The Voices Of Hope

WAITSBURG - On one of the nights of the Salt & Light youth choir's state tour last week, the group of 23 young singers from the Touchet Valley came together in a circle to share what they felt was special about the Christian ministry.

The theme of this year's tour was "Got Hope?"

Kyla Ihle, a senior from Dayton High School, was already in tears before it was her turn to share.

" I've been struggling with hope throughout my life," Ihle said. "Salt & Light helped me find that hope."

Feeling safe to express some of her deepest emotions, Ihle said the effect of being bullied by other kids in elementary school still lingered during last year in high school. Even though she may not have been bullied more than any other kid, she still felt singled out. Verbalizing her struggle over that treatment with other members of the Salt & Light group was a big relief.

"It was good to be able to say that," said Ihle, who has been with Salt & Light for the past six years. "It's a group of kids I trust. Everyone can be themselves without being judged."

That confidence in each other, in the community that prays for them back home and in what Ihle called "the presence of the Holy Spirit" made Salt & Light's tour successful, she and others said about the week-long outreach trip to western Washington.

"There's a lot more to it than just the music," said Melissa Ferrians, who runs Salt & Light with her husband, Pastor Mike Ferrians of Waitsburg's First Christian Church.

Melissa Ferrians chose the theme because she observed how some in the group were struggling with a lack of confidence in the future. With the slow economy crimping job opportunities for young people and the world news centered around conflict, it was time to remind them how to remain spiritually grounded, she said.

Salt & Light, which practices weekly throughout the school year and includes teenagers from Dixie, Waitsburg, Dayton, Walla Walla and Pomeroy, use voices and sometimes instruments to lift the spirits of the elderly, the homeless, churchgoers and whomever's around when they launch into song at restaurants, malls and even the ferry terminal.

But there's also a quiet side to their music ministry, Melissa Ferrians explained. Through games, ice breakers, dinners and traveling together, the singers bond and develop a mutual respect that's as inspiring as their music to some observers.

"People come up to me and say 'your kids are so kind and polite to each other,' " she said."It brings them (other people) hope to see a group of kids who chose to do something so positive."

The group didn't bask in rock band luxury on the tour. They slept on church floors, missed showers, ate on the run or on the bus, and had to be ready and organized for anything.

"It's a mission," Mike Ferrians said. "They sacrifice for that."

To top it off, the Ferrians sprung a "hunger exercise" on the group. The Ferrians split the teens in three smaller groups who got to eat as "first worlders, second worlders and third worlders," Mike Ferrians said.

The first worlders dined on fine food in isolation, while the second and third worlders survived on top ramen and bread respectively. Ferrians called it a test to hang on to hope. He found the first worlders' preferential treatment made them feel guilty and yearning to be with the other groups, who discovered plenty of resourcefulness amidst their imposed limitations.

The group, the Ferrians and chaperones Pam Nolan Beasley, Zach Beasley, Ellie Bartlow, Dan Nechodom, Maria Garcia and Carol Guay, spent three days in Bellingham, followed by stops in Woodinville and Snohomish. The group treated their Touchet Valley community to a big home concert at the First Christian Church in Waitsburg last Wednesday, performing 16 songs. Their repertoire included three original compositions: In The Middle Of Me and Got Hope by Ferrians and Ihle's mother, Janet Ihle, and Pull Me From The Water by Sarah and Davy Phillips.

"But it don't matter what the world will do; I got the color of hope and that's a different hue; This color of trouble is gonna fade - In the Light of the Son I'm remade; Ya...I got hope." So go the lyrics of the first chorus in "Got Hope."

Notes on the meaning of "hope" in the concert program distinguish between the modern interpretation of the word as a "wish without certainty of fulfillment," compared to the word in Biblical Scripture meaning "a strong and confident expectation."

"Hope based on God's promise is never a passive thing, nor an escape from reality," the program goes on. "It doesn't leave us idle and living in the clouds, dreaming of a better life. Instead, hope based on God's promise is dynamic, active, directive and life-sustaining."

Their question on the front of their T-shirts was answered by Romans 15:13 on the back: "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

The T-shirt drew a lot of attention wherever the Salt & Light members went. One woman with a disabled son asked if she could buy one for her son.

Mike Ferrians said their evening at the Lighthouse Mission for the homeless in Bellingham on Father's Day was particularly moving when two of the men there led the group in a blessing that seemed full of hope despite their own adverse circumstances.

Ihle remembers being nervous about the group's concert at the Lighthouse Mission. But it ended up being a highlight for the senior.

"Once we started singing, their faces showed pure joy," she said. "Seeing that they who have almost nothing can still have joy was deeply satisfying."

As seniors, Ihle, Phillips, Austin Beasley, Taylor Brown and Shelby Dandrea, were "graduated" from Salt & Light with an open invitation to return as chaperones for the group in the future.

"Let your light shine into the world," Melissa Ferrians told the seniors. "Always remember that we love you."

Pam Nolan Beasley was recognized for her 9-year tenure as a chaperone, while Bartlow and Zach Beasley were singled out for returning as "above-and-beyond" singer/chaperones.