Tears of Hope

For the second time in just a few hours we have been moved to tears through a presentation to the Conference and at the same time were filled with hope. The Hope for Africa Children's Choir, all the way from Gula, Uganda, came to sing to us.

These children, about 22 in number, filled the room with joy, energy, and praise. Less than a year ago they were living in squalor in refugee camps. Through a church program, through Humble UMC, over 200 children were taken to their own "camp" or homes. A school was started and the music became a joyous part of their lives.

The South Georgia Conference paid for them to come sing at GC, and then they will go on tour singing and raising money for the mission. Changed lives! If our local churches could experience what we've experienced today in two presentation and see what a difference the United Methodist Church is making, we'd have no trouble raising money for missions!

(Blogging note: Thanks for all the comments. I'm glad these posts are helpful, as are your responses. I took video of the choir singing and if I can figure out how to get it uploaded I'll post it as well. Important votes all week are before us, so keep the prayers going up.)