‘Frequency’ – Western Music Institute 2023
By Emma Brown—
Blasting music, loud voices, crying children, constant chitter chatter, whispering, laughing, muttering, stuttering, bickering, noise. Never-ending noise. Loud, incessant, perpetual, tiresome noise. It fills our day-to-day with its clamorous cacophonous sound. The noise has always been too much for me. And recently, I’ve started to wear my headphones more often. Focusing on one sound helps drown out the millions of voices around me and the numerous voices in my head. It helps calm me sometimes. It’s a breath of fresh air in a polluted city.
The theme for Western Music Institute (WMI) this year was “frequency.” Over a week, young delegates, including myself, learned to tune into the voice that matters. And in a world filled with so much noise, that can be difficult. Nevertheless, Captains Sam and Leah Fowler coached us on how to tune into God’s voice with thought-provoking devotions and hilarious anecdotes. With that being said, a week focused solely on God, surrounded by supportive people devoted to him, proved to be refreshing.
WMI would not be complete without learning some music. We worked in our major classes every day for roughly three and a half hours. Here is where we deepened our knowledge of music and learned new skills and techniques to take home with us. This year was filled with immense amounts of inspiration. The emotive vocal school led by Samantha Turner, the energetic WMI band led by Howard Evans, and everything in between were all so moving when it came to performance day. Delegates also took part in dance, drama, praise and worship, steel drums, mariachi and timbrels—all so that we could bring glory to God. The tools and skills learned during the week are all for the purpose of praising the Lord and are to help delegates become local leaders at their corps.
Sealed orders are another moving time that is essential to an amazing WMI. Fifteen minutes before dinner, all of camp goes into a state of silence as we read a short devotional. This year devotionals were focused on the main ways to stay tuned into the voice of God. It included how to read Scripture, the importance of prayer, reflecting in silence, and much more.
WMI 2023 was an amazing experience, filled with fun, great music, friends, but most of all time to connect closely with God. I’m praying that the 143 delegates all had the same sense of belonging that I did, and that together we will continue to have an impact for God in our local corps, schools and places of work.
WMI—Thanks for encouraging us to listen closely to God, and to be the best we can be!
Reprinted from the New Frontier