In today’s world, it is very easy to get overwhelmed by everything going on. Countries at war, people dying of incurable diseases, slavery and sex-trafficking at a historical all-time high, and many other countless infirmities seem to plague our existence. The simple solution seems to be watching out for your own and trying to avoid as much of these misfortunes as possible.
Luckily, many people are not taking that stance. Organizations are providing HIV/AIDS relief to families in Africa, churches are still sending teams to New Orleans to alleviate the effects of hurricane Katrina, and some families have taken it upon themselves to better today’s world one life at a time.
It was one of these families that attracted the attention of John Hall, PhD, theology professor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU in Mount Vernon, OH, USA). Having spent most of his life in Central and South America as a missionary’s kid and a career missionary with his own family, Hall has witnessed first-hand some of the extreme and heart-breaking situations in our world. One of these continues to pull at the strings of his heart: street children.
No one knows exactly how many street children there are around the world, but UNICEF has estimated
over 100 million children worldwide. Having recently spent time in Brazil as a professor and guest speaking at churches such as Campinas Central Church of the Nazarene in Campinas, Brazil, Hall has had the opportunity to witness to and work with a handful of the nearly 8 million children in Brazil who call the streets their home. It was during these interactions and through his son-in-law that Hall came in contact with an orphanage in Penedu, Brazil being run by a Nazarene pastor and his wife. What started off as feeding dinner to 10 children a few nights a week has turned into a fully fledged children’s home under the supervision of Josemar Ediel and his wife.
These children from a sister Nazarene orphanage in Brazil are also benefitting from Nazarene ministry and giving.
In the fall of 2008, Hall challenged his Introduction to Missions class to begin thinking about impacting the global church and body. He mentioned various organizations and programs the students could get involved with, including a small orphanage now housing 25 children in Brazil. Along with thinking globally, he challenged the students to raise “significant funds” to benefit one of these organizations. Two sophomores, Ryan Walker and myself, decided that it was worth a try, and that Ediel’s orphanage was going to be the target of our efforts.
We wanted to use music to extend a helping hand to those children, and a benefit concert seemed like the best method to do so; the Extended Melody Project was born. Besides trying to raise money, we wanted to involve as much of our campus and local community as possible. As opposed to hosting the concert on campus, we sought out a venue in downtown Mount Vernon: a former night club where we could create a warm, intimate, coffee house feel for the show.
We e-mailed bands from around the state of Ohio, emphasizing the cause and benefit nature of the event; all four bands who responded donated their time and talents the night of the show so as to send as much money as possible to the orphanage. T-Shirt Express, a local printing shop, donated T-shirts for the concert attendees to purchase and provide even more funds to send.
Local radio stations marketed the event, students designed posters to promote the event on campus and around town, and drama students filmed a video outlining the mission of the project.
The night of the show, campus small groups prepared and served food and coffee to all in attendance while members of the campus and local community enjoyed musical performances by The Collision, Les and Kirby Claxon, The Sewing Machine War, and Wild Boy of Aveyron. The musical talents have all recorded and cut CDs, and their punk-pop, acoustic, and post rock guitar rhythms (respectively) filled the venue for nearly four hours on March 14, 2009. Over 180 people were in attendance, and at the end of the night, with no overhead costs to return, the Extended Melody Project had raised over $1,800 to send to the orphanage in Penedu, Brazil.
Les and Kirby Claxon, an Ohio-based band, agreed to perform free at MVNU's Extended Melody Project concert
to raise funds for a Nazarene-run orphanage in Brazil. Photo by Cody Snouffer.
We were amazed at how well everything went. The money brought in was almost triple our initial expectations.
Walker said, “It was the grass-roots appearance to this [orphanage] that initially grabbed my attention. They definitely needed the help and we knew it would be a blessing any amount we could raise for them.”
Recently, a committee of Brazilian Nazarene pastors has formed a board to help oversee and organize the orphanage in Penedu. The money raised by the Extended Melody Project will go to help cover many of the initial costs the orphanage had preparing the children for school, as well as contribute to the building fund being organized to provide better furnishings and a new roof for the children.
Walker and I plan to use this experience this year to organize more benefit concerts before we graduate. We would like to see the Extended Melody Project become a permanent part of Mount Vernon Nazarene’s annual calendar, benefiting a different organization every year. Ryan and I have two more years we can help oversee the project, but then we’d like to pass the reigns off to younger students and let their hearts and passions influence the project.
The students attributed their inspiration back to pastor Ediel and his wife, who refused to let the injustice and hurt in the world go unnoticed. Their efforts started small, but the impact of Christ’s love in the lives of the children they are reaching could not be bigger. The body of Christ has the greatest relief in the world’s history to extend to others, but we must open our eyes and hearts and stretch our hands.
-- Cody Snouffer is a sophomore at Mount Vernon Nazarene University