The Matsiko World Orphan Choir is coming to Shepard of the Hills United Methodist Church in St. George. The choir is made up of 17 children from as far away as India, Peru and Liberia.
The choir is part of the International Children’s Network, an organization which seeks to pair sponsors with orphaned or at-risk children.
Don Windham co-founded the International Children’s Network with his wife in 1997.
“We started the choir thinking that these kids would be better representatives, for this hope and this opportunity, than anything I would even be able to do,” Windham said.
Thousands of children have been sponsored over the last 17 years. Windham said the goal is to give the children a future.
“The main point is to find a sponsor for each child that we can. So the sponsor takes that child all the way through the university, so that they can become doctors, lawyers, mechanics engineers, you name it. Then they go back to their villages, empowered, and help kids like themselves,” he said.
For some of the children performing, this tour marks the first time their home countries have allowed orphaned children to travel abroad.
“The difference between a privileged and a poor child in their countries is the opportunity, and the opportunity is school,” Windham said.
The choir will be touring throughout the year, performing at Disneyland and at a Seattle Seahawks halftime show.
