Alsea church group pays to record CD of children's choirs

By KYLE ODEGARD

Gazette-Times reporter

An Alsea-based church group hopes to raise money for three African orphanages with music.

Worldwide Crusades paid $5,000 so choirs from the Ugandan orphanages could record their songs and, so far, about 200 compact discs of "Children of Africa" have been sold, said evangelist Bill Smith, who also is the pastor for Alsea Christian Fellowship.

"Right now, I think they have about 620 kids in those orphanages. Most of them are AIDS orphans," Smith said. "They take these kids and they feed them and clothe them and educate them."

Smith visited the three orphanages while on a mission about a year ago. The children don't have a lot - and that sometimes includes food - but each facility had a music program.

"When I heard their music, I said, 'I've got to do something with that,'" Smith said. "We're hoping to raise some funds to help feed these kids."

He said Worldwide Crusades has been providing a lot of the financial support for the orphanages, but it hasn't been easy for the organization.

Associate Pastor John Butterworth said that although the songs are easy to listen to, the subject matter can be heartbreaking.

"There's one song where they are singing about how they are the only ones surviving. Their moms died of AIDS. Their dads died of AIDS," Butterworth said. "These kids have gone through incredible suffering. … If you hear their hearts, it's just incredible."

Butterworth said there are hundreds of these orphanages. "These are just three that came across our path, and you can't help but be touched," he said.

The music is available online from CD Baby and TuneCore.

CDs also can be ordered by mail from Worldwide Crusades, PO Box 9, Alsea, OR 97324. The cost of the CD is $10 plus $2 for shipping.

For more information, go to www.worldwidecrusades.com.

Kyle Odegard can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.