October 2025

Our Voice
Diane Mankin

What an exciting time I had recently! The Matsiko World Orphan Choir came to Dunwoody to sing, dance, and smile their way into our hearts. (Matsiko is an Ugandan word meaning hope.) Each year, the choir spends about ten months touring the US and performing at schools, churches, and other interesting places such as the White House, the Rose Bowl, and the Grand Ole Opry. Last year, they spent a week singing with the Yale Glee Club.
Matsiko children from seven countries receive a full tuition-free scholarship through college or university in their home country, as well as one-on-one tutoring while on tour. This year the choir was composed of children from Liberia and Peru.

The primary purpose of touring is to raise awareness for the plight of at-risk children and to win financial sponsors so thousands of more children can have the opportunity to attend school and aspire to overcome their circumstances. An education empowers the children so they are less vulnerable to being trafficked by their families or destined for a life of poverty. Sponsors make children feel cared for and accountable as they achieve their educational goals. 

The children loved performing, and a few from St. Mark's came to soak in their performance at Dunwoody. But the highlight of their experience with me was going to Ichiban Buffet in Springfield, which places no limits on what can be eaten. Believe me, the children's appetites had no limits, either! Disneyland is correct in referring to Matsiko as a "world treasure."

Greetings, Rev.

I am so glad that summer is behind us! (My least favorite weather is hot and humid, no question about it.) While I have been enjoying the pleasant high/lows that fall has brought us, I am a little disheartened beach weather is behind us. When I told someone this, they told me that there will be one more stretch of heat before the weather truly cools. As I await that temperature range to return, with each moderately warm day I find myself asking the question John the Baptist asked Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

Having begun in late August, I have now completed a six-week course taught virtually at Duke Divinity School. It was a class of about 12 students, all currently pastors of a church, tackling the topic of Wesleyan principles (like the new birth, prevenient grace, and Christian perfection) and how they translate in today's digitally saturated world. Overall, it was a great, edifying time talking over ministry practices and concerns with fellow clergy members. It was especially encouraging seeing all these ministers of different age groups and upbringing share their insight and passion for greater church growth and for the spread of the Gospel. It involved much rubbing between my dusty, rusted thinking gears, particularly because it had been 7 years since my last seminary course, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. I didn't realize I missed being in such an environment of like-minded, like-spirited people.

Our Eastern Pennsylvania conference wants me to take a couple more courses, and I hope these remaining ones are as fruitful as this first one was.