Walking into the room Cameron and I are greeted with smiles and very enthusiastic ni haos(hello in Madrin), with blank walls and white washed floors the room is empty except for a couple of tables and a television set that is locked inside a metal stand that hangs from the ceiling, and with very minimal heating units I can see my breath as the boys tug at my beard and hold onto my hands. Looking around at this particular group they look more like young men than boys, as I set the keyboard down and begin to play it does not take long for most of the boys to swarm around with a look of intrigue and excitement on their faces. Soon I am no longer the only one playing the keyboard, with four of the boys all pressing random keys and placing their hands on top of mine as I play, while at the same time about two other boys have figured out that if you flip the power switch on and off a light comes on, and then it does not take long for the drumkit setting to be found out by another boy. All the while I notice one boy in particular, when we entered the room he was hunched down alone in the corner with his hands over his head, but now he is spinning and dancing in the middle of the room.
It was that moment that I was reminded just how powerful music can be, this something that I have seen over the past 8 months is universal regardless of geography or cultural, much of my ministry this month was music. So much more than simply notes and chords, the idea was to bring peace, joy, and worship, in the form of music. I was able to use a small Casio keyboard and Cameron brought along his guitar, we didn't have any songs planned out, and didn't really intend on teaching the children songs to sing along to, instead we showed up and simply let it happen. Some days that meant putting some music on an iPod and holding the children, other days it meant singing and playing songs as the children hummed and clapped along, and still other days that meant going for a walk to the park with the children. The more time went on, it was clear that it was less about the music, or about any plan I could have going into each day, it was simply about showing up and showing love to these children.
