A Vicksburg church will present a concert by the world-renowned African Children’s Choir.

The group will perform Friday night at Triumph Church, off North Frontage Road. The choir is comprised of about 30 children ages 7 to 11 from Africa, many of whom are orphans. This will be the group’s second performance at Triumph Church in three years.

“We hosted them before, and we gladly accepted their offer to come and perform for us,” said Mike Fields, pastor of Triumph Church. “They did a fantastic job.”

The African Children’s Choir was formed 24 years ago when a humanitarian from Canada wanted to help orphaned children in Uganda.

Before being selected to join the traveling choir, the children attend a Music for Life camp that includes games, music and Bible classes. A team then assesses each child’s needs and suitability for tour life. Before hitting the road for shows, the children attend the Choir Training Academy for five months where they rehearse the music they will sing and attend school.

Members of Triumph Church will host the children in their homes while they are in town for the performance.

“Having them in the host home is an experience in addition to the concert,” said Fields. “They are phenomenal kids.”

Once the children finish the tour, they head back to Africa for school. Many children grow up to work with other relief programs throughout Africa.

The choir has performed at events such as the Clinton Global Initiative at Carnegie Hall in New York and London’s Live 8 concert.

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchanprasith@vicksburgpost.com.