Quiet Love

Most Sunday mornings find me frantically setting up a product table and selling merchandise to excited and teary eyed people who come out of our concerts, but this morning was different. I really miss going to church and worshiping corporately with other believers. I am very much looking forward to observing Sunday's as a day of rest again. This morning we had no concert, but some lovely church folks fed us a nice breakfast at Willard Church of God in Willard, OH. Their church service this morning was led by a traveling group called Quiet Love. The group travels around and performs mimes and sign language to popular Christian songs, all under blacklights. We couldn't stay for the service but they offered to do a little mini show just for us! For 20 minutes we enjoyed the coolest most powerful time of worship. I had flashes of what I imagine heaven will be like...people all worshiping the Lord with lots of light and energy. Of course it helped that they were signing to "I can only Imagine!" I had goosebumps the whole time as we clapped, danced, and worshipped together. On the last song they pulled our children up on stage too and they all danced together under the blacklights. The camraderie between the two groups was unique too, since we all travel around and perform. I felt like we understood each other on a performers level as well as being brothers and sisters in Christ. Because they gave us a special show, we gave them a quick little show too. It was great! I love these spontaneous experiences that God brings our way!

Fall Has Arrived!

9.21.09
Fall has arrived! Today marks the beginning of my favorite season. I love the changing of the leaves, the cooler weather, jeans and sweaters, hot drinks, and football games :) Today was long..with all the paper work, teaching, inventory counting, etc. I didn't even have a chance to eat lunch today-it was a candy bar on the run. Sad I know. By the time I dragged myself back to the host home all I wanted to do was lay down and be alone. I planned to go for a walk and the girls were going to go to the park, but as soon as we stepped out onto to the porch it began to pour down rain. Racheal, Esther, and I stood and watched the rain for a few minutes and then we said, “what the heck, let's go play in the rain” So we rolled up our pants, took off our socks and shoes and ran off into the rain. We danced, skipped, and ran down the street, jumping in the puddles, and playing soccer with some red apples we found on the ground. People driving down the street might have thought we were crazy, but we were perfectly happy, enjoying life. The girls with their giggles, smiles, and pure love of life pulled me right out of my tired, grouchy mood and reminded me what life is all about. We found a tree that had begun to turn brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange, and was dropping it's rainbow colored leaves at our feet. The girls I gleefully gathered our favorites and basked in a “first day of fall celebration.” After arriving home soaking wet, we took hot showers, drank some hot chocolate, listened to Disney music, and arranged our leaves to dry so we can press them and make some beautiful cards! I am thankful to the Lord for knowing what I need better than I do. He used two beautiful girls and some rain to kick me out of my self pity slump and show me how to make the most out of what I have.

A Bedtime Conversation

I haven't had internet for a few days..but here is a couple updates I wrote...

Tonight as I was tucking Racheal and Esther into bed I asked them if they had any questions before they went to sleep. I expected to hear maybe a simple question like are we doing math or english tomorrow, but what I heard surprised me. Esther said, “yes, I have a question. When the world is over will Jesus send stairs down from Heaven for us to climb up?” I tried to simply explain to them that when Jesus returns he will gather all his people together and we will go straight into his presence, while the wicked will remain on earth for awhile until God's wrath on earth is complete, and then all will go to Heaven or Hell for eternity. Which we all agreed is too hard to understand. Racheal's response was, “Some people think it is a punishment to die, but it is just because God wants us to be in Heaven with him.” Wow..I want her to speak at my memorial service! Racheal also said.. “I have another question. Did God send Jesus to earth or did Jesus send himself? Because there is only one God, but how come there is Jesus and the Holy Spirit and God?” I tried the egg explanation and we discussed the Trinity for a few minutes, before deciding that it is just too hard for us to really comprehend and we will have to wait until we get to Heaven to see God and ask him...which we are all excited for. These are my favorite moments on tour :)

Off Into the Sunset...

It's been a great birthday week already. My tour family and friends around the world have made me feel so loved and honored. I am so grateful for the amazing friends God has placed in my life. Where would I be without all of you? I don't know.

All I have wanted to do this summer is go on a boat ride. I have waited patiently and summer is almost over. Tonight, God lovingly granted my wish. I can see him up in heaven smiling as he ordained the events of this evening. Rose, Gladys, and I joined our lovely hosts aboard the ski boat in their backyard and off we rode into the sunset on Lake Michigan. With Rose cuddled in my arms and Gladys next to me in the front of the boat we cruised into the night sky giggling and feeling perfectly happy. Rose exclaimed "This is the best day ever!" And I had to agree with her. We anchored and ran through the waves on the beach for awhile, which resulted in squeals and laughter. I have never enjoyed wave jumping and running in the water SO MUCH! Tonight I am grateful to God for the little pleasures in life that He sees fit to bless me with. How much he loves his children!

Playing For Change

As God narrows my vision and passion for bringing cultures together and helping people to see the many ways that we can help each other, I meet many other people who have similar visions and dreams. Mark Johnson and the people involved with playingforchange are just such fellow visionaries. Mark started the non-profit organization PlayingForChange four years ago in an effort to show how music can bring cultures together. He and his crew have traveled all over the world filming musicians singing the same song, in so many cultures and languages. The group now has a CD available and holds benefit concerts to raise money to help people all over the world. Today Mark and his cohort, Enzo, traveled to Holland, Michigan to record the African Children's Choir. They set up at the church and our children recorded the song "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles. People from Jamaica, Argentina and various other places are going to be on the song and I can't wait to hear the finished product. Supposedly it is going to be sold in Starbucks..though I don't know when the release date is. If you would like to read more or see some the videos Mark has already made check out http://www.playingforchange.com/. It was an honor to work with these guys and to be a part of this great project!

CANADA!

Praise the Lord for mini-vacations! The past 24 hours have been the greatest blessing. Yesterday morning Laura and I arose around 5am and caught a taxi to the Detroit Greyhound station. Yes, it was very sketchy...but in true Angela fashion, I ran into a guy at the station that I went to school with at Moody! Laura will never let me live down the fact that I know people EVERYWHERE we go.Haha. The three of us survived the Detroit station together and hopped a bus to CANADA! Praise the Lord we had no trouble getting across the border. Laura's family lives in London, Ontario and I am so excited to finally have the chance to meet them and experience the place Laura grew up. As much as we love our little African children, it has been soooooooo nice to take a break. We went to the market, had a beautiful lunch at an outdoor restaurant, and explored Port Stanley. Yesterday I got to see Ontario for the first time and Lake Erie. All right! What a treat to enjoy a leisurely afternoon at the beach, eating ice cream and exploring cute little boutiques with Laura and her parents. I'm happy to report that Laura's mom knows how to cook the most beautiful meals and how to be a lovley host. She even made me the best carrot cake I have ever had to celebrate my birthday two days early! God bless her! After a quick walk to Tim Horton's for coffee this morning we are off to have a lovely lunch and head back across the border to meet up with the children and the team. Anway, just wanted to give a quick update from Ontario :)

Have a great day!

Ang

A Few Thoughts From Detroit Tonight

Sorry for the long silence on the blog (for me anyway). It's been a crazy hectic couple of weeks with lots of goings and comings and limited internet connectivity (while I had the brain power to actually write something). No promises that this entry will be coherent, but something is better than nothing right? I am currently procrastinating on some paperwork I need to do, as well as finishing up my
taxes :(.
There are some people in this world who I instantly connect with and they get added to my list of favorite people. Abraham is one of those people (if your reading this...well..you already know this). He is our Ugandan manager and a man I deeply respect and love. He's taught me a lot about inter cultural relationships and life. Having him around was a morale booster for everyone on the team, as we head into the final stretch of tour. Hard to believe that we are so quickly approaching the end. Last night Choir 31 (which I trained with last year) flew home to Uganda. It was just a big reminder of the big goodbye that is coming. I try not to think about it too much, but unfortunately it's hard not to. While Abraham was here doing devotions with us as a team and giving a pep talk, I thought back to our training together in Africa last year. Then I thought about all that we have been through this year and all the emotions I have experienced. Being together with Abraham again reminded me of everything and I felt like the emotions of the whole year caught up with me. Lots of tears were shed. It's been an emotional couple of weeks.
Andrew (our former tour leader) was able to come down from Ontario to visit us for a few days here in Michigan this past week, which was another nice treat for everyone. We enjoyed catching up with him. The boys showed him how big their muscles are, we shared stories over coffee (he's the one who had a hand in my becoming a coffee drinker), and his family finally got to meet the kids who have been praying for them this whole year. We love you brother!
There are many more choppy thoughts I could share with you, but I must be getting to bed. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we persevere to the end. Pray for the children of choir 31 as they transition back to life in Uganda, and pray for choir 34 and 35 as they are still transitioning to tour life here in the States.
Blessings to you all!

Soaking up Some Sun

If you hadn't noticed I decided it is time for my blog page to get an overhaul. Thanks to Heather for giving me some ideas on how to make my blog more attractive and fun (even though you don't know you gave me the idea :)

The sun is shining over the waters of Lake Michigan here in Traverse City, MI and we are enjoying some late summer hours at the beach, trying to soak up every last bit of fun and sun that we can before it gets cold and we are stuck inside. It's been a pretty good week on the road...the joy of the Lord has been evident in the small moments. My favorite moment of the week was Saturday on the bus-little Christopher sat in front of me with his rain jacket on, hood up, face smooshed against the window, quietly singing to himself "O the blood of Jesus..." In that moment I wondered in my head how I could ever get frustrated with him for not being able to read or stay focused on anything. He is so precious!

I spent a couple days in Michigan a few years ago and though my memories are fuzzy it's all coming back to metoday as I had the chance to explore some familiar places. This afternoon we marched the children down to the beach for a few hours of playtime. Shoes were thrown off, jeans rolled up, and wading in to the knees, turned into soaking wet jeans up to the hip, heads in the water, water push-ups, and 22 happy children covered in sand from head to toe. O, well...we tried to keep them clean. Digging in sand, splashing in water, and burying friends never was so much fun!

After dinner some of us headed to Sleeping Bear Dune to see how much more sand we could get in our ears! Forget the work out tonight...climbing that dune twice and running down was enough for me. I think I burned a few calories. Lydia decided she needed to bring the container of jello with her as a mountain snack. She conveniently needed a break every 5 seconds to eat sand covered jello. Scovia asked if she was a "snacker" (as if it were some bad habit to kick like smoking!). Lydia then announced that she was the jello monster (the red cousin of the cookie monster I presume). Good times! We will all sleep well tonight (after I stop doddling around on the computer and write an english test for the P4's for tomorrow. Yikes!)

Frankenmuth...

Greetings from Michigan! This past week we have been in Grand Rapids and now we are in Saginaw. I'm enjoying the north. God has blessed me with some really interesting and great hosts lately. I've been reminded on more than one occasion not to judge people based on first impressions. Every time I do I end up putting my foot in my mouth so to speak. Funny how that works. I have been fighting a cold this week, but I think I'm on the upswing. It's a good thing because today was a day for great adventures. Laura's two best friends from home (Chantal and Mallory) are visiting from Ontario and we have the day off, so we decided to go find the bavarian village of Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was so cute! We had a picnic of 3 different kinds of cheese by the river, explored the shops, listened to a guy play the accordian, walked across the covered bridge, and took LOTS of pictures. I LOVED it. I'm thankful to Laura for sharing her friends with me. I know your probably reading this Chantal and Mallory-thanks for coming to visit. You guys are awesome!

I don't have any exciting stories to share, but here are some great quotes from the past few weeks:

“The best part of tour is swimming and staying in hosts. The hardest part on tour has been eating cheese.” -Julius

“Last day I ate three cavities. I enjoyed them so much-as good as strawberries!” - Racheal

“This is the worst day of my life!” -Christopher (covered in puke after Lino puked all over him on the bus)

“Bananas are good for our bodies. Especially for the people in Kampala who live on the street. If they eat a banana then their bellies can get full.” -Peace

“It's like an elephant is standing on my foot.” -Gilbert (in response to Auntie Angela stepping on his toes)

“Something is wrong with my head. My wisdom ran away. I think I gave it to Rose.” -Lydia

“I really want to go to heaven so I can play with Jesus.” -Rose

“A day will come when you young children will want to get married and have a husband or a wife.” -Uncle Patrick

“Yes, I can't wait!” - Gilbert

“No thank you!” -Racheal

“I cannot wait to see my wife!” -Hannington to Scovia

I hope these sweet sayings brought you a good laugh and smile today! Now go do something kind for someone else today!

One Year Anniversary

I wrote this entry yesterday but wasn't able to post it because I didn't have Internet...

August 11th...today is my one year anniversary with Music For Life and the African Children's Choir. I celebrated by getting a manicure and pedicure with Laura and Lindsey (for the first time ever!) One year ago today I stepped onto a plane and headed to North Carolina to spend a few weeks training with Choir 31 before heading to Uganda to meet the children who would soon become my life for the next year. Since that day I have experienced enough life to fill five years, it seems. I've learned about myself, I've learned about relationships, I've learned about teamwork, I've learned about parenting, I've learned about how people live and think, I've learned about culture, I've learned about many States that I knew next to nothing about, I've learned about God and his heart for the poor and oppressed. The last 365 days have been filled with joyful moments, sad goodbye's, difficult challenges, victories, lessons learned, dances of joy, and tears of hardship. I don't have any regrets and I would do it all over again.
A few random things I have done this year:
-eaten fried alligator in New Orleans
-ridden an elevator in a home in Mississippi
-spoken from stage to thousands of people
-met Archbishop Desmond TuTu
-visited with friends all over the country
-rafted the Nile River in Uganda
-showered outside overlooking the Nile River
-walked the Vegas strip with 26 African Children
-ran around downtown London taking pictures
-danced like a fool in front of complete strangers
-driven an army truck from the 1950's
-done push ups in the airport
-climbed inside a B52 bomber at Barksdale Airforce Base
-ridden in a hummer limo full of African children to a rodeo
-drank too much Starbucks
-had surgery
-sunbathed in the middle of winter on the gulf of Mexico
-been interviewed live on the radio
-seen the marching ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis
-LOVED DEEPLY
Just to name a few things...and it's not even the end. We have several months left of tour and as I have gotten tired God has given me a second wind and is allowing me to still enjoy the small moments that make life so precious and beautiful. As I look forward to the future God continues to narrow my ministry dreams and goals. As I have seen and begun to understand more fully God's heart for the poor and oppressed, those marginalized by societies, my heart has begun to yearn for a chance to help. Many thoughts have been jumbling around in my head this year about how I can be involved in being Jesus' hands and feet and his voice to those who are overlooked. I feel more and more compelled to reach out and bridge the gap between cultures. I want to encourage and inspire Americans to see how wealthy we are and to get off the couch, put down the Wii and get INVOLVED. While we spend dozens of hours being entertained in front of the television each week, young girls are being forced into prostitution, boys are being forced to fight for rebel causes, children are starving, families are falling apart. I know that the problems in this world and the injustice can seem overwhelming and people don't know where to start or don't think whatever small thing they can do will really make a difference, but it does. I picked up a book the other day called Hope Lives (A Journey of Restoration) by Amber Van Schooneveld. It's a 5 week study and takes people through the exact process that I have been thinking about in my head. I don't want to see people guilted into giving money to the poor. I want to see people examine their hearts, examine God's heart, and come to a point where they really see who they are in Christ and what their responsibility is as a believer. Showing compassion and helping others is what the body of Christ is all about! I want to inspire. I want to encourage. I want to show people how exciting it is to act as a real body of believers, helping each other and glorifying God in the process. I love the point made by Amber in Hope Lives. She says, “It's not that God loves the poor any more than he loves me or anyone else in America-he's not a reverse social snob.” God loves everyone equally, but there is a special place in his heart for those who are being treated unjustly, as shown throughout his word. I don't know what this means for my future...but I'm excited to find out :) Well..that's the short version of the thoughts rolling around in my head. I have wanted to share for quite some time, so you can be praying with me about all of this and how God might lead me after tour. Thanks for listening and praying so faithfully. I am blessed to know God has given me such an amazing team/family of supporters-people who believe in me and my vision. May the Lord bless you abundantly.
In Christ,
Angela