“Advent Voices at Mountain View College”

Written by Troy Bayubay

Advent Voices, the official singing group of Philippine Advent College, plays a vital role in captivating aspirants to witness the caliber and standards of the school. The pack, led by Janelle B. Asoy, is known for their timely rendition of songs that praise God. The road to Bukidnon is a whopping 583 kilometers in driving distance. It is so far that they actually got 8 hours older by the time they went out of the car. With the Youth Congress held at Mountain View College, the Advent Voices embarked on a spiritual journey in a response to God’s calling.

On the Sabbath afternoon, while Miss Janelle was in the church, a misfortune took place when the driver of the van, which was supposed be the group’s means of transportation, called to cancel their appointment without prior notice. It was three hours before their planned departure, and all of it happened while she was in church. Imagine the rage and wrath that were boiling up in her head. One would think that she should let all hell break loose on the driver, but instead of doing what everybody thought, Miss Janelle remained seated in the pew and prayed. Shortly after the prayer came the blessing, a free ride back and forth offered by a concerned member of the church. Night came along, and so did everybody with their bags and neck pillows. So with everything ready and packed, the group goes off.

Their travel was smooth except for some, who were always clenching into plastic bags in case something might pop out of their mouths. They arrived at dawn on Sunday with the air still filled with fog, lots of fog — a singer’s nemesis, cold weather. Bukidnon is known for having different weather conditions than most places in the region. It is the Baguio of Mindanao. The vocal group, unaccustomed to the climate, began having fevers and colds a day before they were set to sing. Some even lost their voices due to cheering for daily games and activities. The pressure on Miss Janelle was on again. She gently scolded the members for shouting excessively, knowing that their voice must be preserved, which is the optimal thing to do, right? Not for her, she did what she always does — pray.

On Wednesday morning, July 26, the group was ready to showcase everything that they had practiced for and relay a symphony of voices from God. Were they all confident, you may ask? No, they were not. They were all pale and flustered. Aside from the sickness and sore throat they suffered with, they also had the eyes of 26,500 people watching them. Of course, they were overwhelmed. Amidst all that, Miss Janelle, who was also undeniably nervous, noticed that the group was overtly disoriented. She gathered them in a huddle and did what she always does — pray. In a short amount of time, everybody was calm and at peace. They proceeded to their formation and checked their pitch, and the first note was hit. Their main goal for coming was for the Lord to be “Highly Exalted,” which was also the name of the hymn, and that was what they did. They ended the song and got the biggest “Amen!” of their lives.

When asked about how she felt about the whole experience, Miss Janelle nonchalantly said, “It was physically exhausting but spiritually fulfilling.”

The power of prayer is sometimes heavily disregarded and underappreciated. It is a gift given to us by God to speak directly to Him. All we had to do was use it. “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ( 1 Thessalonians 5: 17-18)

The ride home for the group of young singers may also have been a long one, but they had a lot of long stories to tell.

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A special thanks to Ma’am Margie Macias for the uniform and transportation; Ma’am Ling-ling Macias and Sir Ken Macias for the registration; and the PAC Faculty and Alumni for the foods.

Layout Artist: Mr. Arnel E. Bulaan, The Zenith Adviser