Dear All:
I am presenting my story of how my Spiritual Journey began in October of 2005.
There a few things I should make clear to avoid any confusion.
Firstly, Putfile.com was a precursor to YouTube. You Tube had bought them out.
Secondly, at the time, my one British friend had a private email server which I had used for foreign communication.
Thirdly, as in the story of this past February, the child in question did nothing physical outside of singing songs that were written by the late Robert Prizeman, the founder and director of "Libera". I honestly believe, to this day, the Holy Sprit has used music and young people to speak to me and encourage me to think more critically of my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The choir that is spoken of is Libera which is still alive and well.
The Story
How the Holy Spirit uses the power of music
1 Corinthians 13
Dear reader:
My real name is Terry Tschopp. I was born 23 April 1943, a Good Friday.
I have always been a member in a church of Jesus Christ. Like most people, my relationship with the lord has never been constant. This story is one that will demonstrate to you how the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. All I ask of you, is when you read this, please do so with an open heart and mind.
Don't let the e-mail address fool you; I am really an American who lives outside the Philadelphia, Pa. USA area. A very close friend of mine in the UK has consented to allow me an e-mail account on his private server for all of my foreign correspondence.
To clear up one point, my original taste in music has been and still is " Classical Organ " With the works of Bach and Buxtehuda
My story began in September of 2005, when one night, I came across the video version of " Salve me " that was posted on www.putfile.com. I was very impressed by this video and as a result, I went looking for more of Libera's music. I had found quite a bit of it on fan sites and other places as well. I had also joined the Yahoo Group, " Angel Voices ". There I met a very kind man who was to eventually become my host for a week in the UK. He will remain nameless for now as I do not have permission to use his name. If we get to know each other better I will give you more private information. This man also gave me a large number of the older Libera videos and this was the start of my transformation.
I had been listening to the music CD’s and watching the music video’s a lot. I found that it is largely " Sacred Music ". Even though it is not presented as “Evangelical” music, I'm not complaining for it was this music that inspired me to start taking a long hard look at myself and I didn’t like what I saw. It was the music video of “I Will Sing Forever” that motivated me. As I recall, it was the song " Locus Iste " which I really didn't care for at first. But, it is one of those songs that grows on you. Then one night, I sat down and played the video again [along with others] with an English translation in my hand. The tears started streaming down my cheeks, I guess it was a lot of anguish coming to the top, and when the final " Sanctus " was sweetly sung, a bomb went off inside me. The tears became a torrent. It was at this time I realized, that numerically the odds are against me. I am 63 years old and a cancer survivor. I also realized the most important thing I must do is have my heart right with Christ. It was at this time I made the decision to invite the Lord Jesus Christ back into my life, a decision I have not regretted one bit.
Shortly after this, I became acquainted with the Vicar of St. Philips [Libera’s home church] by e-mail; I had offered a prayer of safe travel for the choir when they went to Japan in October of 2005.
The one thing I regret is that I will never be able to thank the choir for their unwitting act. I doubt they will understand what they have done at their present age and to be honest with you, I am still trying to make sense of it myself. I still believe, to this day, with all my heart, it was the Holy Spirit working thru a group of South London schoolboys who can sing and their music, that gave me the kick in the head I needed to get off dead center spiritually.
It soon became a burning ambition with me to go to the UK and find out first hand about Libera. After much hassle, getting the money, passport and plane ticket together, I finally arrived at Heathrow Airport on Sunday, the 20th of November 2005. Not knowing the British Rail system proved to be a real pain; However, I did get to Wimbledon and from there I hired a cab to take me to Norbury. I was very fortunate to have missed only about 20 min. of the service. I was told that the day’s sermon was on welcoming strangers. So here I am, late for the service, charging into the church with a suitcase in each hand, making quite a racket in so doing. The man who hosted me for the week greeted me. We then sat and finished the service without incident. It was nice to shake a choir members hand at the " Passing of the Peace ".
In many English and European church’s, The Boys/Men’s Choirs provide the music that is used in the liturgy. Many of the denominations use a ritualistic form of worship that calls for the use of music. Much of it is in Latin for the Protestant and Catholic Church.
I felt very honored and privileged to take communion with the congregation and the choir. It was a spiritually uplifting event for me. After the service, they have a social where I was able to meet more of the choir and Robert Prizeman. After the social, we went to the Vicarage where my host and his wife had lunch with the Vicar and his wife, an excellent cook, I might add. After some rest it was time to go to Evensong where I was able to hear the choir sing again. After Evensong, I went with my host to his home for the week.
My host was very kind in allowing me access to his computer where I was able to stay in contact with my wife. My wife can no longer travel because of physical problems. My host took me to see a Heritage Railway where he is both a steam and diesel driver and I was also able to see Canterbury Cathedral [AWSOME and humbling at the same time] as well as Rochester Cathedral. He also took me to Bluewater where I was able to buy my copy of " VISIONS ". I also toured London on my own for a day, but as you might expect, one cannot see all of the sights in one day.
The following Saturday, the church had its annual Christmas Fayre [Bazaar]. It was at this event I was able to hear the choir perform Christmas music. Their sound is wonderful. It became obvious to me, what I was hearing was Robert Prizeman’s own faith being professed thru the choir. I also took note of the love and devotion between Robert and the choir and the choir members towards each other. It is very deep, indeed. To me, they appeared to be a large, happy, functional family.
Robert is known for keeping in close contact with the parents regarding the choir members school work. He would rather see a member miss practice to study than fail a test or otherwise get an unsatisfactory mark in their schoolwork. Not only do the members learn to sing and read music, they are taught many other valuable lessons that will help them succeed when they grow up. This is most commendable of Robert.
I was also fortunate in getting many of the choir member’s autographs on the insert for the Visions album. I was also able to get Roberts, which I am told is almost unheard of. I also had the good fortune to talk with a number of the parents and older choir members as well.
The next day was my last Sunday there. The service was nice with no problems. I said goodbye to my new friends and my host took me back to his home for a farewell dinner. There was no Evensong that night, so I knew I wouldn't be coming back. On the way “home “, the emotion of the week caught up with me and I completely lost it. This is how well I was treated by all of the British people I met and it was starting to tear me in two. I realized there were many people I had grown to like and love very much in the UK.
In short, I was torn between two loves, the USA and the UK. We finally got to my host home, where he was successful in calming me down. We had a very nice supper [his wife is also an excellent cook] and I was able to get some sleep that night.
The next morning, my host took me to the local train station. I had to endure a two or so hour train ride to Heathrow Airport. Just before I boarded the train, we shook hands and I gave my host a big, tearful hug and he reciprocated. I almost broke his glasses because of our size difference. I couldn’t thank him enough for all he had done for me. I will never forget that, it was then I realized what a friend I really have there. We still talk on Yahoo I.M. almost every day and I am currently planning a trip for September of 2006.
Thanks be to God, I have had a wonderful, spiritually uplifting, blessed event occur in my life that I am very greatful to the choir for. They have unwittingly pushed me back to the Lord Jesus Christ and given me my life back in a very real sense. As a result, I was finally able to slay one dragon, the fear of flying. I still have a number of dragons to slay [but who doesn’t] and now, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, I will be able to overcome them. I also went thru a bout of depression over Christmas, but with a lot of prayer, grace and the help of many friends, I am now in pretty good shape.
I went to the U.K. looking for answers and I found most of them. The maddening part is, there are even more questions that have come to mind. I now realize the answers I seek are not in a foreign country that happens to have a group of schoolboys who can sing, but only in the Lord Jesus Christ do we find these answers.
On that note, I think I am going to say goodnight and God bless you. I will add you to my personal prayer list.
Terry …….
Sadly, Robert Prizeman passed in 2021 due to Prostate Cancer. I lost a freind here. This is one of the reasons I implore others to get the PSA Test done. It can save your life. I KNOW, I am a 21 1/2 year survivour!
The members of the choir at that time are now young men in their mid 30's. I chat with some of them once in awhile. They have grown into kind loveing people which is my wish for any child.
