Our Sigonella Community Gospel Choir was invited to sing at a church in Gela! There were several local Italian organizations who went in together to send a bus to pick us up, and then throw us a reception at a beautiful hotel! Here's where we arrived in Gela:
It says, "The Community of Gela Wishes Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"
There was a nativity scene underneath.
The piazzas were decorated BEAUTIFULLY!
With more nativity scenes!
They don't put Baby Jesus (Gesu Bambino) in the manger until Christmas morning. He was there though! One of the non-english-speaking Italians handed me the Baby to take a picture. They all thought it was so funny how nervous I was to take Him!
This is the church where we sang. People were crammed into every bench, and those without seats stood in the back. The mayor was there, along with the local news! The TV cameras were on us for the whole concert! The smiles on the faces in the crowd were priceless! Everyone clapped along and some of the ladies were trying to sing along in a language they didn't understand!
One couple in our group are missionaries who started a church in a nearby town. They're our translators. Guiseppe got up before each song to tell the people in Italian what our song was about. I think our Chaplain was nervous when they asked him to explain what "gospel" meant!
Here's the whole choir:
After we sang the party moved to a beautiful hotel, Hotel Sole! They held a reception for us with MOLTO BUONO local food and they even had a singing group to perform for us! This was the highlight for me:
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