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A Night of Dance and Celebration
by PEDRO PEREZ
May 15, 2014

Night of Dance opening number. On Saturday, May 3rd Solid Rock presented our annual Night of Dance, organized by our Inspirational Praise Dance Team under the leadership of Valerie Smalls. This event always has a special way of demonstrating how artistic movement performed with just the right song can stir emotions deep within and bring us closer to God. Valerie creatively arranged the program in a way that allowed us to recount God's sovereignty and "travel" through biblical history from the beginning of the Old Testament to the New Testament.

Writing the article and taking photos of this event has always been a pleasure of mine over the years...especially sharing one particular performance that brought the audience to their feet [see video]. However, this time I thought it best to share how this event made an impact in the lives of one of our families who attended.

Sonia Borrero is one of our members who attends Solid Rock with her husband David. They not only had the pleasure of attending, but their daughter Daisia is one of the members of the praise dance team. Here is her story which I hope demonstrates God's transformative power that is possible through attending an event like the Night of Dance. 

This Night of Dance meant more to my family than anyone knows.  When Valerie asked me to share this story I’ll admit I was a little hesitant, but after seeking God in prayer...my answer became very clear and while I can’t share the whole story, I will share the direction in which we are headed.

We are a blended family. The Lord has blessed with me with a wonderful husband who has two beautiful daughters. In our home we don’t use the word “step”, David’s girls are my “bonus” daughters. I also have two children of my own and together we have one daughter, Daisia, who has the privilege of praising God as part of Sold Rock’s Inspirational Dance Team.

Our older daughters are young adults and all live outside of our home. Despite their busy lives and that they each had a conflict in schedule with the time and date of the show, they were all able to make it...already demonstrating God’s hand at work. At that moment, I hadn’t yet seen it...the blessings that came later were just a reminder that when God blesses, He blesses in abundance.

The night came and our girls were running late. I was a little flustered but I remembered something a friend always tells me; “God is in control.” I left to church to concentrate on what needed to be done, completely trusting the Lord that He would get them to the church safely on time. Finally, my family arrived and the show began. The girls were excited for their sister and two of them had been to previous special events at Solid Rock...so they knew they were in for something beautiful and moving. The fact that their little sister was part of it was just icing on the cake (to them) but in my heart I knew that had Daisia not been a part of it; a conflict in schedules would have been the excuse they would have needed not to have been there at all. (Remember when you were 18 and 24 and knew it all? I do!)

From the very first song (The Casting Down of Satan) to the last one, in celebration of Our Lord, these girls were moved between tears and joy; yet at that point, they had not fully understood the impact of the night. Two performances that stood out were the solos by Xelena & Naomi. At the time our girls thought they were simply two beautiful solos...however, when we got home that night, I was able to share what these two young ladies are living through...even as they performed with poise and a confidence that "Yes, the Lord is in control!" For those of us at Solid Rock who already know these two young ladies, we were witnessing praise and worship at its very best!

We were up until 2am the next day talking about God, the Bible and even discussing how God and church don’t have to be – and should never be - a dull, dry or boring routine. God is alive! He is ever present in our lives and He equips us with all that we need if only we whole-heartedly seek Him.

The next morning, our daughter Diana (who gave her life to the Lord right here at Solid Rock) came downstairs for breakfast with her Bible in hand and with many more questions. It turned out that the reason they were running late the night before is because she has been taking bible study classes privately. Diana said that while she slept she was able to connect what she had been learning with the dances from the night before.

Our four girls spent Sunday together enjoying family time, spoiling their little sister and playing Bible Sword Drills; a game where they race each other to find and read a specific scripture from the Bible. Yes, they may be older but it was their little 8-year-old sister who was the person God had positioned to happily, innocently, and joyfully minister to them. It is because of their commitment to her that they were here in the first place and it is because of their commitment to her that they left here this weekend with a “fresh and new” perspective on what life with God can be...if only we open the door to our hearts.

Thank you, Valerie! Thank you Solid Rock for supporting our family and for the role you have played in changing our lives; placing Jesus at the center of it all. For my household it wasn’t just a night of dance – it was a night of true celebration!

Together with the combined efforts of our Praise and Worship Team, musicians, Video Ministry and Production Ministry, and the parents of our praise dancers who helped coordinate set and costume changes...this event was truly a blessing for all of us!

If you would like a copy of the entire performance on DVD for $10, contact Tyrone Donald of our Video Ministry to place your order. In the meantime, check out some highlights in our   Photo Gallery>>