Day 4 - We've Only Just Begun

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  

Psalm 118:24

This morning we gathered in the 2nd floor lounge of Racey before heading over to the dining hall.  Everyone has been doing a great job of waking up and being on time in the morning!  We sang our blessing and enjoyed a breakfast with bacon, eggs, grits, fruit, etc.

After breakfast, we walked together to the front of campus on the lawn next to Ruebush Hall.  Jordan shared a devotion on scriptures related to the "Covenants of Presence".  He challenged everyone to focus on one or two covenants that we struggle with and work on improving those during the trip.  The last covenant is "believe that it is possible for us to emerge from our time together refreshed, surprised, and less burdened than when we came."  Jordan read a passage from Jeremiah 31:25 to emphasize that covenant, "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint".  Even though we will have a busy schedule, by being obedient to God's call in our lives, He will be able to refresh and satisfy our spiritual needs.

Next we had some group building and were asked to find a partner and stand back to back.  Then Katie asked us to change one thing about our appearance.  We turned around and were challenged to determine what about our partner was different.  Some things were easily noticeable such as moving our buttons, removing jewelry, or tucking in clothing.  We repeated this activity several times and were encouraged to change something different every time.  It became a bit more difficult once everyone got the hang of the game.  Afterward we reflected on how much we had noticed our partner before we started and then again at the end.  Going into mission, we need to be more aware of our perceptions and be open to God speaking to us at all times and through all people.

The second activity was a silent one.  We were asked to line ourselves up in order based on a category.  Some of the examples were First Name, Last Name, and Birth Month.  One thing we noticed is that no one in our group was born in June.  Then we got into groups of our favorite color.  Blue and green were the most popular colors with yellow and red only having one supporter.

The Time for awarding the FFP button had come and Emily B. made her selection.  Our accompanist, Jim, was selected for his amazing assistance and encouragement during rehearsal, even when he has to play the same parts over and over again before the choir gets it right.  We are extremely lucky to have such a great accompanist to travel with us for the entire tour.  Thank you Jim!

We traveled the rest of the way as a group to Ruebush Hall.  The next thing on our schedule was rehearsal. Drew started off by leading the choir in some physically engaging warm-ups.

Then they worked on one of their songs titled "Followers of the Lamb".  A traditional Shaker song, they practiced adding the dance-like quality to the song and remembering to look and be happy when singing the phrase "I'm glad I am a Chrisitan".  Later they went through "Instrument of Thy Peace" and other songs in their repertoire to prepare for tomorrow's worship service.

Noon arrived and we stopped for lunch.  Everyone made the trek up to the dining hall and had lunch with the other groups at Shenandoah for the day including a Vocal Pedagogy Institute and a High School Football camp.  Luckily the groups all came at different times to make sure everyone got enough food and in a timely manner.  Afterward, we had a bit of free time for everyone to relax or take a leisurely stroll across campus.

We met back in Ruebush Hall for some medical and safety tips from Jenn and Chad.  First we discussed the importance of not consuming untreated water!  Then we talked about the potential for getting sick and how you should let the adults know as soon as you don't feel well.  Jenn reminded us of the proper way to lift things without injuring your back.  Chad talked about our specific mission site and the things we may encounter.

Next we broke into family groups.  Each one was asked to pick a bible story and be able to teach it without using any English.  This was in an effort to prepare the groups for their Vacation Bible School experience down in the Dominican Republic.

We returned to the rehearsal room and Alexis led us in our next group building activity.  She had purchased beads for the whole group to make bracelets for people we meet along our journey.  The bracelets have different color beads and then three that spell "VOY" standing for Voices of Youth but also "I go" in Spanish.  We thought this double meaning was great to share with others as we encourage them to be in mission as well.

The afternoon ended with another rehearsal, tweaking the songs to get them as ready as possible by tomorrow morning's worship service at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, VA.  The service is at 10:30 a.m. and all are welcome to attend!

 

We walked up the hill to the dining room for dinner and had a little free time until meeting up at 7:15 to leave for the VanDyke Colby house.  We had been invited for a time of fellowship and dessert, both things that the Voices of Youth loves!

At one point there was a Just Dance competition on the Wii.  It seems that Chad and Drew were competing for the best dancer award!  Who knew they could move so well.

 After everyone had some ice cream and time to relax, we all came together in the living room.  Dr. Rev. Rhonda VanDyke Colby talked to the group about spiritual life in college and the different offerings for spiritual development at Shenandoah and other Universities.  She encouraged us to get connected in ministries that are making an impact on the least, last and lost.  Then the choir sang Happy Birthday to her and also performed one of their concert pieces.  She returned the favor by teaching the group the Wesley Blessing.

We thanked the VanDyke Colby family for their hospitality and generosity.  Everyone helped clean up a little bit and then we headed back to Shenandoah for our evening devotions.

Katie led the devotions and asked us to get a writing utensil.  We were given a sheet of paper and were asked to start the first line of a poem relating to where we were in that moment.  We then passed the paper to our left and continued this pattern, folding the paper over when we passed it so you could only see the previous line until our original paper came back to us.  Each member of the group had written a line of our poem and it was really interesting to see how some of the poems flowed seamlessly and really spoke to the person and they were started by.  A few shared their poems, we shared our plans for the next day and we said goodnight.

We hope to see some of you tomorrow morning at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, VA. 

Feel free to leave comments about the blog and they will be shared with the entire group.  Blessings to all and to all a goodnight!