Photo By Sgt. Tracy Ellingsen | Spc. Daniel Cross (left), and Lt. Col. Mike Melendez get the congregation on its feet...... read more read more
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- Like the set of an old western movie, the streets of this dusty Army outpost in Southern Kuwait are deserted on Sunday mornings. Most of those given the luxury of a day off take it Sunday. The only traffic on the roads is the occasional lizard sunning himself before the desert sun gets too high in the sky. But at the corner of Ardennes Avenue and Bayreuth Boulevard, an aluminum sided building reverberates with the sounds of praise and worship music.
Lt. Col. Mike Melendez and the praise team of "Chapel Next" get the congregation on its feet every Sunday at 10 a.m. In fact, if the congregation isn't standing, the drummer, Spc. Daniel Cross, says he won't play.
But for Cross and Melendez, bringing soulful sounds to service members isn't a new concept; the two were deployed together in 2005. But their friendship began a decade earlier when Cross was just nine years old.
"The first time we met I was stationed in Dallas in 1995," said Melendez. It was during his time in Dallas that Melendez first met the Cross family while attending the North Church in Carrollton, Texas.
"I got involved with the choir; his father was in the choir and I met the whole family," said Melendez.
"Our families used to go out to eat after church," said Cross. But after completing his assignment in Dallas, Melendez was stationed in Korea, and the Cross family eventually lost contact with him.
Ten years later, Cross, who was then 19, and Melendez were deployed with the 4th Sustainment Brigade to Taji, Iraq, but the two didn't remember each other. Well, not right away.
"It took three weeks on the ground before we realized who each other were," said Cross.
The unlikely duo was soon leading worship music, but this time it was for their fellow troops.
"When we deployed before we didn't have any drums, so he sang for the year," Melendez said about Cross. "He has an amazing voice. He's the best male voice up there; except for me of course," he added with a smile.
While their relationship in Taji was based on music, Cross also found comfort in having a familiar face that reminded him so much of home.
"Taji was my first deployment and it got kind of hard," said Cross. "I missed my family and he was like my connection back home. We kind of reminded each other where we were from."
Four months into their second deployment, this one scheduled to last fifteen months, the two have again set up shop on a chapel stage bringing praise music to parishioners deployed from all corners of the world.
As much as the praise team may be one of the main attractions of Chapel Next, Melendez says for him playing music has nothing to do with bringing people into the Church, but everything to do with his own walk with Christ. And while he somewhat acknowledges his rockstar status amongst the Camp Arifjan Christian community, he is almost embarrassed by the attention.
"I don't expect people to show up. I don't expect my team to show up. I just do what I do and I love it," he said. "I don't want to be famous."
When Melendez is at the keyboard, the stresses of his 15-month deployment don't appear to affect him. His intense blue eyes look to the ceiling or to his fellow musicians and are sometimes closed as if in a moment of personal prayer. His exaggerated movements seem impossible for a man confined to a small stool situated in a jungle of cords, music stands and amplifiers. And while the majority of the congregation may be even a little cold from the powerful air-conditioner, Melendez fans himself with a scrap piece of paper; a necessity after dancing in his seat, pumping his fist in the air and pounding the keyboard with an intensity usually saved for music videos.
For Melendez, this deployment with the 4th Sustainment Brigade meant leaving his position as praise team leader at a church back in Texas, a position that was filled shortly after he deployed. A disenchanted Melendez didn't expect to lead a praise team ever again, especially while deployed, but when the call came, he was more than willing to take on the job.
"This church service and these people are healing to me," he said.
The self-taught musician quickly brought his style of worship to the Chapel Next service, one of Camp Arifjan's two weekly contemporary Christian Church services. But the service was lacking a drummer and Melendez knew just which Soldier to call on to fill that roll. Even though he had never heard Cross play the drums, Melendez knew the entire Cross family was musically gifted.
"There was a need for a drummer and he said he was a drummer," said Melendez. "When I asked him to play I didn't even ask him nicely. I knew he'd be good. You can't brag that much and not be good."
"I've been playing the drums since I was eight," said Cross. "I kind of walked in one day and sat down at a drum set and taught myself. I never took a lesson. Well I took one lesson once but the guy didn't like me."
His job as the senior intelligence analyst with the 4th Sustainment Brigade often means long and stressful hours for the Texas native. And while he certainly doesn't let playing on the praise team interfere with his work, the brief respite he gets at both rehearsals and during services is all the stress relief he says he needs.
"Saturday night till Sunday morning is my escape," he said. "Music is my life. Give me an excuse for anything musical and I'm there." The drum set sits idly in the back corner of the chapel stage throughout the week; almost waiting for Cross to come practice.
On a base where public space is at a premium, rehearsals are conducted in the twilight hours of Saturday evenings. The base chapel is used by many different services and for other base events including ceremonies, training sessions, and meetings. The musicians and singers set up and break down their equipment before and after each practice and Sunday morning service.
After completing a 12-hour work day, Melendez still conducts a three hour practice. As praise team leader he selects the songs and leads the run through and has even written three of the songs the group has performed. But Melendez offers leadership to his team in more aspects than just music.
"The Bible is a book all about wisdom," he said. "You just follow the Bible and do what it tells you to do and you'll live wiser."
His simple approach to religion is based on a lifetime spent worshiping, studying and serving a God who Melendez said has helped him through some difficult situations.
"I got saved when I was 19. It wasn't a dramatic experience, it was just me and my TV and someone said 'reach out and touch the TV if you want to get saved,'" he said. "I didn't want to speak or preach; I wanted to play."
But Cross sees the man who he has led worship with for three years as even more of a spiritual leader. Melendez's ability to put the weight of the world behind him as he focus on the blessings in his own life remind Cross of a famous individual from the Bible who managed to do the same.
"He definitely has a heart of David. Whatever David did he found time to worship," Cross said, comparing the King who defeated Goliath in the Bible to Melendez. "That man cares more about God and his family than anything else in life."
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2008 08:25 |
| Story ID: | 21856 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 229 |
| Downloads: | 203 |
This work, Soldiers bring spiritual sounds to service members, by SGT Tracy Ellingsen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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