Healing through music

Posted by admin on Nov 18, 2008 in News | 0 comments

Music can be a healing force in our world.

Just ask Farrango, a team of four people who are hoping to raise awareness and funds for an organization called HEALing Arts through a concert at South Delta Baptist Church.

Trinity Western University alumni Mark Thompson will be opening the concert evening. His debut album Look Both Ways will be released at the show.

The purpose of the benefit concert is two-fold. “[Our aim] is to help rising Christian artists while helping local and global causes,” said Adam Krahn, a member of Farrango.

Other members include Jon Sinclair, Dan Smutylo and Jeremy Johnson, who will be headlining the concert. Johnson has been nominated by the Gospel Music Association for the Modern Worship Song of the Year award. All proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to HEALing Arts.

Founded by Vancouverite Christine York, the purpose of HEALing Arts is to equip women and children, treated at their HEAL centre in Africa, with resources to support themselves.

“Educational and social aspects of healing [are] addressed by creating an environment where women can learn income generating skills and where children have a place to learn and feel loved,” says the foundation’s mission statement.

HEALing Arts works within the Democratic Republic of Congo. This area has been at war since 1997. Sexual violence, one of the primary and most destructive weapons of the war, is rampant in the eastern part of Congo, near the Rwandan border. Women and girls as young as eight are raped and tortured.

The resulting situation is a population of women and girls with high rates of STDs such as HIV/AIDS. Many of them also develop vesicle vaginal fistula (VVF), a condition extremely painful not only physically but emotionally, as many are ostracized by their families and villages because of it.
In addition to the approximately four million lives that have been lost during this war, villages, roads and crops have been destroyed. This has left in its wake innumerable malnourished and diseased children.

HEALing Arts, says in their mission: “[We] are committed to helping men, women and children through the concept of holistic healing (physical, social, and spiritual) in the context of their community.”

They are also committed to counseling and literacy training for women and children at the hospital. The HEAL Africa hospital in Goma has performed over 1,100 VVF surgeries since 2003.

A representative from HEALing Arts will be in attendance to explain what is going on in Africa and how people can get involved. HEALing Arts will also be selling items made by the women in Africa helped by the organization.

Farrango decided to host the concert because of their connections with York. “We all have connections with her and there is a great need in the Congo right now not only for money but also the war seems to be ‘forgotten’ by western media and we are trying to help raise awareness,” said Krahn. 

“We want to stress that even if someone can’t attend the night to please check out their website and try to support in other ways such as donations or prayers,” he added.

The concert will take place on Nov. 21 at 1988 56th St. Delta, BC. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by phoning 604-943-8244.

Look for the organization
on the web at
www.healingartsafrica.com and Farrano group at www.farragomusic.ca