Here we go.
Saturday: We loaded two buses full of people, luggage, sound equipment, and risers and hit the road at 3:30 in the afternoon. From there we drove to Abilene, TX and stayed the night in a hotel. It was a fun first day and was pretty uneventful. Here are a couple pictures from Saturday.
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| Lucy on the right and Lesley on the left. Two of the best roommates in the world! We took this when we got to the hotel in Abilene. |
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| Sarah and Lesley attempting to play Tummy Ha-Ha. We were all hanging out in Robyn and Lindsey's room. |
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| I managed to only get half of Laura in the picture. ;) This was very early on Sunday morning before the concert, thus explaining the bleary eyes. ;) |
Monday: Monday morning we woke up early and went to Texas Baptist Children's Home which is in Round Rock. TBCH is a facility where families, kids, single moms, etc can come for help. Some of the people live there because of abuse, eviction, and a myriad of other reasons. It's temporary and most of TBCH's clients are there for a year or so, just until they can get back on their feet. Some of the orphans stay there until they can get into foster care and some couples live in some of the cottages and foster as many as 10 children at a time. Our whole group was split up into groups of 7-9 people headed up by a sponsor to go to a specific area of the campus to do service projects. Manual labor has always struck a note in the heart of this choir. ;) Yes, the pun was intentional. For the last two years of this mission trip, we've spent the whole week working on houses doing repairs and clean-up so this whole day was great.
My group was assigned to a cottage for general household cleaning. My group got a little lost en route and we went to the wrong cottage. My group leader led us around the back of the house, planning to knock on the door, and this teenaged boy comes out of the door looking incredibly confused. A mother and a little girl followed and we realized that we'd come to the wrong place. After a couple awkward laughs and a profuse apology, we trudged all the way back down the road and found our cottage. The group of moms and their kids who lived in that house were out for the day, and a employee for TBCH was there to greet us and give out assignments. I had a short chat with this sweet lady and really learned a lot about the ministry. If you remember from my last post, I talked about how I was considering a major change to something that would enable me to do children's ministry somewhere. Well, this woman told me that most of the employees who work with the kids, moms, and do other jobs at TBHC get degrees in counseling. My university offers a minor and a Master's degree in counseling so this coming semester I'll do some more looking.
But anywho...
I spent the morning washing windows and window panes. Adrienne (one of the girls in my group) and I demolished the window gunk and we all looked pretty nasty after we got done. :) We took a break for lunch and then came back to TBCH to be split up into our afternoon groups. My group was in charge of washing vehicles. It was pretty fun, but it can be very hard to convince certain people not to spray you with a hose. ;)
After we got done with the afternoon work, we took off for Wal-Mart. It's a tradition for the underclassman to buy cheap goofy gifts for the seniors so we went early in the week. We seniors spent the hour and a half we were at Wal-Mart walking around and then we went to dinner. Monday was long and tiring. I think everybody was feeling the pressure and nervousness coming on with the knowledge that in the morning, we would sing at our first detention center. We'd been praying for the kids and guards at the juvenile detention centers for nearly a year, but I think it hit everybody at once that we would be face to face with the objects of our prayers very soon. (I didn't take any pictures on Monday)
Tuesday: I won't forget this past Tuesday. I think it was probably my favorite day of the week. We woke up early and went to a pregnancy resource center in Austin. Its name escapes me, but the people were very nice and happy to have us help out. We split up into groups like we did on Monday, but the needs of the center were vast and so many of us ended up breaking off from our groups to go where we were needed. I started out sweeping floors and organizing a kitchen with my group and ended up organizing and sorting baby clothes with another. The pregnancy center is also a church and it was great to be able to help them out.
After we got done with the work at the pregnancy center, we got changed out of our nasty, smelly work clothes and changed into our choir uniforms (you can imagine how fresh and beautiful our bus smelled). :) We traveled to a juvenile detention center in Austin, TX. Once the buses had parked, we waited for a very long time while the details and security issues were all worked out. We weren't allowed to bring anything with us. No phones, no wallets, nothing. Our sound and equipment teams set up in a foyer-esque entrance inside the main gates. The center itself, looked like a high security high school. I wish I could have taken pictures of our time there, but no one was able to bring cameras in. Once everything was set up, the guards brought the kids in. We were all lined up on the risers and the first boy I saw come in looked no older than eleven or twelve. I think this hit every one of us very hard. It was heartbreaking for me to see kids of all ages walking with their hands behind their backs and their faces turned down. They weren't allowed to move without permission and the guards had them sit in rows on the floor. I looked back at our director, Mr. Lucas, and he was motioning at us to smile. At first I felt this wave of hopeless sarcasm hit me. I thought How in the world can I smile at these kids? What do I have to offer them? What could I possibly do that would make a smile? I have no idea what they've done or the places they've been, what do we have in common? But when the music started I came to the blessed realization that our group had come to give these kids the only thing in the world that could make them smile. We were coming to share the Gospel with them. The good news that frees us from the chains of our sin and offers us grace and forgiveness and an eternity spent with the God who created us and who loves us. God helped me, and others I'm sure, to see that all on our own, we had nothing to offer these kids. But with our hearts focused on our purpose, which is to bring glory to God and to preach the Gospel, God would use us to minister to hurting children. I watched the expressions of the kids as we sang. Some laughed (especially when we started choreography), some scowled, and some simply rested their heads on their knees. Some of the kids smiled and clapped along with us and most of the workers were energetic and some sang along.
I don't remember much about the concert except for the faces. Once the concert was over, some of the guards took the kids back to their cells and the others stayed behind to divide our choir up into groups. They were going to let us go talk to the kids. When they asked us for volunteers I felt my hand shoot up. I knew if I didn't do it then, I wouldn't at all. I went with a group of about nine other girls in our choir and we followed a worker to the girl's cells. There was a general sitting area with plastic couches and book shelves where about six girls were all sitting. All around this area were individual cells which one girl got to herself. Each cell had a bed, a toilet, and a skinny window. It was so bleak to hear the guard talk about what every day life was like for these girls. She said they were allowed to read and talk quietly, they'd do manual labor in their holding cells and they took school classes and seminars on how to function in society. Once our 'tour' was over, they let us go sit with the girls. Of course, it awkward at first. We introduced ourselves and talked about favorite colors and music and other stuff like that.
A few of the girls in my group and I struck up a conversation with a smiling Latina girl who I'll call Jill in this post. Jill was interested to know all about us; what we liked to do, what our favorite sports teams were etc. One of the guards in the room stood by our group and facilitated conversation by asking questions. She would ask things like 'What do you do when you get bored?' 'How do you deal with anger?' Questions clearly meant to help Jill understand that she didn't have to go back to what she used to do if/whenever she got out of jail. Though I'm fairly sure she wasn't trying to help us get to the Gospel, this woman's questions opened up the floodgates for Jill to talk to us about her past. Though the smile never left her face, Jill's voice was filled with regret as she talked about how she knew that she'd messed up and how badly she wanted to change if she got the chance. She wasn't allowed to tell us the specifics of what she'd done because she was still waiting for her court hearing, but she basically told us that she struggled with drug addiction as a way of dealing with her grief and anger. Jill told us that she'd experienced a lot of death in her life and she said, "and whenever I get angry, I use drugs to feel better. But when they left me, I still felt bad." My heart broke for this girl and before I knew what I was doing, my mouth opened and the words just flowed. I know it wasn't my knowledge or passion that enabled me to tell Jill about Jesus. The Holy Spirit was working through me and all the other girls who went into the cells that day. Jill nodded her head with interest as we talked about God's forgiveness and how a relationship with Jesus is the only thing that will comfort grief and calm anger and satisfy our deepest desires. Though no conversions took place in the girls' holding cell that day, I know that, with the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we planted seeds in the hearts of those girls. I can only pray that God will send someone else to water them. I will probably never see Jill again but I will never forget her face or her voice or her smile and beautiful accent. I will also never forget the joy that washed over me when I saw one of the girls in our group pray with her before the guards made us leave. I walked out of the holding cell a different person.
As we left the juvenile detention center, most of us were quiet. When we loaded the buses and started down the road, almost instantly everyone broke out into conversation. We talked about our experiences and what we thought about the center, how we were surprised, what people said, the looks on people's faces during the concert and so much more. A friend of mine who went to the boy's holding cell said that one of the male guards in the room took her aside before they left and thanked her profusely for talking about the Gospel. "We're not allowed to do that here." he told her. It just makes me sad as I think about how much the incarcerated, child or adult, need hope. And for someone to know that hope but not be allowed to share it must be heartbreaking. I'm so thankful God sent us to Austin that day.
We drove to our new hotel in San Antonio. Once we'd checked in and cleaned up, we met downstairs and walked to the River Walk which was only a couple blocks away. We split up into groups and went to dinner. It was nice to just walk around with my friends and talk and just spend time together. I think we were all looking at everything differently because of what we'd seen that afternoon and it just made fellowship different. A good kind of different, though. My group ate at a barbecue place called The County Line.
After dinner, some of us went to get ice cream, Blue Bell of course. :) We went back to the Alamo, which was out meeting spot, and got a picture of the whole choir. We also did a little impromptu singing and that was interesting. :) Here are a few shots from Tuesday. I really wish I could have gotten some from inside the detention center, but I couldn't unfortunately.
Wednesday: Wednesday was the big day. We were scheduled to sing three concerts, one in the morning at one detention center and then two more back-to-back at another. We were all a little exhausted from the previous day but I think everyone felt ready to take the day on. We got up early and traveled to a detention center there in San Antonio. This one looked a lot more like a prison than the first one. There were a lot more gates, security check points, and guards. We set up our stuff in the gym and the guards brought in 50-55 boys. There weren't any girls at this facility and most of the boys looked like they fell into the 15-17 years old category. As we sang I watched some of their expressions go from amused to pissed off to crying to smiling to singing. It was just amazing to physically see God work on the hearts of the guys who were watching. We didn't get to talk to any of the boys after the concert but many of them called out to thank us for coming or to wave as the guards led them out of the room. It was encouraging to see them smile.
We loaded the buses and ate lunch on the way to the next detention center which was also in San Antonio. We set up in their gym like that last one and the director of the center, who is also the pastor to one of the churches in that area, prayed with us before he let the kids in. It was SO encouraging to know that someone in a position of such authority in the center was a born-again believer. He prayed over and for us and I think it did our group a lot of good. We were so tired. Most of the 30-40 kids who were brought in were boys but there were a few girls too. This concert went very well. We could all see God working inside the kids and guard by the looks on their faces just like last time. I noticed one girl started crying when we first started singing and by the end she was smiling and singing along. Our sponsors sat in the back of the room and they clapped and sang along with us which was really encouraging (I know I keep using that word, it's just the only way I can think of to describe what I felt). After the concert was over, the guards led the kids out. We weren't going to be able to talk to them because we thought we had another concert to do. But it turned out we couldn't get cleared to do a second concert, the exact details I'm not too sure of. But as we walked out of the center, we passed a general holding area where some of the kids were. They came up to the window as we passed by and waved and thanked us for coming. A couple of the boys were mouthing things like 'we love you!' or 'call me!' It was so funny. That and other little things that some of the kids did at the other centers really just opened my eyes to the truth that these kids are not different from any others. We all come from different walks of life, we all have sins we struggle with, and God sees us all the same regardless of whether or not we're the ones in orange jumpsuits or red choir shirts.
We left the center and drove to our hotel in Katy, TX. We were going to back out for fast food dinner, but it turned out management was providing pizza for all the guests so that gave us more time to change and relax. I went down to dinner with Lucy and Lesley. We got our pizza and went down to the meeting area to eat. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and realized I had accidentally turned it off. I instinctively turned it on and saw that I had three text messages. One was from my friend Sarah, one was a Tweet, and the last was from my mom. I read the first two as I shoveled pizza into my mouth and came to the text from my mom. She told me she was praying for the trip and she also told me to pray for my aunt Olivia because our uncle Clyde had died that day. Clyde had been struggling with Alzheimer's for a few years and had passed away in his home. As I read the text, my stomach flopped. I just couldn't believe it. I've known my uncle Clyde my whole life and though we'd never become very close, he was someone who I just always knew was there. I just sat with my hand against my mouth for a few seconds until Lucy noticed something was wrong. She asked if I was okay and then Lesley noticed and I whispered to them what had happened. I hate crying in front of people, but I lost my resolve and broke down. Thankfully, Lucy and Lesley suggested we go upstairs to our room. I gave my food to someone, I honestly can't remember who, and we walked up to our room together. Once inside, I sat on the bed and Lesley came and sat down next to me. I rested my head in her lap and she just let me cry. I'm so so thankful for both Lesley and Lucy. They were so great that day. It was only a matter of maybe 10-15 minutes before I got a text from Mr. Lucas asking what was wrong and a visit from two other sponsors who heard something had happened. I was so thankful for the support of everyone that day.
After dinner, went to the Katy Mall which was two minutes away from the hotel. We split into groups to just hang out. I didn't feel like going at all that day, but as time passed, I was thankful for everyone's company. It helped to take my mind off of things and thankfully there was a lot to laugh about. Like this...
So Wednesday was an intense day but God is good. We were able to have some quiet worship time at the end of the night which did me a lot of good. All in all, it was a good day. Here are some more pictures from Wednesday.
Thursday: Thursday we got up and drove to The Salvation Army - Harbor Light Center in Houston, TX. We set up in their chapel and started rehearsing. We had been told by Mr. Lucas that we'd be singing for about 60 men who had struggled with substance abuse. I don't know about the rest of the group, but I had been expecting dismal men who would be skeptical, but I was so so wrong. Before our concert the director of the center came in and said that their men's ensemble called the Salvation Army Singers wanted to sing a few of their songs for us. So we all filed into the pews and this group of about fifteen middle-aged guys walked slowly down the aisles singing soulful a cappella pieces. Their singing brought so much joy in the room. After they sang about three songs, the rest of the men came into the room and we did our concert. I hate to say concert, because at this particular place it didn't feel like we were singing to an audience. Most of the men sang along with us, stood up, clapped, and just interacted with us. They were so receptive and joyful. After we got done, they stayed around a long time to chat with us. I spoke with one guy, along with some of the other girls, who just couldn't stop going on and on about how thankful he was that we came. Though we'd planned to eat lunch out, the men at the Salvation Army had made us lunch. So after lunch, we hit the road and headed for our next destination.
We arrived at the Star of Hope Ministries in downtown Houston around 12:45. Star of Hope is a family emergency shelter which houses mostly moms and their kids who are trying to escape from hostile living environments. We didn't get to hear a whole lot of details about how the ministry works, so suffice it to say that the organization provides shelter, food, and clothing for those who need it. The campus is huge and it was very easy to get lost in there. :) My group was in charge of organizing the 'toy store.' We dusted some very dirty shelves and organized the new toys. After that we went to the offices and cleaned windows and dusted a conference room. When all the service projects were done, we set up our sound equipment and risers in a commons area where we would sing our last concert on tour. One of the ladies in charge told us that people would probably pop in and out during the concert and to not take it personally. Some of the moms have to go and pick up their kids from the day care center and some of the people who live at the center tend to float around, not staying in one place for very long. When we started the concert, there were about ten people and by the time it was over, all the tables were full. People sang, danced, clapped, cried and worshipped with us. I think the theme that God really wanted us all to get was that no matter what walk of life we come from, everyone needs love and hope. Everyone can be joyful and praise God with their voices. God uses music to speak to us in ways that no other language can. It was a lovely last concert. After it was over, we went out to meet and greet the folks who had stayed. I was accosted by so many people just thanking me over and over for coming. One woman told me, "Y'all are an answer to the prayer I just prayed this morning. It's been so long since I've gotten to be in a worship service." I walked up to one of my friends and we were suddenly accosted by this group of three or four kids who just threw their arms around us and would not let go. They were about 7-9 years old and they kept giving us hugs and kisses and just being so sweet. It was obvious these children just wanted someone to love on them, someone to tell their names and their favorite colors etc. It felt like hanging out with people you've known all your life. They were so genuine and sweet.
After we left Star of Hope, we drove back to our hotel in Katy and got ready for Senior Night. Senior Night is a choir tradition; it where all the underclassmen present the goofy gifts they bought at Wal-Mart to the seniors and the seniors bestow their last will and testament to everybody else. And by last will and testament they just give goofy things about themselves to whoever they deem worthy. ;) For instance, if you never missed choir you could bestow your perfect attendance to someone who is always late or something like that. It's just a fun time to spend together. Senior night went really well and I only cried once. ;) Here are some pictures from Thursday.
Friday: Friday was a bittersweet day for me. We got up at the ungodly hour of 6AM and drove to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. We arrived at opening time and stayed until 4PM. I teamed up with some of the other roller coaster sissies. :) We walked around and ate a really nice lunch before all the restaurants got busy and then we looked at some stores. Eventually we got in line for the Road Runner Express, which is a pretty intense roller coaster if you're a baby about rides. We liked it so much we road it a second time and then we road the Gully Washer. It was a great time and I had a lot of fun. After Six Flags, we loaded the buses and drove home. The ride home was very long but I spent a lot of time talking with people. Our bus did a sort of sing-along to different choir songs and then some oldies. It was great fun. Then they put a movie on and turned the lights off. My friend Ben and I weren't really into the movie so we shared headphones and listened to Tool and the Across the Universe Soundtrack. After that, I went to sleep. We got back to Denton around 11PM.
Saturday: I was home on Saturday and spent most of the day dozing or crying about how choir was over. ;)
Sunday: Sunday was my last day as a member of DBSC. It was very sad but also a very happy day. We sang part of our concert in both the morning services and then did our last full concert of the year that afternoon. I will never forget the times I spent with this fabulous group. When I first joined choir, I was fairly new in town and didn't really know many people. It had been very hard for me to get plugged in at the youth group and student choir is where I found my church home. I'm so thankful for the wonderful people God put in my life through student choir. I am looking forward to moving on to college, but I will sorely miss being with this group on Sunday afternoons. They have all, directors, sponsors, and students, influenced me and ministered to me in more ways than I can count. I love them all.
After we got done with the afternoon work, we took off for Wal-Mart. It's a tradition for the underclassman to buy cheap goofy gifts for the seniors so we went early in the week. We seniors spent the hour and a half we were at Wal-Mart walking around and then we went to dinner. Monday was long and tiring. I think everybody was feeling the pressure and nervousness coming on with the knowledge that in the morning, we would sing at our first detention center. We'd been praying for the kids and guards at the juvenile detention centers for nearly a year, but I think it hit everybody at once that we would be face to face with the objects of our prayers very soon. (I didn't take any pictures on Monday)
Tuesday: I won't forget this past Tuesday. I think it was probably my favorite day of the week. We woke up early and went to a pregnancy resource center in Austin. Its name escapes me, but the people were very nice and happy to have us help out. We split up into groups like we did on Monday, but the needs of the center were vast and so many of us ended up breaking off from our groups to go where we were needed. I started out sweeping floors and organizing a kitchen with my group and ended up organizing and sorting baby clothes with another. The pregnancy center is also a church and it was great to be able to help them out.
After we got done with the work at the pregnancy center, we got changed out of our nasty, smelly work clothes and changed into our choir uniforms (you can imagine how fresh and beautiful our bus smelled). :) We traveled to a juvenile detention center in Austin, TX. Once the buses had parked, we waited for a very long time while the details and security issues were all worked out. We weren't allowed to bring anything with us. No phones, no wallets, nothing. Our sound and equipment teams set up in a foyer-esque entrance inside the main gates. The center itself, looked like a high security high school. I wish I could have taken pictures of our time there, but no one was able to bring cameras in. Once everything was set up, the guards brought the kids in. We were all lined up on the risers and the first boy I saw come in looked no older than eleven or twelve. I think this hit every one of us very hard. It was heartbreaking for me to see kids of all ages walking with their hands behind their backs and their faces turned down. They weren't allowed to move without permission and the guards had them sit in rows on the floor. I looked back at our director, Mr. Lucas, and he was motioning at us to smile. At first I felt this wave of hopeless sarcasm hit me. I thought How in the world can I smile at these kids? What do I have to offer them? What could I possibly do that would make a smile? I have no idea what they've done or the places they've been, what do we have in common? But when the music started I came to the blessed realization that our group had come to give these kids the only thing in the world that could make them smile. We were coming to share the Gospel with them. The good news that frees us from the chains of our sin and offers us grace and forgiveness and an eternity spent with the God who created us and who loves us. God helped me, and others I'm sure, to see that all on our own, we had nothing to offer these kids. But with our hearts focused on our purpose, which is to bring glory to God and to preach the Gospel, God would use us to minister to hurting children. I watched the expressions of the kids as we sang. Some laughed (especially when we started choreography), some scowled, and some simply rested their heads on their knees. Some of the kids smiled and clapped along with us and most of the workers were energetic and some sang along.
I don't remember much about the concert except for the faces. Once the concert was over, some of the guards took the kids back to their cells and the others stayed behind to divide our choir up into groups. They were going to let us go talk to the kids. When they asked us for volunteers I felt my hand shoot up. I knew if I didn't do it then, I wouldn't at all. I went with a group of about nine other girls in our choir and we followed a worker to the girl's cells. There was a general sitting area with plastic couches and book shelves where about six girls were all sitting. All around this area were individual cells which one girl got to herself. Each cell had a bed, a toilet, and a skinny window. It was so bleak to hear the guard talk about what every day life was like for these girls. She said they were allowed to read and talk quietly, they'd do manual labor in their holding cells and they took school classes and seminars on how to function in society. Once our 'tour' was over, they let us go sit with the girls. Of course, it awkward at first. We introduced ourselves and talked about favorite colors and music and other stuff like that.
A few of the girls in my group and I struck up a conversation with a smiling Latina girl who I'll call Jill in this post. Jill was interested to know all about us; what we liked to do, what our favorite sports teams were etc. One of the guards in the room stood by our group and facilitated conversation by asking questions. She would ask things like 'What do you do when you get bored?' 'How do you deal with anger?' Questions clearly meant to help Jill understand that she didn't have to go back to what she used to do if/whenever she got out of jail. Though I'm fairly sure she wasn't trying to help us get to the Gospel, this woman's questions opened up the floodgates for Jill to talk to us about her past. Though the smile never left her face, Jill's voice was filled with regret as she talked about how she knew that she'd messed up and how badly she wanted to change if she got the chance. She wasn't allowed to tell us the specifics of what she'd done because she was still waiting for her court hearing, but she basically told us that she struggled with drug addiction as a way of dealing with her grief and anger. Jill told us that she'd experienced a lot of death in her life and she said, "and whenever I get angry, I use drugs to feel better. But when they left me, I still felt bad." My heart broke for this girl and before I knew what I was doing, my mouth opened and the words just flowed. I know it wasn't my knowledge or passion that enabled me to tell Jill about Jesus. The Holy Spirit was working through me and all the other girls who went into the cells that day. Jill nodded her head with interest as we talked about God's forgiveness and how a relationship with Jesus is the only thing that will comfort grief and calm anger and satisfy our deepest desires. Though no conversions took place in the girls' holding cell that day, I know that, with the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we planted seeds in the hearts of those girls. I can only pray that God will send someone else to water them. I will probably never see Jill again but I will never forget her face or her voice or her smile and beautiful accent. I will also never forget the joy that washed over me when I saw one of the girls in our group pray with her before the guards made us leave. I walked out of the holding cell a different person.
As we left the juvenile detention center, most of us were quiet. When we loaded the buses and started down the road, almost instantly everyone broke out into conversation. We talked about our experiences and what we thought about the center, how we were surprised, what people said, the looks on people's faces during the concert and so much more. A friend of mine who went to the boy's holding cell said that one of the male guards in the room took her aside before they left and thanked her profusely for talking about the Gospel. "We're not allowed to do that here." he told her. It just makes me sad as I think about how much the incarcerated, child or adult, need hope. And for someone to know that hope but not be allowed to share it must be heartbreaking. I'm so thankful God sent us to Austin that day.
We drove to our new hotel in San Antonio. Once we'd checked in and cleaned up, we met downstairs and walked to the River Walk which was only a couple blocks away. We split up into groups and went to dinner. It was nice to just walk around with my friends and talk and just spend time together. I think we were all looking at everything differently because of what we'd seen that afternoon and it just made fellowship different. A good kind of different, though. My group ate at a barbecue place called The County Line.
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| Where we ate dinner. :) |
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| This baby is called The Five Meat Sampler. Basically it's brisket, sausage, turkey, beef, and chicken with two sides. I split this with two other girls. After a few days of eating nothing but fast food, we were SO happy to eat this. |
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| Hence, the result. :) |
After dinner, some of us went to get ice cream, Blue Bell of course. :) We went back to the Alamo, which was out meeting spot, and got a picture of the whole choir. We also did a little impromptu singing and that was interesting. :) Here are a few shots from Tuesday. I really wish I could have gotten some from inside the detention center, but I couldn't unfortunately.
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| Just outside the River Walk across from the Alamo. |
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| (From left to right) Neeya, Lesley, Anthony, and Alya. |
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| Emily and me at The County Line before our amazing dinner. :) |
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| Justin and Ace who were also in our group. |
Wednesday: Wednesday was the big day. We were scheduled to sing three concerts, one in the morning at one detention center and then two more back-to-back at another. We were all a little exhausted from the previous day but I think everyone felt ready to take the day on. We got up early and traveled to a detention center there in San Antonio. This one looked a lot more like a prison than the first one. There were a lot more gates, security check points, and guards. We set up our stuff in the gym and the guards brought in 50-55 boys. There weren't any girls at this facility and most of the boys looked like they fell into the 15-17 years old category. As we sang I watched some of their expressions go from amused to pissed off to crying to smiling to singing. It was just amazing to physically see God work on the hearts of the guys who were watching. We didn't get to talk to any of the boys after the concert but many of them called out to thank us for coming or to wave as the guards led them out of the room. It was encouraging to see them smile.
We loaded the buses and ate lunch on the way to the next detention center which was also in San Antonio. We set up in their gym like that last one and the director of the center, who is also the pastor to one of the churches in that area, prayed with us before he let the kids in. It was SO encouraging to know that someone in a position of such authority in the center was a born-again believer. He prayed over and for us and I think it did our group a lot of good. We were so tired. Most of the 30-40 kids who were brought in were boys but there were a few girls too. This concert went very well. We could all see God working inside the kids and guard by the looks on their faces just like last time. I noticed one girl started crying when we first started singing and by the end she was smiling and singing along. Our sponsors sat in the back of the room and they clapped and sang along with us which was really encouraging (I know I keep using that word, it's just the only way I can think of to describe what I felt). After the concert was over, the guards led the kids out. We weren't going to be able to talk to them because we thought we had another concert to do. But it turned out we couldn't get cleared to do a second concert, the exact details I'm not too sure of. But as we walked out of the center, we passed a general holding area where some of the kids were. They came up to the window as we passed by and waved and thanked us for coming. A couple of the boys were mouthing things like 'we love you!' or 'call me!' It was so funny. That and other little things that some of the kids did at the other centers really just opened my eyes to the truth that these kids are not different from any others. We all come from different walks of life, we all have sins we struggle with, and God sees us all the same regardless of whether or not we're the ones in orange jumpsuits or red choir shirts.
We left the center and drove to our hotel in Katy, TX. We were going to back out for fast food dinner, but it turned out management was providing pizza for all the guests so that gave us more time to change and relax. I went down to dinner with Lucy and Lesley. We got our pizza and went down to the meeting area to eat. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and realized I had accidentally turned it off. I instinctively turned it on and saw that I had three text messages. One was from my friend Sarah, one was a Tweet, and the last was from my mom. I read the first two as I shoveled pizza into my mouth and came to the text from my mom. She told me she was praying for the trip and she also told me to pray for my aunt Olivia because our uncle Clyde had died that day. Clyde had been struggling with Alzheimer's for a few years and had passed away in his home. As I read the text, my stomach flopped. I just couldn't believe it. I've known my uncle Clyde my whole life and though we'd never become very close, he was someone who I just always knew was there. I just sat with my hand against my mouth for a few seconds until Lucy noticed something was wrong. She asked if I was okay and then Lesley noticed and I whispered to them what had happened. I hate crying in front of people, but I lost my resolve and broke down. Thankfully, Lucy and Lesley suggested we go upstairs to our room. I gave my food to someone, I honestly can't remember who, and we walked up to our room together. Once inside, I sat on the bed and Lesley came and sat down next to me. I rested my head in her lap and she just let me cry. I'm so so thankful for both Lesley and Lucy. They were so great that day. It was only a matter of maybe 10-15 minutes before I got a text from Mr. Lucas asking what was wrong and a visit from two other sponsors who heard something had happened. I was so thankful for the support of everyone that day.
After dinner, went to the Katy Mall which was two minutes away from the hotel. We split into groups to just hang out. I didn't feel like going at all that day, but as time passed, I was thankful for everyone's company. It helped to take my mind off of things and thankfully there was a lot to laugh about. Like this...
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| I don't know who comes up with inventions like this, but whatever. This is a life-sized hamster ball which floats on water. They blow it up with air and you can get inside and roll around for 5-7 minutes. This is Isaac. He spent all five minutes trying to stand up. As you can see, it didn't work. |
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| Lesley also got in the ball. She was turning somersaults and doing handstands. :) |
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| Lesley and Isaac trying to run each other over. :) |
So Wednesday was an intense day but God is good. We were able to have some quiet worship time at the end of the night which did me a lot of good. All in all, it was a good day. Here are some more pictures from Wednesday.
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| Lucy, who has been affectionately nick named Melman, and I before leaving for our concert in San Antonio. |
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| Delany and Krissie at the Mall in Katy making their super model faces. |
Thursday: Thursday we got up and drove to The Salvation Army - Harbor Light Center in Houston, TX. We set up in their chapel and started rehearsing. We had been told by Mr. Lucas that we'd be singing for about 60 men who had struggled with substance abuse. I don't know about the rest of the group, but I had been expecting dismal men who would be skeptical, but I was so so wrong. Before our concert the director of the center came in and said that their men's ensemble called the Salvation Army Singers wanted to sing a few of their songs for us. So we all filed into the pews and this group of about fifteen middle-aged guys walked slowly down the aisles singing soulful a cappella pieces. Their singing brought so much joy in the room. After they sang about three songs, the rest of the men came into the room and we did our concert. I hate to say concert, because at this particular place it didn't feel like we were singing to an audience. Most of the men sang along with us, stood up, clapped, and just interacted with us. They were so receptive and joyful. After we got done, they stayed around a long time to chat with us. I spoke with one guy, along with some of the other girls, who just couldn't stop going on and on about how thankful he was that we came. Though we'd planned to eat lunch out, the men at the Salvation Army had made us lunch. So after lunch, we hit the road and headed for our next destination.
We arrived at the Star of Hope Ministries in downtown Houston around 12:45. Star of Hope is a family emergency shelter which houses mostly moms and their kids who are trying to escape from hostile living environments. We didn't get to hear a whole lot of details about how the ministry works, so suffice it to say that the organization provides shelter, food, and clothing for those who need it. The campus is huge and it was very easy to get lost in there. :) My group was in charge of organizing the 'toy store.' We dusted some very dirty shelves and organized the new toys. After that we went to the offices and cleaned windows and dusted a conference room. When all the service projects were done, we set up our sound equipment and risers in a commons area where we would sing our last concert on tour. One of the ladies in charge told us that people would probably pop in and out during the concert and to not take it personally. Some of the moms have to go and pick up their kids from the day care center and some of the people who live at the center tend to float around, not staying in one place for very long. When we started the concert, there were about ten people and by the time it was over, all the tables were full. People sang, danced, clapped, cried and worshipped with us. I think the theme that God really wanted us all to get was that no matter what walk of life we come from, everyone needs love and hope. Everyone can be joyful and praise God with their voices. God uses music to speak to us in ways that no other language can. It was a lovely last concert. After it was over, we went out to meet and greet the folks who had stayed. I was accosted by so many people just thanking me over and over for coming. One woman told me, "Y'all are an answer to the prayer I just prayed this morning. It's been so long since I've gotten to be in a worship service." I walked up to one of my friends and we were suddenly accosted by this group of three or four kids who just threw their arms around us and would not let go. They were about 7-9 years old and they kept giving us hugs and kisses and just being so sweet. It was obvious these children just wanted someone to love on them, someone to tell their names and their favorite colors etc. It felt like hanging out with people you've known all your life. They were so genuine and sweet.
After we left Star of Hope, we drove back to our hotel in Katy and got ready for Senior Night. Senior Night is a choir tradition; it where all the underclassmen present the goofy gifts they bought at Wal-Mart to the seniors and the seniors bestow their last will and testament to everybody else. And by last will and testament they just give goofy things about themselves to whoever they deem worthy. ;) For instance, if you never missed choir you could bestow your perfect attendance to someone who is always late or something like that. It's just a fun time to spend together. Senior night went really well and I only cried once. ;) Here are some pictures from Thursday.
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| Lucy gave away t-shirts to some people. |
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| Among other things, I gave my mad choreography skills (which had been given to me the the previous year) to the whole choir so they could be even more 'urban' (as Mr. Lucas wanted us to be) next year. :) |
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| So normally, one of the underclassmen, named Craig, gives a goldfish to one of the seniors because normally we go to Wal-Mart on the day of Senior Night. But this year, Mr. Lucas switched it up and we went to Wal-Mart on Monday. So obviously, Craig couldn't buy a fish. But he did buy this little container of night crawlers and gave it to Justin. The room was permeated with the smell of dead sea creature for the rest of the night. :P |
Friday: Friday was a bittersweet day for me. We got up at the ungodly hour of 6AM and drove to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. We arrived at opening time and stayed until 4PM. I teamed up with some of the other roller coaster sissies. :) We walked around and ate a really nice lunch before all the restaurants got busy and then we looked at some stores. Eventually we got in line for the Road Runner Express, which is a pretty intense roller coaster if you're a baby about rides. We liked it so much we road it a second time and then we road the Gully Washer. It was a great time and I had a lot of fun. After Six Flags, we loaded the buses and drove home. The ride home was very long but I spent a lot of time talking with people. Our bus did a sort of sing-along to different choir songs and then some oldies. It was great fun. Then they put a movie on and turned the lights off. My friend Ben and I weren't really into the movie so we shared headphones and listened to Tool and the Across the Universe Soundtrack. After that, I went to sleep. We got back to Denton around 11PM.
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| My lovely Six Flags group after we'd ridden the Road Runner Express for the second time. :) |
Saturday: I was home on Saturday and spent most of the day dozing or crying about how choir was over. ;)
Sunday: Sunday was my last day as a member of DBSC. It was very sad but also a very happy day. We sang part of our concert in both the morning services and then did our last full concert of the year that afternoon. I will never forget the times I spent with this fabulous group. When I first joined choir, I was fairly new in town and didn't really know many people. It had been very hard for me to get plugged in at the youth group and student choir is where I found my church home. I'm so thankful for the wonderful people God put in my life through student choir. I am looking forward to moving on to college, but I will sorely miss being with this group on Sunday afternoons. They have all, directors, sponsors, and students, influenced me and ministered to me in more ways than I can count. I love them all.
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| At our concert on Sunday singing Brighter Day. :) |
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| Lesley, Ben, and me. I love these people so much. :) |
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| Delany and me. :D |
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| Mr. Lucas and me. |
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| After our concert we had a pool party at one of the sponsors's house. |
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| Krissie :D |
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| Tom |
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| Mikayla and McCall :) |
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| Some of the boys threw a couple sponsors into the pool. |
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| Robyn and me. :) |
