July Programs

We had three programs in the last week and a half–and we have a few upcoming ones that we’d like to alert you to.  We enjoyed having most of June off, but its good to be back in the saddle, singing, praising the Lord, and encouraging others to do the same.

We sang at the Pennsylvania Haiti Relief Sale in New Holland, PA on July 16th. We met some old friends–and made some new ones.  Especially memorable was the family up from North Carolina that was returning for the second year to the sale, and to hear the Garment of Praise in person.  Its exciting to meet other members of God’s family from elsewhere, and recognize that you are already “friends”.  Good News also sang on Friday evening with us, and Stanley Fox shared about Haiti.

On July 24th, several of us had “Elizabethtown College” written on our calendars, but didn’t really know what we were in for (its a good thing Jason keeps all the dates and places straight).  We had a wonderful night, though.  It was the Saturday evening of the “Brethren Alive Conference”.  It is held at the Elizabethtown College, and their meetings take place in the Leffler Chapel–a beautiful hall.  The men enjoyed sharing in such a beautiful setting–to friends–about our awesome God.

All the families went along--and it was fun for the children, since the Brethren Alive provided child care, games, stories, and crafts.

The following evening, July 25th, Sunday night, was to be an outdoor service at Hahnstown United Zion near Ephrata, PA.  Either way, we were prepared for “weather”; would we have high 90s like previous days, or would we face a thunderstorm?  Thank God for the thunderstorm that went through a few hours prior to the service and cleared out the humidity and heat.  What a gorgeous evening for an outdoor program! 

The parking lot was full of chairs--the nearby field was full of cars.

Continue to remember Brian in prayer, as he’s been having some pain in his throat over the last month or so.  He went to see the doctor–possible acid reflux or infection from his wisdom tooth? Hopefully, the problem will be resolved soon for more enjoyable singing for him. The last few programs have went better, but it is definitely still a strain on him.  Please keep lifting him up to the Lord with us.

We have a barbecue with Sunday School Meditations on July 31st, then we head into our August programs:

August 8th, Sunday night– Life Mennonite Fellowship

August 15th, Sunday night– Myerstown Mennonite Church 7:00 pm (an outside service)

August 28th, Saturday– Country Fest in Maryland

Our “big” little helpers

Thanks to our children who are our biggest fans (usually). They get tired of the trips sometimes, but have a fun time with friends they meet and with each other.  They also “help” along the way with some setup, and always help us to be anxious to get home!

Molly (Jason's) reads to the children before the service after practicing with them for some singing later on during the program

Dallas helps us all by sharing his smile with everyone!

All the children would be glad to test the sound system.

All ready for church Sunday morning; Chrissy (Daryl's), Marshall (Brian's), and Jake (Daryl's)

Jake in Wooster square helping direct traffic?

Jake did help out his mother by sleeping through all the programs but one!

Bryce (Brian's) and Guy (Daryl's) digging out CD's from under the bus bed to restock the CD stand.

Ohio Trip

Our first program was in the square in Wooster, Ohio, and we arrived around 5:00 for the program at 7:00pm.  Davy Richards, the host of this event, puts on a “Gospel Sing” with preaching at intermission, every year.  There was also another quartet of guys from Virginia, Higher Ground, that shared the program with us.

Garment of Praise singing in the square

Praying with Higher Ground and Davy Richards prior to the service

 

A lot of community people showed up

Always a treat, pizza is provided for the singers and their families, after the program, by Davy and Irene.  Following the fellowship after the service we headed out to various homes of Chester Christian Fellowship, where we were hosted for the night. Our children are always delighted by the good dose of farm life that they are able to observe in this community.

The following morning we drove down to Berlin, to enjoy some of the shops, and the park for the children. Then we headed over to our next program for the evening at Gospel Light in Dundee, OH.

Gospel Light in Dundee

 This is the home church of our good friends, David Jr. and Rhonda Schlabach, now from Fairview.  They helped arrange for us to stay at Rhonda’s parents house (Since they were gone to Haiti for several weeks, we were able to have their whole house to ourselves). Rhonda’s brother, Keith, along with his wife, Lori, hosted us for dinner following the service, and kept Jason’s family at their house. Some of our daughters stayed at Rhonda’s sister, Marilyn’s house.  We were warmly welcomed and cared for.

The next morning we had a program just a half hour away at Gospel Haven.  Dennis Mullet has hosted us several times over the last 10 years, and its nice to be welcomed back to a familiar place.  Ten years ago when we sang here, the Little Friends (children and siblings of the Garment of Praise) sang along with the GOP.  As Danny said in the program Sunday morning, “You may remember me singing here before, but I was singing soprano back then.”

Our Sunday morning program

Daryl setting up speakers

The "old man" in the quartet setting up

 After a scrumptious lunch, we had to beat it out of there towards our next program.  Cochranton, PA, is our favorite place to hit on the way home from an Ohio trip, since it puts us 3 hours closer to home on a Sunday night! We unfortunately didn’t have the right address to put into our GPS (we put in the pastor’s house), and we also didn’t have the right starting time posted on our website for the program… oops!

We shared our program in Pleasantview’s newly acquired/renovated fellowship hall.  It used to be an elderly care facility, so we had some good jokes about leaving Brian here or that he felt “right at home” since he’s the old man of the quartet.  We had a good service, although Daryl and Brian’s voices were pretty tired out from the weekend.

Pleasantview in Cochranton, PA

"Old people's home"/new fellowship hall

It was great to visit with some of our extended family, Ryan and Shari Zook, (Renita’s brother and family) who attended the program, as well as with longtime friends, Amy and Carl Wengerd (Amy taught at Fairview Christian School about 14 years ago).  We enjoyed a snack/supper, and then headed for home.  We arrived in Reading at 3:30 am on Monday–glad to be home!  Thanks to God for his travelling mercies upon us the whole trip.

Upcoming Ohio Trip

We’d like to update our schedule for our Ohio trip which will begin in a few days:

July 9th–Friday night 7:00 pm

Town square Wooster, Oh

July 10th –Saturday night 6:00 PM

Gospel Light Chapel

Holmes County Rd 168

Dundee ,OH 44624

July 11th–Sunday Morning Service  9:30 AM

Gospel Haven

6871 State Route 241
Millersburg, OH 44654-8839
(330) 674-6123

July 11th– Sunday Evening Service  6:30 pm

Pleasantview Mennonite Church

47 Lower Road
Cochranton, PA 16314-3017  (western PA)
(814) 425-3340

Keystone Boys’ Camp

Whenever the guys need an ego boost, they head out to boys camp.  Talk about enthusiastic responses! These boys are high energy, and loving Jesus and music is near the top of their list.  The Garment of Praise topped off the Keystone Boys Camp’s Tuesday evening chapel, June 29th, with some singing, jokes, and serious challenges.  The boys seemed to enjoy it.  Brian’s oldest son, Bryce, attended camp, as well as some nephews of the Fox brothers.  It was a good, fun night.

Keystone Boys Camp is held at Promised Land Camp--approximately 150 boys attended.

Throwing in some comedy --and Brian's shoes-- among the songs.