FCUMC Choir Tour 2010

The Highlight of Our Trip

2010-06-06T23:06:00.000-04:00

The Church of the Reconciler - WOW!! I mentioned it in an earlier blog, as we visited it on the way down to New Orleans when we went to Birmingham. Today, we were privileged to attend worship and sing 3 songs for the service. The 3 ministers seem perfect for this church who is fighting for social justice for the 900 homeless people in downtown Birmingham. Rev Kevin Higgs, the Senior Pastor raps and plays guitar with the praise band. They play oldies that have been adapted to a Christian setting. They pipe the music to the street, hoping to encourage people to come in. They have programs, such as prayforthehomeless.org where you can read the stories of Birmingham's homeless, pray for them, then send them prayermail. As the service wore on, the assistant pastor, Rachel Martin delivered the prayermail that had arrived for the attendees. Our kids got a standing ovation from the congregation after singing, and then we had a meet and greet time. One fellow, Titus Battle, really caught the attention of our group. He was there with his adopted daughter. Titus was a well spoken man, who is doing his best to raise two children and take care of his wife, who is paralyzed from being shot in the back several years ago. His condemned house has been restored by a local Sunday School Class, and he is feeling much better about his situation now. You can find his story at http://prayforthehomeless-org.blogspot.com/2009/11/titus-b-prayer-candidate-128.html
After taking Communion with the homeless, we left feeling that this church, its pastors and volunteers were making a difference for the people on the streets of Birmingham. What a great experience.

Our last stop before home was singing for one more assisted living facility in Fort Payne, AL. The choir sounded awesome!! I wish you could have seen how well our kids represented you, our members of FCUMC. Everywhere we went, the people commented on the beautiful singing and their behavior. They were friendly to the residents, and did their assigned jobs without the first complaint. The parents and the church family have done an excellent job of teaching our youth about kindness and generosity. Praise Be to God!

Lastly, a thank you to the staff and parents who put the trip together (you know who you are!!) It was fun, tiring, exciting, dramatic, humorous, musical, and humbling. It was a blessing to all who attended, and will be a trip to remember for a lifetime.

Now enjoy "This Little Light of Mine" - Reconciler-style!

Kelsie's Blog for June 5th

2010-06-06T23:01:00.001-04:00

Today, sadly, the youth choir left New Orleans to head back to Birmingham. We spent most of the day on the buses, and even ate our Subway sandwiches as we rolled along. We hurried, but still ended up being late to our performance at a retirement center, where we received a warm welcome. When we left, we went to eat at Joe's Crab Shack (and dance, too!). When we finally got to our hotel, we presented some (embarrassing) choir tour awards and recognized David, our Senior. We also revealed our prayer partners.

"Brother, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus, there is forgiveness for your sins." - Acts 13:38

Travel, Travel, Travel, ...Sing

2010-06-06T01:02:00.000-04:00

A long day of travel started out great with a hot breakfast of biscuits, gravy, egg casserole, bacon, french toast, and fruit!!! Wow - we really know how to eat. After clean up, we were running a little behind, so we ate our sandwiches in the bus at lunch. We had made up sooo much time by eating on the run that we thought we would be on time to sing at the assisted living home at 5. But alas, there was rain and an accident on the interstate. Bless the hearts of the residents at the assisted living, they were there waiting to hear us sing even with us being an hour and a half late! We met a lady that lives there who is 106 years old, and boy was she sharp. Also in our audience was a retired research chemist and many other fascinating people.

After a dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and a little macarena dancing, we ended the night with trip awards and the prayer partner reveal. With hugs all around, we ended the night at midnight, ready to sing at 9 tomorrow at the church of the Reconciler.

Tonight we have a poem to share by Susannah Clabough entitled "Less Than A Home"

I see him
Lying there alone
Curled into himself

He looks lonely, cold
All I want is to give him some food
Shelter is what he needs

Sleep, sleep young man
Dream, dream young man
Sleep, dream young man

Sleep to dream more
Dream about a future
Hope for the best, young man

I see you and care
Care very deeply
I will never forget
The young man asleep
Dreaming and sleeping
Dreaming of his near future

Dedicated to the man I saw sleeping on the sidewalk in New Orleans on Friday, June 4th, 2010.

Helping the Hungry in New Orleans

2010-06-05T01:20:00.001-04:00

Whew! I think we are burning the candle at both ends! Today we spent the day working for Second Harvest in New Orleans. There were about 6 total hours spent sorting food via a conveyor belt at the foodbank. We did work in two teams for this, so each person worked about 3 hours. The rest of the day was on our own for some shopping and riverwalking.

The kids worked extremely hard at Second Harvest. The workers at the food bank commented on their work ethic. We were able to sort and package ALOT of food to be distributed locally to the hungry. Even though it was work, it was great fun. As the food was loaded on the conveyor belt, each person helped to sort and box the food. It reminded us so much of the I Love Lucy episode where she works at a candy factory. If you remember, the candy on the conveyor belt goes so quickly that she and Ethel end up stuffing it in their mouths!! Even though we couldn't stuff dry spaghetti in our mouths, we worked as quickly as possible to not get behind. What a blessing to work hard and have a blast doing it!!

I have added 3 new slideshows. God Bless you all, and pray for us as we head back to Alabama to sing tomorrow. We love you all.

Now, Kelsie will tell us how she felt about the day...

Today, the FCUMC youth choir got a chance to serve and to shop. While half the group went to Second Harvest food bank, the other half spent their time either shopping New Orleans or swimming at the hotel. After a pizza dinner in the hotel restaurant, the group set out on a ghost tour, where we divided into 3 groups and were told the ghostly legends of New Orleans.

We walked through the French Quarter and saw the beautiful architecture and heard the stories behind the city of New Orleans.

" God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ." - Ephesians 1:5

Witness through Song

2010-06-03T22:21:00.001-04:00

Today, we have sung in the traditional and non-traditional venues. We had a serenade by a street performer as we enjoyed our beignets at Cafe du Monde. Andrew asked him if we could sing for him. What a great message we gave the other diners at the cafe and our new friend.

We performed for two assisted living facilities. Our audience was very attentive. One lady told me it was so professional! I told her it was because we have THE BEST choir director. The kids have never sounded better. Our quartet of Katie Bales, Jennifer DeHart, Garrett Chapman, and David Williford were impressive. Another resident asked their ages and said they were awesome. We performed with our bells without tables at one home as we were running late, and didn't take in the bell tables. The kids have been so flexible, and have had a great time with the performances.

Doug and Susan Shipman have provided two meals today, on the fly! It was delicious and everyone chipped in to help cook and clean up. Tomorrow we help at Second Harvest in New Orleans. We hope to do a little sight seeing as well.

The counselors want to thank Becky Ripley for our treat. She sent a "batch" of brownies for the only the counselor's consumption! Thanks Becky - they were delicious - notice I said "were".

Now a note from Kelsie...

After a restful night in the gorgeous city of New Orleans, the FCUMC youth choir headed to a breakfast of beignets at Cafe DU Monde, where we had a surprising experience. A New Orleans jazz musician, armed with a trumpet, a Jesus hat, and his voice, played and sang in front of the cafe to raise money and help rebuild his church. So the youth choir helped him out and sang part of "Praise His Holy Name." The man commented, "We're raising up Jesus down in New Orleans!" Later, we ate lunch and headed to sing twice. How blessed we are to share the love of Christ!

"I am the light of the world" - John 8:12

2010-06-03T00:30:00.001-04:00

Hey Everybody!

Travel Day! We are in New Orleans and heading toward a full day tomorrow. We will sing twice tomorrow, but for today, we arrived safely and ate some terrific cajun food. Check out our new pictures. (Notice the pictures of the check-in prank that SOMEONE played on Andrew at the Sheraton). And now, a few words from Kelsie Shipley about the day...

The FCUMC youth choir experienced our second day on the road. We spent the morning travelling, then stopped to eat subway sandwiches. After a well-deserved lunch break, we hit the road again. About 6:00, we crossed the bridge to New Orleans, where, instead of Wal-Mart, there's Voo Doo-Mart, and beads hang from all the wires. Most of us headed to Huck Finn's for dinner. The food was delicious and and so we all headed back to the Sheraton for devotions.

"So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." - Romans 5:11

2010-06-01T23:26:00.001-04:00

It is now 11:30 EST and we have had a full day!! With visiting a church that ministers to the homeless in Birmingham, and singing at an assisted living facility , we have succeeded in ministering to others, and also being touched ourselves. We learned that Birmingham is second only to New Orleans in homeless percentage. The Church of the Reconciler is doing phenomenal work with the homeless. We look forward to performing for them on Sunday.

As usual, it was a total joy to perform at Fairhaven assisted living. The residents were lovely. We had comments about how well behaved the kids were, and how well they sounded.

Now read what one of our youth, Kelsie Shipley, has written about today:

I know it may seem like today has been a quiet, slow day of bus travel, but it has actually been quite the opposite. Everyone was excited to head out and serve God! After a couple hours of bus travel, we stopped at the Church of the Reconciler to learn about the homeless of Birmingham (4000 people) and how the church ministers to them. We then loaded back on the bus and headed to a nursing home to sing. It was a great success, and I could tell that the residents were exuberant. Finally, we headed to the hotel to settle down for the night. Overall, today has been overwhelmingly fun and a blessing to all of us. "If God is for us, who could ever be against us?" - Romans 8:31

FCUMC Youth Choir Official Blog Site

2010-05-30T19:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Official Blog site of the 2010 FCUMC Youth Choir Tour to Birmingham, AL and New Orleans, LA!

Each day, we will be updating news and notes from our trip to share Jesus through song and service. Please check with us daily to find out the latest, and see pictures of our many adventures. We can't wait to get started........

Remember:

Through the Eyes Of Jesus, Anything IS Possible!!