Thursday

Well, today marks the final day of our time in Philly! What an awesome week it has been. What amazing things God has done. Every day when we make the drive from our church to downtown Philly we pass right by the main big blue bridge that connects downtown to New Jersey. I can't help but be reminded of an illustration Tommy once used. "When a bridge is built BOTH sides are forever changed." NewSong felt God's call to make a bridge to this great place. I can honestly say I believe that we have made a difference here and this experiences has also made a difference in us that is permanent and for the better!

I cannot begin to describe the growth I see in our students.  From our 7th graders breaking out of their shells in new ways to our seniors blossoming into the leaders God has made them to be, it has just been an incredible journey! Not to mention, our choir as a group has been forged into a deeper bond than when we left Memphis. I know there will be a lot to talk about when we return.

Thank you for your prayers. I believe they were answered. We could not have made this mission tour through without you supporting us and lifting us up in prayer. Thank you for your love. We feel it even from far away. (The students LOVED your encouragement video to us. THANK YOU) 

This will sadly be the last blog for the trip, but not the last blog forever. We will definitely be keeping up with you in our future endeavors coming up soon. 

 We love you all so much. Enjoy the last mini clip. The quality may be a little less as our change in internet left us needing to make some adjustments. After our return, I'll be working on the "Big video" aka DVD for all of NewSong to commemorate the tour. 

Thanks again for keeping up with us. We love you and will see you real soon!

Hey everyone! Hey an earlier video! yay! Thank you so much for your prayers and well wishes video. It's Wednesday night as I type this at midnight so the kids will be able to see it Tomorrow night (thursday about 9:00pm when we return from our day.) Today was a very special and bittersweet day. We had to say goodbye to Cornerstone Christian Academy as this was our last working day with them. I know many of our students made real connections with those kids even in that short time. And we got a lot accomplished as well. We completed all 2,000+ mailers by hand done for them, the youth office painted, their gardens newly mulched, and also got to play with them during their recess. The highlight of the day was a special performance. Our seniors taught their children's choir Uya I Mose and we (all of NewSong) got to sing it all together. Unfortunately, I cant show it here since it would put the children in an unsafe dynamic online. But rest assured you will be able to see it soon.

After the work was done: time to play. We went and got a special tour of the Philly's Baseball stadium. Really fun and very cool as we toured the dugout, field, locker room, and more! Then the group went to our swim club to relax, while the Seniors, Jamie, and I went to.... well that will be a secret. :) But we had a special time to honor and bless our graduates from NewSong.

More will hopefully come tomorrow! We have a long day Thursday and then we leave Friday. So videos and posts will definitely slow down and may stop altogether (especially after Friday morning) But we will see you soon. We love you and thank you!

Greetings from Home

Surprise NewSong!

We have sent you a greeting from home. We miss everyone, hope you're all having fun and know that we are all praying for you.

We look forward to seeing the updates every morning, See you soon.

Tuesday!

Tuesday proved to be another awesome day! We woke up to strong thunderstorms and were a little nervous about our upcoming outdoor work plans. But thankfully, just as we pulled up to our site, the rain has departed! We helped the church and school simultaneously yesterday as we prepped on room in the basement of a church for pain, and built more desks for the kids. The night proved to be a fun night as well as we sang for a retirement complex. Again, the choir sounded great! I'll let the video tell the rest!

PS- this is our last day at the school with the internet. I will be working on a new location to post the video we will make for Wed, but if not, we will definitely keep posting on this site with or without video. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Monday!

What a great day! The kids awoke bright eyed and ready for our first full work day in downtown Philly! The Cornerstone School is such a light in a place that needs it. The students did a great job helping the schools grounds, and playing with the kids. For safety reasons, we couldn't show you a lot of footage of the school children on the internet. But trust me, it was an awesome experience :) We also sang for their chapel in a beautiful church next door, and then sang at a hospice center. This was an incredibly moving experience for us as a choir as many of them had never been to a hospice before. This was also our first FULL program. The kids sounded great, especially our seniors Michael and Katherine as they had instrumental solos!

It was a definite full day. We appreciate your support and prayers. We also appreciated so much the little gifts you sent along with us like the cards and cookies. They are really a huge boost for us! Thanks, and be sure to check again tomorrow for another video!

Sunday!

Hey everyone! Good news! We have video! The school we are working in has a better internet connection. This video is from yesterday documenting our travel, singing at Johnson City, celebrating Jamie's birthday, and arriving in Philly. Whew! Long day! But a good one! If we can continue to use this internet, vids will be available the day after. So you'll see Monday footage tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers!

Videos not working right now

Hey Everyone!

Its Monday morning. As of last night, the internet is experiencing some difficulty and will not load the videos. We are working on it to see if we can try a different way.  We'll keep blogging and if videos wont work, we'll let some of the kids post on here by typing. We'l hopefully have more tonight.

But we have arrived and have had a problem free trip so far! :)

Yes! We Are Excited!

Prepping away!

Don't they sound great. Philly's ears wont know what hit them.

NewSong Mission Tour

The Trinity Youth Choir takes off on their Brother Love Tour this Saturday, June 6th to Philadelphia. Along their way they will be posting to this blog to keep their family and friends informed about how God is directing their trip.
So check back often.