunity to rehearse for Sunday morning service and the praise service on Sunday night. This was one of the highlights of the workshop for our team. They had practiced very hard on the songs Bo asked them to learn ahead of time and he and Hailey were able to teach them a lot about how to rehearse effectively and make songs come alive. The culmination of the workshop was the praise service on Sunday night.



At first folks dribbled in, but the sanctuary was eventually packed out. It was a powerful time of worship and God was glorified in that service. It was wonderful to hear the improvements in our music team and to worship God together in singing, scripture reading and a short devotional. Our church enjoyed the service so much that they have expressed a desire to have another evening like that soon! To God alone be the glory!!

Please pray that those who attended will put to use what they learned and especially that they will realize that our worship is to be a lifestyle, not just singing a few songs on Sunday mornings.

On Monday we took Bo and Hailey to a couple of game parks and stayed overnight at one called Antelope Park. God delighted us with His creation! As we drove through Lake Chivero Game Park we saw ostriches, different antelope, zebras, and two rhinos! At Antelope Park, Bo and Hailey walked with lions, petted lion cubs and got to be a part of elephant training. They loved the interaction with the animals!

This workshop went so well, we are hoping Bo and Hailey can come again in the future to lead another worship workshop in another city in Zimbabwe.

Submitted by
Marleen and Barry Robinson
Zimbabwe Evangelism Team Members