Erin Bode Makes New CD of Hope with
South African Girls Choir

“Amazing” and “life-changing” is how vocalist Erin Bode describes a week in South Africa recording with a girls school choir to launch a project of help and hope for young people with heartbreaking challenges.
“When you see these girls and meet them, you want to do something for them,” said Bode, who spent Thanksgiving week at the residential high school in Dirkiesdorp as part of a project coordinated by LCMS World Relief and Human Care.
The international mercy ministry plans to release a CD this spring featuring Bode and the young South Africans. Proceeds from the recording will benefit the Themba Trust, the nonprofit foundation that operates the girls school and other educational and youth development programs that serve South Africa’s rural poor.
“We want to shed light on the plight of these girls and raise awareness of a faith-based organization that is doing great things in the midst of one of the world’s most difficult situations,” said Rev. Matthew Harrison, executive director of LCMS World Relief and Human, the mercy arm of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).
Since 1989, LCMS World Relief and Human Care has provided grants to the Themba Trust. “Themba” (pronounced TEM-bah) means “hope” in the language of the Zulu, the predominant South African tribe in the area served by the foundation. Early mission work by German Lutherans laid the foundation for the Themba Trust.
Themba also operates a boys residential high school, founded a thriving preschool and is involved in a clinic that provides AIDS testing and counseling. Many Themba students come from poor families who are members of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, an LCMS partner church. The foundation receives support from two other LCMS partner churches—the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany and the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa. Themba also is supported by many entities and individuals with no Lutheran connection.
Themba is based in a village southeast of Johannesburg in a country with great poverty and limited education opportunities. HIV/AIDS turns children into orphans.
In the midst of such challenges, Themba serves a total of about 500 students at its two boarding high schools, providing education opportunities in a caring, Christian environment. The foundation covers the boarding and tuition costs of about a third of the total high school enrollment. Each year, Themba must raise about $300,000 so students from extremely poor families can attend the schools.
Because of the tragic impact of HIV/AIDS, Themba also provides for a growing number of “unexpected beneficiaries.” When a student loses a parent to HIV/AIDS, the foundation arranges for financial assistance so the student can remain in school. Each year, about 10 percent of Themba’s families struggle with payments due the death of a family “breadwinner.”
The Themba Trust will use money raised by the new CD for scholarships for needy students at both high schools. The foundation also wants to start a music center to offer students vocal and instrumental training.
Harrison conceived the idea of introducing Bode to the “Themba Girls” when he was in South Africa and heard the students sing. Their pure, joyful music made the LCMS World Relief and Human Care director think of Bode, a popular recording artist who performs internationally.
“Erin is a rising star with a wonderful voice,” Harrison said. “We’re so appreciative that she also has a heart for the girls and wants to help make a difference.”
Since returning from South Africa, Bode’s performances often include a mention of Themba. “I don’t want to go on and on, but I would like to give people the opportunity to learn more and to get excited about how they can be a part of helping out,” Bode said.
LCMS World Relief and Human Care provides care for the needy internationally, reaching out to physical and spiritual needs. The ministry coordinates human care and disaster relief projects, including major LCMS responses after the tsunami in Asia and the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast. For more information about LCMS World Relief and Human Care, call (800) 248-1930, Ext. 1380, or visit  http://worldrelief.lcms.org.