We have been very fortunate that Hampton Inn has allowed the
use of their lobby area to our group for two nights. We were able to spread out
among all of the tables and have food set out for the kids, as well as lego-building
stations and card tables. The manager of the hotel emailed Beth Taylor and told
her that he had only good reports about our group. They were not disruptive,
they were polite and they went back to their rooms at the curfew time when they
were told. Good witnessing kids! The
hotel also provided a wonderful buffet breakfast for everyone - eggs, home fries, sausage, cereal, fresh
fruit, yogurt, muffins, bagels, juice and a hot drink area. Many thanks to
Kelly Bratburd for procuring this great hotel for us!
In addition to having fun and witnessing, we were able to
complete a small service project for our VBS program. We collected a gallon bag
of the unused mini-bottles of shampoo, lotion and soaps from each room and plan
on donating them to Cathy Scarbrough for her “care package” Vacation Bible
School activity. I expect we will see a big smile on her face when we return.
Speaking of witnessing, I haven’t mentioned the depth of the
witnessing you will see during our Homecoming concert. Between songs at each of
our concerts, our youth have been voluntarily giving
a testimony about how they have witnessed God at work in their lives. I can’t
begin to tell you how many people have approached me after the concerts and
told me how moved they were by these testimonies. It is unusual to see a youth
willing to stand up and testify for their faith. Many of these people had never
seen it happen before and it touched them deeply. You will be too.
After departure it was time for sharing and stories on the bus.
Sean Carrier and Julia Beall were chosen
as our morning Greeters. They were looking a bit reluctant in the beginning but
ended up doing a great job. Surprisingly, there were no fork stories today! I
guess no doorknobs were broken or bugs were invading any rooms. However, “Thing
2” had struck again. Bethany, Polly, Emma Annie, Celia and Zack all found a “Thing
2” craft doll in their belongings. That “Thing 2” is a sly one!
Before we knew it, the bus had arrived at Duke University.
Polly’s brother Chip Edmonds attended Seminary school at Duke and was able to
connect us with our host. We were met by Wes Brown, Associate Dean of the
Divinity school. Duke University is a huge campus but we were heading to one
specific area where the Divinity school was located. The Divinity School has
14,000 students in it alone! The direction we walked took us through some of
the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. There were fountains and pools,
lush greenery and beautiful flowers. The path meandered past tall trees that
looked very old. I was told that the gardens had a 50 year celebration last
year, which would explain why the plants looked so established. The University
Chapel is under construction and renovation at the moment, so we walked past it
and headed to Goodson Chapel instead. Many services and concerts are held there
throughout the year.
Here’s
a bit of personal trivia knowledge with a connection to Duke and one of our
tour chaperones. Did you know that Deborah Bowe was married at York Chapel
(which is now part of the library) on the Duke campus in 1989? Her husband Mark
was a graduate student at Duke. We took some photos of her and her girls under
the same archways where her wedding photos were taken!
Once inside Goodson Chapel, we were introduced
to Dr. Lester Ruth. He is a Methodist scholar, a Professor of Worship at the
Divinity School, and president of the International Charles Wesley Society.
Anything we wanted to know about Charles Wesley, he was able to answer. Dr.
Ruth knew that the theme of our tour was “I’ll be a Witness,” so he wanted to
talk to us about what it means to be a witness. He pointed out that we can’t be
a witness to others until WE have been witnessed to in our own hearts. Once we
realize that God gave himself and his love to ME, it is almost unfathomable to
comprehend. If I caused his pain, suffering and death, how can I fathom His
amazing love? No measuring tool could ever measure the depth of God’s love for
us and for all of humanity. It extends everywhere. Dr. Ruth had the kids open
the hymnal to the song “And Can It Be That I Should Gain,” written by Charles
Wesley. This hymn was written with those exact thoughts in mind. Read the words
and soak in the meaning until it fills your heart. As a group, we all sang the
hymn together. Steve accompanied us on the piano and I could feel my heart
stirring as we sang out the words written by Charles Wesley in 1739, so long
ago and yet still witnessing to our hearts today.
We
left the chapel and walked to the book store, where kids had some time to buy
Duke souvenirs if they wanted. Lunch was in the Divinity Café. There was a
buffet and the youth had the options to choose whatever they wanted to eat. As
we finished eating Polly decided to have a “flash mob” and we started singing
“Ain’t Got Time to Die,” as Duke students were curiously peeking in the doorway
and smiling at us. Cross that off my bucket list now!
Our
final visit on campus was the Cameron Indoor Stadium and museum. As we walked
over there, I couldn’t help but admire the beautiful campus, with its old stone
buildings and even older trees and shrubs. It really is a beautiful college. We
walked through the museum, chock full of information about all of the Duke
teams and their awards. The kids were also
able to go into the stadium and sit in the seats where the games are played. By
the time we walked back through the gardens to the bus, the temperature had
soared and we couldn’t wait to get back into the air conditioning. We had a
quick greeting by Jordan Anderson and Rhodesia Roberts and then we were off to
Greensboro.
Our
evening concert was at First Presbyterian Church. This was by far the largest
church we have been in yet. It was massive. There were some friendly faces in
the audience once again, which makes it so nice for the performers to see
people they know. Lisa and Doug Marshall were there. Ben Con had college
friends in attendance as well as his UNCG trombone professor. Deborah Bowe’s
parents, who live in Greensboro, were also there. Her parents, who have been
reading the blog every day, thanked us for keeping them updated about the tour.
Her Dad jokingly said that his fear is that the girls who stay in his house
tonight will end up winning a fork and he will be on the blog tomorrow. J
As
usual, the kids were great even though the acoustics in the church were not the
best. Everyone is pretty tired. It has been a full week and tonight is our last
concert away from home. We can’t wait until we perform in front of the home
audience. It is always our best concert! I’m sure there will be a day of
sleeping on the bus and catching up on our rest. See you at 5:00 at DUMC!
