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Today was our first day on Choir Tour 2008! Things went great with the trip to Augusta Georgia - the bus ride was smooth and our driver (Larry) is a great help! When we got to Augusta we went to Curtis Baptist Church in downtown and unloaded our stuff. We had a brief meeting then some time to rehearse and do sound checks before going to a pizza dinner put on by the church. We performed our whole concert and had a great response from the congregation. Our students have had a very willing spirit and did a great job performing at Curtis and it was a great homecoming for Pastor Craig and his family as well as the Long family. After the service we split the students up to go to their host homes and get lots of rest for tomorrow! We'll be meeting back at the church at 9 in the morning and then going to sing at Brandon Wilde Retirement Center before heading to Atlanta to work with the Church on the Street ministry. Please pray for us as we travel tomorrow and as we work in the hot Atlanta heat!
Click here for pics of today! |
Thursday, June 19th |
Today was a great day full of surprises that allowed us all to practice what Pastor Dave talked about in our devotion this morning from Philipians 1:27:
"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
We started the day by meeting back at Curtis Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia after a fun filled night at different host homes. From there we traveled just outside of Augusta to Brandon Wilde Retirement Community where we put on a show for some of the residents. Afterwards our youth were able to mingle and meet some of the people that came to hear them sing and everyone enjoyed that time very much. After stopping for lunch we traveled to Atlanta where we went to Centennial Park for some hang out time before joining up with Church on the Street and First Baptist Church Woodstock in downtown Atlanta for a ministry to the homeless people of Atlanta. We performed some songs while the church folks set up the meals then listened as Pastor Bill brought a message of hope for the people there. After his message he offered for people to stand up that needed prayer. There were so many requesting prayer (roughly 400 people total in attendance!) that many of our teens had the opportunity to go into the audience and pray with the people as well. It was a really neat experience for our group and one that left a lasting impression on many of us. After that time of ministry we ate a quick dinner at the Varsity and headed to our hotel. Tomorrow promises to be exciting as we work with the Friends of Refugees group in Clarkston, Georgia repairing a house, working in a thrift store and prayer walking in the neighborhoods. Please continue to pray for our group as we continue doing the work that God has set aside for us in these days!
Click here for pics from Day Two! |
Friday, June 20th |
Today was another great day in the life of our choir tour! Today was a real mission focused day where our youth got the opportunity to serve some missionaries in real and practical ways that will have an eternal impact. We partnered with Scott and Tiffany Kelley who work with the Friends of Refugees in Clarkston Georgia. We divided into three ministry teams according to the preferences of the students and the needs of Scott and Tiffany. We sent one team to their new house to help on some renovations that needed to be done before they move in (tomorrow!). That team worked on patching holes in the drywall, painting, removing old wallpaper, cleaning up outside, raked the yard, worked on fixing up the garage, and some other odds and ends around the house. Scott and Tiffany were definitely blessed to have our teens available to help them since Scott is averaging working 12 hours a day to get their ministry up and going and Tiffany is a stay at home mom of three wonderful kids. Our team really helped take a load off.
Another one of our teams went to work in the area thrift store. This is a place for the refugees to come and purchase necessary items for their homes and for themselves at greatly reduced prices as many of them don't yet have jobs. Our team organized, cleaned, sorted through new merchandise and stocked shelves. They had a lot of fun and a great time helping that important ministry.
Our third team was probably the most important team we had today. That was our prayer walking team. The prayer walking group spent the day walking a two mile loop around the neighborhoods where the refugees live and work, around the community center and through the general area where much of Scott and Tiffany's ministry takes place. They went Scott and Tiffany's house to pray with the workers there and pray for Scott and Tiffany and there ministry, then prayed for and witnessed to people in the community. God is going to use the foundation our students laid today to continue to do a great work through this ministry. God also used this opportunity to show how hard working and diligent our students are and we're grateful to Him for all the things He's teaching us all on this trip!
After our time of ministry today we went to Stone Mountain to unwind and watch their LaserShow Spectacular that is projected on the side of Stone Mountain, the largest piece of granite in the world! It was incredible to see that part of God's creation and see the neat way that the people of Georgia have used that to offer something very unique to the community.
Tomorrow morning we head to Alabama to stay at a camp and hang out tomorrow (swimming, sports, napping...!) and then get ready for a few concerts on Sunday. We hope you're having as much fun in Christiansburg as we are in Atlanta!
Click here for pics from our third day! |
Saturday, June 21st |
Today was a great day of taking it easy, with no places we had to be at certain times and it was a wonderful day of relaxing and recharging our batteries. The day started off with us checking out of the hotel and heading to Alabama to the YMCA camp. We only had about a two hour drive to get to Chelsea Alabama where the camp was. After a brief stop for lunch in Chelsea (where we were joined by Robert and Angela Page!) we headed to the camp to get settled in. The afternoon was spent canoeing, swimming, playing basketball, and Caleb even got in a run (for an hour - too committed…!).There were also some sweet times of reunion and reminiscing with Ken and Jen Perkins and their ever expanding family. Many of the youth were excited to see them and catch up about what was going on in their lives and the life of our church. At about 5:30 we went toward Birmingham to go to the Galleria Mall where there was much eating, shopping, and goofing off. After that we went back to the camp to have our evening meeting and a birthday party for Jonathan and Rebekah Shorter. While Rebekah celebrated coming into her teenage years (13 today!), Jonathan “celebrated” leaving his youth behind as he turned 30! A fun time was had by all and then the students shared some of how they had seen God at work over the last three days of our trip. Everyone was really encouraged to hear what God had been doing in and through our teenagers and is really excited to see what comes next! Sunday we’ll be going to Angela Adema’s father’s church in Birmingham Alabama to sing in their morning worship service. It should be a great time of fellowship with their church family!
Click here for pics from today!
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Sunday, June 22nd |
We started our Sunday by going to Doctrinal Studies Bible Church, pastored by Ron Adema (Angela Adema's father) to perform at their morning worship service. After our worship program we had some fellowship time with the church members. Following that we heard a great message from Ron about unity in the Body of Christ. After church we ate a great meal prepared by members of Doctrinal Studies Bible Church and then headed back to the camp. We spent the afternoon napping, playing ball, canoeing, swimming, did I say napping? At 5 we left for Liberty Baptist Church to lead their congregation in worship after hearing a wonderful presentation about the Alabama Children's Home. After church we had a pizza supper with some of the youth from Liberty Baptist and had a lot of fun meeting new people! Both of the churches today were very receptive and encouraging to our choir. Tomorrow we head back to Atlanta - keep praying for us!
Click here to see some pictures of our day! |
Monday, June 23rd |
Today was a good day of travel as we headed back into Atlanta to sing at Delmar Gardens retirement center. We received a very warm reception from the residents that came to hear us sing and the choir sounded great! After we sang we went into downtown Atlanta to the Coca-Cola World museum and spent our evening there. Most of us didn't know there was that much to know about Coke (the world's best drink <jonathan> )! After we finished touring we headed toward our hotel in Smyrna and stopped off for a fast food dinner. After dinner we checked into our hotel and had some free time before bed. It's been a great day and a great trip and we're all looking forward to a fun time at Six Flags tomorrow!
Click here for some pics from today!
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Tuesday, June 24th |
What can we say about today? We went to Six Flags Over Georgia for 9 hours of roller coasters and hot Atlanta heat. Here are the highlights:
-Cara went on her first roller coaster
-Jonathan screams like a girl on the Goliath coaster, and everyone laughs at him for it
-Pastor Craig and Katha like to take it easy at amusement parks, taking in the shows and shopping
-ask your kids for the rest of the stories!
When we got back to the hotel we had our evening meeting. We had some special time of sharing as well as prayer times for Angela Adema (recently in a car accident) and for Matt Thompson as he prepares to leave for boot camp in July. Matt was touched (as were most people in our group) and there was truly a sweet spirit in that place. We also had everyone in the group write notes of encouragement for Matt and we gave him that collection tonight as well. God is good!
Click here for (a few) pictures of today!
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