Lack of wireless coverage and a need for sleep, coupled with a day spent on the van on Saturday with no wireless, conspired to prevent me from updating on Friday or Saturday. Let me pick up with Friday.
Friday was spent on the bus to First Evangelical Congregational church in Palmyra, PA, pastoral home of our former associate pastor, Charles Walker. It was great to see Charles, Kathy and Alli (Zack is working elsewhere for the summer)! As Charles pointed out, it’s great when you have friends that you don’t see very often but when you do see them you just automatically pick up where you left off. Charles has been very supportive of Kim, in particular, and has stayed in touch even though he left SFUMC 18 years ago (I think). His church congregation was wonderful to us, and we enjoyed our service Friday night very much.
Friday night we had the annual God’s Light talent show, and then got up Saturday to go eat breakfast at Shady Maple. It’s a smorgasbord in the Amish country that boasts a buffet line about 200 feet long. It’s enormous, and the food is amazing! I pretty much skipped lunch entirely, I ate so much.
On Saturday evening we pulled back into Vermont UMC in Kingsport, where we stayed our first night out. It’s nice going back to a church that we already know because everybody knows where they’re sleeping already. We started our last night festivities by about 9:30, and finished by 1a which may be some kind of record. I went through the circle-hug line early and was in my sleeping bag by 12:20a, also probably a record.
Last night we had a great homecoming concert! It was certainly one of the best-attended. It’s always great to see all the old God’s Light members and counselors come up to sing on “Amazing Grace” and “Closing Prayer”. The support for this program is tremendous. We certainly couldn’t do it without all of you who support us.
Overall this trip went very well. The kids were well-behaved for the most part, and we had very little drama, a continuing theme from the last couple of years. This senior class had a number of members drop out for various reasons over the years, but the four that stuck it out, Jeni Vaia, Julia Devane, Parker Wohl and Hayden Rhodes, really did a great job leading this year, and on tour. We had great hosts and wonderful support all along the way.
At every church stop, almost without fail, people will tell us how impressed they are that there are this many kids who are willing to be part of this ministry. In an era where many churches don’t have adult choirs, much less youth choirs, God’s Light’s mission to bring the word to others and inspire others in ministry is even more important. We appreciate your support more than words can express!
Signing off until next year …