Five Manitoban communities will be hosting the African Children's Choir at the end of April for the first time since 2020.
"We're so delighted to be back in Canada," says Tina Sipp, the Choir Manager with the African Children's Choir. "We started a couple weeks ago in British Columbia, and we're working our way east. We'll be in your region the end of April and we're very excited about that."
This year, the choir consists of 18 children between the ages of 9-11 years old.
"The children in the choir are selected on the basis of need. They are from impoverished backgrounds, which often times means a single mom or just uneducated parents that are working very menial jobs, really just trying to get food on the table. We want to stand in the gap. These children are bright, creative, intelligent, and multi-talented. Also, just a great joy to be with. They simply lack opportunity."
The driving force behind this touring African Children's Choir is to raise money to help fund educational programs, including college. The funds raised help the children in the choir, as well as hundreds of others in Africa.
"I think when you're changing the trajectory of real lives over and over, that's profound. These kids have so much potential. Just having a chance to see the children blossom. They come from such a small radiance of experience. On tour, they're given the opportunity to have vision. Every time I see them on stage, it's a reminder that these children are on a course to not only affect their lives and their families' lives, but Lord willing, their communities. It's not just for them but hopefully cause a ripple effect."
The choir will be performing in Morris on Apr. 23, in Winkler on Apr. 25, and on Apr. 27, they'll start off performing Sunday morning in Altona and in Portage la Prairie in the evening. To end their time in Manitoba, the choir will perform in Winnipeg on Apr. 29. Details can be found here. There are no tickets to be purchased but the choir does a love offering at the end.
"They have such a great message for the west, that there's always hope," says Sipp. "This is our 40th anniversary. We have a team of chaperones. Four of them are Ugandans, and they were all members of the choir when they were children. They've all received their college degrees and come back to mentor this next generation. You get to hear from former members what God has done in their lives."
To date, this tour has helped educate over 59,000 children.
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With files from Mike Thom