Young and Old, Black and White, They are Precious in His Sight...

On Tuesday morning two other staff members and I arrived at the office, jumped into three vehicles, and took off for Philippi. Upon arrival we were met by close to 20 excited, high-energy, slightly-nervous orphans who had been busy preparing for the days big performance. These members of the orphan support group's, "Angels of God" choir rushed into the cars and vans that we had arrived in and we all caravaned to the Tygerberg Senior Center for the Aged. The orphans were invited to perform for this predominantly-white retirement center by the director of the center who had previously visited Philippi to check out some of Bridges of Hope's community development projects. So, we arrived with the choir and were promptly ushered into a small room where we waited until the moment when the kids were called on stage for the performance. They were so excited! I laughed inside as we all walked into the room where the function was being held. Special members of the community had been invited and the room was at max. capacity with white faces (the large majority being over the age of 65). Now, imagine 20 black orphans walking silently into this room and filing onstage for the show. You could have heard a pin drop and I was bursting with excitement inside because I knew that these young kids were going to ROCK THE PLACE! I could imagine canes flying, knitting needles waving in the air, and white hair swaying side to side.

The kids began with a song entitled, "I have a Father" which is about God being our Father, Caregiver, our Protector, and our Creator. I could tell that the men and women were very moved seeing these kids, who are fatherless, sing about God being their Father. As they sang more songs the energy level, volume, and swaying intensified until the kids were stomping their feet, dancing in unison, and singing with a life-giving energy, volume, and harmony. The room was filled with this energy and the audience was truly getting into it. Oh, it was so cool to see! No, the audience wasn't dancing or jumping up and down (their poor hips couldn't handle that!), but they were knitting at a more rapid pace and their heads were swaying from side to side. Some even started clapping. The kids felt celebrated and were given goody bags at the end of the performance that were filled with baked goods from the women and men as well as other treats and toys.

This was such a neat moment for me to experience -- the meeting of two very different groups of people who both were incredibly blessed by each other. The older folks experienced an energy, joy, and enthusiasm that they haven't experienced in a long time (I am sure of it!), and the young ones felt loved, celebrated, cared-for, valued, and appreciated. I think God really smiles when He sees these kinds of things happening; people loving each other, connecting deeply , and blessing each other. The event ended with the kids inviting the audience to join with them in singing the chorus of, "We Adore Him". How wonderful this sight was-- young and old, black and white, all praising our Father and our Creator. SO COOL! :-)

The picture I took (above) is of one of the tables near the front. The lady on the right was my favorite, most-fervent knitter (I think she must have completed a whole sweater by the time the concert was over!)