20 March 2012

To Not Know

There are some awesome things happening in Kenya and, more specifically, Nairobi.  There are art displays, music festivals, concerts, musicals, plays, movie premiers and showings, poetry readings, and many other cool artistic events that happen every week here.  [Here's a link if you want to look specifically at what some of the events are:  http://nairobinow.wordpress.com/]  And there are incredible people working for the good of people through the arts in Nairobi.

My musical life began when I was in a preschool choir at Grace United Methodist Church in Rochester, Indiana.  Then when I began school in Rochester I had a music class during the school day - general music, choral, and/or instrumental - from the year I began school until I graduated.  In addition to that, I had the opportunity throughout all of my secondary school life to be a part of a music ensemble outside of the school day with students from all around Indiana.  I have been blessed to have music education in my life from the time I could pretty much hold my body upright until today (when I still sometimes struggle to hold my body upright).

So herein lies my problem:  Nairobi is a city of around 3 million people, and the majority of those people are very unexposed to the arts.  Young people have an especially difficult time being a part of quality music ensembles.  From what I understand, very few schools in Nairobi have music classes in their curriculum.  Many have after-school choirs that meet once or twice per week, but it is very difficult for some students to be a part of those ensembles...either due to transportation or fees or home lives or safety risks.

I want to offer kids a chance to do music...together...with quality.  And to be quite honest with you, I have no idea how to do that.  I've been praying a lot about it, trying to see what God wants me to do with this passion, but I still don't know.  I don't know where to start advertising...I don't know where rehearsals would be...I don't know how transportation for the kids would work...I don't know how concerts would work...I don't know where financial support would come from...I don't know a lot of things to do with this.  I think maybe God has other things He wants me to learn first, but I also don't want to waste my life away on myself.  The best I can do right now is pray and ask Him to teach me and lead me where He wants me to go...and then to follow Him and do what He asks.  But I guess To Not Know is a place to learn and serve in still.  So here we go.