Hong Kong Missionary Choir Raise Their Voices to Share the Light of Christmas

For some people in Hong Kong, Christmas Day is a time to see lights or go shopping for deals. For others, it is a day to enjoy the Christmas spirit through music. On this year’s Christmas night, a concert to remember was brought to the public by a multinational missionary choir of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints at their Kowloon Tong Chapel.

The combined voices from the 26-person choir more than filled the chapel and the expanded cultural hall seating area for the standing-room-only audience. Over 430 people came and felt uplifted as the choir shared the light of Christmas through music.

“It’s hard to explain what I felt, but it was warm and peaceful,” said Raider Fung from Yuen Long who was invited by a Church friend to the event.

Chun Kit George Chiu, another guest attendee, remarked, “It’s as if the choir members transformed into angels!”

“I recall the positive impact a Christmas choir had when I was a young missionary and felt this year would likewise be a prime opportunity to share the gospel through music,” said President Dennis Phillips of the Hong Kong China mission.

“We immediately announced to the mission that we would have a choir and wondered who would be interested in giving up their scarce personal time to practice,” he explained further. “We had a strong response so decided to move forward.”

These dedicated missionaries President Philip described are 18 to 25-year-old fulltime volunteers who came from all over the world to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in Hong Kong. They each are talented in their own way and strive to serve the HK people in the community they are involved in. 

Elder Adam Finch who has extensive musical background and experience with numerous productions and performances did his own inspiring rendition of “Jesu Bambino” for the concert. Elder Connor Deutsch conducted the choir who along with Elder Finch and Sister Mariah Sam collaborated on the arrangements and details for the performance.

Sister Sam is an accomplished piano performance musician who dreamed of having such an opportunity during her Hong Kong missionary service. She has a sister who served a mission in New York City and had the privilege of accompanying her missionary choir there. This sparked the dream for Sister Sam to share her faith through music in Hong Kong.

The choir prepared five numbers, along with one piano and three vocal soloists, a flautist and narrators for the 50-minute program. It was a night to remember for all those who came.

In addition to the Christmas night concert, the choir performed at four other venues to combined crowds of several hundred delighted listeners.

“The passers-by were transformed for a moment,” said Elder Aaron Adams as he referred to a performance on the ground floor of the the Bank of America Tower in Central. “They heard the music, stopped, put down their phones, removed their ear buds and felt the peace of the Savior.”

“The choir accomplished everything we hoped for and more,” President Phillips stated. “We intend to follow this pattern next year and add a few more performances in more public gatherings. We know that many felt God's love, and we were truly able to light Hong Kong with music and the spirit of Christ.”