Our final full day of tour was a great one!  We left Pensacola this morning and took a five hour bus drive to Jackson, Mississippi.  We had the great privilege of having a master class with Dr. James Meaders from Mississippi College.  Dr. Meaders led our choir through a time of vocal warm-ups and worked on several of our songs.  He was amazingly talented and our students responded well.

Tonight we gave our final concert at Briar Hill Baptist Church just outside Jackson.  Each time our students sing they do better and better.  Once we arrived at our hotel, we had our annual Tour Pageant, which featured several great acts.  The winning act was “Erasing Your Tivo.”

We will leave Jackson about 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and head back to Keller.  We should arrive at FBC Keller by 5:00 p.m., depending upon DFW traffic.

We left our hotel in Louisiana early this morning and headed to Pensacola, Florida. We arrived at the beach around 11:30 a.m. and spend the entire day swimming in the water, enjoying the sun and beach, and having a blast together. The weather was absolutely amazing and the water was very cool, although filled with too many jellyfish.

We wrapped up at the beach and headed back to the hotel about 5:00 p.m. this evening. Our underclassmen stayed at the hotel and ordered in pizza, while our seniors began a new tradition by having a special dinner at Olive Garden. The entire day was a great model of Christian fellowship and love for each other.

Tomorrow we leave for Jackson, Mississippi where will visit the campus of Mississippi College and have our last concert at Briar Hill Baptist Church.

Please continue to pray for our safety as we travel. Pray that all of us will “in humility count others more significant than ourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

We worked hard today!! Our students did an outstanding job today serving the Lord by serving others. I was amazed at the level of hard work, cooperation, and cheerful service our students exhibited today. We had four teams go out this morning and afternoon to do the following projects:

• Team 1: Walked throughout several neighborhoods hanging bags with informational material about the Bridge Church and ministry opportunities.  After lunch this group went to the local Crisis Pregnancy Center and did some much needed cleaning and organizational work.
• Team 2: This group built a front porch and handicap accesible ramp for a family who are still living in the FEMA trailer following Hurricana Katrina.
• Team 3: Replaced the entire flooring of a home which was rotting and was dangerous to the inhabitants.
• Team 4: Scrapped, primed, and painted an entire house for a family of five.

As you can see from the pictures below, everyone had a great time serving.  We leave early tomorrow morning to head to Pensacola, Florida for a day at the beach.  Pray for our safety as we travel.

Today our ensembles did a fantastic job in leading worship through music and scripture.  This morning we sang in the 9:15 and 10:30 a.m. services at Bedico Baptist Church in Covington, Louisiana.  Tonight we presented our full concert at First Baptist Church Ponchatoula.  The choir, ensemble, and handbell choir all did a wonderful job and represented our Lord and our church wonderfully.  We enjoyed an afternoon relaxing at the hotel and are looking forward to a full day of mission work and then a block party tomorrow night.

Continue to pray for our safety and that God will use us for his glory.

We had a fantastic day today in New Orleans! We left our hotels this morning and headed to New Orleans to the Aquarium of the Americas. This amazing collection of animals reminded us all of God’s creativity and diversity in creation. After that, we walked down to the French Quarter and experienced true Louisiana cuisine (which made the director very happy!).

We returned to the hotel in the afternoon (crossing the longest and perhaps bumpiest bridge in the world) and changed into our Student Music t-shirts and went back into New Orleans to sing the National Anthem at a New Orleans Zephyrs baseball game. The kids did a fantastic job and we had a blast cheering on this Triple-A baseball team.

After the game, we returned home to the hotel, had devotions with our sponsor family groups, and headed to bed. Tomorrow we are singing at Bedico Baptist Church in two services in the morning and at FBC Ponchatoula in the evening, where we will present our full concert for the first time on tour.

Pray that God is glorified in our music, as we join the worship that is continually going in heaven at this very moment.

After a long day of driving through Texas and Louisiana, we have finally arrived in Covington, Louisiana.  We had a lot of fun throughout the day with a stop for lunch in Shreveport and dinner at McAlister’s Deli in Covington.  Everyone is in bed and getting some much needed rest before a big day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are traveling to New Orleans and going to the Aquarium of the Americas and then we are eating lunch at Jackson Square in the French Quarter.  Tomorrow night we are singing the National Anthem at a New Orleans Zephyrs’ baseball game.  It should be a fantastic day!

Continue to pray that God will be glorified in our lives, for our safety, our godly witness, and a spirit of unity and cooperation among the members of our group.  Below are some pictures from today’s travel.

  Worship Directives

Narrator: Sarah Cranford
Reader 1: Austin Leone
Reader 2: Anna Windle
Reader 3: Tres Nelson

 The Shepherd Lamb

Narrator: Grace Goble
Reader 1: Baileigh Poston
Reader 2: Chelsea Dean
Reader 3: Garrett Simon
Reader 4: Brittany Deisher
Reader 5: Kyle Goppfarth
Reader 6: Megan King

 Eternal Praise

Reader 1: Joy Parker
Reader 2: Ben Thomas
Reader 3: Ashley Stevenson
Reader 4: Melanie Freer
Reader 5: Stuart Miller
Reader 6: Shelby Huber
Reader 7: Nikkie Shackelford

Michal Nelson
Deanna Burgos
Shelby Huber
Cathrine Dean
Jennifer Burtoft

Patty Nelson
Baileigh Poston
Nikki Shackelford
Hilary Davis
Haidyn Pyfer

Yolanda Cranford
Brianna Sullivan
Hope Olson
Jessica Norman
Sarah Cranford

Shelly Durrwachter
Rachel Nichols
Brittany Deisher
Courtney Lescovensky
Kimberly Dicken

Paula Olson
Julie Durrwachter
Ansley Milligan
Ashley Stevenson
Melanie Freer

Susan Meadows
Chelsea Dean
Megan King
Sarah O’Neal
Catherine Nolen

Lindsey Toledo
Lauren Meadows
Joy Parker
Anna Windle
Grace Goble

Matt Perkinson
Garrett Goble
Kyle Gopffarth
Zach Russell
David Stone

Tony Richmond
Jonathan Dedman
Jay Parker
Tres Nelson
Nick Sullivan

Kevin Stevenson
Stephen Cain
David Herb
Stuart Miller
Garrett Russell

David Toledo
Jon Kingsley
Jordan Kingsley
Austin Leone
Garrett Simon

David Toledo
Stewart Kelly
Cody Plumlee
Ben Thomas
Travis Gilbert

David Toledo
Lindsey Toledo

Yolanda Cranford
Shelly Durrwachter

Susan Meadows
Paula Olson

Michal Nelson
Patty Nelson

Matt Perkinson
Tony Richmond
Kevin Stevenson

This past Sunday our Chapel Choir met at Keller Town Center to take some promotional pictures for our upcoming Raise Up the Crown Chapel Tour to Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi.  Even though it was the hottest day we have had all year long, we had a great time and took some fantastic pictures.  After spending about 30 minutes taking pictures, we walked down to Carvel to have some much-needed ice cream!  Check out the pictures or below.