Four time Grammy award winner and  former front man of Christian rock band, Petra, John W. Schlitt along with Michael Hill backed by ‘DivineConnection’ electrified one of the biggest ever gathering in any Christian music concert Wednesday evening here at the DDSC Stadium. Some four thousand, estimated by the organizers, joined John and Michael as they sang popular Christian worship songs. When John and Michael with DivineConnection took the stage, the crowd went ecstatic though the concert was behind schedule by one and half hour owing to ‘technical problems’.
John Schlitt is household name in Nagaland and well known in international Christian music circuit.  The crowd went into raptures when John and Michael Hill with Divine Connection sang some numbers from Petra such as ‘St. Augustine’s Pears’, ‘There is someone’. On request from the crowd John also sang   “Beyond belief” which was received with thunderous approval.

Earlier, at the start of the concert, minister for Health & Family Welfare, Küzholüzo Nienu gave an informal speech where he appealed to the crowd to impress the guests with proper response and good behavior. Azo said though Nagas had inborn talent, they needed some moulding and encouraged the youth to be confident in marching with the rest of the world. The warm up bands included Renbeni Odyuo who teamed up with Alobo Naga ,followed by   Alo Wanth and Band.
There were as usual, some who passed comments but by and large, there was no unwanted scene.
During the interlude, John testified about how he got saved by God. He said being a Christian was all about following Jesus and having a confident and positive attitude of “I can in Jesus”.   John went on to render gospel worship numbers like “Lord I lift your name on High”, “Love me Lord” which swayed the crowd and the evening of Christian music ended with another Petra number   “Reach Out”. John Schlitt’s parting words to the crowd was “I will see you again.”

Nagaland Post met John Schlitt before the start of the concert. Asked what was his expectation from the crowd, John replied, “I just hope the lives of many get touched and enjoy the show”. Asked about what he thought of the Dimapur concert, John said that he felt wonderful and honored to be back and make it up to the crowd. He said his show last time (in 2008) wasn’t a success owing to his ailment during the tour. His message to the Christian youth was, “You should always remember that you are not alone and that Christ is always with us”. To the non-Christians he questioned on why they haven’t become a part of the family and accept the fact that God wants to walk with you, think about it! he exclaimed.

-NP