Strategic arts initiatives to multiply ministry impact
Doug and Mary Lu Anthony/walkintwoworlds.org
Photo by Theo Light
The COVID-19 hygiene songs featured here are one example of Strategic Ethnoarts Initiatives from Walk in Two Worlds Ministries. Led by Doug and Mary Lu Anthony, Walk in Two Worlds partners with indigenous church planting ministries to facilitate Strategic Ethnoarts Initiatives. These initiatives bring local church leaders and artists together in collaborative projects that multiply the impact of local church ministry. These projects can include: curricular training programs for communities of oral-preference learners, heart-language worship workshops, art initiatives to build bridges between the local church and their host culture, as well as projects (such as the COVID-19 hygiene songs below) that support critical public health initiatives.
The Anthony’s have been working from their North Carolina home during the COVID-19 pandemic to help artists around the world impact their own local communities in positive ways during this crisis. Here is their story about these songs:
After borders were closed in the spring of 2020, we began challenging our musician partners around the world to create COVID-19 hygiene songs for local communities. The links below are for some those songs. We assisted with production for a few songs but most were produced locally with lots of encouragement from us. The English-language COVID-19 song created by the Anthony Family Band was part of a “deal” we made with these international artists: Since strict quarantines limited their access to musicians, instruments and studios, we promised that our shelter-at-home family would also create a song, using only the people and equipment that we had on hand. (Of course it helped that we went from empty-nesters to five adults and a baby because of workplace and university shut-downs!).
The feedback from local communities has been overwhelmingly positive. ‘Both the minority Christian community and Muslim community leaders have welcomed and praised the songs,’ said Albert from Mombasa, Kenya, ‘and they are very happy to use them.’ We at Walk in Two Worlds are believing that God will greatly expand the influence of each artist who has generously created songs to bless their communities.
Here are just a sample of some of these wonderful videos. Contact Doug and Mary Lu Anthony for complete listings. walkintwoworlds.org