On Friday, July 23, Every Nation Churches and Ministries (Every Nation) made an official attempt to set the Guinness World Record for “The Most Languages Performed in a Song (Multiple Singers): by performing AMAZING GRACE in 50 different languages.

Background on the attempt:

The Guinness World Record attempt was performed during Every Nation’s 2010 World Conference (EN2010). Every Nation has churches and ministries in 61 nations and has a vision to plant a church in “every nation” of the world. The conference theme is inspired by the Bible verse in Revelation 7:9-10, and what better way to celebrate the vision of Every Tribe, Nation, People and Language come together than by singing one of the most beloved Christian songs, Amazing Grace, in multiple languages. Thus, singing Amazing Grace in 50 different languages was chosen for the Guinness World Record.

The Every Nation World Conference is only held once every three years. In the Philippines, Every Natin is represented by Victory Christian Fellowship, which has 14 congregations in Metro Manila and over 40 provincial churches outside Metro Manila. Victory has had the privilege of hosting both the previous world conference, EN07 and this year’s conference, EN2010. EN07 was held in Araneta coliseum with more than 14,000 participants from 41 different nations. For the 4th World Conference, EN2010 was held on July 22 to 24, 2010 at the SMX Convention Center and featured more than 18,000 participants from 47 different nations, including Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, China, Korea, Singapore, Peru, Philippines, the United States, and the Middle East.

The Story of Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace was written by John Newton, a former slave ship captain who came to Christ. Many people believe the melody of Amazing Grace is actually an old African folk song that Newton would have heard as the singing of the slaves wafted up from the hold of his slave ship. One of the most beloved Christian songs, Amazing Grace has been translated into almost every language in every nation. It is also referred to an the “National Anthem” of the Cherokee Indians, who sang Amazing Grace to encourage one another on the “Trail of Tears” as they were led on a forced relocation of almost 2,000 km on which 4,000 men, women and children perished.

On Friday night, July 23, participants of EN2010 celebrated “every nation” by singing “Amazing Grace” in 50 languages, including: Arabic, Mandarin, Zulu, Persian, Hindi, Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Cebuano and Cherokee Indian.

Full list of languages performed by Every Nation at EN2010: