{"id":20026,"date":"2022-07-19T09:56:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T13:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=20026"},"modified":"2022-07-19T10:02:18","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T14:02:18","slug":"watch-this-gospel-singers-agt-performance-bring-sofia-vergara-to-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2022\/07\/watch-this-gospel-singers-agt-performance-bring-sofia-vergara-to-tears.html","title":{"rendered":"Watch This Gospel Singer&#8217;s AGT Performance Bring Sofia Vergara to Tears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gospel singer Ben Waites stunned the judges on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d last week, bringing actress Sof\u00eda Vergara to tears with his stunning performance. But it\u2019s his story of overcoming and persisting that is truly inspiring.<\/p>\n<p>Waites, 32, was born with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC), a disease that impacts the joints. Despite many struggles, he persevered and brought his talents to the stage. The talented singer chose to perform his rendition of \u201cTrue Colors\u201d by Cyndi Lauper, a song he said is all about having hope.<\/p>\n<p>Waites told the judges, \u201cI am a Southern Gospel singer and a vocal coach. The message of the song, I feel, is able to speak to people no matter their age, their race, or their background. It\u2019s able to communicate a message of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oY4FctsUCfw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Waites\u2019 performance not only sparked cheering and a standing ovation, but Vergara was in tears throughout the singer\u2019s rendition of the song. After Waites\u2019 performance, judge Heidi Klum said, \u201cSophia is bawling her eyes out right now.\u201d Then, Vergara explained her emotional reaction, saying, \u201cI loved it because you know it\u2019s a beautiful song, but you made it yours. And it was special. It was different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simon Cowell, a harsh critic, known for his oft-times stern rebukes, called the performance a \u201cgreat audition,\u201d and all three judges voted for Waites to advance.<\/p>\n<p>While advancing and trying to win are beautiful goals,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/southern-gospel-singer-to-appear-on-americas-got-talent-after-10-year-wait\/\">Waites told the Baptist Press<\/a>\u00a0that, for him, it\u2019s really all about \u201cserving Christ and showing the love of God\u201d to as many people as possible. He sees \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d as a platform to reach others.<\/p>\n<p>Waites said winning isn\u2019t important to him but that he is focused on spreading Jesus\u2019 love. He said, \u201cWhat I\u2019m more concerned about is appropriately and effectively showing the Gospel of Christ through this opportunity. It\u2019s very important that I get that message across.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Waites, who is in a wheelchair, also told Baptist Press about his past health struggles and how his family encouraged him never to let his disability hold him back, saying, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really a thing growing up because it was just my life. I don\u2019t ever think about it just because each day is just another day for me where I\u2019m using this wheelchair to get around or a stylus in my mouth to type. Growing up, my parents and grandparents kept that same mentality in how they raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Waites\u00a0told Baptist Press, \u201cMy mind always goes to Romans 8:28 and knowing that everything has a purpose. What I would hope my life demonstrates for others going through hard struggles is if your perspective is in the right place, then you can persevere, endure and see it through to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Life has never been easy for Ben Waites. Dealing with a disease that affects your joints can be challenging, but Waites didn\u2019t let that stop him. He\u2019s the perfect example of why we should pursue our dreams despite our circumstances. He didn\u2019t let his disease stop him from performing and even brought Sofia Vergara to tears. We should all see Waites\u2019 perseverance as an inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gospel singer Ben Waites stunned the judges on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d last week, bringing actress Sof\u00eda Vergara to tears with his stunning performance. But it\u2019s his story of overcoming and persisting that is truly inspiring. Waites, 32, was born with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC), a disease that impacts the joints. Despite many struggles, he persevered&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":20029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[4341,5239],"class_list":["post-20026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-television","tag-americas-got-talent","tag-ben-waites"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Watch This Gospel Singer&#039;s AGT Performance Bring Sofia Vergara to Tears<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ben Waites, a gospel singer with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, brought Sofia Vergara to tears with his rendition of &quot;True Colors.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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