Wednesday, Day 6, was work day at Lighthouse Ministries. We arrived there around 9:00 a.m. We helped with cleaning tables, chairs, and floors in the dining area, picked up trash all around the property, helped get their sound and media hooked up for when they start church in a couple of weeks. Then as the people from the streets were entering the dining hall to eat, Four12 sang a few songs. The kids did great! After they sang, we prayed and then they were served lunch. They had already had people there to serve, so we packed up and headed back to church to eat our lunch. After lunch, we had time to rest a little, then we started to pack everything up. Everyone had to get showers because the ARK didn't have shower facilities. Our next time to get showers was going to be 30 hours later! Before we arrived at the ARK, we stopped to eat supper. We had Chick-Fil-A, Panera Bread, and Culvers. I've never heard of Culvers, but we tried it and it was really good. We also had another guest join us for the rest of the trip. Our pastor, Lee Waller, flew into Lexington to join us at the ARK and for the rest of the trip. Also, his wife, Tana, and their child, Caleb, didn't know he was coming. So, Andrea and Angela went to go pick up Lee from the airport and met us at the Culvers restaurant. Lee walked behind Tana and surprised her and Caleb. They were glad to see him. We were all glad to see him. After supper, we drove about 30 minutes and arrived at the ARK. We loaded on one of their buses that took us to the ARK. After bringing all of our overnight stuff to the decks we were sleeping on, they took us on a private tour. We had the entire ARK to ourselves. They gave us water, snacks, did a little game of charades, tried to show a movie, but it didn't work. It was fine though, because we were tired. But, we did sing a couple of songs to the staff before going to bed. The sleeping arrangements were: The boys were on deck three and the girls were on deck 2. Chaperones were the only ones to have air mattresses. The students had to sleep on the floor. We couldn't have cots. It was kinda roughing it, but how many chances do you get to sleep on the ARK?! Thursday, Day 7, started off with waking up, getting ready (remind you that there were no shower facilities, only bathrooms), packing everything back up to take back to the bus. After loading everything back on the bus, we went to their restaurant where they had breakfast ready for us. After breakfast, they took us on a private tour in the zoo where we got up close to a lot of the animals. After the zoo tour, our zip lining started. We had 18 of us go at 10:00 a.m. and another group of 10 went at 1:00 p.m. As the 1st group went, the rest of enjoyed the day in the ARK, looking at what we didn't get to see last night, including the gift shop. The 2nd group went zip lining at 1:00 p.m. After the 2nd group was done zip lining, we took a couple of group pictures in front of the ARK, then started home at 4:00 p.m. We arrived at our hotel just outside of Chattanooga, TN around 10:00 last night. The ARK experience was really a great experience and it is recommended for everyone to see it at least once. The overnight experience was really worth it and I HIGHLY recommend it for student groups. Friday, Day 8, (this morning), consists of traveling and arriving at DSBC around 3:00 or 3:30. This has been a great trip with some great kids and adults! Four12 will be singing at DSBC this Sunday, April 7 during the morning service. They will also present their whole program on Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. Thanks everyone for your prayers and I can't wait until next time! Brian
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Tuesday Day 5 was a sleep-in day. They didn’t have to get up until 8:00 a.m. We had someone go and wash all three of our Four12 t-shirts that morning while the students were waking up and getting ready for the day. (Lane says Hi)
Our first place was the Lexington Rescue Mission. We were there from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. It is a small house that feeds the homeless. The room is limited in space so there are two rooms that people come in to be fed. Our students got to sing a couple of songs in the hallway that divides the two rooms. After we sang, we did some work in and outside of the house. We helped washed the walls, and served the meal to the people. We also worked outside cleaning the side yards and backyard. We also pulled weeds and turned the dirt in the flower beds. After we did that, we went back to the bus and ate our sacked lunches we fixed earlier. Our second place was the Morning Pointe Senior Living Center in Lexington. The people there were so nice and appreciative of us coming. We not only sang our songs, but sang some hymns with them, which they enjoyed. After that, we went back to the church. Our third place was the Hope Center. The place we actually served was the cafeteria across from the Hope Center. When we were able to sing, there was this one guy named, Crest, who really enjoyed us singing. After we sang, Crest spoke to us giving some words of encouragement. After we got done at the Hope Center, we stopped at a place that had several restaurants to choose from. We ate supper, went back to the church, had group devotion and got ready for bed. We did have another student go down with sickness, but they seem to be doing better now. All of this was yesterday. I’m a little behind in getting this out. I hope to put today’s event’s out tonight or in the morning. We’ll be at the ARK tonight and all day tomorrow so I’m not promising anything. The students and chaperones have done great! Thanks for your prayers. Brian Monday Day 4 started off by going to the Lighthouse Ministries in downtown Lexington. This is a shelter who only feeds the homeless at lunch and dinner time each day. We helped cleaned the tables, cleaned chairs, mopped floors, wrapped pastries, assemble chair racks, painted, and serve the lunch meal to about 100 people who came off the street. This place was founded about 19 years ago. We finished around 1:30 and headed back to Immanuel Baptist Church to rest.
We left Immanuel around 4:45 p.m. to go to Isaiah House in Chaplin, KY. It was about an hour drive. This is a drug and alcohol recovery treatment for men. I’m guessing there were about 50 guys there. We started our program around 7:00 p.m. Remember the sound issue from yesterday? Well, it happened again. It went off before we started during sound check. Then 2 more times during the program. We decided to sing the rest of the way without sound and the kids did great! We’ve narrowed it down to the problem being with the sound board. I also got to see Kasey Hollingsworth and her husband, Justin, who drove an hour and a half from Indiana. Kasey was in the 10th grade when we started a youth choir, Know Mercy, at Union Valley Baptist Church, Beebe, AR. She was one of the first members and went on the first 2 choir trips (2011 and 2012) before graduating high school. It was great seeing them! After we finished, the Isaiah House bought pizza for everyone. Thank you Isaiah House! We went back to the church, had group devotion, and went to bed. Right now, it’s sleep in day. The students don’t have to get up until 8:00 a.m. this morning. We don’t have to be at our first place until 10:45 this morning. Today, we go to Lexington Rescue Mission, Morning Pointe Senior Living, and Hope Center. Thanks for your prayers! Brian |
Four12 Itinerary 2019
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