Day 5 -- New York City

We had another wonderful day in New York City.

We began by singing in the morning service at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Then we ate at Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant, which was quite an experience.

From there we went to the Museum of Natural History.

The highlight of the day was Communion in Central Park.

Finally, we divided into groups, with each doing their own thing.

Everyone grabs a nap whenever possible.

The group paused for a warm-up before singing at the historic Trinity Church in Manhattan.

Looks like Josh grew a ponytail in New York City!?!

Trinity is such a majestic place. The youth sounded as beautiful as their surroundings looked.

One of the associates from Trinity thanking us for blessing their services this a.m. She said she was so moved by the quality of our youth in today's society.

Everyone paused for a group photo in front of the Jekyll and Hyde Restaurant, and Chipper the Duck found a new friend (below).

Jekyll and Hyde Restaurant was full of spooky surprises and lots of food. Everyone ate too much.

The adults spent some fun downtime together at Jekyll and Hyde.

Denise V. displays one of her many talents....balancing apple crisp on her head.

Everyone had a great time at Jekyll and Hyde.

Our choir even serenaded the other guests from the balcony at Jekyll and Hyde.

Linda and Donna dining with our awesome bus driver David at Jekyll and Hyde.

Josh and his posse having fun in the Horse Store in the Museum of Natural History.



The choir took a short hike in Central Park.

Our wonderful ministers, Darrell, Glenn and Josh led the Love's Appeal worship time and communion in Central Park. It was nice to be on grass instead of pavement for a little while.

Here we are preparing for communion.

Day 4 -- New York City

We got up this morning raring to have a go at New York City

Day 3 -- Washington, D.C. to New York City via Philadelphia, Pa.

“I was overwhelmed with joy when I saw all of the happy faces, then I said to myself, ‘This is exactly why I’m here’.” Aaron T.
In the beginning, I felt a little weird being around the residents at Inglis House. But later, I saw that they are just like me. They were great people that I was glad to get to know. Laura B.
It was truly a blessing to be at Inglis House. I was overwhelmed with joy as I watched the youth share God’s love through song and fellowship with the residents. Denise V.

Day 3: The Circle of Love
Our journey began today under overcast and, thankfully, cooler skies in D.C. The bus ride to Philadelphia was calm. It began with quiet time focused on I John 2: 7-14. We are learning from our quiet time that “love is divine, not human.” This, as always, is a timely lesson on a bus trip full of, well …..humans J.
When we arrived at the Inglis House, we were overwhelmed first by the beauty of the facility. The grounds were nicely landscaped with wheelchair paths and flower gardens. It gave me such joy to see how independently the residents can live here. The concert area was more of a large open room than a sanctuary so we sat the risers at the front and the handbells along one side. When the youth stood in their places for the first song, Darrell said, “It looks like we’ve surrounded them with a circle of love.”

Day 2 -- Buies Creek, NC to Washington, DC via Richmond, Va

After a wonderful night's sleep, we met at the church early this morning.

We want to thank the wonderful members of Memorial Baptist for their love and hospitality.

Thank you Ms. Catherine, wish we'd had longer to visit.

Are you sure all these fit in here yesterday??

Glenn & Diane enjoyed catching up with an old friend.

Margaret read the morning scripture.

Kasey & Laura tell such delightful tales!!!

Jared & Ms Linda mix it up!

The residents of Lakewood enjoyed our youth.

Another great concert under the lights!

We arrived at Capitol Hill Presbyterian, blocking traffic while we unloaded.

Chipper loves the pre-concert chit-chat!

He also loves being in the audience.

I will sing the wondrous story

Bridget holds her cousin. Her Uncle Trent & family came for the concert.

One group ran all the way to the Washington Monument & all the way back. They were late though.........they said the fine was worth it!!!!

The concert at Virginia Baptist Retirement Home in Richmond, VA was a pleasant one. The senior citizens seemed to be sincere in their excitement upon our arrival. :] Aside from a few people nearly passing out (which seems to happen every time we perform at a nice retirement home…), the concert was vocally fabulous ;]. We smiled and shook hands with all of our spectators, and they said that they “thoroughly enjoyed it.” And that “we make them feel young”. I met one lady who said that her son (grandson?) was the preacher of First Baptist of Athens, GA. A lot of them seemed to have connections with Georgia in some way…which was kind of sketchyyy…but overall it was a to-fab concert. Laura C.

Well, first off, my host home lady from Memorial Baptist Church was named Beth. She was so funny! So, me, Laura C., Jennifer M. and Kirsti S. left the church with her, and we start driving off a way out from the church in the country. After awhile she turned all the way around realizing we were going the wrong way, ha ha… then she told us we weren’t even staying at her house. We were staying at her friends’ house, who were away in Italy. Once we got there, we had fun, and we just chilled together J Kasey S.


Day 2: They really started “Spreadin’ the News”
Day broke hot and steamy in Buie’s Creek, NC. Everyone seemed relieved to get on the bus and ride, just to get out of the heat. However, with a heat index of 105, it was tough keeping the bus cool through the day. In spite of the heat, we arrived in Richmond safely, and had lunch at a food court in huge Mall. After lunch, the youth gave an energetic concert at Virginia Baptist Retirement Home in Richmond, VA to a full house.
After our concert at the retirement home, one of the ladies who lives there told me that she was a retired missionary from Georgia. Actually, she said, she was born in Rome, Ga., and had served as a foreign missionary in Indonesia for 30 years. She told me that she was so blessed by our youth and she was going to pray specifically that this journey would inspire all of our youth to go anywhere and do anything to serve God, because she said, “my God likes specific prayers.” I believe her! (Donna S.)
Because of heavy traffic, we arrived in Washington D.C. with less than a minute to spare and offloaded the bus in record time. Way to go bus boys! The youth graciously delivered their “Good News” to a small, but homespun, crowd at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church. This church was founded in 1864 and their first meeting was held on the Sunday following President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. This church is currently pastored by Andrew Walton (that’s Andy to all of us Forsyth folks), the former pastor Forsyth Presbyterian Church. Bridget B was excited to find family in DC. Her uncle Trent and his beautiful family watched the concert and swept her out of the bunkhouse tonight, so at least one of us got a good night’s sleep.
After the concert, Josh led us in an EXAMEN prayer time. (We’ll share more about that later). Some of us went sightseeing. Washington is beautiful at night. Sixteen of the group made it to the Washington Monument and back in the brief time Glenn allowed us before curfew. This adult will be very sore in the morning from sprinting the whole way to keep up with the youth, but it was worth it to see our Nation’s Capitol at night. Our Guardian Angel guided us back to the church safely just past curfew. Glenn showed much patience with us. All in all, it was a mighty blessed day.