Had the wonderful privilege of being involved at CLAN gathering 2011. This was my 2nd visit to CLAN. The first was in 2006 whilst a resident at the Bethany Christian Centre; the homeless hostel where I started rebuilding my life. It was an incredible experience the first time round. I got to hear some great teachers from around the world talk about Jesus, God, and various aspects of Christian life. My band and I arrived early evening to prepare for our concert. I was also able to enjoy a time of worship during the evening session. During one of the songs, which I don’t know too well, I was struck by one specific line of the song which, for some reason, was in brackets: (Alive in me). You know, when I pondered on how far I’d come, or what had happen in the last five years between my two CLAN visits, I got very emotional and couldn’t sing any more of the song. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to, I just couldn’t get passed that one line. I realised that I my abundant life during the past 5 years was because Christ is alive in me. There is no doubt in my mind that I would not be the man I am today if Christ wasn’t in my life. It was a great start to a wonderful evening.
We were scheduled to play at the after hours event. Due to a breakdown in communication from all parties, there were no monitors in our tent. It wasn’t really an issue, but after a wee workaround we got upgraded to the Atrium tent which was a big-top with a massive rig…. AWESOME!!! There was a good turnout and the gig went really well. I think we went well passed our allotted time slot but it didn’t seem to bother anyone. We played a couple of new tracks, Light beams & Emmanuel, which went down great. The night ended with our rendition of Chris Tomlin’s rewrite of Amazing grace. We were blown away by the response of worship! The audience and we worshiped our socks off before finishing with Hallelujah. I made the mistake of having a very nice cup of coffee at the end which kept me up a good while.
Today I had the great privilege of leading worship at the Youth tent. I must admit I was quite nervous because, although I had led worship before, I hadn’t led at this kind of event with a house worship band. I chopped and changed my song selection right up to the hour before. I know some of the guys in the band, Gus Stirrat and Brian Macleod, and they are both awesome and competent musicians. They gave me advice on the little things I was unsure of, and the rest of the band were just as gifted, helpful, and hospitable during the rehearsal. I did throw in some upbeat ‘Ho-down’ songs for the end, which is a bit more my style as apposed to tradition worship, and they went down really well with the band.
We did our first section of worship which was just awesome! There must have been 150 kids in attendance but I got lost within the songs in my own worship. After a great word from the youth pastor on living after God’s own heart like David, we cut straight into the upbeat Ho-down tracks. Well, the place went mental! We were asked to sing amazing grace again, then asked to sing more! People of all ages were turning up and celebrating in the praise. Grown-ups and teenagers alike were jumping, dancing, kneeling, running around, completely free in worship in a way I had never been witness to. We worshiped till nearly 9pm. I was singing at the after hours tonight too which started at 9:30pm!! I got to give my testimony and share some of my own music with the same group of kids. They were so cool and listened. What a privilege.
My 2nd CLAN experience has been truly wonderful. I have been so blessed. Humbled doesn’t even cut it. To know God has brought me from the man I was 5 years ago to what I had the sheer joy of taking part in today and yesterday is humbling beyond measure. I got to sing about Jesus last night with my best friends and brothers in Christ last night. I lost myself in worship tonight with brothers and sisters, many who I have never met, in a way I have never experienced. CLAN 2011 is already one of the special and treasured moments of my life.
SM.