A night in Uganda …

Uganda came to me last night. All I had to do was venture out in a cold, Pennsylvania night to be transported there.

A local school invited the Watoto Children’s Choir to perform in its gym/cafeteria. Truth be told, the announcement of the concert in the local newspaper would likely have not caught my attention had it not been for two things. The first was Passion::Kampala last May when the Passion crew led about 20,000 students in an evening and day of praise to the God of us all. They were joined that day by the Watoto Children’s Choir and were kind enough to post a clip on their MySpace. The second was the release of Chris Tomlin’s Hello Love album which featured the choir on the track, Love. The video of that song as performed in Kampala is below.

Given that albeit limited background, I headed out to the school at a time that I thought would be early enough to get a decent seat.

Wrong.

I arrived a good 20-30 minutes before the concert, was greeted first by a student at the school and then by a smiling young Ugandan who handed me a brochure. Then I walked into an already packed gym where there were no chairs to be found.

I took my spot along the wall, settling into a moderately comfortable position as the introductory video began to roll. First black and white images of children talking about the lives they led before Watoto; then color images of the same children talking about the hope they found in Christ through the efforts of Watoto.

Then came the kids… and the drums … and the dancing. It was probably the fastest 90 minutes of my life. Beyond the music, there are two images that are now burned into my memory from the evening.

As the soaring, clear voice of a boy of about 10,  sang the song, African Lullaby, images of their beautiful but broken country filled the screen behind the choir. In the safety and comfort of the gym, it was a stark reminder of the danger from which these children had been rescued. It had quite an effect on the audience, caught up as they were with every word the choir sang:

Who will sing my lullaby
Who will hold me when I cry
When I awake and no one’s there
Who will sing my lullaby

One straw mat
Two sister, one brother
Our father is gone
Now we cry for our mother
Who will protect
And watch through the night
Who will be there
To blow out the light

Who will sing my lullaby
Who will hold me when I cry
When I awake will you be there
Will you sing my lullaby

The second image is that of three little girls – maybe eight, maybe nine – smiling, laughing as they stood in the receiving line the children formed following the concert. Taller, more reserved Americans tried to just reach out a hand to shake their small hands, but these little girls would have none of that. Before you knew it, they had their arms stretched out for an insistent hug.

Two images. Two sides of Uganda. The sadness of a song. The hope of a smile.

One night …