(I need to start my
post today with a correction about yesterday’s post. We are NOT on a ten day
tour! I must have been over zealous in my excitement yesterday. I’ll blame it
on the heat.)
Everyone met up this morning on time and ready for our next adventure.
Some were bleary eyed and tired, some were cheerful and happy (thank you Connie
Morella!) and some had been up for hours (Ben Con and Annie Elliott had gotten
up at the crack of dawn to go running!) As we drove toward North Carolina, a
breakfast report was shared (cereal for some, a fruit and egg feast for
others.) David Hembrough told a fork
story about a creepy home he stayed in, complete with a “Chuckie” type doll.
The lights were mysteriously going off by themselves and the boys thought the
house was haunted. (The host finally
told them that the lights were on a timer!) Great story, but the winner of the
fork went to Cecelia Hembrough and Torie Brooks after telling us about the
elusive bug in their room. Appropriately, their prize fork had stickers of bugs
all over it. Katie Elliott, who also turned 12 years old today, was called to
the front so that everyone could sing Happy Birthday to her. She and Reid were
both presented with birthday gifts – mini fans to keep them cool in this oppressive
heat. I had a feeling they were about to become very popular once the breezes
from those fans started up during our trek into town. Connie Morella commanded
the microphone as she gave out a few awards. This tradition was started on last
year’s tour when kids were given awards for things they did each day. (Think of it as a daily superlative award.)
These awards were based on what Connie had “witnessed” (get it?) Zach Callis
received an award for being brutally honest. Sydney Fennington received the
Bright Ray of Sunshine Award and Austin Mollard received the Most Likely to
Survive the Apocalypse award (in other words, he is prepared for any
situation.) Because of the long amount
of time we were on the bus, it was decided to have two sets of Greeters today. The
honor went to Lydia Turner-Little with David Hembrough in the morning, and
later it was Julia Bratburd with Cole Taylor. Two awesome sets of Greeters! The
rest of the bus trip to NC consisted of a Scooby Doo movie and napping. The bus
was noticeably quieter than it was yesterday!
We arrived at New Bern, NC around lunchtime. I admired how beautiful the town looked next
to the river with all of the white sailboats contrasting the beautiful blue
water. I discovered that New Bern sits next to the Neuse and Trent Rivers. It
was named after its sister city in Bern, Switzerland and was founded in 1710 by
Swiss and German immigrants. New Bern is the second oldest European colonial
town in North Carolina. Many of its buildings date back to the 18th
century. We were all dropped off in the center of town and had an hour on our
own to walk around and buy lunch. I noticed that everywhere we went we saw
statues of bears outside of the shops. I was told that Bern means “bear” in the
Swiss language and that a few years ago the town had celebrated its 300 year
anniversary. Artists were commissioned to decorate the town with all sorts of
bears. It was truly a unique experience to see all of the different artistic
styles of these mascot animals.
After lunch, we walked a few blocks to see Tryon Palace. The
palace was used to house the British Colonial government in 1770, but after the
revolution it became the State Capital building. It burned to the ground in
1798 but was reconstructed again during the 1950’s. We received a tour of the
house, the scullery kitchen and the stables, as well as a brief history lesson.
Visitors were invited to stroll freely through the gardens in the back also. Most
of our youth opted out of that because of the heat. It was a sweltering 91
degrees and the gardens were in the direct sun. Instead, many of them went to the air
conditioned gift shop where I saw some bags of candy being purchased. Our youth
also performed another “WitnesSING” song on the front grounds of the
palace! It was a joy to watch them.
Dinner was
served by our hosts at the First Baptist Church. This is the church where Lydia
Turner-Little’s grandparents attend. Everyone was welcoming and friendly. They
had a real southern dinner prepared for us – fried chicken tenders, macaroni
and cheese, green beans, rolls, watermelon and ice cream. We were told that New Bern is the birthplace
of Pepsi Cola, so of course there were bottles of Pepsi on every table. The CWS
surprised Katie Elliott with a birthday cake, complete with 12 candles. It only
took three breaths to blow all of them out!
As the
youth were changing for the concert, a thunderstorm rolled in. Tom went outside and saw a full rainbow
filling the sky. It seemed to come right down into the church, as if First
Baptist was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! (Check out our amazing
photo he caught!) It seemed like a sign from heaven that God was blessing our
concert.
It was
decided that the concert would be performed wearing their red tour shirts
tonight. As we listened to them sing and were bathed in the sea of red colors,
everyone was moved. I thought of the blood of Jesus and how he has blessed all
of these young people. Equally, the audience was blessed listening to their
angelic voices. There was enthusiastic clapping and even cheering! When Polly asked for audience participation,
there was loud, joyful singing! Lydia’s grandfather Craig Little was invited to
join the CWS during “We Shall Rise,” eliciting a wonderful response as he added
his powerful voice to the bass section. “Make
a joyful noise unto the Lord” became a reality for everyone who was in
attendance. Get ready to be blessed at the Welcome Home concert!
