2010 a new focus

Its been a while and there has been little international activity since the Uganda trip.

Exporting goods with low value for no profit has been made more difficult by the Chinese export regulations and so the latest shipment to Zambia is still waiting. However there are many African students studying in China and they are still forming a ready distribution network on hand. Ekaete from Nigeria

Edgar fromKenya

There are also Indians and Nepalese in abundance so the mission is continuing slowly and person to person.

The word says go into all the world and make disciples and so its only fitting that we work person to person.

Still trying to get another shipment to Zambia but willing to distribute locally if neccessary.

Feb 2011 and Ambrose gets a new guitar.

Uganda trip August 07

Uganda visit August 07
4 of us landed at Entebbe airport, Uganda on the 2nd of August, carrying instruments for the church.
We took 2 acoustic-electric guitars, 2 basses, 3 saxes and a trumpet and amplifiers to suit. We also bought a key board and 2 acoustic guitars in Kampala. The aim was to equip and teach two churches, one south of Kampala and one north of Jinja. Things went better than we expected. The Pastors had invited some local churches to join them and so our visit had impact on 10 churches. We taught and encouraged and prayed for the people and left them with study material and instruments. That brought on a hour of celebratory dancing and singing. They were overwhelmed by the fact that we had bothered to come all the way to see them. (small village churches) We were also overwhelmed by the enthusiastic welcome and the way that God had worked it all out.

Guitar workshop

Horn workshop
Looking forward to seeing what they can do next year and to helping out in other areas. Both are poor villages and both Pastors have a vision to build orphanages.
It was an expensive exercise and it is cheaper to send instruments by airfreight than to carry in so few but the effect we had on those people has had inestimable eternal value. They prefer the giver to the gifts!

A special song

I'm looking forward to working with them again and hearing what they have created.

I bought a great Jazz/worship CD by Isaiah Katumwa in ampala and have been enjoying it ever since. http://www.isaiahkatumwa.com/

Brass to Honduras

No this is not a guitar story!

Being in contact with the musical instrument suppliers has meant that I was able to send some wind instruments to a Christian School in Choluteca, Honduras.
It is a mission school, once again funded primarily through donations and so the call went out to supply horns for the marching band.
I was able to send a brass section unit, with the donations from my fellowship.
1 trumpet, 1 trombone and 1 saxophone, all new!
The teacher in charge sent me some photos of the boys with their new horns.
It's so good to be able to be a blessing and sow into the lives of these young people.
May they give God the glory all the days of their lives!
Amen.

Zambia and next

The Guitars to Africa mission began with My friend Danny Kataso who played for me in Tianjin China.
He has distributed 19 guitars to several churches around his home town of Mpika.
He reported that the beginners kits were recieved most enthusiastically by the Charismatic Catholic church but that the rest wanted amplification for church performance.
Of course I planned to send them later when the beginners had become proficient and were able to afford the step up.
So far we are still waiting for enough donations to fund the next step.



Danny sent me this photo of him and his family singing at the Pentecostal Holiness church.











The latest shipment will go to an orphanage at Pemba in Mozambique!
I have ordered 10 smaller guitars for the boys at Pemba and have had the instructions translated into Portuguese for them. Of course most of them cannot read so the cassette tapes are very important.
There are @350 boys at the orphanage, who's parents are either dead of overloaded, and many of them have become Christians while staying there.
I hope to give them some tools to learn music and praise God for their good fortune at the same time.

August 07. Pemba has proved difficult to ship to as it is not a major port, so I wait for a person who will oversee the transport at that end.

Meanwhile another shipment went to Zambia in Feb. This time with Drums and electric guitars etc. They were most enthusiastically recieved. Danny sent me this photo of one of the groups making good use of the guitars from the last shipment.

The New Zealand recording connection

In 2003 my family and I were enabled to go to NZ for a 9 month break.
During that time God also enabled me to meet some new friends who assisted in the recording of the Beginner's guitar kit tape.
It consists of simple praise songs (at first) working up to more complex songs and key changes at the end.
It wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of friends.

Steve engineered the project and Mike helped out with the tricky guitar bits.
Ray sang female vocals.





It was put together very simply just to give the learner a clear idea of how to play guitar chords "on the job".

I couldn't resist putting some sax on it, just for fun.
I put together the first kit in NZ for a trial run. The guitar and tape and booklet kit together cost $127
We had to go back to China to keep the cost down to a viable level.
Here we can produce a kit for closer to $27.


The whole event seemed to go miraculously well!

May all the glory go to God! Amen.

The Mission beginnings

International Africa Music Mission
“to bless the church so the church can be a blessing”
This is a Christian network, consisting of individuals and organizations from many nations who together help to get musical instruments to the churches in Africa.
It is a non-profit effort funded primarily by donations. It is intended that where possible, the church recipients will pay costs, to enable the work to continue.

The primary focus is to send beginners guitars and teach-your-self manual and cassette tapes to churches outside the main centres where musical instruments are hard to come by.
The manual and tapes focus on learning chords for worship songs, the most useful purpose of the guitar.
That way people who normally could not find a guitar or teacher can become useful musicians for the service of the church.

With direct distribution to the church, bypassing wholesalers and retailers, the guitars can be put into the hands of a church member for less than $40.
The usual price for the same guitar without manual and tape is @$100.00
The average income in many countries is around $10.00 per month, making the average guitar inaccessible to most.

We will also be happy to send other instruments to help equip the worship teams.

Below is a church in Uganda, displaying their new instruments.


Donations towards equipping the church can be made simply by clicking on the “donate now” buttons. You will be helping to equip a church and begin a process of worship musician training.
$25 buys a beginner’s guitar and teaching kit.
$40 buys an acoustic /electric guitar for services.
$60 buys an electric guitar or bass or trumpet.
$150 buys a saxophone or drum kit.

To make a donation just click on the donation button below.

This will take you to a Paypal website where you can safely enter the amount you wish to donate using your credit card.

Thanks for your help!

Aquilasax.com will donate 10% of their profits to the Africa music mission. see http://aquilasax.com

The idea began when in 2002 I was privileged to worship with a group of people from Tanzania and Zambia, in an international fellowship. They were great singers but had no instruments. I loaned one of them my guitar and it was inspiring to see him work at it. After only a couple of weeks he was accompanying us. I had to show him the chords for new songs and so was born the idea of putting the chord sheets and an audio tape together for worship song teaching.

My guitar playing friend has since helped to distribute guitars to many churches in Zambia.

Guitars to Uganda

I was very heartened to see the pictures sent to me by Pastor Lydia of the Apostolic Revival Church in Uganda.
One picture was of the whole team brandishing their new instruments.

It was quite a struggle getting the instruments to Uganda as it is land locked. The airfare for the goods was crippling and a friend had to help with the payment but...
One look at the photos made it all worthwhile.

The team has engaged a music teacher to help them get to grips with music.

I usually send a teaching booklet and tape set to enable beginners to teach themselves. However I know it can be daunting when you have no internet or library access.

The next shipment is planned for Zambia, where there are several churches waiting for instruments. There are a few guitars already in the hands of learners since 2004. Now they need equipment for church performance.

After that I'm planning to send some junior guitars to the orphanage in Pemba, Mozambique. A Brazillian friend has helped me translate the teaching booklet into Portuguese for them.