"CHRISTMAS FOR DARFUR"

Songs of love and hope by the musicians of Grace Lutheran Church

What better way to celebrate the amazing gift
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s birth,
than with an intimate musical offering buoyed by the desire
to help bring comfort and hope to those suffering
through the campaign of genocide taking place in the deserts of Sudan. Jesus was born on this earth to bring light to darkness. 
‘Emmanuel’ translates to ‘God with us’. In every way.
To God be the Glory.

The choirs and musicians of the Grace Lutheran congregation have produced a special CD entitled "Christmas for Darfur" as a fundraiser to assist the humanitarian efforts of the Mennonite Central Committee with their hands-on work with genocide victims in Darfur, Sudan. Offering a wide variety of musical styling, the CD features Christmas songs and instrumental works BY ALL AGES FOR ALL AGES, from traditional to contemporary, plus several original works and arrangements! Sure to lift spirits, this CD is available for a suggested donation of $20 (tax receipts available) at the church office, and especially at our FREE LIVE CONCERT OF THE CD, Saturday December 13th, 3:30 PM!

The cover of our CD was designed by one of our youth, Sarah Lewke, and our children's choir includes friends of the children, from our community. We also feature solos from several young people, including Chad Abrahamson, Sarah Lewke, and Julia Emmond, as well as several of our adult soloists: Sandra Hartness (who wrote the song she plays and sings); Charles Velte (who also arranged the classical musical score for the piece he sings); Linda Armstrong, Janet Sutherland, Gerda Pagenkopf, Leah Green, Deni Skutshek, plus musicians Gwen Muri, Janet Scholz, Astrid Melsness, and the mother/daughter keyboard/violin duet by Kirstin and Rachael Lesosky, mother/daughter/friend trio Karen Emmond and Julia Emmond with Tammy Abrahamson, plus our Grace Choir (30 singers), our Praise Choir (12 musicians), our Grace's Tenors and Basses (13 men and our Ellie Schindel at piano) and of course, SOLACE (acapella quartet)!

We are very excited about this CD - it was produced by our local Tree Fort Music Studios, www.treefortmusic.com, on the Westside (in fact, Eden Grey, the duo that formed Tree Fort, Vytas Sinkevicius and Patty Curran, also have an original song on our CD) and really has been a partnership effort by all involved - including the packaging of the CD’s, carried out by volunteers from our church family!

SPECIAL THANKS TO…
… Vytas, Jim, and Patty of Tree Fort Music Studios for their tireless commitment and enthusiasm for the creation of this CD – we are so thankful for the fellowship and faith of all our musical sisters and brothers in Christ!

A heartfelt thank you as well to our Grace Lutheran Church family, whose generous donations ensured the production of this CD,
enabling 100% of the proceeds from the distribution of ‘Christmas for Darfur’ to be forwarded to the Mennonite Central Committee, www.mcc.org/sudan, in aid of their humanitarian work in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

“…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.”
Matthew 25:40

© Grace Lutheran Church Kelowna 2006
Grace Lutheran Church is a member congregation of CALC and LCMC