A music camp for The Messiah Choir Youth Division was held from July 22 to 23 in Yugawara Town in Kanagawa Prefecture, where approximately 40 youth members gathered from all over the country.
At the start of the music camp, a special message from Masaaki-sama was shared (published in full in the August issue of Glory in Japanese), and with this message in their hearts, the choir members practiced diligently.
A discussion session was held on the evening of July 22. They discussed the songs “Forever to the Lord” and “Ah, My Child,” original songs with lyrics written by Masaaki-sama, which were performed for the first time at the Birth of the Messiah Service held on June 15. They shared with each other their honest thoughts and feelings on the lyrics of these two songs after having sung them. In addition, they discussed what they felt when they read Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word from the Harvest Thanksgiving Service in 2022.
Some said that without Kyoshu-sama and Masaaki-sama, they would not have been able to become aware of Meishu-sama’s truth. Some said that they now understand the significance of the resurrection of World Church of Messiah and the meaning of the construction of the Holy Sanctuary of the Messiah, and why activities related to music are so active now. In addition, many of the young members talked about how when they read the lyrics of “Forever to the Lord”, they felt a surge of desire to return to God all the negative feelings that they wanted to hide, and how when they actually sang “Ah, My Child,” they were filled with a deep emotion that they could not put into words and it naturally brought them to tears. One young member said that the lyrics of “Ah, My Child” matched with the content of Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word from the Harvest Thanksgiving Service in 2022, and that when he was going through a difficult time or was feeling sad, it felt as though God was waiting for him with His great love, saying to him,“Come back.”
In the evening, a barbeque was held, and in the familiarity between the youth members, smiles and laughter burst from every direction. The next day, at the end of the music camp, everyone participated in the final presentation. Bold yet beautiful, in it was a voiceless pure sound that seemed to reverberate endlessly, bringing about the feeling of a bright, new world.
