Chapel Choir Ministry Tour 2009

Daily journals, remaining itinerary, and links to photos can be found below. 

After loading the bus, having our prayer circle, and departing on time (7:30 AM) from Shelby, NC, we made our way to Colonial Heights, VA for lunch, sharing our morning devotional time on the way. We stopped at a rest area in Virginia, just outside the DC area to have a snack and something to drink, and to change into our concert t-shirts/jeans. Proceeding into Washington, DC, we carefully made our way through a complicated route (buses are limited to only certain thoroughfares) and arrived at the Central Union Mission on R Street in Washington, DC a few minutes before 5:00 PM. Several of our adult counselors helped serve dinner to the men who are in the Mission's programs or were staying there for the night. Meanwhile, the rest of the group pitched in wonderfully to move and set up all of our sound equipment for our first ministry concert. After a 30-minute warm-up rehearsal, nearly 100 men arrived by 6:15 for our presentation. The choir sang with tremendous energy to an enthusiastic crowd, and Pastor Tony presented a very clear and compelling invitation to follow Jesus Christ. Soloists, scripture readers, choir and band all gave 100% of their energy in sharing with the men. We were blessed by their positive response to the message and the music that we presented. After loading up the equipment nd saying our good-byes to Central Union Mission, we proceeded to Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Washington to enjoy a late dinner. We were excited that one of our Chapel Choir alumni, Hadley Heath, was able to join us for dinner. As we traveled to Waldorf, MD for our night's stay, we shared our evening devotional time and arrived at our hotel a little after 10:00 PM. Everyone was settled into their rooms by 11:00 PM. It's been a terrific first day. Thanks be to God!

 

 

We began our day with breakfast at the hotel, then loaded the bus for downtown Washington, DC. Sharing our morning devotional and quiet time on the way into the city, Bob and the bus delivered us just in time to the US Capitol Building for our scheduled guided tour. Afterward, we walked nearly the entire length of the National Mall, from the Capitol to the US Holocaust Memorial and Museum for a visit to the special exhibit: "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda." Then it was northward towards Philadelphia, traveling through Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey (our hotel is actually in NJ, across the river from Phillie). Traffic conditions and road construction, plus a little bit of a late departure from Washington, DC, caused us to arrive later than anticipated, but we were able to check into our hotel and change clothes for the Phillies game, where we sang a mini-concert in the right field entry plaza. We had a great time spending time together today. Stephen Sharp led our evening devotional, based on the anthem, "Full Control," as we drove from the Phillies game back to our hotel.

 

 

We began our day a little later today, with departure for Independence Hall at 9:30 AM. As has been our pattern for this week, we had our morning devotional time as we rode the bus to our first destination. We toured Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, enjoyed some great Phillie Cheesesteak Subs at Jim's Steaks on South Street, sang a ministry concert at Inglis House (physical rehabilitation residential facility) and

Ministry Concert at Inglis House (physical rehab facility), had a pizza party at our hotel to welcome Emily to the tour, and sang a second ministry concert at the Haitian Baptist Church of Willingboro in Burlington, NJ. It has been a great, full day.

 

 

Our day began with breakfast at our hotel in West Deptford, NJ, just across the river from Philadelphia. After loading the bus (in the rain), we head toward the Big Apple, up the New Jersey Turnpike. Our morning devotional time got us off to the right kind of start. We met our tour guide, Susan Zuckerman, at the Circle Line Pier just off 12th Street on the Hudson River. She gave us an overview of where we were as we drove toward southern Manhattan and Ground Zero, which was our first stop. Susan shared with us the plans for the remembrance places at Ground Zero, as well as for the new buildings that are being constructed there. From the repaired and restored World Financial Center, we were able to view the spot where the World Trade Center had been. Then it was on to Chinatown and our delicious meal at a very authentic New York Chinese restaurant. After lunch, we walked through parts of Chinatown (in the rain) with Susan stopping to share with us some if its history and interesting stories. She led us through some of the back streets, which were quite intriguing. After some shopping at the little shops along Canal Street in Chinatown, we boarded the bus and headed north toward Central Park. We walked a good distance into the park and sang a mini-concert at one of the outdoor concert shells. It rained some more, but we kept on going! After our Central Park tour, we circled the northern end of the park, seeing just a bit of Harlem and moving on toward Time Square and Broadway for a quick dinner follwed by "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theatre. It was a great day of fellowship and learning more about the great New York City. Recapping the Manhattan neighborhoods or sites we visited: Westside (Hudson River), Ground Zero (south), Central Park, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, Central Park, Fifth Avenue, Times Square and Broadway. Rain and traffic prevented us from seeing a few things we had planned to do, but we had visited and seen so many other places we didn't even miss those things. We'll come back and see them another time! After seeing a great Broadway performance of "Wicked," we boarded the bus for our hotel in Totowa, NJ, arriving here about 11:45 PM.

 

After a great breakfast at our hotel, we traveled on the bus to Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ where we took the 11:00 AM ferry to Ellis Island and then another ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We had made reservations far enough in advance that our Statue passes also gave us permission to climb to the top of the Statue pedestal for a magnificent view of New York Harbor, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Jersey City. We took the 3:00 PM ferry back to Liberty State Park and began our journey home, stopping along the way for dinner. As we traveled, CA and Andy made arrangements to celebrate a 16th birthday for one of our high school girls, at the McCoy Dairy Bar in Stephen City, VA, where our hotel for the night was located. Bus driver Bob and navigator Pam treated us to some wonderful milk shakes, floats and ice cream, and we also had a cake complete with 16 candles! What a delicious and fun way to end the day. Our morning and evening devotionals reminded us to rely on God's Word and Spirit to guide us in making right choices, and to remember to trust in the Lord whatever the circumstance we are facing.

 

 

We arrived back home at 3:45 PM and set up for a quick sound check in the Sanctuary.

Then we unloaded the bus and headed for our homes!

 

A GREAT HOME PRESENTATION in Sanctuary Worship! Thanks be to God for a wonderful week on the road and a terrific celebration with our home church!