Tour group worships across boundaries.

A Cross-Cultural Music Tour visited congregations and other Church of the Brethren facilities in Kansas and Missouri from Oct. 30-Nov. 3.

The tour produced many highlights but none as descriptive as a scene from the Nursing Care Center at The Cedars in McPherson, Kan., according to Duane Grady, tour organizer. "As Marilyn Montauban, Gilbert Romero, and Don Mitchell sang in the hallways, doors opened and people were drawn towards the familiar sound of hymns they knew by heart," Grady said. "Smiles came to faces and tears to eyes as we worshiped together and crossed boundaries of language, race, experience, and age."

"As people came near, many in wheel chairs, I was reminded of how villagers were drawn to Jesus in his travels from place to place," Grady said.

Similar experiences occurred as the team shared music and testimonies with Church of the Brethren congregations in McPherson; Kansas City, Kan.; Kansas City, Mo.; Cabool, Mo.; and Topeka, Kan. At each location on the tour, the vision of Ephesians 2:12-22 was read.

At Cabool, a special prayer of healing was offered for 40 young men from a juvenile detention center who responded to Romero's invitation. Romero invited the men "to allow Jesus to turn their hearts into open vessels of God's grace," Grady said. Romero, now pastor of Bella Vista Church of the Brethren in Los Angeles, Calif., is a former gang member who spent much of his youth in a similar facility.

In Iola, Kan., the group was reminded of the changing landscape in many rural communities when they stopped for lunch at a restaurant owned by a Mexican family who has lived in this community for nearly 37 years.

Don Mitchell, husband of Annual Conference moderator-elect Belita Mitchell and a music leader at Harrisburg (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren, brought greetings on her behalf and was asked to share with her many prayers of encouragement and support. Montauban lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is a member of First Haitian Church of the Brethren, where her father is pastor. The tour was planned and coordinated by Grady, a member of the Congregational Life Team staff for the General Board.

Source: 11/18/2005 Newsline
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