<table> </table> I vividly remember the day I met Eldar Djangirov. He was 10 years old and practicing on an old upright piano in a Border Star school classroom.</p><p>A teacher at the school who spoke Russian translated my invitation: &#8220;Come to our church and practice on our grand Steinway in the sanctuary.&#8221;</p><p>Every afternoon our jaws dropped as we listened to this child&#8217;s prodigious hands play American jazz tunes which rang through the corridors like there really were no barriers between East and West.</p><p>We weren&#8217;t sure what impressed us most. Was it this young boy&#8217;s talent? Was it his parents&#8217; courage and vision, exhibited by abandoning their careers and fleeing the former Soviet republic, Krygystan, to give their son a chance in America?</p><p>Or was it how a love for jazz was born in a former Soviet bloc country? The dreams of Eldar and his parents, Tatiana Sokolova and Emil Djangirov, became our dreams.</p><p>The church mobilized to find home furnishings, better living conditions and even a piano. Countless hours were devoted to the legal hassles of immigration.</p><p>Concerts were hosted. Money was raised. Families drove Eldar to Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan. I baptized Eldar&#8217;s mother.</p><p>Ten years later almost everything has changed.</p><p>Eldar, an international performing and recording star, recently received a Grammy nomination. His parents have great jobs in California.</p><p>But one thing remains the same. Eldar dreams of a different world.</p><p>He who was a refugee now has an adopted homeland. But he has not forgotten the children, mothers and fathers of the world who are trapped by poverty, famine and oppressive regimes.</p><p>Now he is using his talent and celebrity to help those who face challenges not unlike those he faced: the people of Darfur.</p><p>At 7 p.m. Thursday, Eldar will perform a free concert at Country Club Christian Church, 6101 Ward Parkway. Donations will be collected for the humanitarian crises in the war-torn region of Sudan.</p><p>By sharing his passionate gift of music, Eldar will again evoke in us the desire to create a different kind of world. Four million people in Darfur now look to the international community for humanitarian assistance.</p><p>Already 250,000 have died and more than 2.5 million have been displaced. With gifts of music and money, healing will come to those who need clean water to drink, vaccinations to prevent disease, make-shift schools for learning, seeds for planting, blankets for comfort.</p><p>We are privileged to glimpse the beauty of life that unfolds when those who have received much are able to give much.