| Latest News March-April 2009 |
Symphonies of Hope– Choirs of Faith
When we left Atilano in the village of Sarabia 7 months earlier we had many questions. Would he use the little store building we had made for him? Would he ever be able to sell enough candy and peanuts to keep up with his rent? How would people in the village treat Atilano—2 years earlier they didn’t even know his name—to them he was some obscure person who was very sick with something and lived in a mud room on the edge of town. Atilano can be enjoyable to talk with if you give him a chance—but would they give him that chance? We didn´t know. To be honest it was with some nervousness we returned to Sarabia. Were we to find all of our efforts undone? What would we find? We arrived at about 11:00 pm, un-crumpled ourselves from the van and walked to the truck stop across the street. We didn´t need to ask. With a smile of satisfaction and peace the owner of the truck stop said “Atilano is doing well.” That was a relief to hear. He went on to say that every day his brother has been pushing his chair to the nearby elementary school to sell snacks—in the afternoon he sets up shop in the small building you all made”. The next day our family spent the day with Atilano and found he is indeed doing well. There are some members of a small fledgling church who have tried to encourage Atilano. He has appreciated them. He´s had to face a few challenges on his own—his store was broken into once, the water line to the house still doesn´t function, urine bags and catheters have been in very short supply—but God has blessed him, and with the help of friends and those around him he seems to be coping well. It is a very beautiful thing to see him as a real member of the community. Many will help him in different ways—but he is never begging on the streets. May God be with you and protect you Atilano. Please keep him in your prayers and say prayers of thanks for how he has been encouraged. |
| Symphonies of Hope Chris & Coleen Anderson P.O. Box 1061, Pharr, TX 78577 In the U.S. : 608 - 313 - HOPE Message phone in U.S. : 956-781-5133 Email: chriscoleen@symphoniesofhope.org Email: chriscoleen@choirsoffaith.org |
| SymphoniesOfHope.Org ChoirsOfFaith.Org SinfoniasDeEsperanza.Org CorosDeFe.Org |
| Orchestras & Choirs Serving in God's Love |
There were many obstacles: sickness, a shortage of money for gasoline, and a stolen hitch, but God was merciful and kind and enabled us to arrive in McAllen somewhat healthy and in good time for our son, Joseph´s wedding. The wedding was very memorable and now after seeing Joseph and Pattijane together for a few weeks it is starting to seem real that Joseph is actually married. Wow! We were really encouraged to see Atilano on our way back. He was making use of the little store we had built for him and many in the community have reached out to help him in small ways. We have tried to make a commitment to call each orchestra group each week to encourage them. Our phone calls have been really helping to keep the groups strong and moving ahead. It is uplifting to hear each week how they are doing. |
| A Quick Summary |
Sing joyfully to the Lord you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise the harp; make music to Him on the ten stringed lyre. Sing Him a new song: Play skillfully and shout for joy! For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 33:1-4 |
| After 6 years of experience we have learned that the most successful churches, youth groups, missions projects, etc. are the ones that therefore decided that we would make every attempt to maintain a strong tie between ourselves and the small fledgling orchestras we have started. We were not sure in the beginning how we would make this happen but things are beginning to come together and the outcome is looking very encouraging. Before leaving Mexico and Guatemala we took extra efforts to make sure that each orchestra group had a good working cell phone capable of functioning in speaker phone mode. In addition to the “orchestra phone” we also keep close tabs on the phones of all orchestra members. Each orchestra was left with various repair items, 6 violins, and CDs made by Chris and Noah to guide them through each beginning violin piece. Each exercise includes a Bible verse to study and groups are encouraged to memorize additional verses as well. Chris has been using Skype to place an hour call to each orchestra each week—the cost comes to about $10 per call per orchestra for each of 4 different orchestras but it is well worth it. The children often give a very enthusiastic greeting over the phone and practice regularly each week in order to receive permission over the phone to move on to the next song. A song is not passable until they have played it nearly flawlessly for Chris over the phone. After Chris hears each student play he tries to work in a brief |
| Keeping the Orchestras Alive |
| Joseph & Pattijane get Married |
| We only had a week after arriving to prepare for the big event although Pattijane’s family had worry about. There were food items to prepare, clothes to prepare, some clothes that needed altering, decorations, and a number of small errands. The day before the wedding Chris, Noah and Elizabeth made 36 loaves of bread for the reception dinner. Sarah was a flower girl along with a few nieces of Pattijane. They all had white blouses and pink skirts and carried baskets of flower petals. Samuel was really excited as he was chosen to be the ring bearer. We were a little worried that he would want to play with the rings when we got to the front but he did really well. He was a little squirrely as we had to sit quietly for some time… but in the end he fell asleep which made for some cute photography. Jonathan was a little worried that he wouldn’t have a role to play but he was chosen as the” bear bearer”. Now when I heard that I was truly puzzled. What on earth is a bear bearer??? Well, he got to carry two very cute teddy bears around with him from the beginning of the wedding until the happy couple rode away in a carriage after the reception. Right before they got in the carriage, Pattijane threw the girl bear to the bridesmaids and the boy bear to the young men. Noah almost caught the boy bear but his glasses gotbroken in the scuffle and he lost the bear. Jane, Pattijane’s mom was the maid of honor, and Chris was the best man. Chris’s mom, Beverly, played piano for parts and we played Ave Verum with our violins and cello. There were probably around 200 people at the wedding. It came out well but I think everyone was relieved that it was over and we could all go to bed at regular hours again! :) |
| While in McAllen, TX we are trying to arrange a choir-orchestra hymn sing. Many churches— using small bands of electric instruments have abandoned simple congregational singing of hymns and have moved away from using traditional instruments. At the same time, many students after studying an instrument for 4 or 7 years graduate from high school never to play again. They know how to play well but have no instrument of their own and no group to play in. The ability or enthusiasm to play an inspiring hymn is becoming a thing of the past. For these reasons we have decided to organize an orchestra and choir hymn sing. Some of the most beautiful and inspirational pieces are very simple to play and can be a great encouragement to beginning and experienced musicians alike. We want the event to be open for all who have interest. We have chosen to do this simply for the purpose of gathering together people of faith and creating something beautiful with God at its center. We want those who attend (players, singers, and listeners) to be encouraged. Getting the word out is a challenge. Public schools are hostile to any event that might be |
| A U.S. Orchestra / Choir Hymn Sing |
| Atilano’s Progress |
| Our last few weeks in Guatemala were very full as we tried to put in place things to keep the little groups that we had started going. We made CDs for the orchestras with song by song lessons and Bible study verses to use in their classes. We met with class leaders and drilled them on how to continue the classes and use the CDs. We gave each community a cell phone with a speakerphone function so that we could call them every week and continue guiding them by phone. Domingo’s family wanted us to come for a final visit and we also wanted to make glasses for Luis and for Domingo before we left. We needed to see the orchestra in Malacatancito as well so we made a weekend of it. We checked over all were excited to be traveling, but it was mixed with a lot of sadness at having to leave again. Would all of our students continue on with out us? We hoped so but it was hard to say goodbye. We hope all of you out there will keep them in your prayers. |
| Tying up Loose Ends—Saying Goodbye |
| Sickness Battles |
| Unfortunately, upon our return to Santa Rita, Chris and Sarah came down with a Salmonella-type stomach illness. This made getting ready for major travel rather difficult. Sarah was so bad we took her to the laboratory to make sure we got the right medicine for her. After a week of oral antibiotics and 1 shot in the seat she finally began to feel a little better. It made our return trip stressful but we give thanks to God that she recovered without any complications! Chris and a couple of the rest of us suffered a much milder form but all are healthy today. We find that if we keep our camper with us and use our own bathroom we are far less likely to acquire these types of problems But when we had traveled to Malacatancito we took the tent to save time… another lesson learned. |
| The Guatemala-Mexico border is always an interesting place if you like to see unusual things. It’s amazing how much weight some people carry on their backs! |
| These calves were at a place where we stopped along the road. In Guatemala and southern Mexico many of the cattle are of this type. They look very sad with their big eyes & long droopy ears. |
| We left Guatemala in a hurry to return to Texas for Joseph’s wedding. We had all been sick the final week before leaving which slowed down our departure, but finally we were packed and ready to go. We got the van and started to back up to the camper and then all of a sudden realized that the hitch was gone! Ooohhh! What a frustration! We knew it had been there a few days before but now it was gone. It was half a day delay to go searching for another hitch that would fit our van and be the right height for our camper… not a real easy thing in Guatemala. There is no Home Depot there. Amazingly, we finally found one and left the next morning. We had a few car troubles on the way back which used up our reserve of money. Stuck in Sarabia, we stayed longer than planned but it was good to spend a little time with Atilano until a deposit went through in the states. We slept in the tent most of the way back to conserve time that we would have spent setting up and taking down the camper. This saved us a lot of time but when we got back we were rather disorganized. Joseph and Pattijane had already left for a one-week church camp which they wanted us to attend. So we crossed the border, spent another night tenting, washed clothes quickly in the morning, packed up the van with clothes and blankets, and left for another four hour drive to camp. Our camper couldn't go with us so we left it near the church still under the travel cover. (We slept in cabins at the camp.) We were still thinking in Spanish and thinking about all the families we had left behind when we arrived at camp. Our clothes were a bit worn out so we didn’t have much of a wardrobe for American living. We felt a little out of place and self conscious. Our few days at camp with Pattijane and Joseph were so startlingly different from life in Guatemala that we all stood slack-jawed on several occasions. One thing we noticed was that all of a sudden we felt shorter than average. There were lots of towering teenagers at the camp. In Guatemala there are few people who are as tall as our shoulder height. (There was even a boy taller than Noah!) Another thing we noticed was how pale everyone seemed. And finally we noticed that everyone was very loud! There was a lot of excited screaming at every turn and we had just returned from a place where most teens are quiet and reserved. This year we came back in such a hurry for the wedding that we were plunged back into this culture after a year in that culture. It was a bit of a shock! The culture shock coming back here to the U.S. always takes us by surprise. Pattijane’s family treated us very kindly and was very patient with us as we began to cope with life in the US again. |
| Return Trip to the U.S. And Off to Camp |
| Looking for an instrument? |
| You might want to visit the site where we purchase violins. We want to thank the folks at www. kkmusicstore.com They are always very helpful in our purchases. We appreciate the respectful manner in which they promote their products as well as their mission—to produce and sell quality instruments that are more affordable… and in so doing encourage others to produce “heavenly music”. The violins they sell come complete with shoulder rest, electronic tuner, extra strings and an extra bridge—those extras are really helpful when we are working in the middle of nowhere. The violins they offer for $130 and up are very nice. If you know someone who is looking, have them check It out. (This is not a paid commercial… We just really appreciate them.) |
| We again thank all of you for letters and pictures that you send now and then. We need local church. While the culture is very different, they need your prayers here as well. We hope there is interest in the larger hymn sing-along that we are planning. We are continuing full time with our missions efforts as we planned but there are real challenges. We hope to finish getting a simple brochure together soon to make it easier for people to become familiar with the ministry we are involved with. We would like to visit many families up north but still don’t know if that will be possible before winter sets in. (Our camper does well to 0 degrees, but after that it gets pretty unpleasant.) Noah for now is living near Joseph, working at an optical lab, and trying to finish some schooling. He is helping out at the church of Pattijane’s parents. Our crew is currently a bit smaller, but dedicated as ever. We are planning to work with more youth in Monterrey for 2 months and we have hopes that Joseph, Pattijane, and possibly others will join us. Please keep Pricilla, the little girl with leukemia in Monterrey, in your prayers. The latest we hear is that the cancer has spread to her brain… She was in a coma for 9 days a couple of weeks ago but when we saw her at Easter she was in good spirits, although she had lost all of her hair. We were able to have a picnic with the little violin group and her family while we were there. Please pray for her family, that they will have their faith strengthened throughout this trial. Until Next Time, Chris, Coleen, Elizabeth, Sarah, Jonathan, and Samuel |
| In Conclusion |
| Priscilla and her family have been fighting leukemia since she was 2 years old. |
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