From the heart of – Gail Kerstetter, Director of the University Singers
The University Singers gathered early on the morning of Thursday, May 11, 2017 with eager anticipation for a day of firsts for some and unknowns for all. While this was our departure date, the Singers had only a few days previously sung at SWU Graduation, packed and moved out of their residence halls and raced home with loaded cars to “dump” all of their worldly belongings into their parent’s homes! Sorry Mom and Dad … I know they left a mess!
They had a break of 2 days before heading back to SWU to start 2 days of intense rehearsals and preparations for OFC 2017. This time they threw their stuff from loaded cars from home into residence rooms and off to rehearse with the team.
Our current team, Genesis Perez, Carolina Sweatt, Katy Dyches, Caitlyn Gardner, Rebecca Reese, Allen Williams, Zach Wheeler, Wesley Henson, Cody Crisp, Shimmy Simpson, Christian Luna, and Gail & Bob Kerstetter were joined by Singer Alumnus, Zach Ford and Media Communication Alumnus, Anthony Evett to begin to give structure to the chapels and DOD schools lineups. Not only were these days filled with musical preparation, but spiritual preparation was also a big part of what we did earlier in the week. There was no way we could travel with our typical sound system, so Mark Mealy (our go-to guy for all things sound) spent a great deal of time preparing our equipment for this mission and made sure we were as ready as we could be with our flight system.
While this is just a small glimpse into the final days prior to our departure, this team had been preparing all year for this mission. You see, this mission was not a strategic plan – it was obedience to a call. God gave me a word earlier in the year out of a Bible study on the You Version Bible app called “One Word That Will Change Your Life.” The word God gave me was pursue. When I received this word, I didn’t know how to apply it, so I prayed for clarity and to not pursue the wrong thing but the God thing. As I prayed, it seemed God was using that word for a mission and for the University Singers. It soon became clear that God was calling THE UNIVERSITY SINGERS TO A MISSION – and that mission was to ITALY to sing for our deployed troops and their families. This team eagerly received the mission and the responsibilities of raising funds and prayer support. We began talking about this at all our concerts, letting people know what God was doing and what He was asking of us. We prayed fervently to follow every step that God was laying before us. It was clear that “you, the good people of God,” would also become a part of this journey. This mission was far beyond our reach and influence. It would require finances that were beyond our ability to obtain. It would mean that Chaplains who we had never met would invite us into their sacred spaces and allow us to minister. It would require a massive amount of strategic planning of hotels, transportation and security clearances to every base and DOD school. It would also mean that God would raise up an army of believers to cover us with prayer. All this, accomplished by our GREAT GOD!
Now may you feel blessed as you have been a divine participant in this mission! Many of you have prayed for our team, past and present. Many of you have given of your resources to ensure that who God has called will in fact be supported and financed by His good people. You have written notes, emails, made Facebook comments and sent letters in support of this mission and the University Singers. We all are keenly aware that what seems insurmountable to our human nature is never beyond our Savior’s power and making. And so we will, in our best efforts, make the journey and mission we are currently experiencing as real to you as possible through our pictures and stories. We want each of you to know that we carry you in our hearts and we stand on the shoulders of saints and singers before us!