Children bring hope in song to Tri-State

By LEE WARD / THE INDEPENDENT

May 15, 2008 10:03 am

— The culture of Africa will be in the area this weekend in the form of the Hope of Africa Children’s Choir.
Formed by children rescued from displaced persons’ camps in war-torn Uganda, the choir of 23 children from 5 to 10 will offer the area three opportunities to hear traditional sacred music from their country Sunday: at the morning worship service at Grassland Community Church; at 3 p.m. at Morehead United Methodist Church for the Ashland District United Methodist Church annual meeting; and at 7 p.m. at Stephens Cultural Arts Center at Raceland-Worthington High School.
The choir will arrive here May 17 and will stay with members from the Grassland church that night. The night of May 18 and 19, students will be guests in the homes of members of the Grace United Methodist Church and Mead Memorial United Methodist Church, Jim Adams, pastor at Grace, said.
“Each morning they have school and practice,” Adams said. “They will be going to Carter Caves on Monday. And we will transport them to Maysville on Tuesday where they will perform next.”
This is the choir’s first international tour; while here, the choir performed at the United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, last month.
Adams said the Kentucky conference of the United Methodist Church has had a relationship with Methodist churches in Uganda since last fall, but this is the first time a group from the African nation has visited our area.
“A number of UMCs in the area agreed to support the pastors in the Gulu region of Northern Uganda,” he said. “There are no church buildings and many of the pastors and families live in refugee camps. When I heard that the choir was coming to the U.S., I jumped on the chance that we might be able to get them here in our district.”
LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.