Sharon's Mission Testimony

I asked a few of our youth to write about what short term missions has meant to them. This was written by Sharon Mays, a high school junior. Sharon is a member of Christ Church choir, the Bells of Christ Church, the Compline choir, and she leads the music during CCSM Sunday night. She loves Jesus and is an awesome lady.

I am incredibly blessed. I am at a church which stands fast in the Word of God; a church which shows the love of God in being a family within itself; and a church where I get to participate in short-term missions twice every summer. It wasn't until I began to write this article that I realized how blessed I was to be a missionary so often. It is a real honor and joy to reach out to people, both churched and un-churched, showing them the love of Christ and sharing the Good News.

The most meaningful mission to me is when I go on tour with the bell choir. We are missionaries to those who attend our concerts and to each other. We start preparing for our mission trip in September when bell practice starts. We work hard all year so that we can perform our very best in concerts. On tour as we set up, perform, and tear down with our thousands of pounds of equipment, we work as a team, brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. In our concerts we play both sacred and secular music, performing to show the love of God through our music and our behavior on tour. The reactions across the crowd show an array of emotions: happy, tearful, dancing, awed, amazed, touched, thankful. Seeing these reactions is extremely rewarding and humbling.

But as I mentioned before, bell tour is also a mission to those involved. We have had several members, including myself, be brought to both Christ Church and Christ through the bell choir. One late Sunday night in the summer of 2005, my family went to dinner after Compline with Mark and Tina and he asked me to join bell choir and I did. While I thought it unimportant at first, bells quickly became the most influential activity in my life. Through bells I was introduced to amazing people, who have since become like family to me. I then joined Christ Church, becoming a member of the youth group, Parish Choir, and Compline. But the most profound effect bells had on my life was when I became a Christian, living for God instead of myself, on bell tour in 2007. The bell choir is the most meaningful group in my life. We share so many laughs and good memories while still working hard to make music to the glory to God. It is impossible to put into words my love for the bell choir and how appreciative I am for its affect in my life.

-Sharon Mays