Gas City will host an action-packed, all-day event this Saturday to support Blood: Water Mission and to observe the International Day of Peace
By: Kacey Heinlien, contributor
Published: 9.21.12
This Saturday the sound of drums will resound through Gas City. As part of Playing for Change Day, thousands will gather to break the world record for the largest hand drum lesson ever recorded.
The Playing for Change Day is a worldwide event sponsored by the Playing for Change Foundation. More than 300 separate gatherings in 49 countries have been organized to celebrate and promote the International Day of Peace.
The traditional African djembe will be heard among the drums this weekend in Beaner Lynn Park. The name djembe means "coming together for peace."
Janie Berry, owner of The Potter's House, a Marion business that sells fair trade and direct trade products, is chief organizer for the event. Berry wants to remind people that peace is what it's all about.
Berry, who has traveled to Africa twice, felt God calling her to do more. When she overheard customers at The Potter's House talking about Bernard Woma, Cultural Ambassador of Ghana, she realized she might have been given the opportunity she needed.
After hearing about Woma's music school in Africa, Berry decided to contact him about the event she had started planning.
"I emailed him and said, 'Hey, this is what we were thinking about doing,' and he immediately said 'Yes,'" Berry said. Woma himself will travel from Ghana to lead Saturday's drum lesson.
Formal planning for Playing for Change Day began only three months ago.
"It (usually) takes at least a year to plan for something like this," Berry said. "We just put everything into action once we got all the pieces."
When Berry realized she couldn't do it on her own, she asked God for help in organizing and planning the event.
"Within two days, we had our committee of 12 people," Berry said. "They just appeared. We got all the right people at the right time."
Twenty thousand cards were sent out to publicize the event in the community. Thirteen thousand more were sent to drumming groups and various people across the country. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend the Guinness World Record-breaking event.
Attendees will end the day's events by releasing peace lanterns. Other highlights of the day will include performances by Graceshaker and the Indiana Wesleyan University Percussion Ensemble, as well as a benefit concert by Jars of Clay. All donations will go to Blood: Water Mission, a ministry committed to fighting HIV/AIDS and water crises in Africa.
"I've always felt like I need to do something about the water situation," Berry said. "But then over the course of time I realized I don't have to be the one drilling the wells, I just have to help the ones who are."
The Potter's House previously sponsored Jars of Clay at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, Ind.
Although the Playing for Change Foundation is not a Christian organization, this local event has been organized to raise money for Blood: Water Mission's redemptive work in Africa.
"When people look at it they might think, 'What does one have to do with the other?' But it all has to do with peace," Berry said. "Everyone identifies with that, but Christians know what (peace) is, and that's Jesus."
INFOBOX: Playing for Change Day Schedule of Events:10:00 a.m. Beaner Lynn Park Bandshell Welcome - Jeff Brady National Anthem - Stephanie Marley Hugg Performance by Vertical Focus
11:15 a.m. Bandshell IWU Percussion Ensemble, directed by Marc Wooldridge
12:00 p.m. Bandshell Performance by Level.13
2:00 p.m. Bandshell Performance by Graceshaker
3:33 p.m. Community Swimming Pool area Guinness World Record drumming event, facilitated by Bernard Woma, Cultural Ambassador of Ghana
5:00 p.m. Bandshell Welcome and Introduction - Jeff Brady Jars of Clay benefit concert for Blood:Water Mission Love offering for Blood:Water Mission - Pastor Ryan McCarty, God's House
7:00 pm. Band shell IWU World Music Percussion Ensemble - facilitated by Dr. Chris Lessly
7:30 p.m. Community jam session: everyone welcome
Midnight Throughout the entire park, lighted peace lanterns will be released by the hundreds. (Lanterns available at the Peace Tea Tent or the Peacequarters for a $3 donation.)
