at First Covenant Church in Oakland. The choir is comprised primarily of kids who have lost one or more of their parents to disease or violence in their native country. All of the children in this choir were from Uganda. Prior to the kids coming out on stage, their director explained a brief history of the program and told a little bit about the kids. Melissa and I held up pretty well until the kids ran out from the door beside the stage, dancing, clapping, and singing, while smiling the biggest smiles you've ever seen. Melissa (not normally a crier) had tears streaming down her face as she laughed at the simple beauty of these kids and the joy that poured from them. My eyes welled up as well. We are suckers for stuff like this. It reminded me of the kids that I met at the second orphanage we visited in Ukraine. They were full of life and a love for the Lord. I am really glad that we got to go see the kids sing and dance.Afterwards, we went to Tucker's Ice Cream in Alameda. We ate more than our fill of ice cream. I felt like a little kid again, eating ice cream with my grandparents on a warm summer-ish night. The only difference was that instead of having Justin there, I had Melissa. Dreams really do come true. That was mean.
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This was a prayer that they handed out that I though was pretty cool...
May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can made a difference in the world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done,
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
AMEN
4 comments:
man that poem/ prayer was hard hit, thanks for sharing it!
that prayer is great. and it sounds like the concert was wonderful as well.
oh and i enjoyed the long comment and i agree with you about american apparel but i still feel like there are other products out there that are good choices.
so, i am so encouraged right now. it is weird thinking back to when we were in highschool (which youre blog about how you used to be super political made me do) and seeing where we are now. i must say that it has always been something that i admire about you dan, how you tend to look beyond your own little world, and long to make a difference. i love that god is using you to do that, and encouraging you with prayers from africa.
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