British Columbia Synod

Almost immediately, we started brainstorming how to pay for it. We have to buy airline tickets for the entire choir, and hotels in New York are quite expensive. So we began fundraising: silent auctions, garage sales, bottle drives, BBQs, dinners and of course choir concerts! Our last one was so well-attended that the church was overcapacity. We also set up a GoFundMe page where anyone who wants to support us can make a donation, which would be much appreciated.

I’ve been a choir director for many years. When I was in Brantford, Ont., I composed hymns and cantatas that have been performed in Ontario and British Columbia. The idea of taking a choir to Carnegie Hall is hugely exciting.

I’m a firm believer in the idea that God puts me in the place where I am supposed to be. When my husband and I left Ontario eight years ago on the back of a motorcycle, we didn’t know where we would end up.

We knew we wanted to live in B.C. but that was all.

When we drove through Penticton, we both remarked that it looked like a nice spot. We stopped in at Our Redeemer and met with Rev. Curtis Aguirre, who told us that, coincidentally, they were looking for a choir director. So it was fortuitous.

Now, I am taking that choir to Carnegie Hall. It’s like I said, “We didn’t go looking for this, it came to us. Somehow God placed it in front of us, so this is a real blessing.” —Shayla Sipila, choir director