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2014 CCA Kidz Team from Suwon, Korea, performing at the Paramount

January 13, 2014

The Korean Children’s Choir will present the 2014 CCA KIDZ TEAM — Suwon, Korea, Carl Powers Memorial Tour at the Paramount Center for The Arts on Friday, January 17 from 7 — 9 pm. Tickets are free and going fast, and donations (which go directly to the children's choir) are accepted at the door. The Korean Children’s Choir is a ministry of the international media ministry Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC), founded by Dr. Billy Kim, who is often referred to as the “Billy Graham of Asia.” The CCA Kidz Team Korea Children’s Choir has delighted audiences around the United States with their beautiful voices, colorful costumes, skilled choreography,and traditional Korean dance. Members of the children’s choir are selected through a competitive audition process. The children, ranging in ages from 7 to 13, receive training from a voice trainer, choreographer,and conductor. The choir has performed a variety of concerts at churches, cultural centers, theme parks, schools, and universities throughout Canada, Australia, Saipan, Guam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and different parts of Europe. For more information, call 423-274-8920 or go to www.theparamountcenter.com.

Dr. Billy Kim was born in 1934, into a poor farm family near the end of the Japanese occupation. When the Korean War broke out in June of 1950, his family could not escape, so they endured the hardships of war in Suwon. Kim was able to get work as a houseboy for the U.S. military, where he met Sgt. Carl Powers, the U.S. Soldier who would change his life forever.

Powers helped Kim get to America and financed his education. Kim left Korea at age 17, and Powers enrolled him at the Bob Jones Academy in Greenville, S.C.

“We hope to express our deep appreciation for the American people for what they have done, both missionaries and those in the military,” Kim said. “The audience will cry, laugh, rejoice and be blessed from these kids’ songs and message. Korea is the second largest missionary sending country in the world, and we hope to encourage the American audience as well as our young people and those hoping to go to the United States for college to consider missions.”

Bristol bluegrass band, Duty Free, will open for the Korean Children’s Choir. Duty Free members include Hal Boyd, Bobby Love, Tim Laughlin, and Charlie and Rick Powers, nephews of Carl Powers. The event is being sponsored by Friendship Hyundai of Bristol and Johnson City.