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In this episode, Steve Benham reflects on a lifelong journey of weaving music, faith, and service together through the work of Music in World Cultures. From the early days of the Ukraine Project to current outreach in Albania and beyond, Steve shares how music and missions can intersect to strengthen communities, encourage resilience, and provide hope in difficult places.

He explains the role of ethnomusicology in honoring local traditions of worship, and why empowering community leaders is central to lasting change. Along the way, Steve offers stories of faith, perseverance, and the ways music can bring healing where war and hardship have left deep scars.

Listeners will hear not only about the global reach of MIWC’s work, but also about the quiet, steady faithfulness that makes sustainable missions possible. This conversation is an invitation to consider how music, leadership, and support—whether through prayer, presence, or generosity—can transform lives and communities around the world.

Takeaways

• Music is a powerful tool for worship, healing, and outreach.
• Empowering local leaders is key to lasting impact in missions.
• Ethnomusicology helps honor and strengthen cultural identity in worship.
• Humanitarian aid meets both physical and spiritual needs.
• Faithfulness in missions often means perseverance through difficulty.
• Community support—through prayer, presence, and generosity—sustains the work.
• Stories from Ukraine, Albania, and beyond reveal resilience and transformation.

Get Involved

Serve on the Field: Consider joining MIWC on a short-term mission trip — as an intern, teacher, performer, or support team member — to work alongside local church leaders and communities, sharing your skills and heart for culturally-rooted worship. 

Join the Prayer Team: Committed prayer is foundational to MIWC’s work. You can join a growing team of prayer partners who intercede regularly for mission efforts in regions such as Eastern Europe, Africa, South Asia, and more. 

Communicate the Mission: Share the vision of MIWC by helping with communication—whether through storytelling, social media, or other channels—to raise awareness and support for culturally sensitive music ministries. 

Subscribe & Stay Connected: By signing up for email updates, you’ll receive the latest stories, prayer requests, and opportunities to connect with project developments across MIWC’s global network. 

Support Financially: Every gift matters. Whether supporting a regional project, an individual team member, or MIWC’s overall operations, your generosity helps bring culturally relevant worship and holistic care to communities worldwide.

About MIWC

Music in World Cultures (MIWC) is a Pennsylvania-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit equipping musicians, worship leaders, and pastors to strengthen local congregations and share the good news of Jesus through music. We believe music is one of the most powerful ways to communicate God’s love—breaking down barriers, building bridges, and giving people a voice to worship in their own cultural and musical “heart language.”

Through biblical training, leadership development, and the use of indigenous languages and art forms, MIWC partners with local churches and missionaries to support worship, church planting, discipleship, and humanitarian care. Our teams—teachers, musicians, ethnomusicologists, conductors, and pastors—serve across Europe, Africa, Asia, and beyond, preparing the next generation of leaders to carry God’s truth in their own voice and song.

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