RECOLLECTIONS OF A CONTINENTAL DIRECTOR
By Mike
Harcrow
(Mike
Harcrow has toured with The Continental Singers 15 times, twice as a horn
player for the orchestra in Europe, seven as an Assistant Director all over the
world, and Director of five groups in Asia.
He was founder of The Japanese Continental Singers and their first Director.
He also led tours in Korea and Singapore.)
 |
| Mike Harcrow |
The Sahara Desert Mauritania, 1985
(edited)
It was 130
degrees at 7:30 a.m. We bounced along over
ruts and rocks of a Nomad’s trail for 11 hours in our Land Rover, windows
rolled down, hot air in our faces. Six
thirsty Continental Singers from Tour W, directed by Jim Schmidt. We were here
for World Vision to check on the condition of existing wells at a spring-fed
Oasis to determine the need for new water projects during one of the severest
droughts in recorded African history.
About 6:30 p.m.,
the driver pointed out some shriveled weeds with little woven fences that were
really bean crops planted by the resident.
There were no beans on the sunburned stalks. As we drove over a hill, we were astonished
to see palm trees that stretched eastward to the visible horizon. We parked in front of a group of huts, each
about eight to ten feet in diameter with domed roofs made entirely of palm fronds. The inhabitants were out tending their goats
among the palms and would return in about three hours, around sunset.
We had
passed a well near the first stand of trees, so while the gals and driver
rested, us four boys, with bandanas over our faces and collars turned up over
our necks, went to explore the little oasis.
It was a three-foot open pit, stones marking the perimeter, and a coil
of rope attached to a dirty plastic bucket lying in the sand. We lay on our bellies and looked down into
the well. As the leader and assistant
director, I said, “Give me a hand”, and I took the rope and dropped the bucket
into the well. Up came a half bucket of
water! And there in the sweltering
Saharan sun, I lifted it high and poured some of the cool, gray-brown water
over my head. We passed it around and
each of us cooled our heads. I eagerly
lowed it a second time and again we drenched ourselves.
A third
time, though, brought up nothing.
No one said
a word as we plodded back to the huts.
The girls were dozing and we sat in silence waiting for nightfall. Just as the sun was disappearing, two dozen
adults and a few children appeared covered head to toe in long, dirty white
robes driving some scrawny goats ahead of them.
They greeted us warmly offered some fresh goats milk and prepared a meal
of roasted goat and stewed dates.
After dinner
the women and children left to sleep and we exchanged pleasantries with the men
over hot cups of sweet mint tea. We
inquired what their real needs were and how World Vision might help.
When we
arose the next morning, the villagers had already gone for the day. We were sure they already knew there was
nothing in the plastic bucket for them except some damp sand. The driver took us on a half-mile walk
through the palms and then, we left before noon without having seen another
well. It was a two-day trip back to
Atar, our mood somber; yet the ever generous Mauritanians welcomed us sincerely
as we completed our World Vision surveys over bowls of goat’s milk and cups of
syrupy mint tea.
The rest of
the time in Africa I could not shake the guilt of my taking the most precious
thing that this afflicted community had and wasting it. I learned lessons about my own greed, respect
for others’ possessions and about suffering, both real and imagined. The long term lesson for me has been about
grace. Some of the poorest people on the
planet showed us tremendous kindness and generosity in spite of their
hardship. They served us with smiles,
laughter and heartfelt joy. And they
never once mentioned their drained well.
 |
| Dr. Mike Harcrow |
Mike considers it a privilege to
have spent over a decade playing horn in the Korean [National] Symphony
Orchestra in Seoul following his final tours as a director in the Far East. "Living in a culture I had visited twice on U.S. Continental Singers tours
was an unspeakably rich blessing that set the course for my current
position as a professor of music at a Christian college in Pennsylvania, and
this, too, would not likely have come about without the experiences of my
several tours with the Continentals." Aside from the many challenges and
adventures of touring (and there are numerous great stories there), Mike learned
that high musical standards and faith are not at all exclusive. "God's creation
inspires man to create, and believers will reflect their artistic gifts back to
Him in worship. This is a high and worthy goal, and it is foremost among
the skills and beliefs I trust my students take with them into their
careers." Mike currently lives in Pennsylvania with his lovely Korean wife, Namjoo (who he would not have met had it not been for Continentals), and beautiful daughter Johanna, another accomplished musician.
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