Elizabeth the Ethnomusicologist

Webster's Online Dictionary describes Ethnomusicology as: The study of music that is outside the European art tradition or The study of music in a sociocultural context.

It seems kind of odd to us, but there are many people in this world that believe that their language is not "worthy" enough to have a Bible written in it. Some even believe that it is sacrilegious to write God's Word into a language that is so "common".

Ethnomusicologists help to break down this barrier by encouraging these people to connect their faith to their language by worshiping in their own dialect.

We recently had the chance to get to know a real-live ethnomusicologist. Elizabeth is studying music and sociology, and she was wanting to put her knowledge to good use. After she arrived in the Philippines, we spent a week orienting her to the country, and now she is traveling with some of our other ethnomusicologists.

We have heard reports that she is diving into this new work. She has already led a vocal workshop with over 100 participants!

Ellen and Elizabeth in the courtyard of Casa Manila, one of the stops on the orientation.