GREENFIELD — The mother approached Tina Sipp the morning after an African Children’s Choir concert. The singers had been invited to a home for breakfast and a pool party.
The mother’s family had played host to some of the Ugandan children for one night. But she told Sipp the experience had been an absolute game-changer for her family.
“Having our children in front of her children was really quite remarkable for her family,” said Sipp, who oversees the group’s tours as choir manager. “Another family said, ‘This has been transformative for our family. We won’t be the same.’”
African Children’s Choir will sing at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church, 1450 W. Main St., Greenfield.
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The choir previously visited the church in 2017, and associate pastor Paul George said it was an easy decision for church leaders to book the group again when the opportunity came.
“The families who hosted these children and their leaders in the past, including my wife and I, found them to be a delight,” George wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter. “They are full of life and energy, and they will steal your heart. They love to sing and dance, and their concerts will knock your socks off.”
The choir began its tour June 1 in North Carolina and is winding through New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Texas and other states before it returns to Uganda in early February.
This is the 50th full-tour group the choir has sent out over the past 35 years. Children are 7 to 10 years old at the start of a tour. They’re selected in auditions that are more about learning a child’s family situation than whether he or she has experience singing or dancing, Sipp said; those skills can be taught.
“What we’re really trying to find out is what is the situation of the family,” she said. “We’re trying to find the neediest of the needy.”
Sixteen to 20 children are invited on tour, take time for their studies on the road, and return to school when they arrive home. For every child an audience sees on stage, Sipp said, there are a thousand more also receiving education through Music for Life Institute. Sipp said 52,000 children have been educated through the program over the years.
“They are ambassadors for hundreds of children back home who are receiving education because of the donations,” she said.
The children dress in Africa-inspired clothing and sing worship songs in English, sometimes playing drums as they do. Sipp said concerts don’t dwell on the children’s adversity but showcase their potential and let their true joy shine.
“That (adversity) doesn’t define them,” Sipp said. “There’s this wealth of spirit, there’s this wealth of soul. They’re just so rich in the eternal. I think that’s what makes the concert so much more than a concert.”
An offering is accepted at each concert, and the group sells CDs and DVDs. Music for Life also hopes to gain sponsors for children to help more children have food and education.
Sipp said it’s difficult for many families to send their children to government schools available in their country because they cannot afford uniforms, books and school supplies. Education makes the choir a game-changer not only for its audience, but also for its singers.
“Our hope is that these children will take what they learn and be world-changers in their homeland or wherever God may lead them,” George wrote.
“This dramatically changes the trajectory of a life — a real life,” Sipp said. “We are raising up future Christian leadership for communities, countries, the continent.
”That’s going to be Africa’s resource.”
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GREENFIELD — The African Children’s Choir will perform at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 4 at Calvary Baptist Church, 1450 W. Main St., Greenfield.
Admission is free; a free-will offering will follow the choir’s concert.
The choir’s “Just As I Am” tour combines traditional hymns with African cultural sounds and a stunning visual story of God’s faithfulness.
The free-will offering will help support the Music for Life Institute. The African Children’s Choir has been Music for Life’s major international program during its 34-year history. Music for Life (MFL) has relief and development programs in seven African countries. MFL has educated more than 52,000 children, and hundreds of thousands of lives have been impacted by its international relief and development programs.
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