African Children's Choir final concert

This Wednesday, the same African Children's Choir which came through Newberg in 2006, performed their final concert at the Faith Center in Eugene. Because we had hosted three girls and the director, at the time it was Prossie, we just had to watch them one final time, eager to greet Dora, Stella and Esther one more time before they return to Uganda for their schooling and their "real" lives.

The concert was once again, and amazing sight and sound and a wonderful way to spend the evening singing praises. During the performance, we noticed that the choir was smaller and saw that neither Stella nor Dora were there. Afterwards, when speaking with Henry, we found out that because they were older girls, they had just left the choir on December 29 for North Carolina to be in what is called the Base Choir and the Journey of Hope. I had a small lump of sadness in my throat that I would probably not see the two of them again.

We followed Henry down to the choir's "green room" to see Esther after the children had had time to change, eat and relax a little. The sadness melted as Michelle came around the corner and Esther's face lit up when she recognized Michelle and the girls. We all gave her hugs and talked with her on the floor for a few minutes. Part of the time, she played with Michelle's necklace and seemed to like it very much. We told her how we remember her so well and what a special time it was to have her in our home. During the concert, when the kids tell the audience their name and what they want to be when they grow up, Esther has always said, "A missionary." She's the only child who says that, and Michelle told her, as she did when she was in Newberg, that Esther is already a missionary, spreading God's love with her singing and dancing.

Our experience with this choir is now complete, but the memories will warm our hearts and give us joy forever. Michelle and I look forward to other African Children's Choirs coming through our area, and we would host more children at the drop of a hat. For reasons that we feel only God can explain yet, we feel a tug across the ocean towards Africa. We are open to challenges from God to follow that tug, whether that means touring with a choir, or spending time as missionaries overseas at some point, or, most likely, something we don't know about and can't imagine yet. That just seems to be the way God works, doesn't it?

The recent shocking developments in Kenya, which have affected veterans of the African Children's Choir, strongly emphasize the need to continue and enhance a strong Christian influence there. There are so many broken people and places in this world who need our prayers.