ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) — Ten years after the train bombings in Madrid, 50 choirs sang Despertar (Awakening), a song with a commitment to work for national peace.
It was especially meaningful for Mennonite Mission Network’s Connie Byler and Soli Deo, a gospel choir associated with Comunidades Unidas Anabautistas de Burgos (Burgos United Anabaptist Communities), because their choir director, Nohemy García Soria, wrote and composed the song.
“On the cold, dark night when we sang on the main plaza, I think we all just felt happy to bless our city in a new way and join the many groups around the country at the same time,” said Byler, who serves in Spain with her husband, Dennis Byler.
Soli Deo has about 25 members who mostly come from Comunidades Unidas Anabautistas de Burgos. Some members heard the choir on the street and asked to join. García Soria has directed the choir for about five years. She grew up in Comunidades Unidas Anabautistas de Burgos and still attends the church.
“Her voice training is amazing, and she’s done a lot of work to train our voices over the last two years,” said Byler. “We’ll forever be grateful to her.”
A few months ago, the Pacto de Convivencia (Coexistence Pact), an organization formed to remember the victims of the Madrid bombing and promote peace in Spain, asked García Soria to participate in a nationwide contest to write a song for the 10th anniversary of the bombings.
The bombs planted in the train killed 191 people and injured 1,800. Islamist extremists carried out the attack because the Spanish government participated in the war in Iraq.
When the organization asked García Soria to contribute a song to the contest, she agreed to do it, but didn’t have very high hopes because she hadn’t been able to finish a song in a while.
However, at the time of the bombing, García Soria lived in Germany. She had started to write a song back then, but never finished it.
“So when [the organization] asked me, I thought to myself that there was no coincidence in God’s plans,” said García Soria. “This was the perfect opportunity to close an unfinished chapter, to bring hope where there has been pain and suffering.”
A month later, the group called her and told her they chose her song.
“They loved the song,” said García Soria. “They said it was the perfect way to call Spain, to gather them together, and to sing an anthem of peace for the country and for all nations suffering terrorism.”
García Soria prepared all the choir parts, instrumental parts, and recorded the song. These materials were placed on the Pacto de Convivencia website so that other choirs and groups could join in and sing their support for peace in Spain.
The song’s lyrics call for a new awakening to a peaceful future in Spain.
“I like the song because it is pure gospel without being religious,” said Byler. “We could sing it in our churches, because we all need healing, peace, and a new awakening.”
The Pacto de Convivencia called this 10th anniversary celebration En la clave de paz (In the key of peace).
“Choirs from all over the country joined the project and literally thousands of people gathered in hundreds of cities that week, singing together: an awakening, for Spain,” said García Soria.
Aside from the groups in Spain who sang, groups from Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan joined the initiative and showed their support. García Soria said that even TV channels in Argentina reported and played the song.
“God showed me a way to be a blessing through music: a universal language that everybody understands and receives in better ways than just words,” said García Soria, who says that music is a big part of her life. She participates in music projects constantly.
“I felt very proud and happy for Nohemy, because she was so much a part of our family as she grew up with our girls,” said Byler. “The piano in our home inspired her to learn to play the instrument, and I never thought she’d get so far!”
As a result of this project, García Soria hopes to continue to write songs.
“This little adventure has given me the courage and the motivation to keep writing songs for God’s kingdom,” said García Soria. “I know that God has a plan for me and worship is definitely something that God has called me to do. It’s about finding the heart of a worshiper that God put in me.”
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
