Transforming lives through the power of music

A fateful ride given to a little orphaned boy on a trip to war-torn Uganda has turned into a ministry that has impacted the lives of more than 100,000 children in Africa.

Despite the devastation, the child sang praise songs the whole journey, and the pastor was captivated by his resiliency, beauty, dignity and potential. Birthed out of that encounter was a children's choir that has traveled to the West for 42 years and will be in Sumter on April 24.

The Canadian pastor's name was Ray Barnett, and he founded the African Children's Choir in 1984, according to Choir Manager Tina Sipp, who spoke recently to The Sumter Item on the group's upcoming tour stop in The Gamecock City at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Historically, East African communities have suffered from extreme poverty and many of the problems stem from the lack of affordable quality education, Sipp said.

She added that Barnett felt if the Western world could just see the need and see these children, they would want to help.

"So, that is what sparked the idea," Sipp told The Item. "Because the little boy sang, our founder thought, 'Maybe we could bring a choir of these children to the West and tour. And then, we could let people know the need, and I'm sure they would want to help.'

"And, here 42 years later, the West has done so, so much to help us."

The African Children's Choir tour season annually is eight months, and three areas in the Western world visited consistently are the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

Concert shows have no admission charge, but donations through love offerings are appreciated.

Through those event donations, a child sponsorship program and some individual donors, children from vulnerable backgrounds in Uganda become part of the choir and get life-changing opportunities for education and personal growth, Sipp added.

The broad parent organization over the choir is Music for Life, which is a major fundraising arm, and it is also over the boarding schools that choir students attend for free from first grade through 12th grade. Additionally, the organization pays for college or a vocational school for students upon high school graduation.

Children in Uganda are selected for the choir and associated schooling based on need, she said. The children chosen are not in any school when they go to Music for Life because their families are impoverished and cannot afford private schools, which are often boarding schools in Uganda, or even the country's government schools because they charge for uniforms and supplies.

Parents in these families generally have no education themselves and are in menial jobs and just trying to put a meal on the table for that day.

"So, you have tens of thousands of children who simply do not have any opportunity to get an education to break that cycle of poverty," Sipp said. "The money that is raised will in fact support the choir children through college. But it also supports several hundred other children in all of our educational programs. So, we're trying to help educate as many children as possible because usually if you can get one child in a family educated, they can help the entire family."

The organization's motto is "Helping Africa's most vulnerable children today so they can help Africa tomorrow."

Children in the choir only participate in one tour season and that time is during an early grade in primary school, she added. While on tour, there are seven adult chaperones who provide some schooling. When students return, they funnel back into the primary school grades and then will later enter Music for Life's secondary school to complete through 12th grade. Both school settings are boarding schools for the selected children and also provide education on Christian principles to develop the whole child spiritually and academically.

'A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF CHILD'

Given the children's backgrounds, Sipp described the children in the choir and Music for Life schools as joyful and "just a very different kind of child."

"They come from situations where they don't have a lot of stuff, right," she said. "Here in the U.S., we have a lot of things. But these children are very rich in their soul. They know how to have fun. They live each day fully. They don't really live in yesterday or tomorrow. They live in today because back home you are just trying to eat today. The main thing is you want to provide for today, and so they live today fully. Our children really are not moody or up and down. They just find the joy in the day."

WHAT CONCERT ATTENDEES CAN EXPECT

In her 23 years with the choir, Sipp said she has continually seen that people in the West "are very gripped by people who can be happy when they have nothing."

That is an oxymoron for people in the Western world, she added.

According to Sipp, the Music for Life program does not focus on what the children's challenges are or their poverty but instead on their dignity, potential and beauty, as Barnett did when he founded the choir.

"I think what happens is people in the audience are wealthy in one way," she said, "and the children are wealthy in another way. And there is an exchange of wealth that night.

"The children come out wealthy in soul and spirit and joy and smiles and energy, and they give all of that off on the stage just by their presence. They don't have to even say it. They just are.

"But I think the Western world is a little impoverished in the spirit, and I think it touches something in us that says: 'I have a lot of stuff, but do I have that kind of joy? Do I have that kind of hope?'"

That theme somewhat "catches everybody," Sipp added, whether they articulate it or not.

"I think the people are very moved by these children who have, quote, 'so little materially,' but can be so happy," she said.

"And then we get to exchange - you know we have a little bit more in our pocket - we get to give from our wealth to them to help them better their lives.

"Honestly, I feel anyone who comes to that concert and gives $5 - it doesn't really matter how much they give - they are investing in a profound trajectory change for one of those children.

"We're going from never being able to break the cycle of poverty to be able to one day have a nice domicile to live in, regular meals and helping little brothers and sisters go to school. That is remarkably 180 degrees different than the life they would get if they did not have an education.

"So, what I hope is people will be inspired to do their part and just give what they can to turn someone's life in a completely different direction. And they are given the opportunity to do that through a love offering."

Mixed in between at shows, attendees get to worship, are inspired, get animated, are challenged and also moved to tears, she added.

"These are like little tigers up there," Sipp said. "They are 7 to 11 years old, and they are just knocking it out of the park. People recognize the energy and effort that these little ones put in night after night. So, they recognize that, they appreciate it, enjoy it, and I think everybody leaves maybe with a little bit of air put in their tank, you know. It's a wonderful night. It's an amazing night."

The current choir is winding down its tour season, which concludes in mid-May. Greenville was the choir's first stop in the Palmetto State, and Sumter will be the second. Other stops in South Carolina will include Gaffney, Liberty, Seneca, Fountain Inn and Camden.