One of the organizations that we are filming is the African Children’s Choir. We’ve done some work at their boarding school this week. As part of our work, we followed two of the children as they visited their homes in the slums. The contrast between the two places really helped put things into perspective for me. I don’t know exactly how to describe the slums without using clichés or sounding over dramatic.  Basically, it was a whole bunch of mud houses crammed together with muddy alleys and walkways in between. It was dirty. It was overpopulated. Hoards of children ran around in dirty, torn clothes. We met the family of these two kids. Neither one of them had dads in the home. To see exactly where these children come from allowed me to appreciate the magnitude of what this ministry is doing for them.

 

When you see the African Children’s Choir sing in America, do not be deceived by their uniforms and angelic voices to think that they are rich African kids from wealthy families. They are not. These kids have seen – no, have experienced – poverty to an extent that we can only imagine.

 

Yet by the grace of God, these children have risen above their struggles to achieve what they never thought was possible. This ministry has enabled them not only to receive a stellar education, but also to bless countless others all over the world with their singing.

 

One young man we met has graduated from the boarding school, and is now African Children’s Choir is supporting him through university. His goal is to become a businessman so that he can earn money to support himself and also to go back and support his mom and the rest of his family. He likened himself to Napoleon. He said, “My hero is Napoleon, who rose to the occasion and saved his people when they needed it most. I want to be a Napoleon to my family, and save them when they need it the most.” Although this young man’s history may be a bit off, his heart is right on.