The Whistler in the Penthouse

Having been confronted with conviction from the Father to diligently seek Him in search of His heart for our time in Sosua, I took my guitar and posted up under a tree in the courtyard of our Airbnb. I’d only been conversing with Him for a few moments before my brother, Justin, joined me with his cajon and I clued him in to my thoughts. 

We’d been at our location for about four days at this point and hadn’t really done all that much work. I was itching to get into something freaky and knew that was not only my desire and not only Justin’s, but it was also God’s. So I invited my brother into that and before we even had a chance to address God together, our attention was stolen by a howling whistle from the hotel across the street. Our eyes scoured the building to find a man on the roof signaling us to join him with our instruments. We obliged. 

On the way up, we acknowledged that this was an invitation from our Dad into “more” that we’d been asking for. We asked for His Spirit to rest on us and approached the mysterious man. Immediately, he greeted us with kindness and we started to dialogue a bit about who we all were and what we were doing. We learned that he is a Swiss music manager and he’s currently living in the Dominican Republic operating a discotech bar and restaurant with his wife. 

“Do you play discotech music?” He asked, confident that we’d say yes. 

“No, we only play worship songs.”

He responded with a hopeful tone, “Oh that’s great! Can you play ‘Perfect” by Ed Sheeran?”

“No, we only sing songs of worship to Jesus.”

As he escorted us around the corner into his penthouse apartment, he began to tell us a bit about what religion means to him personally before instructing us to take a seat on the balcony as we awaited the arrival of his wife. (In that short walk, we weren’t able to hear enough to confirm whether or not he was a true follower of Jesus, but later learned that he is not.) At some point in the ten minutes that we had known each other, the whistler in the penthouse decided to have us play for the two of them while they stared into each other’s eyes and sipped their red wine. It was truly a peculiar situation, but Justin and I joyfully made the most of the moment and asked the HS to inhabit our praise and penetrate their hearts as we sang. 

After a while they asked if we’d be interested in playing at the disco tech, allowed us a moment to ask the Father, and they were delighted when we accepted. Though we had no idea what we were getting into, we were elated at such a stellar opportunity to reach individuals that have had no prior interaction with or interest in meeting God. 

We spent the afternoon preparing ourselves for what the HS had in store for our evening and then we met up with our new friend who gifted us matching white button ups and sunglasses that may or may not have been Gucci. Who knows, honestly. 

 Justin and I in our matchy matchy outfits

Upon arriving at the bar, we set up in the foyer area and learned that our role would be to attract folks to the establishment. We played for two hours straight and they invited us back to play again the next night. Our new friend unknowingly gave us permission to exalt our King on his street corner. 

During our sets, very few people stopped to chat with us and I’ll be honest… I was hoping for some miraculous moment that never happened. It’d be so simple to look at this experience and deem it fruitless, but I’m confident that where my Father is, there is never not work being done. He moved and I trust that, even if I never see the results of it. WE LED WORSHIP AT A BAR!!! Don’t miss the power in that statement. 

Justin and I during one of the sets

Our friend finally broke the news to us that “I think you won’t play anymore. People aren’t really interested in the music for Jesus outside and then the disco music inside.” And though we were no longer gigging at the restaurant, he continued to invite us over to the penthouse for meals and to engage in conversation that eventually led to his request to be discipled by two of our guys who had also been working on a promo video for him. 

We did continue to nurture the relationship, but as our time in Sosua diminished, so did our invitations to his home. Now that we have moved on to our next country, we have and will continue to cover him in prayer and we rest in assurance that God will move in a mighty way that’ll radically transform his entire life.

In the same way, I am asking Papa that every person that encounters the words on this page would be renewed and restored into sweet relationship with Him. 

I love you. 

AWM

One more picture just for funzies