Michele Contreras
I was raised Catholic, but by the time I was in middle school I became non-practicing. By the time I reached the end of high school I wasn’t even sure I believed in God anymore. I didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ until I was 19. I was homeless at the time, due to the economic downturn. I was receiving services from Embrace Church (formerly The Harbor Church). In appreciation of the services I was receiving I decided to volunteer there.
One of the few possessions I still owned was my acoustic guitar. I went to the worship leader at the time and offered to help out on my acoustic guitar. I knew I couldn’t do too much, only having a few private lessons my freshmen year of high school. The worship leader at the time was very kind and agreed to let me serve, while teaching me new techniques on the guitar. It was through playing worship music that I began my relationship with Christ. Since then, I have taken music theory classes as well as private vocal lessons. I often use what I learn in music theory class to learn to play other instruments such as piano, bass, and ukelele. I trained in ethnomusicology in England in 2013, which included learning and leading worship songs in different languages as well as learning how to facilitate song writing workshops. I then applied this knowledge in France, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland.
Since I was 19 I have been worshipping God with my musical abilities on the worship team. In early 2016, the Holy Spirit downloaded 13 songs to me within the span of two weeks to share with others in worship. I have found in my journey that worship is so much more than playing music. Worship is a lifestyle. My life is not my own, but belongs to God. I do my best to maintain this mindset, so that I can flow freely with the Holy Spirit and not let my flesh get in the way of what God is doing, whether I’m on stage leading worship, at work serving coffee, or out and about running errands. Everything I do, I do unto the glory of God and that is what worship is all about, glorifying God.
