Photo By Sgt. William White | Camp Arifjan's gospel choir sings songs of worship and praise at the Zone 6 Chapel,...... read more read more
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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – At 6:50 p.m. on any given Friday, the Zone 6 Chapel at Camp Arifjan is a desolate structure. It is a familiar presentation to those who have seen a chapel in a deployed environment; a reinforced tent filled with subdued pews, an altar and a fridge full of water bottles. Less a few leather couches and the finished shine of the maple altar, this chapel isn’t much to look at — stained glass at the chapel wasn’t in the budget plan for Camp AJ.
At 6:55, the vacant chapel transforms. Around 50 smiling, happy faces illuminate the walls of the hard-shelled tent, greeting each other and finding their places. At seven, a man wielding drum sticks taps a high-hat four times to establish a tempo, and the once-bleak chapel becomes a beating heart full of love and worship.
Its blood is the people of Christ who have taken temporary residency in Kuwait, away from their homes; but not far from God. Many of them come to Kuwait as U.S. Soldiers, present or past, with varying missions but they have all come to the Zone 6 Chapel for a similar purpose.
“It is not about rank, status, skin color, or gender,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Tara M. Bryan, 54th Signal Battalion sergeant major and minister at the chapel. “We are all there for one reason and that is to praise the Lord.”
And the praise echoes throughout the front atrium of the chapel. This is not the typical worship music one might hear on a Sunday morning AM radio broadcast. This is the music God has on his IPod in 2014.
The twenty-seven piece band features bass guitar, drums, rhythm keyboard, piano, saxophone and a company of sopranos, altos and tenors. It adapts elements of traditional choir with a grand-soul funk feel that phases through about ten more music genres.
Through those varying stages of music, the choir and service attendees alternate between two primary postures.
The first renders eyes closed and hands in the air as to accept the healing power and forgiveness being bestowed upon them by the Lord.
The second returns the favor to the Lord. The verb dance is an injustice to the ritual movements the body creates when offering praise to the Lord and Savior. These are movements of passion and fulfillment you won’t find in the club on Saturday night.
Many have come to the chapel for healing. Some are trying to overcome the stresses of deployment or the burden of being away from family. Others have come to give. They give support to their brothers and sisters in need and give praise and thanks to the Lord.
Bryan has come to do just that. A native of Goose Creek, South Carolina, she not only leads a battalion of troops in Kuwait, but also directs the choir at Zone 6 every Friday.
Unlike the typical music director, Bryan uses her whole body to communicate to the choir through dance. Her spirited steps move the choir from triumphant lifts to angelic heights to jubilant musical prayer and back again.
Though the role may be physically taxing, Bryan doesn’t have to look hard for motivation.
“I love the Lord and I love praising and worshiping Him with people that love Him as much as I do,” she said.
Bryan encourages Soldiers and civilians serving in Kuwait to attend and help give praise to the Lord.
“If you truly want an awesome worship experience, come out and join us at the Gospel Joy Night Service on Friday Night,” she said.
By the end of the evening, the previously desolate tent has become a warm, uplifting place. The music rings on and many continue to dance and give praise while others exchange hugs and blessings and bid each other farewell.
When the music stops and all the praise and worship have been made, the evening comes to a close. The tent returns to its dormant state until Sunday morning.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2014 13:27 |
| Story ID: | 136026 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Hometown: | GOOSE CREEK, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 421 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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