Service overseas: Couple prepare to share faith in southeast Africa

In an isolated African village, a drummer takes refuge under the shade of a tree and pounds out a beat on a well-worn animal-skin drum. As the pounding grows louder, people join the drummer. They dance. They laugh. They sing. The rhythm and words would be unrecognizable elsewhere, but the powerful sound of people joyfully singing praise to God is universal.

This is the scene that Stephen and Candice Schroeder are aiming to create by heading overseas as part of an international not-for-profit service organization. The couple will depart July 31 and head to southeast Africa to live among a tribal community for one month. The Schroeders and a representative from the not-for-profit cannot disclose the name of the organization or the couple's exact location for reasons of security.

The couple will join team members already stationed in Africa to help teach English and fight poverty. They will be joining a network of other volunteers, ranging from pilots to teachers to accountants, according to Warren Day, a representative with the organization. Volunteers bring areas of expertise to the different projects of the project. The Schroeders plan to use their talents with music to help create culturally relevant churches in Africa for people who otherwise have no contact with the Christian faith.

The Schroeders hope to use music to fill a need and bridge the gap between the southeast African communities and the Christian faith.

"By listening to what they are already interested in and creating and helping the people to create their own worship music will make the gospel culturally relevant," Candice said.

Stephen and Candice Schroeder will depart on a missionary trip July 31. (Laura Simon)

The couple hopes that creating music relevant to the existing culture where they're sharing Christianity will avoid westernizing entirely the community.

"We're there to teach them English and spread the gospel, not dress them up in a button-up shirt," Candice said.

The not-for-profit has identified more than 900 African communities that have no contact with the Christian faith.

The Schroeders will abandon the comforts of home to live in one of those communities.

"We're going to live with the people at their level," Stephen said. "We don't want to bring America over. We want to take what God has already put in their culture and prepare them to receive the gospel."

Training trip

Their one-month visit to southeast Africa is a training visit. According to their plan, in 2013 the couple will again return to the community, this time for two years. During their two years in Africa, the couple will go through training with the organization and prepare them to potentially relocate to Africa.

"We want to live a life of service," Stephen said. "We'll serve overseas our whole life."

In 2008 when Stephen and Candice met and married, they had little idea that three years later they would be heading to southeast Africa.

The couple studied music in college and thought they would perform in symphonies. Through prayers and studying scripture, Candice and Stephen said they both felt God gradually leading them away from focusing solely on their instruments.

"I realized that I had made the trumpet my God," Stephen said. "... I had made it my life. When I became a Christian, the verse 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind' made me realize I was doing that with the trumpet."

When Stephen replaced the trumpet with God as the center of his life, he couldn't stop thinking about people across the world who have never heard of God. He recalls a story from the Bible that helped him accept and embrace that God was leading him overseas to serve.

"In Matthew, Jesus asks fisherman to 'come, follow me' and they left their nets and followed him. Sometimes, you just have to trust and follow God," Stephen said.

A new direction

Candice, too, said she felt God was moving her life in a new direction.

"I love music, and my teachers, so it was extremely hard at first to accept that performance arts might not be my calling," she said. "Everyone is made to serve the will of God, and I was made specifically to go overseas and share the gospel."

On June 22, the couple said God confirmed they had made the right decision. In order to go to Southeast Africa with the not-for-profit, they needed to raise $9,000. The funds cover airfare, food, living expenses and supplies for the community. Eight days before the fundraising deadline, the couple still needed about $4,000.

That morning, the Schroeders opened a letter to find the remaining funds they needed for their trip. Churches, family and friends came together and provided the rest of the money.

"Opening that letter built our faith so much," Stephen said. "We prayed and God provided, with this support we've already experienced God's hands on our life. So excited to see what else he has in store for us."

rpayne@semissourian.com

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