Overwhelming Peace

As stated in a previous entry, Morgan Dennison heard the children’s radio interview. About half an hour later, he announced to the kids that he wanted to record them. He has a song that’s making its way to #1 on CCFm and has recently finished adding a recording studio to his house. I didn’t know if it would happen. He said he would record the instrumentation during the week so the kids could come in and add vocals.

I gave him a call on Thursday. Everything was still a go. He was excited. I told him to meet me at Capricorn at 1 on Saturday to pick up the kids. He arrived before we did. Morgan, Ricardo (the guy who helped me audition/will help teach), Verity (a local artist whose CD comes out next week), Amy (another helper) the 5 kids and me loaded up a few cars, drove out to Morgan’s place, did our weekly lesson and then recorded.

I checked to see what the kids had learned from last week. Bronwill (on the right) knew everything. Basil (center) knew most. The other kids didn’t remember much. They hadn’t practiced. They lost points. I again told them about the points and about the test at the end of each month. If they don’t practice. If they do poorly on the test, they lose points. If they lose all their points, they’re out. No ifs, ands or buts. Discipline is a pain, but it’s the cruel reality of life. On the other hand, if they do practice and do well on the test, they earn points and can cash them in for prizes.

Meet Amy (left), our new teacher who is profficient in piano, trumpet and flute. More about her towards the end.

Bronwill and Winston getting ready to be recorded for the first time ever.

No everyone. We’re not at Belmont. We’re not in Nashville, TN. We’re in Africa. There are not dozens of studios all over the place. This is rare. Extremely rare.

Again, I have to remind you all of where these kids come from. Capricorn. 80% unemployment. They live in shacks. No heat in the middle of winter. Maybe, maybe one meal a day if they’re lucky. Drugs are everywhere. Half of the kids (if not more) don’t know their whole family because either A) someone has been killed B) someone has died of AIDS or C) a parent or two have abandoned them. I just want you all to try to understand that this picture represents so much more than the smiles on their faces. This was probably the greatest day in all 5 of these kids’ lives. They each are starting to understand the enormity of this academy. I am starting to understand the enormity…

Here they all are with Morgan. What a great guy. He didn’t charge us a thing. He said he’ll have the final song done by Wednesday. Maybe by the end of the week it will be on the radio? Who knows how big of an impact this day had on the academy, or how big of an impact it had on the kids.

Now, I want to introduce you to Amy [wave to her]. Her father has recently taken over Living Grace (also known as Living Hope, Muizenberg). It’s the homeless shelter which is literally right across the street from CCFm. Coincidence? She is a certified nurse, but hurt her back and is on a month-long leave. Where did she go during that month? To stay and work with her parents at Living Hope in Muizenberg. Another coincidence? 10 days ago, she spoke with Avril. “My passion is music. Do you have anything involving music?” Coincidence? Avril sent me an email and we created a meeting time. 7 days ago we met.

I told her about the academy. I told her about my story and the story of the academy and the story of these kids and by the end of it, she was asking if she could help teach. We’ve met every day since. I keep telling her more. She organized the surveys that were just laying around. She contacted the University of Cape Town for me and spoke with the Dean of the Music School to potentially create a partnership. All of this was done on the day I stayed home to sleep/rest/get over my cold. The first day stuff has been done without myself doing a thing.

You see, there is one thing and one thing only that has been eating away at me for the past month. What was going to happen once I leave? Who was going to take over my role? Worst case scenario: I go home and the academy falls apart and the kids we’ve taught no longer get an education and this living creature slowly fades into oblivion. Ladies and Gentlemen, I want you to meet my successor. Her name is Amy Lovick. She said this was her dream job. She said she would quit her other job to come out here and work on this. She is extremely organized. She is extremely dedicated. She is extremely passionate. She has contacts all over Cape Town. And she not only wants to teach these kids, but she wants this to be a full-time job. She wants the role that will leave when my plane takes off the ground. And I met her literally two weeks before my flight home…

Now you can sort of understand this overwhelming peace that I feel. I have no more worries. I have no more doubts. I have no more concerns about this academy. It started from nothing and look at it now. Look at what’s happened. Look at everything these past 3 months have held. If you have been following and you haven’t seen God working through all of this, I don’t know what to tell you. Some things are so much bigger than you and I can understand. I don’t believe in coincidences.