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What an evening of inspiration, worship, and fellowship! Five men’s groups from PA; plus a few group members from South Carolina and Virginia came together to make an evening of unforgettable music.

All these men have a love for singing, as well as a desire to worship the Lord. Each group had about ten minutes of song and testimony individually, then after the final group, all the men joined in a mass men’s choir directed by Earl Fox.

The audience filled the Ephrata Business Center, and some came from quite a distance (friends from WV were in attendance). An offering was taken up for Life Ministries, and was MC’ed by Glenn Hoover.

Earl Fox Five–This in not an official name, but here they are–Earl Fox, son, 2 sons-in-law, and Mike Hertzler

The Joyful Men Chorus from Bowmansville Mennonite Church

Unified Quartet–young guys from Lancaster, PA area

4 Ever Won don’t sing together anymore, but got together to sing this evening. Its been a few years that Randy Petersheim has been gone overseas, but Jason Fox, from the Garment of Praise, filled in the baritone part.

Not sure if these guy’s have an official name, but they are known to us at Fairview as ‘Wes Weaver’s Quartet’. Its not a quartet at present, since Wes moved out to ID, but they did a great job anyway.

Brian Fox, tenor from Garment of Praise, filled in some bass on 2 songs. (The bass singing wasn’t as bad as it sounds…)

Garment of Praise sang four songs; “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”, “I’m Free”, “Where His Grace Begins”, and “Gloryland”.

These last two songs were very meaningful, as the Fox brothers, and the rest of us, have sister Diane on our minds. (Diane’s first grandchild, a girl, “Diane”, made her appearance the night before. )

“By the Way”–this quartet was formed when the members went to SMBI together. The members are kind of spread out (one member from South Carolina, one from Virginia, the other two from Pennsylvania), but they sing together every chance they get. They held a program at SMBI the night before, and were greatly enjoyed by the audience at Quartet Fest.

They have a CD available at Gladsongs.com, as well as group member, Peter Byler has an album of self-written songs, “Oh, LORD, Hear!” A very good listen!

“It Is Well”, “We’ll Be There”, and others were sung by the mass men’s choir as a grand finale.

Marcus Fox, previous baritone singer of Garment of Praise, was ordained a minister of Fairview Mennonite Church on October 11, 2009.  Marcus was the deacon since August, 2003.  He joins the ministry team with his father, Jay Fox, and Ted Steinruck, the assistant pastor. God’s blessings to you, Marcus, as you follow His leading!

Garment of Praise, plus a few Fox family members, went up 2 1/2 hours north of Reading to visit Diane Bigger (the oldest Fox sister). Diane was sent home from the hospital the first week of August (see Brian’s post “The Last Ride Home“).  The family has been visiting her as often as possible, but this was the first the Garment of Praise was able to get up there to sing to her. What a memorable concert it was!

Other family on Jeff’s side were there, and everyone enjoyed the program/practice, although many tears shed by all. The guys took requests, sang some songs that they love, fun songs, meaningful songs, songs about heaven.  “Where His Grace Begins”, “Going Home”, and “The First Look” were very touching. Diane’s testimony is shining brightly in these last hours.

All of us were able to witness her love for Jesus, her desire to go on to meet her Saviour, and her trust in God to keep her family in His hands. It was hard to pull away and go home. God be with you, Diane, and your family.

SPECIAL SIDE NOTE: Diane’s daughter, Annette gave birth to a little baby girl that they named Diane on Saturday night. So Grandma Diane was able to hold her first grandchild…which was very special!

Friday morning, September 4th, we headed for Holmes County, OH, with the Garment of Praise for 3 programs. The bus was a little fuller than usual with Marcus and his family joining us to help fill the vacancy from Jason staying home with his wife and new baby.

The travelling was uneventful and we arrived at the Townhouse Bed and Breakfast, where we unpacked and got ready to head over to the auction for the Friday evening program. The guys warmed up a little in the big tent; Brian and Daryl with their usual parts, Marcus returning to baritone, and Danny filling in the bass. It went okay–one amusing part was Brian singing Jason’ bass solo on “Where His Grace Begins” and then jumping back up to tenor for the chorus, dropping down for the bass run, hopping back up to the tenor for the finish of the chorus.  I think we were all grateful to hear Jason sing that one the next time.

Hitting the coffee house late Friday night after the children are in bed.

We walked around Berlin to get breakfast Saturday morning–what a pile of children were on this trip. Made for some fun…and chaotic times!

Homestead Restaurant for a great buffet Saturday morning!

Setting up on Saturday morning for our next program to be on Sunday morning. Jason says, “That’s what you call ‘air bass'”.

Enjoyed the auction for a few hours Saturday afternoon, to bid on a few things, and visit with friends.

Joe and Rhoda Miller, our good friends, always have us over for supper…and the guys have to get in their half-court basketball game! Jason drove out with daughter, Molly, to help sing on Sunday! It was good to see him join the group again.

Now there’s a pretty picture; John Deere and GOP bus! Joe took us on a hay ride around the area for some beautiful views!

Headed for Sharon Conservative Mennonite Church.  We attended Sunday School with the church people, then the guys shared the morning message in song, then we enjoyed a good fellowship meal with their congregation, and some visitors–a lot of our German Baptist friends were there.

Joe and Rhoda came to the last program–their Brianna made good friends with our Chrissy.

Even though Jason was there to sing for most of the program, Marcus filled in Danny’s part for some of the program, and all five of them sang “One Fine Day” for a grand finale.

Photo’s of our Strasburg Mennonite Church program…this was a good program…and was nice to be near home.

This is a continuation of the Indian trip…

We went north to Lamb of God on Sunday Morning.  The children went to Sunday School while the guys set up and practiced a little.  Family friend, Justin Stoltzfus, dropped in for the program from over in Goshen. The church also fed us a wonderful lunch before we headed home.

The road home was uneventful.  Brian got to try out his “shroom burger” and put in his solid 45 minutes of driving.  We arrived home around midnight.  Thank God for safe travels and a good tour!

This is a continuation of the Indiana trip…

We got to Terry Myers house around 3:00 and he fed us the biggest, baddest burgers (definitely hard to sing on).  It was nice to see their house almost finished and visit with our friends.  Terry had just been to our church last October for meetings and it was good to catch up with them again.

Then it was on to the 3rd program of the tour, Cuba Mennonite Church, for a full auditorium and reconecting with old friends.