The Baylor Concert Choir and Baylor Bella Voce performed their fall concert, “Our Hope,” on Tuesday, October 25 in the Jones Concert Hall. Dr. Lynne Gackle, director of choral activities at the Baylor School of Music, was inspired to center the theme of the fall concert on hope, explaining in the concert program: “Hope is abiding and is found in the darkest moments as well as in the most joyous of life’s experiences. This is the Hope that allows us to ‘grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ’ (Ephesians 3:18–19). Through their performance of hope-filled works like His Eye Is On the Sparrow composed by Charles H. Gabriel, and Kim André Arnesen’s Even When He Is Silent, the choirs aimed to represent “music of praise, of remembrance, of reflection and of faith – all stemming from this Hope. It is our desire that the words, illuminated by the music, will lift your heart and stand as reminders of our Hope and most of all of His Love for us.”

The text of Arnesen’s piece, which was found written on the wall of a concentration camp after World War II, is particularly poignant as we remember our hope:

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining,
I believe in love even when I feel it not.
I believe in God even when He is silent.

Learn more here: http://baylorlariat.com/2016/10/25/baylor-choirs-perform-show-to-highlight-the-importance-of-hope/

From the Concert

The choirs’ performance of His Eye on the Sparrow.

The choirs’ performance of Even When He is Silent.

Supported by a Missions Research grant from Baylor Missions, students and faculty from the organization Engineers with a Mission travelled to Laredo, Texas in July 2016 to drill a water well. Despite being only 15 miles outside of Laredo, the people that live in the Las Lomas colonia do not have running water in their homes. Instead, the city trucks out water to a filling station where people wait in line to fill private tanks. Seven students and two faculty members spent ten days in the heat drilling a shallow water well to support the water needs of this community. They were warmly welcomed by the local community, which prepared home cooked lunches for them every day and sent volunteers to work alongside them. Students learned the basics of drilling and casing a well, solved technical problems as they arose, and formed a genuine connection with the community. They plan to return next year, albeit at a cooler time of the year: spring break.