Last September, sisters Mary Nobel Hoekstra ’66 and Faith Nobel Bosserman ’68 flew to Nairobi with 300 pounds of band instruments. Waiting for them at the airport were Resonate Global Mission’s East Africa director, Mwaya wa Katavi, and his wife, Munyiva.

Mwaya’s dream sparked the trip. Pained that children in remote villages didn’t have any of the educational extras offered to city schoolchildren, this music lover dreamed of starting bands in a few village schools.

Enter Hoekstra, the first woman to graduate from Calvin qualified to be a band director, now retired after 39 years directing school bands. She and Bosserman spent six weeks teaching students at two schools how to play an assortment of wind, brass, and percussion instruments. At a third school they taught children to play recorders.

The culmination was a two-hour program for family and friends. Said Bosserman: “And yes, we did make a joyful noise unto the Lord!”