ACS (Independent) Evangelistic Service

Last Thursday AGAPELLA had the privilege of performing a mini-gig at the ACS (Independent) boarding house, as part of a special evangelistic service to nearly 300 teenage inmates – oops, I meant boys-- and staff. At least a few of us are alumni, so it was a homecoming of sorts. Their boarding house dining room has got a dome-shaped ceiling, with hidden lighting—sort of like the interior of a space ship!

After the boys had their dinner they gathered in front of the stage. We opened with “Testify to Love” and followed with “Change in My Life”. They warmed up considerably when Uma taught them the chorus for “If This World” (yes, ACS boys too can sing). And then Yu Hsien went into “When God Ran”. His passionate and sincere expression might be one of the reasons why this is fast becoming my favourite song in our repertoire. The boys loved it too!

After that, an invited speaker Rev. Barnabas Chong gave the evangelistic message. I’m sure he was aware that many ACSians have heard the gospel many times in the school environment, but he made it very personal by recounting the story of how he grew up searching for someone that he later discovered was Jesus. We also watched a short excerpt from a video about Joel Sonnenberg, who was severely burned as a toddler many years ago when a trucker deliberately rammed his vehicle into five cars, including the one with Joel’s family in it, at a New Hampshire tollbooth. Joel narrowly survived but was horrifically scarred for life. We saw how nearly 30 years later, Joel finally got the opportunity to meet, in a courtroom, the man who did this to him. Amazingly, Joel and his family expressed their forgiveness to the man and said that they hope that he too will come to know the limitless grace of Jesus. I found his life testimony extremely moving, and I’m sure the ACSians did too.

In closing, Rev. Chong made an altar call and—praise the Lord-- some of the boys made a bold decision for Jesus! Some others who were Christians re-dedicated their lives to Christ. Though AGAPELLA has witnessed God at work many times in our 3-year ministry, it is always awesome to see. We were blessed to be a part of it. We’ll be praying that He will keep these boys in the palm of His hand and raise them to be mighty men in His sight. : ) - Aargafella