This post may be of little interest to many of my blog readers, but last week at school I experienced quite a surreal moment when my childhood in Africa collided with my current workplace in Hong Kong.
As you know, I attended two boarding schools in West Africa for all of my schooling years. One of those schools was International Christian Academy (ICA) in Ivory Coast where a wonderful man named Evan Evans was my first dormitory "father".
Evan wrote many worship songs during his twenty years at ICA before he and his wife Jewel were evacuated with other staff and students in 2002 due to civil unrest. They have since moved to Senegal, West Africa to work at Dakar Academy where they currently serve as the chaplains.
One of the teachers at International Christian School in Hong Kong, Josh Koch, taught at a school in Taiwan where he met Evan Evans and heard some of his music. Josh decided to teach two of Evan's songs to his ICS fifth graders to perform at Chapel last week.
Evan's songs are famous for having a boys' part and a girls' part as you will hear in the following two songs. (Thank you to Amy for the videos!)
Please leave a comment if you know Evan Evans and remember these songs.
crazy! i couldn't get the songs up but I'm sure I know them. that's awesome that the legacy is spreading!
ReplyDeleteWow! We used to sing Evan Evans songs at my boarding school (Vavoua International School). Such great harmonies and lots of fun to sing. Great to hear them still being sung!
ReplyDeleteLove the "small world" aspect of our lives, Renee. I had a similar experience in college, when a prof that I had just met said to me, "Janet Gardner....now where have I heard your name? Oh yes - M___ K___ told me to say hello to you." That was a boy I had known since junior high [and had had a major crush on :-)]. I don't need to go into how those two were connected, but, being new to America, to college, and feeling so isolated and alone at a college where I didn't know anyone yet, that simple connection to my past overwhelmed me, and I went in the bathroom and cried!
ReplyDeleteRenee, I'd love to hear the build-up to this. Did you know he was doing it ahead of time, or did the songs hit you in chapel for the first time? Great story!
ReplyDeleteNothing better than an Uncle Evan & Uncle Brad "Sing & Wail" at ICA!
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed listening to the songs on your blog! It makes our hearts warm to know that these songs are being sung around the world. It's a small world indeed!
ReplyDeleteLove,
The Evans