Watoto...

Me, Jaron, Andy, & Curry with Auntie Daisy & The Girls

Our new friends from Uganda - Auntie Daisy, Allen, Lovinsa, & Fiona

The girls taught the boys some of their choir dances, so the boys returned the favor and taught the girls some "dances." Here they are learning the dance from the movie "Hitch."

Tuesday night our church had the great privilege of having the Watoto Children's Choir perform. It was incredible! Watoto is a ministry in Uganda that places orphaned children in caring, loving homes and communities where they provide a mother for eight children, a school, a home for each family group, and a church. Each of the children in Watoto have lost one or both parents to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Being on staff, I got to spend a little extra time with this group of kids and the young adults who travel with them and they were just an oustanding group of people. Johanna and I (and the college boys living with us now) were fortunate enough to have three of the girls and on the the sponsors spend the night in our home. It was just a great, life-changing, life-altering experience for us...



The children sang songs of hope and peace and the love of God found in Jesus. One of the most moving moments of the night for me was to hear and see these orphaned children dance and sing the song, "I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, God knows my name!" I sat in the pew and begin to cry for a couple of reasons: First of all, I too am not forgotten because God does know my name...How incredible is that. But, secondly, here is a group of orphaned children who, by the worlds standards have every reason to be down and out, depressed and crushed. They've been orphaned and left behind to fend for themselves as children - 6, 7, 8, 10 year old children. But the came Christ, through the ministry of Watoto and told them, while the world may have forgotten you I have not! Here are these children singing songs of HOPE with all of their soul and heart and might and with the biggest smiles that you've ever seen...That is only a HOPE that comes from Jesus.



This event, like several in the past, has really got me considering my own life. It has me examining what I am doing with my life and what impact I am making. It has me examining my own choices of how I spend my money and my treasures. It has me doing some evaluation of what it is that God desires from me for my days, my bank account, my choices, my LIFE. For me, this was one of those type of experiences.



Words cannot express what God has taught me and is teaching me through seeing once abandoned and orphaned children sing of HOPE and LOVE and GRACE and PEACE. And sing it with such conviction and joy that they really do know that they are not forgotten and that God does know their names. If you get a chance and they are in your neck of the woods, I don't care what you have scheduled...Drop it and go hear the Watoto choir perform. This group is only in the states for a couple more months and then they head back to Uganda. Check it out at www.watoto.com.



Also, this has got me again thinking about my/our role in the AIDS epidemic in Africa and I am planning on sharing some sights that can help you make a difference in showing people in this fight the love of Christ. Please check back in the next day or two for that post. Until then...