We woke up early on our last day in Vermont.  At 6:00, people from the children's ministry of the Essex Alliance Church arrived at the building where we were staying so that they could set up for their Sunday morning services.  Consequently, we had to pack up and move out very quickly.  I believe the old TV show MASH referred to this as bugging out.  Anyway, we were out quickly, and this meant we were at our final venue of the tour, Community Bible Church, about two hours early.

    This was not a huge inconvenience.  Tyler's parents are friends with the pastor at CBC, so they talked together for a while, the team had plenty of set up and warm up time, as well as time for group picture taking.

    When the show finally began, we were all very impressed with the children's service.  It was well organized, active, and very well attended.  We had to cut a couple routines, which was disappointing, but we did 40 minutes of excellent work.  A lot of kids took some risks anf tried new tricks that they nailed!  joey did an excellent solo routine that brought the house down.  We ended with "Prodigal Juggler", and then the leaders followed up with an invitation.  Eight kids came forward for prayer.  This made the whole trip worthwhile.

    On the way back to Maine, we stopped at House of Tang Chinese restaurant in Montperier for a buffet lunch.  the team had gone above and beyond with their fund raising, and we had plenty left over for this treat.

    I estimate that I've led about 20 of these middle school ministry trips over the years, and I have never experienced one that was truly free from any  complications:  there were no personality conflicts, financial strains, vehicle breakdowns, late arrivals, anything.It was perfectly smooth, right down to unpacking the vans when we returned to school.  Now I can relax, bring my props home, and get ready for the summer.