The Dothan-Eufaula Presiding Elder District Hosts the Watoto Children’s Choir of Uganda
By Beverly Smith, 9thEpiscopal District
The Dothan-Eufaula Presiding Elder District of the Southeast Alabama Conference hosted the Watoto Children’s Choir of Uganda, Africa, at Parks Chapel AME Church in Dothan on Friday, February 8. The Watoto Children’s Choir performed in front of a packed house.
The Watoto Children’s Choir, part of the Watoto Church in Uganda, has traveled extensively since 1994, sharing a message of hope for Africa’s orphans and widows. They have three villages in Uganda, which house over 3,000 children. They also support over 4,000 women in the neighborhood. These children have been abandoned and don’t have parents to look after them; so, they bring the children into Watoto for care.
The choir members range in age from 6-12 years old. They have all been orphaned because of AIDS, abandonment, poverty, or war.
Mrs. Reddick first heard the Watoto Children’s Choir in concert at First Baptist Church in Enterprise in 1998. She began working with the Watoto Children’s Choir in 2000.
The Choir was invited to come and perform on the Dothan-Eufaula District by Presiding Elder and Mrs. Reddick in 2002 and the Choir continues to perform for the Dothan-Eufaula District every two years when they come to the United States. They have performed at Parks Chapel AME Church in Dothan, Alabama and Saint Luke AME Church in Eufaula, Alabama. The Dothan-Eufaula District always looks forward to the return of the Choir. Presiding Elder and Mrs. Reddick begin serving as a host family in 2004.
The Reddicks said it really warms their hearts to be a part of the Watoto Children’s Choir Ministry and help make a difference in the life of a child. It is truly a blessing to see some of the choir members who are now adults return with the Watoto Children’s Choir Ministry helping with the children.
