The theme chosen by the students and their teacher at The Dalles Adventist School was "A Different Kind of Christmas." But when they chose the theme, they didn't realize how different it would become! The theme encompassed their Christmas program, their party, and reached into the community. It all began with weeks of practice on Christmas chime music and their Christmas play.
On Saturday evening, Dec. 10, the students presented their program to their church family. It started with both chime choirs presenting carols like “Silent Night,” “What Child Is This?,” and “I Wonder As I Wander.” This was followed by the presentation of the play, “A Different Kind of Christmas,” written and directed by their teacher, Patricia Perry.
In the play, the idea was created to reach out to others rather than just buying for ourselves. The program closed with three of the young ladies presenting the stories of three real ladies who escaped the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago. They dressed in costume and told their true story, while an actual picture of the lady was projected on the screen behind them. The audience was then invited to give an offering to help feed these people. We were delighted that the offering amounted to $250, which has been turned into the ADRA matching funds to net $1,750.
Wednesday, Dec.14, was our party day, and the theme continued as we started out the day playing a 45-minute concert at K-Mart. This was followed by a shopping spree in the store for 14 names we had received from the Angel Giving Tree. Then we returned to the school to wrap the presents, have our Christmas lunch, and be on the downtown streets by 1 p.m. to sing Christmas carols in front of the businesses and give out almost 100 candy canes with a Christmas message attached.
Tired but happy students arrived at school Thursday morning to discover that we had received a last-minute invitation to play our chimes at the local public high school Christmas program that very evening. It turned out to be a wonderful adventure, and we pray that it was a blessing to those who heard us play.
The Dalles Adventist School children play a chime concert at the K-Mart store during their celebration of "A Different Kind of Christmas."
Students shopped for and wrapped presents to give to people at the Angel Giving Tree.
