We Love You, African Children's Choir!

After playing at the pumpkin patch, we had a mountain of cleaning and organizing to do at home! The International Fellowship at our church had been planning a big concert for months. That Sunday a group from Uganda, The African Children's Choir, would be performing at our church. Not only were we helping with the concert, but we were also hosting some of the kids in the choir for part of the next week!

We showed up a couple hours before the concert for the sound check with the kids.  Emma and a few other kids from our church (the ones in white shirts) were invited to sing a song with the choir.  It was the Ugandan national anthem, and it was in Zulu (an African tribal language).  And Emma was the only white person on the stage.

After the sound check, the kids ate dinner and got ready for the performance.  We had a great crowd that night, and the choir was amazing!

This group of young boys played the drums for several songs.

The kids were all between the ages of 7-10.  All of the children were from Uganda, and several had lost one or both parents.  Most came from backgrounds we can't even imagine, and yet, they were the most amazing and joy-filled kids.

The little girl on the right in the picture below was one we had the pleasure of hosting.

The kids had several costume changes, and performed a variety of songs and dances.  Some of the songs were in English, and some were in other languages. 

Toward the end, our kids went up on stage to join the choir.  They did a wonderful job singing together!  I do have a video of the song, but (as I mentioned earlier) I'm having trouble getting it to load tonight.  So I will try again later this week and cross my fingers that it will work better then!

After the concert, we took two of the Ugandan girls, plus one of the group chaperones, home with us.  They stayed with us through Wednesday morning.

The girls were the sweetest, and most polite and respectful girls I've ever met!  They called me "Auntie," and called Dakota, "Uncle."  They loved to give hugs, and seemed so full of joy and peace.  They were such a breath of fresh air, especially since we had all been so stressed and barking at each other before the concert, trying to get the house cleaned and organized for our guests.  We all relaxed and enjoyed the next few days together.

Our kids loved playing with the girls while they were with us. Our girls shared their toys and dolls, and Josiah gave up his room for the chaperone.

The choir kids all met at the church during the day for school and rehearsal, and then came back to the host family homes in the evenings.  We wish we could have had more time than just a couple hours in the evenings with them.  It was such a blessing to get to host them!  The whole experience left us wanting more--more of their sweet spirits, more of their wonderful singing, more time for them to play with our kids.  We wish them all the best as they continue their tour across the US for the next 9-10 months!