Halfway There!

As we approach the midway point of the summer, I finally seem to have found time to sit down and write an update.

The past five weeks have been a blur. From church to church, concert to concert, host home to host home, and now after spending a week as a counselor for the National IFCA Youth Convention on campus here at ABC, dates, names, and faces all run together in my mind. But there have been several highlights...





Early on in our travels we were able to spend a day in Harper's Ferry, WV. It was a beautiful day to tour the historic buildings and surrounding area, and we also enjoyed some delicious ice cream!











Traveling in the van is always...exciting. Actually, we spend most of the time eating and sleeping! I have also tried to take advantage of the time to work on some memorization in Ephesians. And sometimes we enjoy watching a movie using Isaiah's super cool five-way headphone splitter!






Moving into our second week, we were able to visit Atlantic City, a first-time experience for everyone. It was nice to spend some time on the beach and Tom even swam around for a while (in his khakis)!

During the same week we made a trip to Philadelphia. We were able to see the Liberty Bell, as well as explore some other historic sites. This picture was taken in front of Independence Hall. And we enjoyed authentic Philly cheesesteaks! 

Also, this past week was a lot of fun, as we did something a bit different. The IFCA held their National Youth Convention at ABC this year, so we were able to be counselors for groups of teens. I loved getting to know my eight girls and hope to be able to keep up with them. It was fun following them around like some kind of parent to watch their different competitions and events, from Bible quizzing to dramas to music.






As the teens were finishing up yesterday, the team decided to take a hiking trip. Being surrounded by the beautiful mountains of West Virginia, there are plenty of great places to hike.







But even more exciting than the hiking, was the white-water rafting trip that we took today. I had never been rafting, so I was pretty nervous to head into some Class 5 rapids, but I couldn't have had more fun! Our guide had plenty of experience and did a great job helping us all to enjoy the trip. I can't wait to go again!

In the midst of these fun trips, most of our time really is spent on the concerts. We typically arrive at a church in the early afternoon, set up, sound check, eat dinner, do a concert, and then spend the night in a host home from the church. And after performing nearly twenty concerts, I haven't yet tired of the songs! God has worked in amazing ways to show me new perspectives on the words of each song throughout these concerts. One of my favorite lines right now is from a song called "My Lips Will Praise You". It goes, "I am Your own/ and I will worship You alone/ I am Your own/ I am Your child." It has been such a comforting and humbling reminder to me, even as the team has faced some real trials in the past week or two.

I have certainly grown to love each member of this team. Having gone through some very unexpected difficulties, it has been wonderful to grow closer to everyone and to clearly see reasons that God placed each person within this group.

Well, that seems to be a pretty thorough update for now, folks! Thanks for sticking it out if you've read this far. And please pray as we head back out on the road for the next five weeks, traveling to states in the midwest- Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, and more!

~Hannah Grace





                                                                                 




             

         

On the Road with the Gospel Heralds

One out of ten weeks down! Last week was training week for the Gospel Heralds. After arriving on campus Saturday evening, I enjoyed a relaxing Sunday visiting my church near school and resting up for the week. Then, starting at 8:30 on Monday morning, we began training. It was much more exhausting than I expected! From 8:30 every morning until 10 o'clock each night, we all practiced singing, handbells, different standing formations, dramatic Scripture readings, and more. While it was tiring, I still had a blast hanging out with the team and getting to spend time with different people one-on-one. Below is a picture of us all!

Left to right: Isaiah, Elisabeth, Ben, Leslee, Jordan, Loni, Tom, me, Justin

So, after that long week, we headed out on Saturday to officially begin our summer travels! First stop: Gospel Life Baptist Church in Keyser, WV. Our host homes that evening were lovely and our very first concert on Sunday morning went much better than expected! After a quick lunch and packing everything up, we moved on to Crosslife Bible Church in Westminister, MD for a Sunday evening concert. While we were eating dinner before the concert, a good friend walked in- it was a total surprise to me! And two other wonderful friends were able to come for the concert, so it was lots of fun to have some familiar faces in the crowd and to spend some time with them afterwards. 

Today, Monday, was our day off. We travled about an hour and a half to northern VA, did a little shopping, ate dinner at the Macaroni Grill, and ended up at a hotel where some of us went for a swim...and now I'm taking full advantage of the internet access to update! Tomorrow we'll be back on the road, heading to Shepherdstown, WV for an evening concert. I'm especially excited for next week when we'll be in the VA Beach area for several concerts, so I should get to see my family and hopefully some friends as well. 

Anyway, it's been a wonderful week and a couple days so far and I'm looking forward to the remaining nine weeks of travel and singing! 

~Hannah Grace