Don't tell me it can't be done!

The African Children’s Choir has visited a number of Elim churches, but Covid travel restrictions have meant a quieter year for founder Ray Barnett. Peter Wooding talked to him

- Ray Barnett

African Children’s Choir founder Ray Barnett, now aged 83, will be spending time this Christmas with his family in Vancouver in Canada, where he now lives. He’ll be looking back at one of the quietest years of his life due to worldwide travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A typical year for Ray, affectionately known by many as ‘Daddy Ray’, would usually involve him travelling across the globe coordinating aid efforts in war zones or negotiating the release of hostages and imprisoned Christians.

Or he would spend much of his time with the African Children’s Choir, taking them to concerts in places like the White House and rubbing shoulders with an array of stars they have performed with like Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey or even working on a Christmas album with Annie Lennox.

But how was he inspired to launch the choir 36 years ago?

“I was walking in a park in Vancouver with two of my friends who were working with me at the time. It was a time of great famine in Africa and all we could see were these emaciated children. I was discussing that this is how the world saw African children – with no hope. I told them we needed to do something to bring about change in how the Western world sees the African child by establishing a choir.

“They thought that was absolutely impossible at the time. How would we get passports and visas for a start, but we prayed it through and a series of miracles meant we got everything we needed. The first choir came on a tour of Canada. And they’ve been touring the world ever since, bringing hope and healing to countless lives.”