Peace Poem by Asbury CHRIST choir

We have posted several blogs that were written on our return home. The blog will remain up indefinitely so spread the word. This post is the "Peace Poem" written by the members of CHRIST choir. The kids were asked to reflect on the word peace the day we visited the Cathedral and then at devotion they were asked to complete the sentence "Peace is..." We put all the answers together into one big poem. We hope you enjoy and discover peace for yourself.
Mary Lynn

Peace is……..
By Asbury CHRIST choir

knowing you will always be loved by God.
calming & soothing & spiritual
stepping out of my comfort zone to find God
slowing down enough to see God’s majesty and beauty
relaxing
being calm and in balance with one’s inner self and with one’s relationship with God
finding reassurance and stability in God
necessary
feeling of Jesus
a time when everything is calm and nothing else matters
solitary time alone with yourself in which no situations in life can interrupt you
finding that place where nothing else matters, beyond all distractions and obsessions
what I feel when a concert is over, and all of the stress is complete
when you pause for a moment, your anxiety fades into the air, giving you a sense of relaxation that can only be from the heavens
hard to find
knowing that someone who is very important loves you and would die for you
feeling the presence of the Lord in the midst of chaos
understanding that God is in control and there are no worries because God has a plan
fulfilling & life changing, amazing & delightful, awesome & outstanding, Peace is Peaceful
relaxing your mind, being at ease, and enjoying the quiet and stillness of your surroundings
a time when things are complete
awesome & uneventful
being content
time alone with God
the calm in a storm
seeking self serenity and unity among others
Peace is pretty
Recognizing that the world spins madly on and that that’s okay
A silent moment in the middle of a hectic day when time stops so that one can simply relax and
BREATHE!
Reviving
Having one on one time with God and Him being able to give you that, it’s a freedom
Quiet, relaxing and calm
A time of harmony when the world seems to slow down
A gift from God that allows us to refocus & recenter on Him and the amazing love He has for us
Being isolated yet surrounded at the same time
Necessary
Jesus
Being okay with everything just as it is
Calming, comforting, inspiring and encouraging
Taking the time to see God’s beautiful creation
A requirement and a reward for living a spiritual life
Walking off the football field after him
Quiet, confessing expressing yourself (to God), telling God like it is, coming clean
Breathe taking and Life giving
Calm, tranquil, and rare
Difficult to achieve, but worth the effort and sacrifice
Reliving
Abiding love, mercy, quiet, reflection, relaxing joy in the Lord

Peace is forgetting pain
peace is standing in the rain
peace is sleeping in the storm
peace is removed from the norm
peace is where you can begin to understand why when it’s so unsure
and against all reason you seemed doom to endure
Peace is sleeping through the pain
awakening from the dream
remembering the night’s troubles
yet awakening to a sunbeam

Peace is…..the silence after a thunderstorm
The creek flowing through a forest
The child’s quiet tears that cease
The village covered with a blanket of snow
The creator of the world saying “It is Finished”

The peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

Peace is living water
When I am dry I am stressed, confused, and worried.
My shepherd leads me by quiet waters and I saturate
His divinity
Meets my depravity and
It is just Him and me

Peace is finding comfort and calm when surrounded by a chaotic world.
Peace is being in communion with God
Peace is knowing that everything is going to be all right
Because you’ve got a powerful God
Peace is being “full” inside
Peace is being consumed with the Love of the Lord

Peace is inner serenity in the midst of chaos
Peace is the most relieving feeling when you feel bogged down by the burdens of daily life
Peace is not something that is handed out in plenty, but rather something that is found inside the soul. The peace God gives us is indescribable, but easily attainable once we acknowledge the fact that without peace we cannot persevere on life's journey.

9 Girls at Genesis Home

I learned on this trip that its not about ourselves (or grace- :) Katie) its about GOD!This trip was the best experience I ever had with a wonderful group of christian celebrating his word. This was my first choir tour. I wasn't in the Voices of Christ so I didn't know what to expect about this trip. I only heard stories about tours from my older sister and some tours my parents have been on. Our first stop at the Genesis Home really changed my perspective about our tour. When one of the adults told us we would be performing in front on about 9 girls I was disappointed and didn't care about performing. When we set up and the girls came in I was think to myself that this is so stupid why are we going to perform in front of 9 people. i will admit I didn't put my whole effort into the performance. After we were finished the musical, a girl in the audience wanted to know if she could come to the microphone and say something to our choir. I was wonder what she might say but when she said "Thank you for coming and performing i really feel that God is here for me and I'm never alone." Those words were like God hitting me in the head with a brick. He was telling me that this is what our tour is all about. If only one person on our tour understood the message and excepted Christ then our whole tour was worth it.

I also learned that God has a sense of humor.The drama did a wonderful job at every place we performed at. But there were sometimes when they messed up a little and I knew God was laughing with us.(Its not about grace and press the 10 key just to throw out a few) On Thursday we got the chance to go Kings Island. An amusement park. And god knows that I DO NOT like roller coasters. While everyone had a fun time on rides that made you throw up, i hung out with some people i haven't hung out with the whole trip. While some people went on roller coasters that had death written all over them Clay, Noah, Molly, Emily W. Curt and Andrew played a wonderful game of I Spy... so even though I didn't experience the thrill of rides i had a fun time just hanging out. And of course riding the scooby Doo ride 6 times was the highlight of my trip (it was a Scooby Doo ride where you and 2 other people get in "Mystery Machines" a shoot all the monsters to get points.) Each time a rode it i kept getting a lower score than before so i knew God was laughing at my monster shooting skills.
Sarah Jernigan

Where we found Jesus

June 2:
At 2:00 we found Jesus with us and 9 girls at N36 43' 32.69", W88 44' 58.5" (if you copy and paste these numbers in Google Earth "Fly to" tab, you can find where Jesus was also)

We found Jesus watching over us while we slept at N38 42' 52.1", W90 26' 40.9"

June 3:
This morning we found Jesus in a Sanctuary at N38 38' 13.06", W90 24' 16.05"

This afternoon, we found Jesus and peace in a beautiful church built in his honor at N38 38' 33.21", W90 15' 15.55"

Tonight we found Jesus along with some wonderful friends at N38 34' 20.98", W89 58' 25.57"

June 4:

Today Jesus worked beside us moving and stacking 2000 tires at N38 44' 19.16", W90 19' 17.36" (the Google Earth image shows that the tires at one point had been at N38 44' 19.1605", W90 19' 23.63" before being moved and piled onto a mountain at our location; we stacked them in columns of 5 at N38 44' 18.05", W90 19' 16.83" and then we got hosed off and dressed into plastic bags at the fire station at N38 44' 14.17", W90 19' 26.95").

Today, Jesus spent time with us and some wonderful children at N38 44' 15.22", W90 19' 20.94" and walked beside us at the playground at N38 44' 03.84", W90 19' 12.91"

Today, Jesus sang with us on the steps of the Arch at N38 37' 27.88", W90 11' 03.73" and joined us for food and fellowship at N38 37' 39.33", W90 11' 29.14"


June 5:
Today, we found Jesus in the wrinkled elderly faces at N38 46' 37.34", W90 14' 47.83"

Today, we found Jesus playing basketball at N38 44' 21.94", W90 24' 7.81"

Today, we found Jesus sitting beside us cheering for the home team at N38 37' 22.51", W90 11' 31.66"

June 6:
Today, we found Jesus in the laughter at a church at N39 4' 16.37", W84 21' 1.33"

Tonight, we found Jesus watching over us while we slept at N39 16' 10.3", W84 26' 19.5"

June 6:
Today, Jesus laughed and screamed in joy beside us on the rides at N39 20' 54.5", W84 16' 14.7"

Tonight, we found Jesus giving us courage to perform for our friends.

June 7:
Today, we found Jesus in the wonder of nature at N37 6' 28.7", W86 3' 39.0"

We found Jesus in the joy and love of our family and friends at N34° 43' 46.89",
W86° 44' 30.63"



-- Mike Botts ---

Wow, I'm speechless. What an amazing choir tour, full of experience and discipleship as a unit of Christ. I feel a spiritual high in my soul that I have never experienced with the Lord, so high that I feel I could never let go from this feeling, nor the relationship itself. I have realized many things on this trip that I felt i really needed to learn and that I don't know where and when I would ever live had I not gone on this trip. I am so blessed to be even able to go on this trip, all thanks to Resha. I hope and pray blessings are fulfilled in your life and that God will ease the struggles in your life as well as using me if that is what it takes to bring some sort of inspiration to your life Resha. Thank you so much once again for just opening up such a wonderful opportunity in my life that has changed me and helped me to realize some of the major distractions that are setting me away from God. It has helped me to realize how close I need to stay with him and be with him as distractions and temptations were jumping into my life during the course of this trip. My prayer is that it will continue to apply in my life, with the way I need to live my life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
As far as the trip itself, i know it has taken an unbelievable amount of prayer and concern into the whole thing and with the outcome, I don't think I could have seen it any other way and I don't think it could have turned out better. All of the trust and faith concerning this trip all went to God, and every single one of us who went knew it. We never leaned on our own understanding of things but just let God handle it all, and God made everything fine. All we had to do was trust and have faith, as well as not argue against what God has decided for some things in this world, even if it is against our judgement and opinion of things. We don't want to be pharisees, right?
I had one of the greatest times of my life on this trip, no matter how much pain was caused and brought into it. The ministry was fulfilling, stays in the hotel room were a blast, the amusement park was full of intensity and excitement, and the talent show was absolutely hilarious. What a way to end a choir tour. It was so great just enjoying the friendships I had as well as strengthening the bonds between people I didn't even (expect to) know. Enjoying the beauty of God's creation was another great thing to enjoy on this trip. Going to St. Paul's Cathedral Basilica was absolutely one of the greatest ways to really take in a good look at God's beauty, and being aware that it was only a smidgen of God's creation was just mind-blowing to even think about. God's plan is unreal to have planned all of these experiences built into this one trip. Absolutely incredible.
I just want to say thanks to all of the chaperones, bus drivers, and everyone on the trip. We all experienced an abundant amount of things together with God as a body of Christ. Working together, being there for each other, and serving as a whole ministry to God was one special event in my life that God had placed that really made me feel thankful for everyone. Thanks for everybody's prayers for every single prayer request that was brought upon everyone's hearts brought up over the trip and for the ones that people brought into the trip, maybe not being prepared for what God had in store for this trip. It was awesome that we could pray and listen to each other to help out each other as a unit to help us carry on. This trip has truly been one of the greatest experiences of my life that could never be forgotten and has considerably helped me in my walk with the Lord. I'm in so much connection with Him that I could never fall away from his love for the world and myself. It makes me feel honored and loved to serve Him and I couldn't live, knowing that I'm not doing that in any point of my life.
And on a final note to seniors, it was great meeting every single one of you and bonding. You really have a lot in store for you in your future as the Lord prepares the way for you. Just trust and never give up, please. Whether I see you guys again or not, I really hope that all you do is live your life for Christ and do as he commands you with an open heart and mind and never hide or be ashamed. Keep in touch if you can and I'll be praying for all of you as you move on. May the Lord be with you in the best and worst, the bitter and sweet, as well as life's journey in general.
It still just blows my mind all of the opportunities that the Lord made on this trip and the ministry that we accomplished in his name. There was too much to be described that God worked in our lives while on this trip. Wow, so much to be thankful for, and all of the glory and thanks will go to Him. God is amazing. Amen.
A.J.

It doesn't matter where you're going, it matters why you are going.

The best word I know to describe this trip can be inspiring. The title of our musical is called Where Jesus Is, and if there was any doubt what so ever about where Jesus was on this trip, I'm sure that was quickly answered. Jesus was everywhere, sounds simple, but as we sang all we heard about was how many people we were touched, even in the least likely places, like a restaurant called Swifty's. And when you thought there was no one to reach out or no one really listening, Mrs. Mary Lynn would say how she had someone on the phone listening to us sing under the St. Louis Arch. I saw Jesus the most in the new Catholic Church. We were told that this was our time of peace and we were told to be quiet, and the silence spoke to me. The church was an amazing masterpiece of God and I’ve never seen anything like it. That was a very special moment for me because I felt completely and utterly surrounded by God. A time I had great fun on this trip was when we worked in Kinloch, and I received the task of moving tires. Our group had so much fun helping out with stacking tires. This was a great way for God to show that you can use all gifts to serve the lord, along with others. This trip was inspiring to me because it really shows you never know who is watching you, or even that the little things that we do truly matter to those watching, or listening. I was glad I was able to be part of an opportunity where not only the listeners of this musical were touched, but so were to people singing it. I was one of the people in the began of the "choir season" who strongly thought about not going on tour because I didn't know where we were going, I know now that it doesn't matter where you're going, it matters why you are going.
-Laura Williams

Last Detour

Choir Parents and Friends,

Wow. Choir tour came up quick. It seems like yesterday we just started learning the music and today we are on the road and nearly finished with tour. I don't even know where to begin. So I'll start with the more recent. Wednesday we traveled and sang at Anderson United Methodist Church. Before our concert we had dinner, and had (if you don't already know, we have had some form of Italian food ever day on tour. Between pizza, ziti, lasagna, and the spaghetti, we have dubbed this the 'Italian Tour') a delicious baked ziti. After we sang, we all headed back to the Drury Inn. I'm sad to report that that night 2 of our boys were caught breaking the rules and had to be sent home. We were all really sad and disappointed, but Ms. Susan had to stick to her rules and had to send the boys home. I believe that this is a tour about God's grace and mercy, and this has taught us a lesson about that. It brings into complete realization that no one is perfect, and everyone messes up. I hope and pray that the boys have learned from their mistake, and that the situation will teach a lesson to everyone else too. Yesterday, Thursday, we went to King's Island, where (did you know) Evil Knievel jumped 14 Grey Hound busses! Now it's an awesome theme park, where everyone had a great time. Today, Friday, the conclusion of our tour has come. As i type I am sitting at Diamond Caverns in Louisville, Kentucky. After walking 1/2 a mile and climbing 350 stairs, needless to say, I am slightly exhausted. It has been a full week! When Ms. Marylynn said that we had one more detour, someone shouted out "Is it Asbury? Can it please be Asbury?!" I guess you can probably guess that everyone is exhausted and we all miss our family and friends a lot. On that note, I will wrap this up. It's been an awesome tour, and I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.

In Him,><>
Haley

Random Act of Kindness

During the Cardinal's game on Tuesday, Laura, Sarah, Charley, and I had a chance to do a random act of kindness. While we were washing our hands, a lady came into the restroom and started to frantically dig through the trash can. I asked her if she had lost something, and she replied that she thought she had dropped a diamond ring in the trash. We then offered to help her look for it and spent the next fifteen minutes up to our elbows in beer-soaked paper towels. I would love to say that we finally found the ring after dumping out the entire trash can, but we didn't. We did get a chance to give her one of our smile cards, though, and hopefully the random kindness of four choir girls had a positive impact on the woman's life.
-Lauren Ketron

Photos and More to Come

Please continue to check the blog in the next few days. I know we will be adding a Peace poem that is a collection of all the kids wrote about peace also many of the kids will be blogging on the way home. We do have a couple of new posts today.

God is on this Trip

I think God is on this trip. I don't know why I would think that... Do you? This week has been amazing. I really didn't think I was going to survive not knowing where we we're going. I just don't do that kind of thing. I guess you could say I'm O.C.D and like to pack a little bit extra depending on where I am going. This week has brought me closer to people that I thought I wouldn't ever expect to. Some things that have happened have effected us and brought us closer as a family and as friends. I also think that God was telling me to chill out and not ride any rides today at King's Island. I passed out! It was not pretty. I hit my head and everything. It was like it was scripted in a movie. I feel a lot better and I'm not AS shaky. With one day to go I feel like things that have happened this week definately would not have made as big of a difference at home. People have gotten sick, sad, tired, and some are just plain worn out! Some people are still going but I am definately not one of them. Some are ready to go home, some are not ready to leave. The last children's home we went to killed me. I really felt like we didn't get through to them but I knew once I saw the smile on one girls face. I just knew we had planted a seed. I really can't tell if I am ready to come home or not. I think I'm not quite ready. This week has been a blessing to me, no matter how tired I am. I will see you all of you when I get home... Too bad I have to work Sunday. God Bless.
Chelsea

Absolutely Amazing!

This choir tour is absolutely amazing!!! We have had so much fun this week it isn't even funny!! Mrs.Becky has given us some great clues for us to try to figure out where we were going!! The places that we have gone have been amazing. I can already tell that i know what the highlight of this trip is, I would have to definitely tell people that my absolute favorite thing from this trip is singing on the steps in front of the arch in St. Louis. People on this trip have been really impressed with us!! They will ask us where we are from, and with our true southern accents, we will quickly tell them that we are from Alabama!! People ask us why we are where we are, and all we can say is simply, "Where are we?" We have had a few little accidents, but it is just as some of the others have said that with God there are no accidents of coincidents but only connections!! We have all learned that God IS love and He will always offer us second chances!! One thing that we have said several times on this trip and I truly believe is "God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good." I believe that all of us are on this tour for a reason, even if we don't figure out this week why we are here, we are here for a reason. I know that Mrs. Susan has said this many times, that even if one person has gotten touched by our musical, then we have accomplished something!! Believe me, someone has been touched by this... me! We have also had many other people come to us and tell us how much we had touched them. So all I can say about this trip is... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
-Jake Rippy

Where Jesus Wants Us to Be

I truly believe that every young person on this trip is here because Jesus wants them to be here. I have no doubts that their presence is no mere concincidence. Please pray for the remainder of our trip. God works in mysterious ways. Help us to look for the blessings in every SINGLE thing that happens on this trip.

I am going to try and post a few photos but I am not an expert at this and the ones that are haven't had time to help me so we may have to wait for pictures until we return.

A girl named Sydney and God's Peace

My Experience On Choir Tour (So Far)Liesel Burks
Wow!! What an amazing trip this has been! God has truly blessed us all with amazing people who have planned this trip carefully. God has been with us this entire trip, and everything has gone as planned! We've been to wonderful sites, met unforgettable people, and have experienced so many things! What a blessing!! But out of all the adventures we have been on (which are a lot!), two have stuck out in my mind. The first adventure was on Saturday afternoon. We sang at our first destination, The Genesis Children's Home in Kentucky. We had a pretty small crowd of only nine girls and a few of the faculty. As we did our performance, I was looking at the girls and silently praying that they would "get it". I was afraid that they would mock our performance. However, at the very end, a girl named Sydney came up to the microphone because there had been something she wanted to say. I wasn't sure what she was going to say, but I was incredibly blessed to hear what she said. "Thank you for performing for us. I now know that God is always on my side and I'm not alone." As she said those words, I knew that we had accomplished the goal that we came on this trip for: to spread God's love and his word. The second adventure that will always stick with me occurred on Sunday afternoon. We had visited the Saint Louis Zoo, and it had been a blast! We were all a little exhausted from the late night before and our two early performances, so most of us were wanting to rest up before singing later that night. However, we stopped at a cathedral in the middle of Saint Louis. This had been one of our "detours", according to Mary Lynn, and she believed that we would feel God's presence if we looked for it. As I walked into the cathedral, I was shocked at how vast (and beautiful) the cathedral was! Everywhere you looked, there were beautiful mosaics of Jesus and other important people in the Bible. It was silent in the cathedral, but that was the first time in a while that I experienced peace from God. The week before had been so hectic: Memorial day gatherings, getting all of my things ready for tour, everything was just crazy!! But as I sat in one of the many pews in the cathedral and began to pray, I could feel the Holy Spirit come over me and engulf me in peace. What a great feeling!! That peace has stuck with me throughout the tour and hopefully I will remember that moment to bring back the peace in my life when I need it the most! Of course, there are many other places that we have visited (the Arch, Busch Stadium, and Swifty's just to name a few) but it would take me forever to describe the impact this tour has had on me!! This tour has been an incredible blessing to me and I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of our tour!

Cardinal's Game

On the road again... We're in Terre Haute, Indiana on our way to... good question. I think it's safe to say that most everyone on the bus has decided that we're on our way to Cincinnati, Ohio. The generation gap is very apparent here because with one of the clues we were able to use some one's wireless Internet on her phone and figure the location out (King's Island in Cincinnati!!!). A year or two ago, when my family was on the way to my grandma's house in Indiana, we stopped by King's Island for a day. Now, if that actually IS our destination then I'm really excited because that place is amazing! :] The Cardinal's game last night that we had NOOO idea that we were going to (note the hint of sarcasm) was awesome. The Card's and the Red's were tied throughout out the whole game and in the bottom of the 9th So Taguchi hit a pop fly in between the right fielder and center fielder. The crowd went wild. Really. But my favorite part had to have been the wave that went around the whole stadium about 5 times that our section started. It's an awesome experience getting to share God's love through one of my favorite past times. Seeing the looks on people's faces when they are struck by the drama or moved by our words is exhilarating. I get the chills every time we perform. I'm so glad I got to take part in this trip. See you all soon!
-Hannah Williams :]

Starting the Wave

"START THE WAVE" is the text that comes up on the big screen at the St. Louis Cardinals game on Tuesday night. Standing out in the crowd, we in the green shirts decided to step up and make things happen. After about a dozen attempts to start the wave, we finally got the entire St. Louis crowd of 43,560 people to do the wave.It's amazing to see how a little ripple in an ocean of people can start something huge.That can be said for our Christian body too. All it takes is one person to do something sincere that may start a ripple effect, thereby possibly changing lives along the way. This has been an amazing tour so far, and I am very confident when I say I have learned some life lessons from the simplest things.Just something to keep in mind,Noah
After a long concert at an outdoor pavilion at Fee Fee Baptist Church, T.J., Brock, Stephanie and I decided to start a little pick-up game with some of the guys that were there. Though we might have played tough, it was a fun time to hang out with people that might not get as much attention as they did that day. We may have taken it to them in basketball, but you could tell that they were having fun. That may be one of the only things to turn to for them, so it was a cool blessing that we had a chance to share with them. It's not always about winning or losing, but it was about having fun with some fellow christians.God's so cool, showing himself through sports. I love this stuff.Noah

Hey everyone! So this week has been amazing so far! God has shown me through this trip that “coincidence” is not a word in his vocabulary! We traveled to the Christ United Methodist Church in Illinois on Sunday night. The church welcomed us with a greeting posted on their church sign, and many posters hung on their walls. I was also very impressed to find out that they were giving away two sets of 4 box seat tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals game (to help encourage attendance). I thought that was pretty nice of them to do for us, but I quickly forgot when it was time to set up.
I knew God was going to be at work in this place after hearing numerous “Amens” and “Hallelujahs” from the audience right after our first skit! =] I was so excited I could hardly wait to perform and see what God was going to do. The performance went wonderfully, even though I forgot yet again to exit off the correct side of the stage! :-p (sorry Laura=]). After we received a standing ovation from the congregation, the pastor came up to announce the raffle drawing for the tickets (which I had forgotten about ;)). The pastor explained the rules, and said he needed someone out of the choir to help him. He scanned the choir loft to look for someone to choose, and his eyes fell on me on the first row (I raised my hand of course ;)). I told him I was super shy, so I probably wasn’t the person for the job! =] (yeah right! I’m Donna Thackerson’s daughter… do you think I even know what the word shy means???)
When I got up on the stage, he asked me to pick a number 1-110. My favorite number has always been #10. I use it for all my sports numbers, and everything. So naturally, the first number that came to my mind was 10. I hesitated though. I don’t know if I should pick that number, because it’s so low, I thought¸ I don’t know God… For some reason, I still just had this feeling. So, I picked it! =] I heard clapping, and a little old lady timidly raise her hand on the third row. As she was hobbling up to collect the tickets I caught myself thinking, Well that was dumb Breanna, she probably doesn’t have the slightest clue about baseball. Those tickets are just going to go to waste! The pastor asked me to pick one more number, and I had already made up my mind to pick the most random number possible!!! Well, the first number that popped into my mind was 73. 73?? What kind of stupid number is that Breanna?? Way to go stupid…
Next thing I know, a super excited lady is walking down the aisle ranting about how excited she was because she has never won anything before. This of course put a smile to my face, and I went and sat back down on the pew. Noah turned to me and said, “You just had to pick 73 didn’t you?” I had no clue what he was talking about (as usual :-p) so I asked why. “Because it makes 10…. 7 plus 3 makes 10!” I thought it was a pretty funny coincidence how they both turned out to be my number, but I thought nothing of it.
When everyone was cleaning up, a lady came up to ask me all kinds of questions about our choir, and to tell me how great we were. I saw the old lady that won the tickets talking to Mrs. Susan out of the corner of my eye. Yet again, I was totally ignorant of what was going on, because I just thought she was doing the same thing the lady I was talking to was doing. A little while later Mrs. Susan came up to me a little teary eyed. She proceeded to tell me that the lady wanted her to make sure she told me her story….
The lady had decided earlier in the day that she was going to win the tickets. She just had to… “All you need is faith,” her friend told her. So she prayed, and put her faith in God. You see, she didn’t want the tickets for herself; she wanted to give them to her daughter, who was just diagnosed with cancer. She didn’t have long to live. All that the mother wanted was to be able to get tickets so that her daughter could spend precious quality time with her husband and children. After she heard the number 10 called, she sat in disbelief and slowly raised her hand. She finished her story with tears in her eyes, making sure Susan told her story to “that precious girl.”
God pretty much hit me in between the eyes with a 2x4 on that one… I never knew that God could use something as simple as my “lucky” number to touch an entire family with a dying mother. As for the #73… I also figured out God has a sense of humor…=]

I hope yalls week is as blessed as mine has been so far…

With love,
*breanna*

Here we are, sitting on the bus in Who Knows Where, USA on Choir Tour. It’s only day four and so much has happened we don’t even know what few things to talk about! So we decided we would ramble about nothing instead…joke. Anyways, wow you guys do not know how hard it is to type this with punctuation and capital letters. Myspace has taken quite a toll on our generations typing skills! Haha Rachel is mad because that has nothing to do with Choir Tour and she is right. Now, seriously, so this trip is a complete mystery and amazingly, thanks to our awesome chaperones, everything has been fairly organized. But, surprisingly enough, the times we sing that are the least expected are the ones that turn out to be the most powerful and most influencing. For example, yesterday was our work day and the itinerary said nothing about any performances and yet we found ourselves singing in trash bags, on the 64 steps of the arch (yes I counted) and for the owner and employees of Swifty’s, the restaurant that opened exclusively for the C.H.R.I.S.T Choir.
Today, Mrs. Mary Lynn prepared all of us for a performance outside saying that it would probably be hot and to us that translated to an uncomfortable performance. Many people thought that this might be the least favorite performance, but with the breeze blowing minds quickly changed. Once the performance was over, we had chances to play basketball with some of the teens, spin obnoxiously on the carousel/merry-go-round thingy, and simply just fellowship and learn about their backgrounds and daily lives. After Kevin fell off the carousel/merry-go-round thingy, we were motioned back to the buses and now we are just chillaxin in the lobby, eating popcorn, and bloggin’ it up! Keep us all in your prayers and if you find out any hints on where we are heading next let us know ;) without Mrs. Mary Lynn or Mrs. Susan finding out please! Oh, and Meg, I’m thinking I might be able to score you a Cardinals t-shirt! The entire choir has decided that our next clue is telling us we are going to a baseball game…we’ll see!

Adios
Emily Edwards and Rachel Botts aka Raquel (ok, so I’m the only one who calls her that…)

On Monday we were split into groups to work on service projects. At first we weren't all into picking up trash onthe side of the road. We were being lazy and just walking talking and picking up the random trash. We saw the mayorpull up who had talked to us eailer that day. We said hello and he said he was so happy about what we were doing forthe community. We continued to pick up trash when I ran across a ten dollar bill. The night before we had a devotionwhere mary lynn gave 3 people 50 dollars and for them to do with it what god led them to do with it. We earlier heard thatthe town was struggling finacally. We decied to go and give the mayor the ten dollars we found. It taught us that we didn't need 50 dollars to spread Gods love some times all it takes is 10. We then spent the rest of the afternoon pickingup trash.
Gray West & Hannah Williams

Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our trip so far...(just for you Victor). I didn't upload any of the ones I took (the only ones I uploaded were taken by Rachel Botts...I think...Mr. Andrews took some too but I didn't see those. I'm going to upload more later but I have to get on the bus and go to the Cardinals game...except I don't know that. All I know is we're going to the bowling alley.

-Nathan

Service Day at Kinloch

Wow! Today was an eventful day! Beginning the morning with eggs and sausage at the hotel, we embarked upon our journey in service. After sitting in the bus while waiting for proper preparation, we got instructions and began our work project located in Kinloch, Missouri. Kinloch is the poorest town in St. Louis County. The community of only 700 is working on developing land and cleaning up their social environment. We split into three groups. The first group went to a daycare and cleaned bathrooms, closets, classrooms, and toys upon toys. After completing the projects, we got a chance to play with some of the kids at the daycare. Boy, was it amazing! The kids were literally hanging off of us, and as we left, they asked "Are you coming back?" It was hard to say no! The second group traveled across town to the city playground. This playground was put together by thousands a few years ago. The local church, Kinloch Church of God, will be hosting Sunfest Summer Camp for the local children next week. At this playground, we got ready for the camp by picking up twigs, glass, and even pulling a trashcan out of the slide. After completing this, we delivered flyers announcing the camp to over 100 houses and apartment complexes. Many of the youth were nervous at first, because we were unfamiliar with the town and scared what the people would think of us; however, we met some very wonderful and thankful people and it went a lot better than we thought. The third group got the messiest job by far! This group was put in charge of stacking tires that had been dumped in a field by people not living in the community. After putting the tires in stacks of five, a company would be able to come pick up the tires and pay the city of Kinloch for them. Although we came back in garbage bags to cover up the dirt all over our bodies, we stacked over 2,000 tires! After completing our service projects, we traveled to the Kinloch Church of God, where the local ladies fed us! They prepared spaghetti, breadsticks, and salad for us. After finishing our meal, we performed an empromtu show for the ladies! We sang a few songs for them, said our goodbyes, and headed back to the hotel for some down time. After showering and scraping off mud, we got back on the buses and traveled to the arch! We took an hour to explore and view the Arch museum, then, after singing on the steps leading up to the arch, we once again got back on the buses and headed to SWifty's for another Italian meal-lasagna! Then we faced a "Roadblock," which entailed crafting beaded suncatchers in the shape of crosses to give out at a retirement home tomorrow. We definitely saw the impact a few awkward teenagers can make in a community that needs it so badly! Without a detailed intenerary, we can no longer fill you in on our adventurous tour, but we hope this has given you some clue as to what we're doing! Due to our wonderful tour planners and chaperones, many, if not all, have learned to have faith that whereever God takes us on this tour we have truly been able to see that EVERYWHERE is "WHERE JESUS IS!" With goodnight and "I love you's" from us all, we hope you have a wonderful, relaxing week, and we will see you on Friday!Love,Sarah Shea and Jennifer Olsen

Service Day and More

i am ninja

I have no idea who typed that. Seriously.

Anyway, here we are now in Swifty's restaurant. The whole restaurant is closed just for us (it's not even supposed to be open at this time). This place is known for its milkshakes apparently. We've yet to get our milkshakes...but the available flavors are: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, chocolate peanut-butter, The Elvis, cookies and cream, brown cow, strawberry banana, and orange dreamsicle. There's some other stuff on the board above the counter which has things like chewbacca, butterfinger, and root beer floats. Sounds good.
I forgot to mention that we're still in St. Louis. Today we went to Kinloch (K-town) to work for the Faith Beyond Walls organization. They work interfaith to offer service projects. We were split into groups and divided between three tasks: the park, tires, and daycare. The tire people had to stack and count trash tires in order for them to be taken away (more on that later). The daycare people helped watch kids and cleaning the daycare center. The park people (I was in that group) picked up around the park in preparation for the coming summer camp. We swept up glass and picked up trash all around (we even weed eated...weed ate? whichever one works...). One of the local kids, named Maurice, came and helped out. He was pretty awesome. He's got an unusual talent for playing slaps (he beat everyone he played), as well as having a thirty year old girlfriend named Shay Shay.
After we finished at the park, we walked back to the main center where we cleaned up and waited for the other groups to get back. We eventually left for lunch, when we saw the tire people being hosed off by a fire truck. Each and every person was COVERED in mud. LOADS of it. When they came to lunch, they were wearing trash bags over their pants. Hehe. We sung for the church afterwards.
Then we went to the St. Louis Arch. My group had already been there when we visited our host family. The museum was actually open this time though, so we went in. I'm sure history is important and all that good stuff...but wow. It's horrendously boring too. So...we took awesome pictures of ourselves holding the world and such. Awesome.
And now we're here...in Swifty's with our milkshakes (Strawberry for the win). Pure amazing. We're also playing the "Sugar/Salt" game. Here's how you play: Get a number of sugar packets equal to the number of players. Now get a salt packet. Empty one sugar packet and fill it with salt. Now each player chooses a number, and that number is counted from the left of the sugar packets (looping around if the number is bigger than the number of sugar packets) and given to the player. On three, each player dumps their packet into their mouth, and the players guess who has the salt. GREAT GAME! Lots of fun.
And that's where Jesus is today...playing the Salt/Sugar game in Swifty's in St. Louis. Jesus likes to have a lot of fun.
And yes Victor, I'm taking lots of pictures.
And yes Mother, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong, and I have PLENTY of clean clothes. And I’m totally not going to bed on time at night.

...

No one tell her I said that.
- Nathan Hilton

Roadblock

We have been on the go so sorry we haven't had a chance to catch everyone up on our happenings. Back to the Roadblock the kids received during our devotion on the Parable of the Talents on Sunday night. A Roadblock is a challenge that requires patience and persistence. We asked the kids to offer themselves as a blessing just as the minister at Salem LaDue had preached about on Sunday morning. We asked them to look and listen and pray for opportunities to perform a Random Act of Kindness while on tour. They were told it could be to a stranger, or someone they don't know all that well or to someone on tour. We gave them SMILE cards that they are to pass onto to the person they do the act for asking them to Pay It Forward. Three of the group were chosen for a greater challenge. AJ, Sydney, and Clay were given each $50 and challenged to invest it in a project, a person, an idea that would mulitply in some way. Can't wait to see what God is going to do.
There's a great story about what happened at Christ Church in Illinois on Sunday night but I want one of the kids to tell you about it. So stay tuned for more.

Mary Lynn

Our first Detour and Roadblock

Wow, yesterday was filled with God's blessings not just to the rim but overflowing. It is hard to know what to tell you about first. Salem Ladue UMC was a lovely church with warm hearted people. The kids sounded great in what was a different kind of choir loft. The minister preached a sermon that went right along with the Roadblock we gave the kids. The day was just beautiful and was perfect for a trip to the zoo. When we left the zoo we told the kids we had a detour. A detour is a chance to get off the beaten path to take a road less traveled. We took them to the beautiful and magnificent Cathedral Basilica. They were instructed to walk from the bus and into the Cathedral in silence and to remain silent while we were there. They were asked to reflect on the word "peace". Mike and I had visited this Cathedral back in April and we knew this had to be a stop on the tour. The kids were amazed with the beauty of the place and I believe they truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Many knelt to pray while others lit candles. The mosiacs in this Cathedral were incredible but what took my breath away and was the most beautiful sight of all was when I looked throughout the Cathedral and our kids were scattered in various pews ALL praying! God is Good All The TIME!

I want to tell you about the Roadblock they were given at devotion but it will have to wait. Gotta go to Service Day. We board the bus in 20 minutes.

Love to All and Keep Praying God is working in Mighty Ways,

Mary Lynn

Hello friends and family!
Tour is awesome! We miss y'all back home but we are having SO MUCH FUN being servants for God! I'm actually sitting here talking to some of the youth at Christ Church in (I Have No Clue), Illinois. It is so neat to meet Brothers and Sisters in Christ, both those within the choir and those who we meet!
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank some fabulous friends. Without them, I would not be here right now! See, I just moved to Alabama in August of 2006. Many people had mentioned Christ Choir to me, and suggested that I join. I refused, saying, "Thanks, but I really cannot sing! It's just not my thing." One day in January, I was at Starbucks with Sydney Holtzclaw and Rachel Bond. They challenged me to come to just ONE choir rehearsal that next Sunday. After a while, I finally agreed-- to go to ONE choir rehearsal. The next Sunday, I went and enjoyed myself so much that I SIGNED UP for Christ Choir THAT NIGHT!!!
At the church here in Illinois, the pastor says, "God is good!" and the congregation responds, "All the time!" He really is. He has a plan for everyone, including those who think they can't sing. He provided me with 90 other people to disguise all the wrong notes I hit!
Can't wait to see you guys soon!
God Bless, Megan Hurley

Greetings from Sydney and Laura

Hey guys! We are currently at Christ Church UMC in Fairview, IL. We just finished performing for the 4th time; we must say that this performance was our best yet--extremely EXCITING!!We just finished eating pizza with the youth from the church. Some people are playing ultimate, while others are just hanging out and enjoying the nice weather. Tonight we are heading back to St. Louiswhere we will have a devotion at 9:30 and then prepare for our service day tomorrow morning. We miss you and love you!Love always, Sydney Holtzclaw and Laura Jones

We have arrived!

We have had an awesome day! Singing at the Genesis Children's home in Mayfield Kentucky was great. The drama really spoke to the teenage girls that were there and they seemed to appreciate us giving them a concert and bringing scrapbooking items and clothes to them. We had a great supper at Salem Ladue Methodist Church in St. Louis. I understand that Erin Sargent's grandmother goes to church there so looking forward to meeting her tomorrow.

Our kids were lots of fun today, making guesses, getting on the internet from their cell phones to figure out where we were going. They are just too smart. They think they know it all but there are lots of surprises still in store.

Well this chaperone is tired and it is time to get the kids to bed. Thanks for your prayers, oh I have to tell you the highlight of my day was looking out the bus window and seeing our prayer team in a circle praying for us. It warmed my heart.

Over and out for now,
Mary Lynn

This is the BAND speaking. We're here -- wherever that is. The bus driver's tried to fool us. At one point, the front bus had it's right turn-signal on, the back bus had it's left-turn signal on, and both were going straight! It was wackey! OK, its time for MikeB and ChrisL to go to sleep, they are so tired. Good-night!

hey everyone!!

We have arrived in St. Louis, finally!!!! Today was SO fun! We went to a children's home in Kentucky, which was amazing. There was a girl named Sydney at the home who said that our message really touched her. The girls there were so sweet. The bus-ride was also really cool because i had the opportunity to bond with a bunch of people I didn't know before. At the beginning of this trip i was sceptical about not knowing where we were going but now i realize how cool it is. Thank you mama & papi for making me go, i really appreciate it...haha.

Love,
Tatum <3

5 Hours till Send Off

Well, I think I have packed everything?!?!? I have heard it is hard to pack when you don't know where you are going. I am excited about where we are going but I am more excited about what we are going to experience. I know God has lots in store for us! Thanks so much for entrusting us with the care of your children. We know they are precious and we look forward to getting to know each one of them during the "Mystery Tour"

Stay tuned and see Where in the World CHRIST ends up.

Blessings,
Mary Lynn

Where Jesus Is?

We are preparing for our tour. Lots of plans to be made, lots of details. It has been amazing how God is in the details. So many pieces of tour have fallen into place. We may not understand why we are going to the places we are going to, or why we are singing where we are singing. but we must trust that God has a plan. We only have to show up and look for Jesus. Where is Jesus anyway? and Where are we going?

Mary Lynn Botts