Choir #33 Tour Begins.......

without me!

Choir #33 arrived in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, June 3rd! This is the group of children I will join in August. They began a whirlwind tour in Northern Ireland and have already moved on to Scotland but not without first singing for the President of Northern Ireland! Please join me in praying for these sweet children and the team of chaperones taking care of them!



















































Stormont Castle in Northern Ireland with Peter Robinson, First Minister and Martin McGuiness, Deputy First Minister (photo below)

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

As I have mentioned in the past, one of the chaperones that I traveled with is now in Uganda. She sent me these pictures of my choir #30 kids back home in Uganda at our boarding schools. I was so happy to see these pictures. I wanted to put them here on my blog but it made me wonder what other people will see when they look at them. What do you see?




























































































NOW LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I SEE.......

This is Anna. Beautiful sweet Anna. She is wearing Auntie Amanda's pink sweatshirt. Amanda is one my fellow chaperones. Amanda told me that the day the children flew home and we had to say goodbye Anna asked, "Will I ever see you again?" Anna took this sweatshirt home as a precious gift from her Auntie Amanda. I love seeing her wearing it this photo.

















Here I see these girls looking at pictures and letters that Amanda, Terese, and I sent them! Jackie is looking at a picture of her and Auntie Amanda when we were at Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia, Canada. Next to Bridget, on the bed, is a pink envelope with my handwriting on it.... the letter I sent her! It does my heart good to see these girls receiving letters from their Aunties who love them so very much! Thanks Auntie Stacie for hand delivering them!







This is my dear sweet Bridget (now my sponsor child!). She is wearing the soccer uniform that all of the children got when we were in Sudbury, Ontario about a year ago. Looking at this picture I see my little girl being well taking care of. She has a nice bed at boarding school. She has clean clothes and food to eat. Thank you Lord Jesus for providing for her through The African Children's Choir!










Here is Anna again. I recognize her dress. I lovingly ohhhed and awwwwed over all the beautiful new clothes we packed in her suitcase. When we packed them it was like therapy for me to check and make sure each child had all that they needed for when they arrived home from tour. I'm so glad she has a nice pretty dress to wear to church!












Look at these wonderful children! They are at Full Gospel Church. It reminds me of when I first met choir #30 in Uganda and we worshiped together at Full Gospel. Jerome, Jackie, and Bridget are wearing the "Sunday Clothes" we bought for them while on tour. They wore these clothes every Sunday for months in New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and maybe some other states. Enid, in true "Enid-fashion", is wearing her ACC t-shirt which is no surprise to anyone who knows her! Jackie is wearing a shirt I picked out for her to bring home. In this picture I see happy, confident children. It amazes me to think of what the Lord has done in their lives! He has provided for them in every way!

Once again I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be involved with The African Children's Choir. I have seen, first hand, the positive transformation in these children. Even more so, I feel completely 100 % grateful to my God who can do more than I could ever ask or imagine!

A New Journey Begins.......

In a few short months I am joining a new tour with South African children in the U.K.! Meet some of the children:


Hlengiwe and Tintswalo





Hlengiwe and Tintswalo





Max, Amazing, Suprise, Xolane, Johan (Sam), Banele. Penuel and Sikumbuzo are in the background





Pretty




Pretty, Hope, Hlengiwe and Nomkhuleko

AND......


DON'T MISS THIS: I will be traveling home with the children at the end of their tour to begin even another new chapter in my life. The African Children's Choir has invited me to be a part of the ministry in South Africa at The Music for Life Junior Academy which is a school for the choir members. Read more about it here :http://www.africanchildrenschoir.com/what_we_do_south_africa.php

God is so good to allow me to be a part of the work He is doing!

Meet Auntie Stacie~ She joined Choir #30 in August of 2008 and traveled through the end of tour. She is now in Uganda training Choirs #33 and #34. I got an amazing phone call from her the other day! I was teaching and unable to answer but on my voicemail I heard Jerome's voice saying, "Hello Auntie Jenny! We love you!" and then each of them said their own saying "It's Jerome, Enock, Martin, and Bridget." It made my heart burst with joy to hear my little kiddos calling me Auntie Jenny! Oh, how I miss them! Thank you Auntie Stacie for visiting them and loving on them!

Kenyan Choir #30 kids

I thrive on any information I can get about my Choir #30 children. I am so thankful for modern communication like email and facebook! Occasionally, I chat online with the Kenyan Choir Manager who has regular contact with my kids. I'm sure he gets tired of my asking about the children! A few weeks ago I heard that the Kenyan Choir #30 kids were all staying at the office because they were going to be doing a concert and singing at a radio station. I was very excited to chat online with the children via Uncle Mwai, the choir manager. He patiently endured me asking the children questions and typed their answers back to me! It was such a blessing to be able to have just a little contact with them! Here is a picture of a few of the children at the radio station with Uncle Mwai and the radio DJ's.

Ugandan Choir #30's children's new school

Here are some pictures of the new Music for Life/African Children's Choir school being built in Entebbe, Uganda. If you would like to read more details please visit the principal's blog: http://adventuresmarksarah.blogspot.com/

This is the school that my 12 Ugandan kids will go to. They are currently in a building in the city of Kampala that is much too crowded. This new school is in a great location on the banks of Lake Victoria. I visited the land in 2007 before they even began building. It has a beautiful view of the lake!




THE KITCHEN






ONE OF THE DORMS





THE CLASSROOM BLOCK

Reunion!

Ok, so it is hard to know how to write this post. I got ahold of these beautiful pictures of Choir #30 Kenya kids being reunited with their families. They are amazing. You can see the raw emotion of the moment. This families are so thankful and excited to have their "babies" back home. Some people could look at these photos and really misinterpret the goal and mission of the choir. Many times on tour people would ask me about how the parents/guardians feel about their children being so far from home for an extended period of time. So let me just say that Music for Life didn't have to twist any arms or beg and plead for any of our kids to be a part of Choir #30. What you don't see in these pictures is the reality of these families living conditions. These pictures were taken in Mombassa which is a port city in Kenya. It is actually a pretty popular tourist destination. The condition of the road in the picture you see below is quite rare outside the city. The families of Choir #30 live outside the city in villages. These families traveled, most likely by foot, to Mombassa to meet the bus that brought the children from Nairobi. I've never been to their homes but I can pretty much guarantee that all of these kids live in places with dirt roads. I saw pictures of many of their homes. They are in remote places. The homes are made of mud with thatch roofs. Many don't have running water or electricity. What you don't see in the photos below is that these families can't take care of their children. The families feel relieved to know that their child would be clothed, fed and cared for by Music for Life. That's why they were happy to send them with us. To give them an amazing experience and to have their future education secured. Many people have also asked me what happens to the kids when they go home. The kids go back to their own country and are able to go to boarding schools. They are actually sponsored all the way through university! These families know that a University education will change their child's life and give them amazing opportunities and what Music for Life has seen is that these children grow up, get and education and then are able to help their entire families.


The bus arrives!






Excitement fills the streets as the kids walk hand in hand with the ones they love!







Sarah






Washo





Faulanta






Ibrahim's brother looks just like him!






Faulanta and her little brother called "King"






Big smiles!!!!






I can guess that little King is lifting up prayers of thanksgiving that his big sister is home safe! How precious!

Anna and Peter

Somehow I never got this video posted here. I think it is one of my favorites! I caught Peter, one of the big boys, playing with Anna, one of the youngest girls. I love how our kids became like brothers and sisters! Anna says, "Go in. Go in! Have a good time!" Enjoy!