How Mitch made Bethlehem crowd cry on Christmas Day

Actually, the show called Songs From the Heart at Christmas was held on Dec. 22, three days before Christmas Day, in Manger Square, right on the spot where Jesus Christ was born. It was a fulfillment of an item on the bucket list of Mitch Valdes who single-handedly entertained a mixed crowd of OFWs and tourists and made them cry.

“The show was open to the public,” Mitch told Funfare in an exclusive interview the other day, a week after she came home from the Holy Land with pilgrims organized by Arlina Onglao’s Journey of Faith, Inc., the travel agency that has been organizing similar tours to other places like Lourdes (France) and Fatima (Portugal). “It was attended by my co-pilgrims and the Palestinian Authority. Bethlehem pala is in the hands of the Palestinians, not Israel. A church was built on the spot where the manger was and in front of it was the stage where I did the show.”

It was raining non-stop three days before the show and the organizers thought of moving the show to a nearby restaurant but Mitch started to sulk.

“I told them I went to the Holy Land purposely to do a show at Manger Square and they would make me sing only in a restaurant? On the eve of the show, I asked them what the weather report was for the next day and they said that the weather report was very accurate.”

The sun came out on concert day, so the organizers moved back the props and everything to Manger Square.

“It was very cold, six degrees,” continued Mitch, “but it was a very beautiful night with me doing the show under the stars. It was only the second year that the Palestinian Authority decided to make it an annual event. Palestinians are basically Catholics pala, at least those we were talking to. In fact, their minister even contributed a Belen as part of the stage décor.”

There’s a border patrol, Mitch learned, and the Palestinians could not go out to Jerusalem where all the other historical events about Jesus are — The Station of the Cross, The Crucifixion, etc. — and it’s only the manager that’s in the hands of the Palestinians.

Most of the OFWs came on three buses, some of them from Tel Aviv and nearby places. Mitch’s repertoire included her international versions of songs such as In The Mood which she sang also in Palestinian, retro dance songs that prompted the audience to spring to their feet, comic acts about her experiences around the world and Christmas songs. The audience had fun, even if they were reduced to tears by some of the songs.

On Dec. 24, Mitch got sick but she proceeded with the second show just the same, singing a cappella because the guitarist had begged off, leaving Mitch suffering from a mild attack of asthma afterward.

“I couldn’t cancel the show,” said Mitch. “I promised The Lord I would sing.” Mitch was given a Servant’s Heart Award by Maher Canawati of the Palestinian Authority.

 After the concert, Mitch broke away from the pilgrim group and explored the place on her own.

“I lay prostrate in one of the holy places,” recalled Mitch, “and it was cathartic. I visited the Wailing Wall the day after the show pero parang hindi ko masyadong ma-trip-an ‘yon. The show was so successful so I said, bakit pa ako magwi-wail, eh, binigyan na ako ng magandang show.”

But Mitch cried when she crossed the Sea of Galilee where St. Peter walked on the water.

“It was a metaphor of life,” said Mitch, “you know, you are made to walk on water and it can be very scary baka bigla kang lumubog, di ba? But it wasn’t that scary after all. It was in the evening. My group rode in a barge, with blinking lights overhead along the shore beautifully reflected in the water. Somebody guided us in prayer and that’s when I, along with my companions, shed tears. It was not literally walking on water, but more of sailing on water. While sailing, you recall all the occasions in your life that have terrorized you, the times that you have difficulty, so you are asked to ‘walk on water’ to restore your faith.”

On Christmas Day, Mitch and company heard Mass in holy sites.

The pilgrimage was a dream come true for Mitch who crossed Arlina’s path by chance. The two ladies didn’t know each other. In early 2011 on Tina Monzon-Palma’s ANC show, Mitch casually mentioned that included in her bucket list was a trip to the Holy Land.

“It just came out of the blue,” recalled Mitch, “because I don’t usually tell people about things which I consider personal.”

By a stroke of fate perhaps, Arlina saw Mitch and unwittingly served as Mitch’s fairy godmother.

“I’m a busy person and I don’t usually watch TV,” recalled Arlina. “But at that time, I happened to tune in to Tina’s show and I kind of heard a little bell ring.” By coincidence, Arlina turned out to be a big Mitch fan. “Fate really brought us together, or Somebody more powerful than fate.”

To make a long story short, Arlina said that she sought out her friends who knew Mitch to relay an invitation for Mitch to join a pilgrimage to the Holy Land that she had been finalizing. A few weeks later when they finally met, Arlina told Mitch that she was challenged by her business partner (not a Filipino) to enlist a Filipino singer to sing for the tour group at Manger Square where international chorales usually perform. David Archuleta performed in the same venue for a Christmas special in 2011. 

“I suggested that since I would be there,” said Mitch, “why not open my little show to OFWs living there, and other pilgrims besides. Might as well expand my ‘little show’ to a full concert because that’s what I do best — perform, di ba? If I can do anything to make that journey memorable, why not use my God-given talent, di ba?”

For three years, Mitch said that she was looking for an assurance that somebody was taking care of her. There were questions in her mind looking for answers.

“These past three years were horrifying for me on a personal level,” she said, not elaborating. “I’ve been living alone, you know.”

She came home from the Holy Land resting assured, her faith intact.

“The Lord has touched me and I’m whole again,” she said.

 (Note: Arlina Onglao may be contacted at her Journeys of Faith office in Quezon City at these numbers: 929-0144 or 929-0145; or +63917-561-6440, +63999-9935580 or +63917-8148127.)

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