Things went viral after Slade and Danielle Alday and a group of friends went to Sam’s Club in Dothan, Ala.
Alday, a worship leader in the Bowen Baptist Association in Bainbridge, Ga., 55 miles to the southeast, and his wife had gone to dinner with a group of worship leaders from an interdenominational church in Donalsonville, Ga.
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Facebook photo Slade Alday, in black shirt, is joined by others at a Dothan, AL Sam’s Club singing “Our God is Awesome” in a video since seen by more than 7 million people on Facebook. At right is a Sam’s Club employee who joined in, Christian Melton. |
Someone needed to go to Sam’s Club, so they all went.
One of them began playing a keyboard there and the group began to sing. An onlooker recorded about three and a half minutes of “Our God is Awesome” and posted it to Facebook, where it had tallied nearly 11 million views as of Dec. 18.
“It was impromptu,” Alday, who also is a member of the Sons of Jubal chorus of Georgia Baptist worship leaders, told The Christian Index of the Georgia convention in a Nov. 17 article. “The Holy Spirit just showed up in a mighty way. In this time when people can’t get along for various reasons, we were all together. We were just singing praises to God.”
The video can be viewed in the Index article at christianindex.org/when-a-trip-to-sams-club-became-a-worship-service-for-millions/.
In the video, Alday can be seen in a black shirt while Joy Buczek, a member of dinner party, plays “Our God is Awesome” on a keyboard set up for display.
“When we were walking around we turned the corner and there were these keyboards,” Alday recounted. “Like any curious musician, Joy wanted to mess around on them and started playing some songs.
“We started singing in our little group and began having a worship time.”
Prior to what is seen in the video, the group had already sung “Total Praise,” “My Life Is in Your Hands” and “Every Praise,” Alday said. By then, he estimated they’d been singing for 10 or 15 minutes before realizing they had an audience.
“I heard people saying ‘Amen.’ So, I turned around and they had their hands raised; some were crying. It was a beautiful moment.”
Those who had joined in asked the group to sing louder. “A Sam’s Club employee named Christian Melton joined in,” Alday added. “My, what a voice. She sounded like Whitney Houston.”
In addition to being shared on Facebook, the concert had trended on Twitter; a segment about it was on the “Today” show; and Kirk Cameron posted it on his Facebook page.
Alday said the experience reminded him of John 12:32. “Jesus said, ‘If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me,’” he stated. “In that little bit of time the gospel was proclaimed around the world. People responded. It was mind-blowing.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Compiled by Baptist Press senior editor Art Toalston with reporting by Scott Barkley of Georgia Baptists’ Christian Index.)