The First Day

After a good night of sleep, we all woke up and got ready for a busy day. At dinner the night before, Hector told us that the day would be pretty busy, so to prepare to leave at 10 a.m. and not be back to to hotel at all until late that night. We packed up and went to breakfast at the hotel. For those of you who care about coffee...probably some of the best stuff I have ever had. It actually tasted like chocolate!

Hector picked us up and we headed to the church for a sound check/rehearsal (for the concert that night and for Sunday services). One "God Thing" for the day was once at the church, we realized that Betty wasn't feeling super well, her eyes were getting goopy and she was holding her ear and saying it hurt. Kristyn asked Patricia if there was anything we could do for her. Patricia told us that a doctor was already coming to the church and she could take a look at Betty! Within an hour, the doctor had looked at Betty and we had gotten eye cream, drops and amoxicilan for her! The Lord was looking over her.

After our sound check, we went to lunch at a deli/market. The food was amazing! Patricia and Hector ordered for all of us and we shared many dishes with one another. Then, we headed to the pedestrian marketplace and set up for a street concert. We were instantly an interest to people and many stopped by to chat or ask what we were doing. There was one boy, named Brian, who stopped by to ask what we were doing. We told him we were playing, "musica jazz" to which he smiled and said he loved jazz. He and Betty played a bit and we found out that he was 12 years old and worked on the marketplace shining shoes. His sweet spirit and genuine smile really lit up the cloudy day.













The street concert was great. People stopped by to listen for awhile, some danced, many clapped and most just enjoyed the music. After about 30 minutes, it started to rain...I mean, downpour! All the instruments were covered with tarps and everyone ran under canopies and into stores. Once the rain stopped, we packed up and headed to the hotel for about 20 minutes to freshen up and head out to the gig at the church that night.

The gig at the church was a youth event. Hector said that the church has never done something like that before and the church was packed! The people were so welcoming and so responsive to the music. They clapped during solos and after songs. At one point, Jason asked the people if they had questions for them and one woman asked why some people call Jazz the music of musicians. In his answer, Jason was able to articulate that it is because through jazz, so much can be communicated. You can put your personality and your heart and your interpretation into what you are playing. For the Jason Harms Quintet it is a worship experience. Afterwards, that woman expressed to the guys that she really could see that in their music. She said she always loved Jazz, but now she understood it and could see the guys' hearts through what they were playing. I think that is another "God Thing" for the day. It is a direct answer to prayer that we have had in preparation of this trip. That people would encounter and see Jesus through us.


The rest of the night was fine...dinner and van issues, but I feel like we shouldn't end on that note, but rather to end by thanking the Lord for using us in that woman's life and for using the people at the street gig, like Brian, to touch our hearts.