One of the most amazing and touching things about the making of this CD was the way in which God brought to us all the people who speak in different languages in the last song. One of those people was Robert Bahadur. Robert is from Pakistan where Urdu is the official literary language. The song he sings in Urdu in this call to prayer is about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane pleading with his disciples to stay awake with him and pray.
The song is simple enough, but the story behind it is really amazing. The song that follows this one is Arise Shine, taken from Isaiah 60. Months ago, I had a vision for this song to begin with a man singing like an Islamic muezzin in a minaret. These men are highly skilled and call faithful Muslims to prayer five times a day with their powerful voices. I wanted to find a man who could sing like this in a different language but who was a Christian and would sing the praises of Jesus Christ. How many people like this do you think there are out there? How many of them would you expect to be living in Charleston, SC?
I sent an email to a producer/worship leader I know in London asking him if he knew of anyone in the London area who could do this, knowing there are many Muslims and Hindus in London and this man has many connections. The answer? Nobody.
The fact that Robert was living right here in the Charleston area was one thing. The fact that he could sing as well as he does is another. When this lovely Spirit filled brother in Christ walked into the studio the last week of the project and said the song that the Lord put on his heart to sing was this one about calling the church to stay awake …it was hard to hold back the tears.