Honoring Gospel Music Heritage Month
LaTishia Corley – September 28, 2021
One of the best learning experiences that I have ever had in my life was travelling and touring with one of the world’s most famous gospel singers. I was in my early twenties when I first started this journey so I was seeing the world through the eyes of both youth and amazement!
As the daughter of a pastor, I grew up in the church. The youth choir at my home church had mature voices, well beyond our ages, so we generated an audience that was eager to hear us every time we were scheduled to sing. Our voices blended together so well, that it was bitter sweet when we all parted ways after high school in order to go to colleges and jobs outside of our hometown. When I moved from our hometown of Winston-Salem, NC to Charlotte to start my freshman year at UNCC, I never dreamed that I was about to embark on something that would forever change my life in a good way.
Traveling as a gospel singer only heightened my love for God and I was able to share that intimate part of me with other people that felt the exact same way. Singing along with some of the best gospel singers such as John P Kee, and meeting others like Daryl Coley, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, to name a few, was a part of my life that I would not change for anything in the world. While the traveling may have been tedious and even tiring at times, the lives and souls that were touched every time my choir took the stage was something special. Ministering to hundreds and sometimes thousands of people at a time and seeing them release hurt, anguish, and guilt to have that personal one-on-one with God allowed me to see what God was doing through me and that my life was not my own.
I’ve seen so many people surrender their lives to God. For that moment, I was the vessel that He used to allow them to do that. Gospel music is such a healing force for those who do not know how to express themselves any other way. And often times, it’s the tool that gets the attention of the those who find their way into the church and especially into a relationship with God. While I am no longer traveling and singing around the country, I do thank God for giving me that avenue to express my unending gratitude to Him for the life that He has allowed me to live, and also for the difference that I have been able to make in the lives of so many people!
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