July recorded some of the warmest temperatures on record for the country of Greece. But this did not deter the 195 members of Oklahoma Sings, a gospel choir and band formed by the members of the Singing Churchmen and Singing Churchwomen of Oklahoma. This choir, representing churches and ministries from across Oklahoma had the opportunity to share the Gospel with the people of Greece on a recent choir tour to that beautiful country.
“This trip first started over three years ago as a trip to the Holy Land.” Oklahoma Baptists’ Randy Lind, who directs the singing group, said. “Due to conflict and unrest in Israel, the decision was made to move the trip to follow the footsteps of Paul. We decided, if we can’t walk where Jesus walked, we would walk where Paul walked and started the early church. The Oklahoma Sings choir always led with a song in order to advance the Gospel and encourage the church and Believers wherever we met them.”
The group, including Greek guides and travel partners, visited 10 cities in Greece and performed five concerts during the trip.
“I always like to say that the Gospel is carried on a song. Musically, it was a joy to connect with local choirs, such as the children’s chorus in Athens, and the choir from the Evangelical Church in Thessaloniki. When we sang ‘when we’ve been there 10 thousand years’ in both Greek and English it was a blessing to feel as one as we worshiped together. At one of the concerts, there were people in the audience from 12 different countries.” Lind shared after the trip.
During the trip, lives were changed as the Gospel message impacted the travelers and those they came in contact with on a daily basis. The group was asked to pray and be active in engaging the audience in sharing the Gospel. To help with this task, they carried Gospel tracts in English, Greek and Spanish. Lind recounts, “Our choir sang the Gospel and shared the Gospel in conversations wherever we went. We know of one of our guides and one of our drivers that gave their lives to Christ because the group shared the Gospel! Who knows how many lives they will touch.”
James Nance, a singer on the trip, was able to turn an unfortunate accident into opportunity. “We were leaving to go find our luggage. I tripped on the walkway and “face-planted” on the concrete. An ambulance ride, 7 hours in a Greek hospital and 4 stitches later, my wife and I plus Dr. Steve Ditto found ourselves on a four hour taxi ride to get back to our group.
We began talking with our Greek driver about his church and family. He explained that he knew about Jesus—he was Greek Orthodox. In fact, he said he attended as many as 5 different churches searching for the Truth.
Dr. Ditto began to build a relationship with him to lead him to the Lord as we concluded our taxi ride! He prayed to receive Christ on the spot!
God gave me another “appointment” a few days later. Since I had injured my head, I could not be out in the sun with the group for the rest of the tour.
I was seated in a shaded area when a guide walked up. He told me he was an actor who had not been able to find work for almost 2 years. He started working with this tour group and presenting Paul’s teachings in a dramatic way. He had memorized most of Paul’s epistles. He presented these as dramatic monologs. As I shared with him about Jesus, I realized he only had “head knowledge” but no “heart knowledge.” I started sharing scriptures. He said, “Oh, I’ve memorized all those scriptures!” I told him, “You are 18 inches from heaven.” That got his attention. I asked if I could pray for him and with him. We prayed together and he asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior!
My accident turned out to be 2 divine eternal appointments. What a blessing!”
As the choir sang praises in city after city, none rang truer than the beautiful words of the song “The Power of God” which quotes Romans 1:16. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek”.
Interested in joining us for the 2025-26 season? For information about each group, go to:
oklahomabaptist.org/worship-music or send an email to rlind@oklahomabaptists.org.
