How did the Voices Of Unity help turn tears of sorrow into tears of joy for one choir from Hong Kong?

That’s exactly what happened. Read the full story HERE

We went to China with Dreams of Gold and now we’ll come home with real Gold. The Voices of Unity Youth Choir has won two gold medals!

Here’s an interview, Director Marshall White gave with Indiana’s News Center via Phone:

Today is the first BIG DAY in terms of why we are here in China. While the Opening Ceremonies were an absolutely incredible experience–the reason that the Voices of Unity are in China is to win at least one gold medal. Today starts that venture! Today at 3pm is our first competition performance, where it really counts. The team is focused and ready to compete, we’ve been working so hard for so long—and that time is finally here. We expect to have video posted of the performance for your friends back home. Our next competition performance is EARLY Sunday morning, then that’s it—but we still have the Closing Ceremonies Monday evening to take part in but again our main mission IS the gold medal, and that we expect to win.

Thursday evening was the Opening Ceremonies of the second half of the 6th World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China—and it truly was the experience of a lifetime! Of the over 450 choirs from nearly 90-countries, only (6) choirs were asked to perform as part of the opening ceremonies. The Voices of Unity were not only one of the choirs performing, but we were one of the most anticipated acts. In fact when the Voices of Unity were announced to perform, we received a great deal of applause from the 10,000 plus in the audience. I must say—this was surprising and just made the kids feel wonderful. After our first song (GET READY) was over we received an incredible ovation of applause and appreciation. We knew that China wouldn’t be ready for what they were about to hear, but these kids really knocked it out of the ballpark. They went absolutely wild! They Voices of Unity also performed the song Heal The World (RIP Michael Jackson) and what an emotional experience that was. As the song got going you could see hands waiving their flags from many nations and those without flags, well they waived their hands. It truly was an incredible sight to see, and the Voices of Unity Youth Choir created that experience. The stage was HUGE, but the video screens were beyond larger than life–Jordan Applegate took the stage literally.

But the Opening Ceremonies were more than just a 6-minute performance by our incredible young people—it was a blessing to have such a wonderful night of entertainment put on for us. Traditional Chinese music and culture was represented on the world stage to show everyone what China and Shaoxing are all about.

Shortly after 1:30am the (2) busses departed Fort Wayne and the journey began. While the bus was nice, the roads we traveled on weren’t so much—it was bumpy! It was crazy checking into the airport trying to figure out how to get all of the audio and video production gear checked in, as well as the musical instruments. We paid an extra $1,200 for that alone—ouch! But we are in the air flying west towards San Francisco–and one of the restrooms are not working—grrrr! And speaking of GRRRR, the word apparently is that when we arrive into Shanghai only one bus will be taking us to Shaoxing. Okay, these busses are smaller than what we have in the States and it took two to get to Cincinnati—there’s no way a single smaller bus is going to work!

Check out this quick video of the arrival into Cincinnati, although more to come on that:

Hello everyone, wow what an amazing weekend! Fort Wayne really knows how to take care of their own sending us off in style–and I’m not just referring to those incredible travel uniforms that you see pictured here! Saturday evening the VOICES of UNITY had the honor of performing a final concert at the Trinity Music Fest at Parkview Field in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. The band was tight, the choir sounded powerful as always, and the day was just an incredible event for all involved—but that evening singing to the fireworks, that is an experience we’ll never forget. When Gordon sang “America the Beautiful” it really sounded like the late Ray Charles himself. And when the choir came in, wow what a beautiful way to end the evening and prepare for China! Believe it or not only a few hours after the final song was sung–part of our team packed up and headed down to Cincinnati to start their travels. In fact they have made it safely to China and are on their way to Shaoxing right now! The bulk of us are leaving TONIGHT, well technically Tuesday morning and start our adventure of a lifetime! Check out this video from our friends at INC TV that were taken as our first group left EEEEARLY Sunday morning.

OR, check out some of the photos from the departure:

There are SO MANY individuals and businesses to thank, we couldn’t have done this with out Fort Wayne, Indiana! We also wish to thank all of the parents that have done their job in watching over these kids at home and helping them get to rehearsals, head out to the fund-raising events, and of course all of the performances. But there is ONE person we must all thank and show our love….. Mrs. White—THANK YOU for YOUR support for Mr. White to devote time to these young people, THANK YOU for your understanding of the times he needs to leave his family at home for his musical family, THANK YOU for your patience and love towards these amazing kids. It’s always been said that behind every good man is an even better woman—but in this case Mrs. White, YOU are the incredible woman behind the dreams of so many young people—we love you, thank you so much! And of course Mr. White, we wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for your vision and hard work!

Hello friends! Today is a BIG day for our incredible young people as they will be in a mostly all-day rehearsal, preparing for the World Choir Games. But before we load up the busses and head off to the airport, the Voices of Unity will be taking the stage Saturday evening at Parkview Field in our hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana for our official send-off concert to China. Performing between the David Crowder Band and Jeremy Camp, we are excited to show the great city of Fort Wayne just how hard we’ve been working. You DO NOT want to miss it. Of course, listening to such great bands as the Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, the David Crowder Band….HOW COULD YOU NOT BE THERE? This is also the end to the Three Rivers Festival which can mean only one thing….FIREWORKS! At roughly 10pm, there will be a wonderful fireworks display but with a twist—the VOICES of UNITY will be singing a handful of patriotic songs in a way that only they can, with the fireworks in the background. What a way a send these amazing young people off to China in style, thank you Fort Wayne!

And speaking of the World Choir Games–check this out video showcasing some of the choirs as they arrive for the first half of the games, along with a behind the scenes of getting everything ready for the opening and closing ceremonies.