After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)

John, the author of Revelation, gets a glimpse of what heaven is like: 

Jesus is sitting at God’s side, and God is on the throne.

Multitudes of people from incredibly diverse backgrounds, from every nation, tribe, people and language, from all corners of the globe, gathered before the throne. 

They are wearing white robes, cleaned of their sins by the blood of Jesus.

They are holding palm branches that signify victory, and the hope it brings. 

They are praising God altogether – for the salvation He brings through Christ, the Lamb. 

Those are some of my favourite verses, as it gives me such joy to imagine that I will get to be part of the countless numbers of believers from past, present and future, corporately praising God together – something I love doing with others currently, but on a much larger scale, for a much longer time! Besides that, it reflects God’s heart for people from all parts of the world to come to know Him and praise Him.

Though we weren’t holding palm branches and none of us were wearing white robes (physically), singing and praising God together at AnCon sure felt like my version of getting John’s glimpse into heaven. 

Every morning and evening, over 600 of us from all nations and languages gathered in the main auditorium to praise God in the form of singing. We would start and end the main sessions doing that. In our faculties, we could round out the Faculty Bible Seminars singing together. On Wednesday night, many gathered for the optional Acoustic Praise Night late into the depths of the night. 

AnCon was drenched in singing in praise to God! 

One of My Favourite Moments of Singing Together

I’d just had an intense conversation with a student who was doubting the genuineness of his faith. In the overwhelm of his first AnCon, he’d compared his young faith and limited knowledge of the Bible to others, and began questioning if his faith was sincere and in Christ. He brought up that even the youth he leads at church know the Bible better than he did, and felt inadequate in serving as a youth leader. That the main sessions have been challenging to keep up with and it was too much. 

After an extensive conversation explaining that faith in Christ alone saves and that it is done through grace from God, a penny dropped – he understood what God’s grace meant. I opened up Ephesians 2:8-9 to read to him in my Bible, and as I started reading… he finished my sentences. He’d already known what it said by heart, yet did not understand the scale and depth of what it meant for him. 

As we sang “Grace Alone” that night, it warmed my heart that singing along with me was this first-year student who’s singing the lyrics to this song with fresh vigour. That conversation had also reminded me of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it is indeed good news for all!

In Conversation with Nathan Lum, the 2026 AnCon Band Leader

I spent some time one afternoon early in the week getting to know Nathan Lum, a current student at the Conservatorium of Music. He helped satisfy the part of my brain for music nerdiness by answering questions ranging from the roles of having 2 Music Directors (MDs) on stage, what it was like serving on the Platform Team with others, and we spoke extensively about the song selection process. 

Many factors had to be considered (and this is by no means a comprehensive list): Song familiarity, congregation “singability”, relevance to the talk, variability in song themes, etc. 

It was an intentional process of choosing an initial round of songs in consultation with the Platform Team (they started with 25!), then culling it down to 19 after receiving the main talk outlines. The final list of 19 includes a Chinese Christian song, which was led by members of EU FOCUS who are international students. 

Though Mandarin is not my heart language, being able to understand and sing it was impactful in a way I’ve never experienced. It felt like I was singing in solidarity with the millions of Chinese Christians around the world, further building that picture of Revelation 7. 

Part of the EU’s 2030 “Big Kingdom Vision” is Big Kingdom Proclamation: “By 2030 a multicultural and multilingual EU will be passionately and proactively presenting the gospel across ethnic and linguistic differences to lead students from every culture on campus to Christ.”

Not only is this part of the EU’s vision, but it is most certainly God’s vision too. Singing in a language other than English at AnCon was a deliberate decision to connect to the hearts of Chinese students, yet a powerful gesture to also say “you belong here in the body of Christ”, while challenging native speakers to consider the many other ways believers around the world praise God. 

Singing together in praise to God at AnCon gave me a small glimpse of heaven. I hope that in reading this, it gave you a fresh perspective on singing corporately to God, whether at your local church or the next conference you attend, possibly at Supporters Night next year!

You can tune in to this year’s song list here.