Cultural gaps become smaller as children sing and dance

Little voices with big message bring hope for other children BY CHUCK TUCK | JOURNAL REPORTER If children are our future, then certainly music is a universal language.
The Lake Church welcomed the African Children’s Choir as part of a special service this past Sunday.

Many new faces filled the Lake Stevens Middle School where the church regularly holds its Sunday services to listen, sing, and learn.
Church attendees and community citizens waited eagerly for a special treat to hear the voices of children who traveled far to sing, dance, and to share their dreams.

Founded 23 years ago by Ray Barnett, the organization realized quickly the importance of education for the orphaned children of Africa.
With education comes advancement and opportunity for many of the children who tour, but it also helps many other, less fortunate children who are not able to tour.

The song and dance of these little children who tour the U.S. and other countries is to entertain the audience, but more important, it is to bring a face and a voice to the poor conditions their siblings and friends live in back home.

Many of the children on tour now have lost one or both of their parents to either AIDS or some other kind of disease, and many more continue to fight starvation everyday.

“These guys are amazing,” said Dylan Kidd a church attendee who also said he’d love to learn some of their dance moves.

His friend Joshua Peterson agreed saying they were lucky enough to catch a rehearsal of the performance the night before.

Each child in the choir is hosted by a family when they arrive at their destination as well as having a touring chaperone with the group at all times.

Joshua Davis who tours with the choir as their sound technician says that the children perform on the average four times a week, and sometimes twice a day.

“My mother had a vision from God, and told me afterwards that I should come see the show,” Davis said. “She said she could see me on stage,” was his reply to how he became involved.

David Turner, who has been traveling with the tour for about a year and a half, was moved when he first saw the children and heard them sing.
“I was so moved to see them, and to know what conditions they came from. It gave me hope,” Turner said. “It’s so awesome and motivating, just to see them and to know there’s hope and opportunity.”

In the background you could hear and almost feel the love and thanks from the children as each one of them introduced themselves and told the audience of their dreams.

From doctor to lawyer, from pastor to pilot, all of the children smiled so happily dreaming of the day they would fulfill their dream.

Everyone is encouraged to visit AfricanChildrensChoir.com for more information on the organization, and ways to donate or help.

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