“Now comfort me so I can live, really live; your revelation is the tune I dance to.”
Psalm 119:77
The Message
At a Starbucks halfway from each of our respective homes, Richard Aspinwall, A-list producer in Nashville & Co-Founder/Director of the Miami Music Ministry, and I share what God’s doing in our lives - and in South Florida through the music ministry that he started with his wife, Heidi Aspinwall, 13 years ago.
As we sip coffee and enjoy the background music selections which include Miles Davis’ unmistakable So What, Richard tells me how together with Heidi, National Director for Volunteers for Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection (DOOR), they headed down to Miami, Florida, from Nashville, Tennessee, thirteen years ago to start what they felt was a clear mission from God – to establish a place for youth across all social, economic, racial and ethnic lines to gather in community and have their musical interests & gifts nurtured all the while providing the conditions to mentor them toward a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.
Since then, God has brought countless youth to the Miami Music Ministry. For just a dollar a lesson, kids ranging in ages from 8 to 18 are paired with a skilled musician and receive 30 minutes of individual instruction in their instrument of choice. Students can choose from voice, guitar, bass, drums & percussion, piano and organ. Kids come from across Miami-Dade County and some from all different churches throughout the community. For those dealing with demonstrable financial hardship, “the ministry will make every effort to provide students who cannot afford their own instruments with loaned instruments [and/or] other music materials for free.”
According to their website, “The Community Music School is an innovative approach to the transformation of young lives through private music instruction, high levels of expectation, evaluation, and the development of personal relationships between students and instructors.”
The dollar a lesson is a way of introducing responsibility to each student. Kids become stakeholders as they invest in their music education. The dollar also represents the actual reason for why the Miami Music Ministry exists – it’s about God and not about material wealth or so-called “success”. The teachers, most of them having gone through the music school themselves, are now in a position of modeling servant leadership and mentoring each student in the areas of music, discipleship and community.
This is the spiritual component to the program. Students are prayerfully nurtured to offer up their gifts and talents to God for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are presented with the central life lesson in the long obedience following Jesus - He is the first priority. At the Miami Music Ministry, it’s not about going somewhere and being told you’re going to be a great musician, but rather, it’s about learning to devote themselves (and their craft) to the glory and greatness of God Almighty. In the beginning, the younger students may not grasp this radical concept, but they’re taught by their teachers who model the ministry’s ethos.
As the students demonstrate proficiency, they are grouped into bands. Here they learn to perform in community and to listen to each other. Here is where they learn to groove together and accompany one another. Here is where all the different parts of the “body” are recognized as essential.
On August 29, 2009, the new Miami Music Ministry year will begin. Each Saturday, from 1 PM to 5 PM, students meet with their individual teachers. Along with the one-on-one instruction, all students are taught to read music and music theory in a classroom setting.
The program follows the Miami-Dade County Public Schools school year calendar, including breaks and holidays. The music school commences on the Saturday after Miami Dade County Public Schools open. Consequently, the music school ends the year on the Saturday before public schools close for the summer.
Interested parents, guardians and church communities can call (305) 479-6132 and leave messages expressing their interest and/or requesting further information. Toward the middle of August, calls will begin to be returned in order to place students with teachers for the upcoming music school year. Please visit the Miami Music Ministry website at
http://www.miamimusicministries.com/.
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