This month, we celebrate the Bhutanese-Nepali! The Bhutanese-Nepali are people without a country. How did that happen?

HISTORY

(late 1800′s) Nepalis were brought to work in the south of Bhutan. The numbers of ethnic Nepali in south Bhutan grew tremendously.

(1958) All Nepalis in south Bhutan granted citizenship. However, they retained their distinct culture and language (Nepali).

(1980′s) Bhutanese government instituted the One Nation One People policy. The aim was to preserve the Buddhist culture and language of Bhutan. As a result the Nepali language was banned from schools and literature and those who could not prove they had been in the country before 1958 were deemed illegal immigrants.

(1988) A census is taken and people were wrongly categorized as non-nationals. Many of these were then ejected from the country after being forced to sign “voluntary migration papers.” Their property was seized and they were told they had to get out of the country by a certain date or face death.

Over 100,000 ended up in refugee camps in Nepal, where they had not running water or electricity. They were not allowed to work. And they were not recognized as citizens of Nepal or allowed to return to Bhutan.

The US offered to settle 60,000 Bhutanese-Nepali. A few other countries offered to take up to 10,000 each.

LANGUAGE

I have begun to learn some Nepali (which was derived from Sanskrit), so I can speak with some of our new neighbors. Right now, I am learning basic phrases from a youtube video! Check it out here.

FOOD

When we visited some Bhutanese-Nepali friends for dinner, we enjoyed: dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a spicy lentil soup, served over bhat (boiled rice), served with tarkari (curried vegetables) together with achar (pickled radish).

RELIGION

The majority of the Bhutanese-Nepali practice Hinduism. In fact, many of my friends are named after Hindu gods.

OTHER

The capital of Nepal is Kathmandu. Mount Everest is located in Nepal. The Nepali like to say that they live at the top of the world.

WHAT?
A year-round program offering private instruction (1 hour individual and group lessons) in the arts to members of the Clarkston community.  We also offer special seminars (topical, instrument/genre demonstrations), workshops (on arts and culture), and ongoing ministry teams/programs such as: Children’s Choir, Youth Choir, Musical Theater, etc.
WHEN?
Private/Group lessons offered afternoons and evenings throughout the week, as well as Saturdays. Also, seminars, workshops, and ministry programs offered on Saturdays and weeknights. School runs January-May; September-December, with special camps, etc happening during the summertime. We open registration and begin preparing the facility in January 2012.  We will have an Open House on Feb 11, 2012 and classes will begin on Feb 18, 2012.
WHO?
Ages: 5+. Anyone is welcome to participate! We require a commitment for a semester at a time. Students may need to audition for certain instruction and/or for scholarships. Students would audition and interview for ministry teams. We could serve up to 150+ students with weekly 1 hr lessons!
WHERE?
Clarkston International Bible Church, 3rd floor of education building. [3895 Church Street Clarkston, GA 30021] It is estimated now that in Clarkston, Georgia, 3/4 of the population is foreign-born. And these immigrants are literally from all over the world. In a 1.5 mile radius, there are over 60 languages spoken!
HOW?
Private lessons would be taught by a culturally diverse group of teachers. Every student will pay something for lessons, but we will seek to subsidize lessons by fundraising.

For more info (about students, teachers, donations, etc) and to see a promo video, click here.

We are excited to announce the launch of PWI 2012! Check out our brand-new, hot-off-the-presses promo video with testimonies from last year’s students:

We are also excited to announce that PWI2012 has a new director! Becky Thurman, who has been an integral part of PWI since 2010 is going to take up the reins this year. She is an administrative creative (rare combination) with a deep passion for life change, empowering, and pouring into others. She is the person I know who is the most excited about PWI! And I am excited about how PWI will be richer and better this year as a result of her leadership. If you have any questions about PWI, email Becky at: pwi@proskuneo.info!

Last, but not least, we are pleased to announce that registration for PWI2012 is now OPEN! Ready, set, register! You don’t want to miss this…

These keys symbolize several things to me today.

These keys are a sign of prayers answered. We have been praying about moving the ministry to Clarkston since July of 2008…for 3 & 1/2 years! It finally happened yesterday.

These keys symbolize a fully-functioning, synergistic staff team. I made the connections to get the keys. Heidi met with Randy to actually get them handed off to us. Karen made the copies. And, now they are in my hand. I love teamwork! I love it when everyone does their thing, and it works out well! I am grateful for Karen and Heidi and how we have learned (and are learning) to work together for God’s glory!

These keys are a sign of God’s perfect provision. We did not go looking for a place to start a School of the Arts. We were praying about the possibility, and Pastor Phil of Clarkston Int’l Bible Church approached us. The rooms we are renting are perfect. The big rooms are great for larger seminars, workshops, and worship times. The small rooms are perfect for individual lessons and practice times. We can have as many as 7 different lessons/classes happening at once! We could serve hundreds and hundreds of students a week! Also, if you look carefully at the key ring, you can see a little Allen wrench. We had no idea we would need one of these little guys. But, the nurse who teaches down the hall from our PSOTA told us yesterday that we had to have one to lock the doors at night. It just so happened that in the group she was telling, there was a man who had this little Allen wrench on his key chain. We checked it out, and it worked perfectly! And, he gave it to us, recognizing our need in that moment. GOD provided perfectly, what we didn’t know we need, just when we needed it.

These keys are a sign of work left to do. It turns out that a couple of these keys don’t work properly. We’re going to have to have them re-made. There are kinks to work out. We have a lot to learn…and to maneuver…nd to pray through as we open the Proskuneo School of the Arts. But, for all the reasons above, and many more…I am excited!

Would you consider sharing music this Christmas with those who don’t have what you have? Here are three ways you can do so:

1.) Donate your used musical instruments. You know that old guitar you have lying around? Or the keyboard you never use? You know that instrument you learned to play in middle school that is in the attic somewhere? We need it! We are opening our Proskuneo School of the Arts in early 2012, and our students will need musical instruments that they can use to practice and learn. Help up and coming refugee music students realize their full potential. MORE INFO ON DONATING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, ETC.

2.) Scholarship a student to attend our Proskuneo School of the Arts. In my family, over the last few years, we have started a bit of a tradition. Instead of simply giving each other more things that we don’t need, we give gifts to people in need on behalf of our family members. One Christmas morning, I opened a card that told me that a new bicycle had been given to a boy in a nearby neighborhood on my behalf. These kinds of gifts are extremely meaningful to me. This Christmas, why not give one of your loved ones the knowledge that a student is able to take music lessons for a month because of their gift?  MORE INFO ABOUT PSOTA SCHOLARSHIPS

3.) Random act of kindness: Give a cd to someone you don’t know! If one of our Proskuneo cd’s has been meaningful to you, why not consider giving it to someone you don’t know? Every year, we give away dozens and dozens of cd’s. You can help us! Here’s how. Simply visit our RESOURCES PAGE, pick out a cd of your choice. Order it as you normally would, except, when you are given the option to “Add Special Instructions to the Seller” simply state “Please give this to someone in need this Christmas.” We will gladly give it on your behalf!

Sometimes creativity is mild, sometimes it is over the top. But, it is always present in multicultural worship. Here is an example of our Proskuneo band playing the familiar worship tune, “Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman. Take a look:

In this video, we got creative by adding the sitar (not normally present on most renditions of this song) as the featured instrument in this song. The addition of a new instrument into the musical mix enables multiple heart musics to be expressed simultaneously. We have a very White American song (which happens to be written by a man from the UK, by the way!) played with a guitar, but also a djembe (African drum) and a sitar (traditional Indian instrument).

Here are some other ways I have gotten creative with this song:

• I have put it in a song medley with Elai Yesua, a simple song in Arabic. [watch a video with Elai Yesua linked to another CCM song and read about why I like medleys!]
• At Christmas time, I have changed the word “Worship” to “Christmas”. That spins the song an entirely different direction, but is very appropriate. “I’m coming back to the heart of Christmas, and it’s all about You. It’s all about You, Jesus. I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it, when it’s all about You. It’s all about You, Jesus.”
• I have replaced the word “Jesus” for “Cristo” “Yeshua” or Jesus’ name in some other language. (It helps if it is a two syllable word, with the accent on the first syllable!)

We need more creativity in the church, especially in the multicultural church. We can’t thrive without it. So…be creative!!!

[Audio in Spanish, with subtitles in English]

NIKKI: Some of my favorite things are singing with, working alongside, and “doing life” with my friend Josh Davis.  We’ve had the privilege since 2009, to walk together and experience these favorite things often.  We have ministered together all over the place (see above). The one place that we had not yet been “seen” together was Columbia, MD.  

Columbia, Maryland is the place where God has planted me as the Director of Worship at Bridgeway Community Church.  I have the immense privilege of leading a multicultural worship ministry of 100+ precious people at a 2500+-member multicultural church.  God has been good.  It was amazing to me that out of all the places that Josh and I have been, we had not yet ministered together in “my home”, “my turf”, “my space”.  It was a true gift to have my friend and ministry partner leading worship with me on a Sunday morning.  It was God’s gift to have him speak to and encourage the people that I lead here.  I am delighted that Josh Davis was “all up in my space”.  Bridgeway Community Church is a very different place because of Josh’s influence in my life and it was only fitting that he should lead them in worship that week.

JOSH: This past week, I had the chance to be on Nikki’s home turf, at Bridgeway Community Church (link to:www.bridgewayonline.org/home/) in Columbia, MD. Bridgeway is a thriving multi-ethnic church and I am so grateful to have had some time to see how beautiful and exciting the community there is. Here are some highlights:

I got to teach on “Uncomfortable Worship” to Nikki’s worship ministry retreat. “If I am unwilling to be uncomfortable, I will never even begin to truly worship God…” I could go on and on (but that is a book I am writing, so I won’t here). About 80 people from the team were in attendance! What an incredible group of people! We had sweet times of worship and fellowship together as well.  I also really appreciated watching Nikki’s leadership, and learning from her how to delegate and empower and inspire. Brilliant!

On Sunday, Nikki and I got to lead worship together with the Bridgeway band and choir. What a TREAT! Many of the songs we did were originals…
One Kingdom [bilingual english and spanish]
Father of Lights [brand new, unreleased song in 5 different languages!]
More/Más [in English, Spanish, and ASL]
Abba [brand new, unreleased duet with Nikki!]

…and these songs just came alive with such tremendous voices and hearts and instruments blended together. Bridgeway’s musical director, Ronald Greene, just has a knack for making my songs sound better than they really are. And, Nikki could sing the phone book and be captivating. What a joy! In one service, we had English, Spanish, ASL, Swahili, Korean, and Arabic swirling around in one beautiful mix! It was powerful to see and hear such a diverse congregation worshiping their hearts out! I look forward to the next time I get to worship at Bridgeway…

NIKKI: As Josh said, we did many things during the week that he spent with us at Bridgeway, but the most important part for me was being reminded that the ministry of reconciliation and multicultural ministry is so much better and more effective when two or more are gathered.  I am so grateful that the Lord was and will continue to be in our midst as we serve him together.  

Here are a few random pictures I ran across in preparation for last Friday’s celebration…a trip down memory lane!

[2001] Terri Hale and Heidi Goodbar with Our first cd!

Proskuneo Survey 11-2011

Happy surveying!