Westin Edwards of Simpsonville, South Carolina, ministers with Olivet's Orpheus Choir in Puerto Rico

2017 Jun 8

Westin Edwards is a sophomore at Olivet Nazarene University, double majoring in multimedia studies and public relations/strategic communication, from Simpsonville, South Carolina. In May 2017, he traveled with the School of Music's Orpheus Choir to sing and minister in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico with the mind of Christ
by
Westin Edwards, sophomore

I admit I was skeptical about the Orpheus Choir mission trip to Puerto Rico, but God was keen on making me understand his sovereignty in the situation.

The week of final exams was extremely stressful for me. I found it difficult to prepare myself spiritually for the trip. When I looked at the itinerary for the week, I saw that we were doing more performances than service projects. It almost felt like a tour we would do in the Olivet region.

Puerto Rico is gorgeous. The tropical foliage spread over spontaneous hills is just so beautiful. The culture also feeds into the beauty of the territory. Having lived in South America before, I was not a stranger to the culture.

Everyone is inviting and almost overly servant-like. Every church or school we visited made us meals and fed us. The people were extremely eager to help us out with whatever we needed at the time. Watching the Puerto Ricans act the way they did was very inspiring. In fact, at some points it was a little convicting.

Every church we visited was ecstatic to have us come and sing there. None of our songs were in Spanish, but the people heard the Lord speak through the music. They were open to the Holy Spirit in their churches, so He came and moved among them. Who was I to discredit the work God had us participate in by worshiping Him?

After we finished one of our concerts near the end of our tour, a Puerto Rican woman stood up and said how much she appreciated our music. She told us how the Holy Spirit was apparent in the choir. Hearing from this woman had a tremendous impact on me.

Even though we were not painting or building something every day, we were still used by God. God was using Orpheus Choir and our talents for His good. That's why we were needed there.

I am privileged to be a part of Orpheus Choir, and I was even more blessed by being able to go on this mission trip. I learned that God works in ways that are sometimes counter to how we think He should work, in ways we do not expect Him to. He will spread His kingdom regardless of any circumstances.