On Veteran’s Day weekend this year, we went to Presque Isle, in the northernmost part of Maine, for two shows at churches in that city. Presque Isle is the town nearest to the camp I direct in the summer, so we knew a lot of the people who came out to the two services, and we have ongoing relationships with the two sponsoring churches. Both have pledged their financial and prayer support for next year’s trip to Paraguay.
Our trip up north on Saturday went very quickly, although the clock said it still took the regular 5 ½ hours. The sky was clear, the sun was bright, and the traffic was minimal. We arrived at the house of our host and hostess at 3:00 and had a couple hours to get to know Bob and Amber, the interim pastor at State Street Baptist Church and retired missionaries to Irian Jaya after 31 years of service there. They told us ‘war stories’ of living in this island nation, and the time flew.
We headed to our evening gig at Bethany Baptist Church, pastored by our longtime friend, Jim Ackerson. They were hosting a youth night at which we would do a 45 minute show. A total of 42 teens came out, and with the adult chaperones and some counselors from camp who just came out to catch up with us, there were about 60 people present. Rose was pleased to spend time with Sarah and Sydney, two friends of hers (and identical twin sisters) from her cabin group at camp. They were inseparable all evening.
Our show that night went very well. I opened with “Dry Bones Dance”, my glow in the dark diabolo routine in which I wear a glowing skeleton suit. I’ve only done this routine a handful of times – probably less than 10 – and Saturday’s was the best time yet. I built the first half of the show around “Do Something Now”, which was also the best it has ever been, due in large part to the overhaul Sue gave the props, making them much more professional looking. The second half was built around, “Unless the Lord Builds the House”, and I challenged the teens to filter out the influences in their lives that could cause confusion as to where the lord is leading them. Many of the teens clearly were taking in and praying about what was said, and we thank God for using us at this church that has been so special to us all these years.
After prying Rose away from the twins, we headed back to our host family’s house to get some sleep so we could do a service at State Street Baptist the next day. More on that gig in a later blog.