The Bells of Christ Church Update Day Four

The Bells of Christ Church

Outreach Tour to Appalachian & the Carolinas

June 20-27, 2010

Day Four (June 23^rd)

Like yesterday morning, it was time to go and one the boys from one of the rooms was missing.  It was a bit easier this morning and I only had to knock on their door for 5 minutes or so.  Once they were awake they popped right up and got ready quickly. 

We loaded the bus and were soon on the way for a morning of hiking.  We drove through some of the most beautiful landscape in America as we traveled on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  God’s creation was stunning, and every time there was a break in the trees and we were able to see the mountain landscape, all of the youth on the bus stopped what they were doing and looked out the window.  I was treated to 22 “oohs” and “aahhhhs!”  We did the typical things you do when you travel through a place like this.  We heard more than one joke that if the driver made one mistake we would all be dead.   All of the youth held their breath as we went through tunnels. 

There was one negative draw back: road work crews were all over the Blue Mountain Parkway.  We were having to come to a complete stop every 10 miles or so and wait for cars going in the other direction, as the road work had made large potions of the Parkway a one-lane road.  There was even one moment that we rounded a sharp corner in our large 55-passenger bus just to see a forklift in the middle of the road.  Our bus driver had to slam on the brakes, squealing tires in the process. It was about this time that we realized that our 1 hour ride had taken us over 2 hours and there would be no time for the hike to a waterfall.

It was also around this time that we realized we were lost and the bus driver stopped at a small country store for directions.  We got directions with no real problem but we were told that the town we were heading to had no places and we would have to take a detour to a Super Wal-Mart if we wanted to get lunch.  As soon as we turned back onto the road, some of the guys and I began to hear a noise coming from the back left of the bus.  We told the driver and a couple miles up he pulled over to take a look.  He saw nothing and continued on the trip to Wal-Mart, although the noise got louder and louder.   We arrived at the Wal-mart and as we pulled into the parking we heard a loud pop and the bus pulled hard to the left.  The tire had blown!  All of us got off the bus and headed to lunch at Subway in Wal-Mart.  We knew we would be there a long time after the tire blew.  But in only 40 minutes time, we were told the bus was ready to load back up.  Our driver, Morris, later told us that God must have been watching us, because if the tire would have blown on the Parkway not only would it have been dangerous, but they would have had to send another bus to come pick us up and take us to our hotel.  We would have had to leave the bells on the bus, and we would have had to cancel the evening’s concert.  It would have taken hours, been exhausting, and canceling the concert would have been a huge let down.  We happened to blow a tire at the only place in this little town capable of helping us, and NOT suffer through a blown tire on the side of a mountain.  God is good!

Our next excursion was to the Linville caverns.  As soon as we stepped into the entrance of the cavern, it was amazing.  It was beautiful.  The walls of the cavern were different colors because of the type of minerals forming it from above.  There were walls of blue, black, yellow, and green (this was algae).  I was told early on that Sharon was afraid of spiders, so I was able to tease her most of the way through the caverns.  I did not mention to her that I am equally afraid of spiders until I was safely out of the cavern.  I also had an irrational fear of the cavern caving in on us, especially after our guide told us that we were under the ground a quarter mile.  I was sure the weight of it all would come crashing down at and moment.  We were shown one place in the cavern where there was a small pool of water.  It was about 10 feet wide, but when the guide shined his flash light on the water we could see no bottom.  He told us that they had measured out 250 yards and not hit bottom.  Then they hired a diving team, but the underwater cavern was too narrow for them to find the bottom.  Once again God’s creation is amazing.

Ringing Bells on the High Seas (High C’s)

After our tour at the caverns was done we loaded up the bus again and headed to Boone, NC for our evening concert.  However, now our bus was overheating, due to the intense braking and engine working hard going around all the curves of the mountain.  We had to stop ever time it overheated, which was about every 20 minutes.  We finally made it to Boone, and we were all happy not to be driving for a while. 

When we arrived at the church, we found that the sanctuary was already set up for the VBS which was going on this week.  The front of the church was dressed with a very well done, very large, and very detailed pirate ship.  The youth got the bells set up and began practicing.  The contrast of the bells surrounded by the enormous mast of the ship was borderline hilarious. 

Once the practice was near complete, we could see that the youth were exhausted.  They had been on a bus all day.  It was during this exhaustion that the youth impressed me again.  Typically when I get exhausted I deal with it by raising my voice at everybody and being really selfish.  The youth were amazing.  It their exhaustion they spoke kind words, they were patient with each other, they even offered to help each other.  What an amazing Christ-centered group!

The concert was at a Methodist which had 5 (FIVE!) hand bell choirs.  Many of the people in attendance were ringers themselves, and they were all impressed with the level of the quality in our ringers.  They specifically mentioned that they could see the enjoyment of ringing bells on Sharon Mays face, and they were very impressed with Daniel Hughes.  They loved how Donovan rocked out on the bass chimes.  They said, “They ring with more maturity than any youth bell choir we have ever seen.”  They have middle school, high school, and college bell choirs at their church.

During the concert, Matthew Robertson gave a testimony about how God  has used people to influence him through music (Mark W.), personality (Dad), and faith (Mark, Dad, Joey P., and Mrs. Heather).  Now God is using him to influence younger teens through music, personality, and faith.

Anna Sprague also gave her testimony which was about what short-term mission trips have meant to her.  She mentioned Pass Christian, Mexico, and last year’s youth group & bell tour combined mission trip across the southern states.  She made a great comment that she hopes to live her life like a big mission trip, but that she has learned mission does not have to mean going somewhere else.  She said that if she lives to serve others daily, and share Jesus’ love with them that she can be a missionary wherever she lives.

After the concert, we headed to our new hotel and spent the time before bed in the pool and playing cards.