• BC Christian News • APRIL ISSUE 2000 • VOL. 20 #4 • Formerly "Christian Info News" •

Sawatsky's Fragile seed of truth
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By David F. Dawes

ORIGINALLY from the Netherlands, singer/songwriter Helma Sawatzky has established a musical career in B.C. She recently finished her second recording, and will be holding a CD release party at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium April 28, 7:30 pm.

In 1986, Sawatzky received a Dutch Dove award from Gospel Music International for her songwriting. She released her first CD, Riddle of Life, in 1996. She has sung at venues across North America and Europe, and frequently performs with recording artist Aron Loewen.

Fragile continues her explorations of the acoustic contemporary folk style. It is coming out at a significant time in her life: for the first time, she is pursuing performing as a full-time vocation.

"For the past four years," she says, "I tried to combine full-time employment elsewhere with my involvement in music -- which became quite the challenge at times. So here I go, swinging my legs over the edge of the ship to see if the water will hold me."

The desire for a career pursuing her talents has been a long time coming. "Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. At age six, I rhymed words to tunes I knew, and sang along to old records -- holding a skipping rope for a microphone and standing on a table to create a sense of stage. Although I also pursued the world of visual arts -- drawing, watercolor, and graphic design -- music remained my biggest passion."

Among other things, she says, her music enables her to grapple with personal struggles. "Life is like a big riddle in which we come across great suffering and great joy. Many of us build walls around ourselves to protect our hearts from the pain, yet at the same time we miss out on the most beautiful gift of God's grace. I believe that music can by-pass those walls . . . It can open our eyes to truth that was there all along, yet never reached us."

She addresses various aspects of that truth with lyrics such as these, from 'Your Love': "I slipped from my bed and I stepped on your soul / With my selfish remarks that just blew a hole / Your heart fell to pieces -- my dreams slipped away / And I wondered what made me get up this day."

Her overall purpose, she says, is "to plant a seed of truth, hope and life into each song in order to encourage, comfort and challenge those listening."

A prime example of this is 'Grace Child,' which declares: "You snapped our history in two / Now there's before and after you / You broke the barrier between / The visible and the unseen / Now as the centuries unfold / And still the story is retold / You're as alive as you were then / In hearts that will receive you."

Contact: (604) 556-2997 or www.helmasawatzky.com