Day 13 - Camp Rainbow & Redwood UMC

All the campers, staff, and youth at Camp Rainbow were awakened on Monday morning by oldies music playing over the intercom. In case you didn't hear the first song, the wake up call lasted a whole hour. After the initial shock, the youth began to enjoy the music and the trip back in time while they got ready for the day. Then it was time for breakfast in the dining hall. Everyone got their morning medications and then picked a table. The youth all mixed up again and got to know some different campers. After breakfast, everyone headed upstairs to the Virginia room for the group picture and VOY was invited too!

The pictures were taken and it was time to start the morning class rotation. We decided to split up by family groups and follow the four groups of campers: courage, heart, home, and wisdom. These names went along with the four main characters from the Wizard of Oz and their theme for the week "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".


Here are some pictures from our adventures in the Cooking Room...



And some pictures from the Arts and Crafts Room...


Then there was the Music Room...

Everyone had a great time in the classes assisting the campers and learning from them at the same time. After the morning classes were over, we went back downstairs for lunch.


One of the campers named Chuck kept talking about the flute and asking which of our youth played the flute. Finally Alli and Virginia decided to take out their flutes and give Chuck a private concert. He was very grateful and enjoyed every minute of it!


Unfortunately our time at Camp Rainbow had come to an end. We all headed upstairs for our baggage and when it came time to leave, carried our luggage back down the stairs as the elevator was having another bad day (Another reason we recommend bringing a reasonable size suitcase as we never know what will happen). Everyone loaded their bags on the bus and we were off to Rocky Mount, VA.

Some took the opportunity to catch up on some missed sleep.

A word of advice...don't fall asleep on the bus. You never know what will happen! Luckily some nail polish remover was found once we arrived at our next stop.

We arrived at Redwood UMC and prepared for the concert. This includes putting our luggage in the assigned rooms, setting up the display, putting out the programs, and rehearsing to make sure everything is in order.

We had a great dinner of mashed potatoes, chicken tenders, corn, beans, etc. Then we changed, had our evening devotions led by Katie's family group and then went to mingle with the congregation before the concert. We were excited to have Rev. Brad Dulaney share during the alumni message about how Voices of Youth helped him to recognize his call to ministry.

After the concert was finished, we were assigned our host families and went our separate ways. We all had an amazing night getting to know the generous people of Redwood UMC.

Days 11-12 - Kingsfest, Duncan Memorial UMC & Camp Rainbow

On Saturday, July 10, Voices met back at St. Paul UMC to packed the bus, said a prayer with their host families, and then headed for Kings Dominion. We were attending the last day of Kingsfest, which is a three day Christian music festival held at Kings Dominion every day. Christians from all over the country come to enjoy the amusement park during the day and worship together at the concerts at night featuring popular Christian singers and bands. The weather didn't look too promising but we kept our hopes up that the rain would pass and it did! We arrived at our park and split up into groups to explore the park and get on as many rides as possible.

Then we all met up on the lawn at the amphitheater for the concert. We were able to listen to Tenth Avenue North, Family Force 5, and Casting Crowns share their music and faith with us. We had another God moment when Casting Crowns decided to end the concert with "Lifesong", the same song we have incorporated into our concert this year!


After the concert, we headed to the Sleep Inn in Ashland to get some rest before singing at two services on Sunday morning and then heading to Blackstone to be a part of Camp Rainbow.

Sunday morning came quickly and we loaded everything on the bus for a short trip to Duncan Memorial UMC in Ashland, VA. We were excited to have Martha Springstead join us to accompany the choir for the rest of the tour after having four other pianists before her. We filed into the church and started preparing for worship.

We were challenged by Rev. David Hindman to contemplate the difference between spirituality and religion.

The choir assisted in worship with several congregational songs and anthems that changed to fit the needs of the contemporary and traditional services.

Shandy Hamner, an alumna of VOY, read the scripture for both services. Faith Van Goor spoke during the alumni message for the traditional service. Olivia K. and Sara M. shared their testimonies and how their lives had been impacted by Voices of Youth.

The service was also enhanced by our instrumentalists including Alli, Virginia, Stephen, Devon, and Mollie.

After the 11:00 a.m. service, it was time to gather in the fellowship hall for a pizza lunch. We were pleased to have the District Superintendent Mark Ogren and his wife join us for the meal.

When everyone had finished, we made sure everything was on the bus and we started on our way to the VUMAC for Camp Rainbow Connection. Seeing as how it was July 11, one stop was necessary along the way. 7 Eleven gives out free slurpees on that day so we found the nearest one and almost everyone got off the bus to enjoy the "holiday". It was a quick stop and then we were back on the road.

We arrived in Blackstone at the Assembly Center around 3 p.m. and were warmly greeted by Martha Stokes. She met with us to give a brief introduction to Camp Rainbow and explain their theme for the year "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". We received our room assignments and then headed off to our respective floors. Moving in proved a bit more difficult than we anticipated as the elevator was not having a good day. After a good workout of carrying our luggage up the stairs, we all settled into our rooms and headed to the auditorium for rehearsal and concert.

It is always a joy to be a part of Camp Rainbow. The campers and staff are always extremely appreciative of the performance. We had several congregational songs and some help with the drumming from several of the campers.

The campers really loved watching the dancers during "Let Us Sing the Songs" and gave us a standing ovation when the concert was over.

Once the concert had finished, everyone moved into the cafeteria for dinner. Voices all split up and went to different tables in order to meet some of the campers and get to know them a bit better. We had a great time of fellowship and a good meal!

We had a short break after dinner and then everyone gathered for a communion service. We sang together, listened to a message, and then some of the campers assisted with communion.

The communion service ended and everyone was released for the evening to socialize, explore the grounds, and get some much needed rest!

Day 10 - SPY & St. Paul UMC

Friday morning we awoke and went straight to breakfast. We had a few bites of cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole and some cereal before heading off to finish packing. Once everyone gathered their things in the Soul Cafe, our work teams were assigned final chores before we could leave SPY. Each group went to complete their chores and as some groups finished faster than others, they would offer to help the other groups that were still working to expedite the process. The last thing we did as a group was gather in the Celebration Room for a group picture. Then we said our goodbyes and the two other church groups left while VOY stayed for some group building and family group time. After some bonding time, we loaded all of our baggage, said our final goodbyes to the staff and headed off to lunch. Everyone chose between Arby's and Burger King for lunch. A while later we left for Wal-Mart and a chance for everyone to pick up any essentials they had either run out of or lost completely. Of course there are always those that find things they never really needed too! When everyone had gotten back on the bus, we headed for St. Paul UMC in Staunton, VA.

We arrived to the beautiful and rather large church up on the hill. Everyone helped to unpack and get settled in the church. We were able to rehearse for the service and then were invited back to the fellowship hall for a baked spaghetti dinner. We thanked the members of the church for the wonderful meal and then changed and made the final preparations for the concert. Mollie's group led devotions in the fellowship hall and then we headed into the sanctuary for the service.

Lizzie H. shared her testimony with her home church. Alli B. also shared some thoughts and reflections she had from the trip so far.

We were blessed to have so many alumni join us for "In Remembrance" and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" both of which were conducted by George Amos, who directed the choir in 2004, 2005, and 2007.

After the concert, each youth was assigned a host family and were eager to get to the houses to start the laundry!