one of my ministries here is running sunday morning sound every other month.
each Saturday we spend 2 hours rehearsing, but it seems each Sunday there is a new hurdle to overcome.
Equipment fails on us randomly. Most of our sound equipment is in need of replacement but there is no budget for it. It gets heavily used by the English service and the Tok Pisin service, as well as all events, and town meetings.
A few people have the skill to repair, and some of it has been repaired many times.
This morning, a mysterious hum overpowered the speaker at the podium. I was turning knobs, pushing buttons trying to isolate the source of the sound.
One man whom I hadn't yet met, came to give me advice, which I listened to but it wasn't entirely accurate. The amount of adrenaline that hits when you realize there is a sound problem and you desire to resolve it before the sermon begins, is large.
I couldn't find it.
So I stopped,
"God, help me find this problem, please send me some help"
I opened my eyes, and there was a friend, "hey, you need some help?" He felt like he should do something. He recommended replacing a mic cable. Which of course was the right solution.
I had it narrowed down to either the mic or the cable but was unable to leave the sound desk while the lady up front was praying, to swap the cable.
My friend, Tim, was able to, had the sense to come and offer help, and then he did, and the hum went away and there was no longer a distraction to people hearing the message.
I was amazed at the immediate answer to prayer. I opened my eyes and there he was.
God is great.
Running sound for me is a lesson in humility. I enjoy a certain amount of technical expertise in computers and rarely is there a problem I can't solve.
Sound, is replete with problems, and rarely am I able to solve them on my own, and... it is a very public thing. If there is a hum, everyone is looking to me to resolve it.
I was reminded this morning to rely on God in EVERYTHING.
If you happen to be reading this and have access to old but functional sound equipment that you're able to donate, by all means, please email me.
Two weeks ago, we lost two mic stands. An over zealous sound helper tightened a stand too tight, and snapped the bolt, another one is too loose, and slowly drooped during the praise band's song.
you can find my email address at
www.gimpel/tv/newsletter
thank you
and praise God, HE does answer prayer.
