Dear Friends of the Chapel,
The Watoto Choir last Friday night was the definite highlight of this week. It was both a privilege and a treat to be able to share in their story, music, song, dance, enthusiasm and joy. I reflected on the night that it was a real flip side experience.
After many years of sending missionaries to the lost tribes of darkest Africa, here we had a group of alive, vibrant, faithful young African people speaking into the western-cultured world of how real life is found in the love of God. How rich the kids of the choir are, compared starkly with the poor, empty promises of comfort, security and wealth that we invest in the western world. They stood as a beacon of good work being done in Watoto.
It cannot go unsaid how much hard work went into making the Watoto Choir night a success! Victoria, our Events Co-ordinator deserves a gold medal. She will tell you that it was a team effort, and it was, but she engaged her friends, colleagues, neighbours and wider connections to make it all happen - she personified our vision of building community for good. Not only did she make all the functional and practical things happen, from feeding to accomodating the choir and their support people, to ticketing, chairs and advertising, but she held together a dream of how the Chapel space could be a welcoming and warm space. Anybody who was there will know how the space was transformed into not just a place for a performance, but an intimate, warm, and engaging environment.
This week I am doing a subject at the Uniting Church College around faithful people sharing the love of God in a contextual and inclusive way with the community. Here at the Chapel, the love of God is lived out in some pretty practical and creative ways. Your contribution to us playing our part in this vision is always welcome.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Graham Anson
The Watoto Choir last Friday night was the definite highlight of this week. It was both a privilege and a treat to be able to share in their story, music, song, dance, enthusiasm and joy. I reflected on the night that it was a real flip side experience.
After many years of sending missionaries to the lost tribes of darkest Africa, here we had a group of alive, vibrant, faithful young African people speaking into the western-cultured world of how real life is found in the love of God. How rich the kids of the choir are, compared starkly with the poor, empty promises of comfort, security and wealth that we invest in the western world. They stood as a beacon of good work being done in Watoto.
It cannot go unsaid how much hard work went into making the Watoto Choir night a success! Victoria, our Events Co-ordinator deserves a gold medal. She will tell you that it was a team effort, and it was, but she engaged her friends, colleagues, neighbours and wider connections to make it all happen - she personified our vision of building community for good. Not only did she make all the functional and practical things happen, from feeding to accomodating the choir and their support people, to ticketing, chairs and advertising, but she held together a dream of how the Chapel space could be a welcoming and warm space. Anybody who was there will know how the space was transformed into not just a place for a performance, but an intimate, warm, and engaging environment.
This week I am doing a subject at the Uniting Church College around faithful people sharing the love of God in a contextual and inclusive way with the community. Here at the Chapel, the love of God is lived out in some pretty practical and creative ways. Your contribution to us playing our part in this vision is always welcome.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Graham Anson