Davao, Philippines - November 26, 2007.. By Sherry Cheong .. Third stop of Yellowren’s Destination Tour 2007 brought the band to Davao City, located on the Southeastern region of Philippines. Locally, the concert had been widely publicized by various TV, radio and print media in the weeks before the performance date. Although Yellowren’s Destination CD recording was done entirely in Mandarin, the trio proved to be competently bilingual and successful in their adaptation of the song list to an 80% English version. At CAP Auditorium, where the concert was held, enthusiastic audience from all walks of life started to stream in close to an hour before the performance was scheduled to start. Earlier in the afternoon, a saturation of postcards containing the concerts details given out at various universities and high schools proved effective as a number of those young people approached turned up for the show. The expectation of the organizers of at least 800 people was far exceeded with an overwhelming crowd of 1300.

 

Soon, the lights dimmed and eager screams in anticipation signaled the beginning of the concert. Mong, Dayna and Chee Kong began the night with the upbeat “Look What You’ve Done For Me” which brought the crowd to their feet. Up next was more of a worship number “Hosanna”, which to the group’s surprise was already a familiar song in Davao and the entire crowd could almost be heard singing along to every word of the lyrics. When Dayna sang “I Still…” in Mandarin, the accompanying vivid images of natural disasters, terrorists attacks etc presented on screen transcended all language barriers and it must have struck a chord with the crowd as these were issues they were familiar with, living in this part of the world. Mong’s song of the album title, the only other Mandarin ballad, was made even more poignant with her relating how the song came about. A story of how she personally embraced God upon her grandma’s passing and never looked back since, and how Shea Chee, a young lady who lived a fulfilling, though brief life, as her demise helped brought about many, many people to know the true and living God. Subsequently, when Chee Kong revealed that the young lady was his wife, he had the audience gasp in astonishment. Perhaps most may not have such a dramatic encounter in life but they could most certainly relate to the story when it’s being told in such honesty and seeing the physical presence of a living testimony of God’s goodness. Chee Kong’s sincere rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” moved the masses to sing along with him to the well-known tune. This song will surely make a deeper impact when they next hear it over the airwaves, no matter which version.

 

Within the concert was also a short yet powerful sermon by Pastor Dale Lim, who’s also the Executive Producer for Yellowren, about living a fulfilling life in times like these. A narrative could probably be written here about his message but perhaps one of the best measures that the message had truly spoken to the people, was by the number that answered the salvation call. On that particular night, over a hundred people responded to that call positively. To the entire Yellowren team, decisions to follow Jesus Christ like these were what they relentlessly strive for.

 

Most Filipinos may be shy when approached face-to-face, but they certainly did not display that characteristic during the concert as they unreservedly worshiped God in songs, gave wonderful responses, willingly participated in games (though the iPods must have provided the extra nudge), even clapped in unison and jumped energetically along with the singers. All good things must come to an end and all too soon, the concert ended with a major sing-along session to Yellowren’s version of “Praise You In This Storm”, originally by Casting Crowns. It was a victorious event in all sense of the word and the journey continues. Till then..