Children for Children Concert

What a night we had on Monday night!

Over 150 people showed up at the beautiful old church that our friends down the street are converting into a community center. It was the ideal location - big enough that we could tell all our friends and relatives to invite all their friends and relatives and just a lovely setting that my kids were so excited about. I was really touched to see how many people showed up and how many cute kids got up in front of everyone to share their talents and how much money we were able to raise to help the orphans in Bulgaria.

Ashton did a wonderful job as the Master of Ceremonies and Nativity Play Narrator. Isaac was great at greeting people and was an excellent Joseph in the play. Eliza kept all the little angels in line and did a great job delivering her "head angel" lines. The twins were great innkeepers and shepherds. And they were all over the moon about the whole thing. Even though there's more work and stress involved in "leading from behind" and having the kids run the concert this year, there was nothing like seeing the sense of ownership, accomplishment, pride and joy that they all felt on Monday night. The kids worked hard to come up with the list of everything that needed to be done before and during the concert and divided up responsibilities, giving me a list of things they needed me to do.  Ashton set up a Facebook Event page, made invitations to pass out, responded to all texts and emails and phone calls about the event, etc. They were all excited to have important roles.

Here are some great shots of the concert thanks to my great photographer-friend Rebecca Malouf:

We started off with a video about the orphans who would be benefiting from the concert.

Then we had lots of wonderful kids' performances.

This quartet sang beautifully!

These little tiny boys melted hearts with their rendition of "I am a Child of God"

This little girl sang like an angel

The grand finale was a little Nativity Play that about 40 kids participated in:

Everyone put a donation in the amount of their choice into this box.

Some kids gave the pennies and nickels an dollar bills they'd been saving all year
(We did a LOT of counting of change after school yesterday! The kids had fun with it.)  

The setting couldn't have been more perfect -
thanks Chris and Paige and Sprout Utah for providing this perfect place!

And after the concert, wow, I wish everyone could see the excitement here at our house as the kids counted out the money that was donated. $1600! A new record! Plus that money will be matched by the Eyrealm Foundation so we'll actually be able to give $3200 to support TWO orphanages in Bulgaria this year.

Here's the 3-minute video we showed at the beginning of the concert (photos I took when I was in the orphanages in Bulgaria a few years ago - I went on a mission there and have been involved in One Heart Bulgaria for years, trying to continue the work I started in orphanages 20 years ago). It's a nice thing to watch with your kids if you want.  I can't watch it without tearing up. I wish I could do more for those sweet children!

(If you want to join in, you can show your kids the photos and video above and donate money online by clicking HERE and including "children for children" in the notes section as you make your payment in PayPal. This way, your donation can be part of our overall donation and can be matched by the Eyrealm Foundation.)