Day 2: Sunday, 6/2/2024

I'm a little embarrassed by how spotty my photo game was today. There were many great things I just whiffed on! We met at the church at 7, which was something of a feat given the late night preparing. I had a small heart attack when I saw our pile of gear was missing, but that turned to relief when I realized it was missing because Mark (our amazing driver...more on him later) had already loaded it onto the bus.

We had a short commissioning in the sanctuary before we left. I wish I had taken a picture. We sat there, quiet, the room lit only by the rising sun. And then we prayed, as we often do before we go in to worship, that God would keep our minds clear, our voices strong, and our hearts open to what God would say to us and through us in the name of Christ. We prayed the Lord's Prayer together...and we set out.

Someone is going to ask me if we went to Buc-ee's. We did not. We did wind up needing to make a stop before lunch, but...

It's not that I love Love's or anything like that, and it has nothing to do with the Arby's inside (though honestly I do love Arby's). It's just...this was more conveniently located for when we needed it. Sometimes it really is just about being in the right place at the right time.

We stopped for lunch in Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis. I don't need to tell you a lot of these kids don't know who that is. Tragic. But also I knew that's how it would be, so we didn't take the time to go to his actual birthplace. There were a number of options for lunch, and the youth availed themselves of a variety. I wound up at McDonald's. Look. I know it's bad or whatever, but I am kindof into McDonald's. I feel you judging me.

What good is Youth Music Mission if you can't make a few poor culinary choices along the way? Live your best life, man.

Some of the youth will claim I was late getting back to the bus. I was not. But I didn't get on the bus on time because I was taking video of this. It's CJ line dancing with some enthusiastic youth outside of the bus. No doubt working off whatever they ate for lunch (can confirm 2/3 in this picture did not eat McDonalds...and can also confirm 1/3 of them concurs with my opinion of McDonald's fries versus Chick Fil A fries...you will not change my mind).

We drove by the 10th largest pyramid in the world, which is located in Memphis, TN. Yes, it's a Bass Pro Shop now, and it's awesome. We didn't stop, but we did get some good pictures of it.

We needed to stop to change into our concert clothes, which we did at a rest stop outside of Forrest City. Just as I was about to get on the bus, this guy and his wife stopped and asked us to tell him more about our choir. What was our mission? Where were we going. It was cool to be able to explain what we were up to. He wished us well and said he'd keep us in prayer.

Our concert was at Willow Grove of Sherwood. We warmed up on the bus as we got closer.

And then we sang!

We've added an element to our concert this year. Wesley and Gwyn play instruments on Baba Yetu, which is a Swahili setting of the Lord's Prayer. Not pictured: Mariann playing the egg  and conga shakers.

And we have a number of soloists as well. This isn't all of them! But it's many of them. Proud of all our soloists, who are doing an amazing job! 

This is a little farther back so you can get a feel for the room.

This year I sent out some signs folks could use to advertise if they wanted, and I was happy to see they took me up on it!

Also I love it when family who happen to be local to our concerts come to hear us sing! Eva's grandparents were able to come to this concert.

And this is the Motherland, so I had a WHOLE LOT of family. (Well...and my father-in-law is the facilities manager at Willow Grove!)

After the concert we went to dinner. It was a chaperone dinner, so the rooms ate with their chaperones (I neglected to mentioned on an earlier bus ride we did what I call the "Sorting Hat," which is a game where they youth learn who their roommates and chaperones are...I'd explain the game to you, but honestly it doesn't translate well, but it was fun!).

Several folks went to the Purple Cow, which is basically a burger joint, but they offer...purple milkshakes.

A couple of the chaperones did upload pics of their rooms. It's a shame they can't have any fun with it. This first one is in front of the Purple Cow.

Did these guys eat at the Target snack bar? I'm I the only one who has ever done that?

After dinner we went to the airport to pick up one more singer, and we are now whole. There are two singers on the trip who left Europe on Saturday to make it back in time. I appreciate folks who make choir a priority. Everyone on the trip is doing that, of course...but I can't imagine the jet lag.

Ordinarily I'd put in a few more pictures of chaperone groups, but for some reason I didn't take pictures of most of them. Alas...bad blogger! I'll have another opportunity before the week is out. This is critically important.

Readers of previous blogs will recognize this guy. Sir Trots a Lot is traveling with us once again. We'll see what shenanigans he gets into. Hopefully no trouble. Oh, and also we're pumped to have Taylor with us this year! He's fun.

We did have a devotional time, but I didn't take a picture, and it was a relatively brief time. I wanted folks to be able to get some sleep. By "folks" I mean me.

Readers of previous blogs will also recognize this represents the end of my official night. Every student accounted for and taped into their rooms. It's not the end of my night, of course. I still have pictures to pick out for the blog, and I try to get started writing it.

A strong first day. We have miles to go. Tomorrow we will tour Little Rock for a bit, have a concert, and head towards Dallas. The time in the motherland is all too short. But I'm excited for tomorrow! And I look forward to sharing it with you. Until then...

Peace and love,

John