Alan Perera

AN UNUSUAL TREAT

It’s fun watching Ray Sidney work.  Tall with broad shoulders, he’s built like a football player and his face is that of a lion: handsome and regal.  He looks sharp in a charcoal grey pinstripe suit.  And when he brings the microphone close to his big ear-to-ear smile, his powerful and melodic voice shakes the room, doing justice to lyrics that carry reverence and praise to God.  He has travelled around the world doing this including three straight years at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  He has also sung the National Anthem in front of a crowd of 65,000 at a San Diego Chargers game.  And today, he leads a rousing, crowd-pleasing gospel brunch at the House of Blues in Hollywood.

 When you watch him sing, it is very clear that he loves what he does.  But he also has a confession.  “I’m a very shy person,” he says, eyes fixed straight at me to stress that he is not joking.  “My shyness is not displayed because of my confidence in God, but – other than that – I’m a shy person.”  He does not linger on this point for too long, but simply adds: “We can’t rely on our own strength – that’s another story in itself.”

On Sunday mornings, the House of Blues is transformed from a Sunset Strip nightclub into a toe-tapping, hand-clapping gospel worship extravaganza for the whole family.  A revival tent would seem in order, but you don’t see too many of those in Los Angeles.  The curtains are drawn open, the band is in full gear and the crowd is in high spirits.  Sidney greets the audience: “Good morning!  My name is Ray Sidney and this is Firm Soundation.  We are a bunch of people who love the Lord and who love to sing so it goes hand-in-hand that we love to sing for the Lord!”  Firm Soundation is his usual team for events like this, and they include his backup singers as well as the musicians.  Sidney does not perform a Gospel Brunch without Firm Soundation.  But today, the crowd is in for an unusual treat.  Performing with Sidney and his group is a Japanese gospel choir.  

Yes, you read correctly: a Japanese gospel choir.  If you closed your eyes and just listened, you would not have noticed that they were Japanese.  Their voices soar and perhaps contain the ability to penetrate any cold heart with the blazing power of love and joy.  In other words, they sound awesome.  And that’s no accident.  They have been rehearsing diligently with Sidney for the past few months, and one of the first things that he communicates to them is that it takes hard work to honor God through song.  “I wasn’t blessed with the rhythm that they think all black people have,” he admits.  “I had to learn.  I had to teach myself.  You know, they expect you to be dancing, clapping, all of that – to which I have no problem with.”  He pauses, giving a good hearty laugh.  “But I told them that I had to learn.”

The choir itself is made up of Japanese students, housewives and working-class singles living in Southern California.  Some are not Christian, but for those that are, it is due in large part to the music.  This is Sidney’s ministry, but it does not end there.  He is a globe-trotter who spends a considerable amount of time overseas, doing exactly what he does in the U.S.: teaching people how to sing gospel music and sharing what is at the heart of that music.  Last year alone, he made his way to the Philippines, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Israel and Uganda.  But the bulk of his ministry is in Japan, where he goes two or three times a year for four- to six-week stays.  

 Japan is also the country with the largest unreached people group in the world today.  Ray believes that, by the grace of God, gospel music can change that.  “I can get up on any street corner in Japan, and I can preach: ‘You need Jesus or you’re going to burn in hell!’ People will walk by and look at me like I’m crazy – maybe not even understand what I’m saying.”  He continues, “But I can get on that same street corner, and I can sing those same words.”  He claps his hands rhythmically and chants, “‘You neeeeeed Jeeesus or you gonna burn in hell!’  They’ll come and sing with me: ‘I’m gonna burn in hell!  Yeah!  Burn in hell!’”

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SISTER ACT

Faith and music have always been integral in Sidney’s life.  His father was a deacon, and his mother sang in the church choir.  He recalls what life was like growing up with them: “The Scripture says, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,’ but as for Kermit and Hattie Sidney’s house, if you didn’t serve and love the Lord, you didn’t eat.  That was your choice.”  But a strict regimented reverence to God was not the only thing that he experienced.  He continues, “I always heard singing around me.  My mother would always sing around the house.  And I would be at those rehearsals, sitting in her lap and hearing those ladies singing.  Whatever I heard, I emulated – any jingle, any commercial, cartoon music - whatever it was - I could sing it.”  As life went on, Sidney developed a reputation.  He ended up directing various gospel choirs at multiple churches and performing in front of countless scores of people.  

Then 2004 came around.  Sidney was working at a Christian elementary school in Watts, California when one of the teachers approached him with a request that still seems unusual to him to this very day.  Her church was hosting a Japanese gospel choir that was on a tour of Los Angeles, and she asked if they could visit the school and sing for the students.  He thought about it for a minute and responded: “Huh?”  Then he thought about it for another minute: “Gospel music?  Forgive my ignorance… they sing gospel music in Japan?”  Some extra convincing was necessary, so the group’s organizer, Cecil O’Dell, a former missionary and church-planter in Japan, called him up to confirm that the teacher was indeed not trying to pull a prank on him.  In the end, Sidney accommodated O’Dell and the choir members into the school’s schedule and had the students gather together in the chapel.  He decided to attend the event as well perhaps out of curiosity or because he needed further convincing - “They sing gospel music in Japan?”

In fact, there is an interesting reason how gospel music worked its way into Japanese culture.  Remember the film Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg as the singing and dancing nun?  It did its run in the U.S. and is remembered quite fondly by some.  In Japan, however, that movie had a deeper and long-lasting impact.  The music featured in the film was music that most Japanese people had never heard before.  They were attracted to it and eventually referred to it as “black gospel” music.  And as a result, a few choirs started to emerge in Japan – some established by missionaries like O’Dell and his friend Ken Taylor.  Which brings us back to Sidney and his guests…  

The choir arrived and began by going through a very professional warm-up process.  Sidney observed them and thought about how the choir at his church never warmed up.  Then they started to sing - some traditional gospel songs with a few contemporary ones thrown into the mix.  He recalls, “At first, I thought that they would be singing in Japanese, but when they sang in English, I was so surprised.  Not only that, but they sang with so much joy and passion that I almost didn’t believe the majority of them were non-Christians!”  Sidney himself had been leading a youth choir at the school and had his students perform as well.  The Japanese choir was amazed by them, and what had originally been planned as a short event, lasted the rest of the school day as the choir and the students sang and enjoyed praising God together with Sidney electrifying the keyboard.

Afterwards, on that very same day, O’Dell, Taylor and some of the choir members brought Sidney a proposition: “Ray, you’re doing an amazing job with your kids.  Can you teach us how to sing like them?”  

“Well, how long are you guys going to be around?” asked Sidney.

“No, we meant: Could you come to Japan and work with our choirs?”

He was caught off guard.  Having never been outside of the U.S. in the forty-one years of his life, Sidney suddenly had some serious praying to do.

CROSSING SEAS

The Lord works in mysterious ways – at least at first.  For someone who walks with God for many years - not knowing what’s in store, but relying on faith nonetheless - it is a joy to eventually be shown what God’s plan was from the very beginning.  Sidney had the pleasure of experiencing that.  

For a large part of his life, he was faced with daydreams and visions about crossing the seas and being among people of different nationalities.  It probably felt quite random and irrelevant to have such recurring thoughts.  However, after receiving the proposal to go to Japan and teach gospel music, God used His Word to lift the curtain.  He took Sidney to the Scripture and pointed out Genesis 12:1, where God tells Abraham: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (NIV)  Sidney suddenly felt a push from God to step away from his country, his culture and all of the things that made him comfortable and secure all these years, and traverse the Pacific Ocean to the Land of the Rising Sun.  He wisely obeyed.

With his wife Althea by his side, he went to Japan in December 2004.  “I was scared that first trip,” he admits.  “It was our first time, and I didn’t know what to expect.”  During the two weeks that they were there, Sidney led about five gospel workshops for the choirs that O’Dell and Taylor helped create.  “I was just sharing what I normally do,” he shares, “but I noticed that - for the Japanese - singing these songs was life-changing.”  He continues, “I knew that this was something special, but I didn’t know how big it was at the time and how impactful it was going to be.  But I could see that God was leading.  God was definitely all over this.”

On the ride home, as the plane gently hummed and most of the passengers were asleep, Sidney was wide awake.  To him, this experience was not merely a nice trip, a nice break from the routine.  He prayed: “Lord, what is this?  What is this feeling inside of me?  Why do I have this burning that’s like a fire?  This feeling to want to go back?  To want to love them?  To want to share with them?”  

These thoughts could have been fleeting, but Sidney trusted God and decided to act on them.  A new relationship was established as Sidney partnered with O’Dell, Taylor and their ministry: Encompass World Partners.  He began making regular trips to Japan, and overtime the number of choirs grew from around ten to seventy.

THE SEEDS...

The choirs themselves are made up of about ten to forty people.  Gospel music workshops are conducted and culminate into a concert comprised of multiple choirs singing together.  So, on stage, there could be up to 400 people singing.  And of those 400, the majority - even up to around 95 percent - are non-Christian.  Also, take the audience into consideration.  The family and friends of the choir members that attend these concerts are also primarily non-Christian, but they come in droves - sometimes in the thousands.  In a country where a 100 or 200-person congregation is considered a mega church, this is a big deal.  Sidney smiles, “All of them are coming together, singing gospel music, praising God.  That’s powerful.  Missionaries are like, ‘Wow!  They’re coming to us.  We don’t have to go to them.’”

Sidney and his partners will always emphasize that the music is only the draw.  The central point of focus is encouraging the choir members to establish a relationship with the one that the music is inspired from: Jesus Christ.  “I can ask someone to accept Christ, and in Japan they’ll do it because I ask them to.  It has nothing to do with this” - he points to his heart.  “They just do it out of respect or things like that.  But we’re able to establish relationships where there is a sincere and genuine inquiry into ‘What is this Jesus music that we sing about?’ or ‘Why do I feel so happy when I sing it?’ or ‘Why do I get so emotional when I’m singing this music?’  So, then we’re able to share.”  

Sidney, however, remains humble about his role.  “You may hear my name, but I want you to know that it is not about me.  I don’t want it to be about me because ‘

The winds and the seas obey Him.’  I mean, in Japan, I can barely get a second packet of ketchup at McDonald’s!”  He continues, “I am just a seed planter.  I go and plant the seeds, and the Christians that are in the choirs are the nurturers.  They’re able to nurture and answer questions because I’m there from time to time, but I don’t live there.”

...AND THE FRUIT

Still, the seeds are planted and nurtured, and Sidney has seen fruit as a result as he continues to assist the choirs and even lead workshops in public elementary schools - public not private.  Typically at the end of these workshops, the teacher asks the students to share about their experience.  On one occasion, there was a crowd of about 400 students gathered together and seated on the floor of the school’s gymnasium.  Everyone was silent, but one young boy - about ten years old - raised his hand.  The children were a little surprised and whispered amongst themselves as he stood up and spoke nervously.  In Japanese, he responded to the teacher’s inquiry by saying, “I’m happy, and I’m going to go home and tell my mom about it.”

As the boy spoke, his words were quietly translated to Sidney, who thought that it was a sweet sentiment.  Later on, however, the school’s headmaster revealed that that child was considered an outsider.  He explained, “This boy doesn’t play with anyone.  No one plays with him.  He doesn’t like anyone, and I can honestly say that I don’t think anyone likes him.  He rarely comes to school.”  He added, “It would not surprise me if this child eventually did something drastic.”  The word ‘drastic’ has a specific meaning here.  Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, and it has remained high over the years - especially among younger people.  It is so common, in fact, that it would not surprise the headmaster of this school if that young boy eventually chose to take his life.

After hearing what the headmaster said, Sidney thought to himself, “Wow!  This kid stood up in front of children that he doesn’t like and that he knows don’t like him - in front of people he doesn’t want to be around - but look at what he proclaimed.  He said, ‘I’m happy.’”  He pauses and shares, “What really gets me is that he became a witness for the Lord because he said that he was going to go home and tell his mom about it.  That’s just powerful.  That’s exactly what God can do.”

Truly the power of gospel music stems from the fact that it carries the good news of God’s Word.  It can lift your spirits.  It can carry you away from your stress and your depression and empower you by acknowledging that God is sovereign but loving, and you can rest all of your hope in Him.  As Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ.”  Is not gospel music an unabashed, unashamed proclamation of that?  And the people who really believe in Paul’s words can indeed do things that they never would have imagined themselves doing - things that take them outside of their abilities and their comfort zones.

If you don’t believe that, just ask the guy who gets up on stage time after time despite his shyness.    

For more information about Ray Sidney and his ministry, Here to Praise, please visit their website at www.heretopraise.com.

For more information about Encompass World Partners, please visit their website at www.encompassworldpartners.org.

All work © Alan Perera. Website © 2012 Alan Perera, all rights reserved.