The Ugandan Kids Choir, a group of 10 musically talented children, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 W. Jefferson St.

All 10 choir members have been given a future through Childcare Worldwide’s sponsorship program.

The choir has performed its traditional African songs and dances across the United States at churches, schools, at Disneyland, at Qwest Field in Seattle and on the steps of the White House.

The choir, made up of five girls and five boys from the Ssese Islands on Uganda’s Lake Victoria, is a ministry of Childcare Worldwide.

Chorus members are all 10 years old. Every year the group is made up of a different set of children.

“We are taking up a freewill offering,” said Ralph Christy Jr., the church’s music director.

“They actually called us. This is the eastern tour. There are two tours,” said Christy. “They were hunting for places to perform in, and they saw our website and contacted us.”

“The offering will go to them, and they are looking for people to sponsor at their school in Uganda,” said Christy.

“We had to find families to host them,” Christy said. “They arrive Thursday afternoon. They will come to the church here, and we will have an invited dinner. Then they will go their host family.”

“They will come to the church at 9 a.m. on Friday. They have their own teacher, so they will do lessons at the church, as well as a sound check and rehearsal. We will feed them lunch and dinner,” said Christy.

He said the St. Mark’s sanctuary can hold 600.

“There will be a reception after the concert for whoever wants to attend. Then they go back to their host families,” Christy said. “Saturday, they’re here to lunch time, then they get on their bus and go on to their next site to perform.”

“The concert will be one hour long. They will be singing, dancing and playing instruments,” he said.

Share Cornmesser, the choir manager for Childcare Worldwide, said, “Choir members are between 9 and 12, and they travel on a minibus from church to church with four to five chaperones.”

She said there are actually two touring choirs. One covers the western United States, the other the Eastern United states.

The touring choirs were started in 2006, she said.

“The choirs perform mostly church conferences because we are a Christian organization,” said Cornmesser.

“The choir is only part of our larger organization which has clean water and feeding programs,” said Cornmesser

“The whole purpose of the choir is to raise awareness of the need of children in other countries and to raise sponsorships of children,” she said of the Bellingham, Wash.-based child ministry.

The Ugandan choir is the first of what Christy hopes to be a regular performing arts series at St. Mark’s.

“When we did our 200th anniversary celebration last year, we sponsored four concerts,” he said. “Due to the success of the concerts with the Butler community, we decided to form a performing arts series at St. Marks’s.”

“We will be doing at least two to three events every year now,” said Christy.

He said the second concert is scheduled for Dec. 7 and will feature a group called Circle of Friends doing its Christmas concert.

“What’s cool about the group is they don’t do it for the money,” said Christy. The concert proceeds go to a nonprofit organization, in this case, Katie’s Kitchen.”

Katie’s Kitchen, a free community meal co-sponsored by St. Mark’s and Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, marked its 20th anniversary Sept. 14.