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Click here to see a video of the Micah boys' new music! “Hard to Forget” It was the grand debut of “Los Micah Boys.” On this sunny June day, the central plaza of Tegucigalpa was teeming with people. Thousands stream through the square every Saturday on their way to the fruit market, or stop to stroll through the stalls that surround the plaza. As Jose, Jerson, Pedro and Marvin walked up the stairs and onto the stage that overlooks the plaza, they looked a little nervous, but they also had a fixed sense of purpose in their eyes. This would be the first time that the public would hear songs from their new CD, entitled “Dificil de Olvidar”, or “Hard to Forget.” They had worked on their album for months. Each of them would spend hours at a time, holed away in his room, writing lyrics that stemmed directly from his life. Often, the words of their songs speak of the pain and darkness that each of them encountered as children. But in each of the eleven songs that they eventually produced, what shines through most clearly is hope, not despair. Finally, this past Saturday, these long pent-up lyrics burst forth into the public arena. As their pulsing rhythms and powerful lyrics began to echo off the 250-year old cathedral that loomed directly in front of their stage, hundreds of people began to move forward to hear our young men better. And instead of getting nervous and faltering, each one of the singers seemed to grow in stature and in confidence. And let me tell you, these young men were not just a teenage boy band trying to imitate the Backstreet Boys or Eminem. Their lyrics carried the power and maturity of a life already refined in the fires of darkness, yet now shining brilliantly in a new Light. Jose, for example, wrote a song called “Sueños”, or “Dreams.” One part of the song goes like this: My dream and my desire is to one day be at home with my Lord, Touch his face and feel his love. And see His justice reigning in us, It will be awesome, it will be awesome, To see a world no longer divided, A beggar no longer rejected An old man no longer abandoned A child no longer mistreated And tears that no longer fall like rain Because of the lack of justice; It will be awesome, awesome! Shouting joyfully, Lord, I am, Because that day will soon come When You will come back for us.
Jose’s song paints images of desperate lives, scenes that he lived day-by-day in his childhood. This young man, who had to flee his alcoholic and abusive home and help raise his five younger brothers and sisters by shining shoes on the streets, has no end of stories about darkness. Yet, his song is not principally about those stories. At the end of this song, Jose writes: “With an immense love Care and tenderness He says, “I love you, I don’t want you to keep Suffering Only think of me And you’ll realize that, in me, You’ll leave your past behind.” Indeed, José is not writing bitterly about the past, he is rather writing hopefully about a future in which, “they will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.” (Isaiah 65: 23). Fittingly, as Jose and the others sang, a group of about twenty-five street kids dressed in rags came and sat on the edge of the stage, listening intently to his songs. Did these kids, high on yellow glue, realize that this confident and passionate young man survived his childhood by shining shoes not thirty paces from where he now stood? Did they know that he fled to the streets just as they did to escape the rages of an alcoholic father? But most importantly, did they understand that his song was a really a prayer for them, that justice would reign in their lives? At that moment, I had a realization that brought tears of joy to my eyes. Our young men have truly become missionaries to their own culture! Using the rhythms of Latin American youth, a musical style called “requetón” in Spanish, our guys express their faith in a way that can be clearly understood by the youth of Honduras. They are not just speaking theoretical words into a void; rather, they are preaching incarnational truth to people whose lives look much like their own. The young men of the Micah Project are not just learning to preach pretty words, though; they are also learning to “walk their talk.” This year, the guys have been focusing on outreach in several ways. Each Tuesday, they visit the government asylum, a gloomy place where indigent elderly people are placed and quickly forgotten. Our guys move from bed to bed, delivering snacks to the elderly and spending some time to chat with them. Then, on Thursdays, the young men spend the afternoon on the streets, ministering to the street kids near the national stadium and in the public squares. These times of outreach are an awesome opportunity for our young men to say, both with their words and their presence: “See this light in my eyes? Hear the hope in my voice? Come, join me in it!” Erick, a precocious and lively Micah boy, who at fourteen is one of our younger ones, came bouncing back into the Micah House one day after visiting the asylum. “Guess what?” he enthused. “An old lady told me that talking to me was the highlight of her week! She asked when I was going to come back!” Erick, along with our other young men, is beginning to understand what a joy it is to share the light. The wonderful thing about the Micah Project is that the young men are learning to give because of so many people that have faithfully given to them. The hope that you have displayed in their lives is what is now pouring out into others. Your support is beginning to bear great fruit in Honduras! To echo the title of our guys’ album, your love for the Micah boys is “hard to forget”! We appreciate your continued prayers and support as our young men continue to step out in faith! Your brother in Christ, Michael Miller
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