The Bali International Choir Festival (BICF) and the Bandung Choral Society (BCS) held a charity concert to raise funds for education solidarity in the Saint Joseph parish church in Bali, Indonesia on July 24.
The Art Director of BICF, Tommyanto Kandisaputra, said this charity concert intends to raise funds for educational solidarity so that children from low-income families can attend school.
"As the invited choir appears to support this charity event, we thank and praise God for all His mercy and care. We present the beauty of singing to everyone present," said Kandisaputra. “Hopefully, the audience will appreciate the lovely praise singing and bring serenity back to their homes.”
The parish priest of Santo Yosef Denpasar, Devine Word Father Yan Madia, said, “We are inviting brothers and sisters, both individuals and business groups, who are called to share and love to help others. Their support would lower the cost of education for children from poor families through this event.
Elsa, one of the recipients of the education solidarity fund, stated the initiative enhanced her schooling.
"I cannot imagine what my school would be like without the help from the church's education solidarity fund. For that, I thank God and all the parishioners for their love and care for my mother and me," she said in her testimony on the concert night.
"I pray that the Education Solidarity Fund's scholarship program will continue so that others with similar circumstances to mine can be assisted," Elsa added.
This charity concert had seven choirs from parishes in the Diocese of Denpasar, Bali, and guest stars.
The fundraising concert for education in the diocese of Denpasar began in 2020. The performance was canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic. This year's theme is "Sing to the Lord a Joyful Song."
The diocese, headquartered in Denpasar, Bali, 970 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, serves the entire predominantly Hindu province of Bali, as well as the predominantly Muslim West Nusa Tenggara province to the east.
According to available data, Catholics constitute a tiny minority of 32,000 people out of a total population of 6.9 million.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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