July 23, 2001

Tallowood choir serves up songs for spiritual hunger
___By John Hall
___Staff Writer
___HOUSTON--While many Americans wait hungrily for restaurant tables, members of Tallowood Baptist Church recently found Spaniards hungrily waiting for a spiritual diet.
___"The church was so crowded," said Andrew Argent, music minister at First Baptist Church of Cleveland and a participant in Tallowood's recent mission trip to Spain.
___"People were sitting in the pews, sitting on the floor, standing in the back and standing outside. It was so amazing that these people would stand outside sweating just for a chance to hear the word. These people had such a hunger for the word."
___This is the scene described by members of the Tallowood choir, which returned July 9 from a tour of Spain and Portugal, where they performed before thousands of people.
___The 85-person choir performed primarily in English, though choir members described many in the audience who were singing along with the songs in Spanish.
___"Though separate languages limited our ability to converse, it was obvious our message was understood," said Fred Cameron, chairman of the steering committee for the trip. "It is clear we were an encouragement to local Baptist churches and attracted attention to their programs."
___Cameron also described the people as hungry for God, evidenced by the 400 requests for CDs of the concerts the choir took during its trip.
___"There are millions of souls in Spain that need to hear the gospel, and when we go there, we need to do everything to fit in their time work and their culture to make ourselves as available as possible."
___The trip is the latest in a series of foreign choir missions for Tallowood in which the church has sent members to several European locations, including Great Britain and Poland. Paul Magyar, music minister at Tallowood, said the group is utilizing its talent to minister to people in need.
___"We're going to sing because that's what we do," Magyar said. "Other people cut, saw and build houses, and there's no one who does it like they do, but we sing. There's nothing like music to break down walls and bring hearts together.
___"Anytime you bring a people together with music that connects to people, you can build bridges to all kinds of hearts."
___More information about ways to participate in the Baptist General Convention of Texas partnership with Spain is available from the Texas Partnerships office at (214) 828-5183.
___

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