Here are two great evening concerts and banquets coming up that Garment of Praise will be singing at. We hope you can come and support at least one of these two ministries.
Oct. 26 Tuesday is the Living Hope International Ministries Banquet and Singspiration at Shady Maple Banquet Facilities in Blue Ball, PA –5:30 pm. Reservations required. Meal costs are covered by individuals and businesses; a love offering will be received for the work of the ministry in Ghana, Africa –evangelism, caring for orphans, school projects, medical care, and church planting. For reservations or for more information contact Daniel Glick at 717-768-8034. Singspiration by Good News and Garment of Praise. Oct. 30 Saturday is a Carlisle Truck Stop Chaplain Ministry Benefit Banquet/Concert at Chambersburg Church of the Brethren – 6:00 p.m. Full course Roast Beef & Ham Loaf dinner with homemade rolls and pies. Banquet Tickets are $10.00. Ticket Deadline is October 23. For tickets call, 717-328-2971 or 717-369-2361. Evening Concert with Cumberland Valley Quartet and Garment of Praise Quartet.
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)
We loaded up the trusty bus at 7:00 am Friday morning, July 9th, and headed for Ohio. That week had really been a scorcher for temperature in Pennsylvania with 102 degrees one day, and 100 two other days, so we were dreading the heat. We were thinking that the bus air conditioning units might not be able to keep up. We put up our window reflectors and started cooling down the bus early. It worked–and the sun also didn’t show much of its face–so we stayed cool for the entire trip.
…maybe a little too cold…
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
Higher Ground consists of brothers, Rodney and Jared Heatwole, Joe, and Timmy (sorry–no last names available). Rodney and Jared’s wives accompanied them on the trip and joined them on their last song “Home Free”.
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 programDaryl setting up speakersThe "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.
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.
The previous night, the men also sang and shared a program–but to a much more mature audience–at Phoebe Berks Village (a retirement community). The crowd there always enjoys the program also.
We were happy to participate in the singing after Gospel Express’ auction on Saturday, April 24th. There were several groups that sang a few songs, Living Hope International shared a presentation about their ministry, the Dave Miller family shared a skit, and Garment of Praise sang two segments to make up a wonderful evening of worship. It was a chilly evening to be in the tent, but a great crowd still showed up to be blessed, and to bless Gospel Express in return!
The Dwayne Mullet family shared their songs and testimony of God's faithfulness through the recent heart transplant of their 16 year old son, and other health issues. Nelson and his family sang several songs, and brought up Rendell and Annie's children to sing two numbers.The Penner family has recently joined up with the Gospel Express for some singing dates and ministry in churches and prisons. They are from Arborg, ONT, Canada.Dave Miller and his family performed the "Red Tie Resort"--an excellent message about the requirement of Jesus' blood to enter Heaven.Garment of Praise shared twice in the program.
We are very happy to welcome Danny back to the group. He returned from Elnora Bible Institue in Indiana on April 11th. This was his first program back with the group after 7 weeks off. Thanks to Marcus Fox for filling the position during that time!
While Danny Petersheim is away at BMA Bible School for 6 weeks, Marcus Fox is back to fill the baritone position. The Garment of Praise had a few warm-ups with him, but he fit right back in well with the group. Those old hymns they do on the fly work out pretty good with Marcus there.
We had quite a number of programs and banquets scheduled for over Danny’s absence, so Marcus will be filling in a total of 6 programs.
Marcus sings with his brothers and brother-in-law at Life Ministries Banquet.
Pleasantview Retirement Community–where the old folks enjoy the music, and others come in from the outside to hear the program also. Afterwards a group of 4 brothers serenaded us, a couple with Brian playing piano, and a number without.
These brothers attended the Pleasantview program, and sang to us afterward.
It’s also nice to have the extra children along for Brian’s and Daryl’s to play with.
Chrissy (Daryl's) with Shaina (Marcus' youngest)Brooklyn (Jason's) with Sheri (Marcus')
Sweetheart Banquet at Yoder’s Banquet Facilities–all the ladies were privileged to go along.
Life Ministries Banquet at Shady Maple Banquet Facilities–Ryan came along with his dad, Marcus, on this one.
Ryan had the treat of coming along with his dad to fill our table of eight.
Programs ahead with Marcus before Danny returns: Mohrsville Church of the Brethren on March 20, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Derry Mennonite Church in Danville, Pa on March 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Camp Andrews Banquet at Yoder’s Banquet Facilities on March 23, 2010 at 6:15 pm (if interested in attending, reserve a spot)
Also, coming up is the Fairview Christian School alumni concert, led by Brian Fox and held at Bethany Grace Fellowship, across from Terre Hill Mennonite High School, on March 28, 2010, at 7:00 pm.
Danny returns April 9, 2010, and will be singing with the quartet at the April 11th program at Blue Ball at 7:00 pm.
Brian Fox, as the choir director of Fairview Christian School chorus for the last 15 years, is calling for all alumni to join in a FCS reunion concert. They have been blessed over the years with many good times singing, as they prepared for Christmas programs, Spring programs, and Conventions. Their goal is to get together as many alumni as they can to sing some of the old songs.
Alumni: There will be three rehearsals:
March 14, Sunday afternoon 3:00-5:00 pm at Fairview Christian School
March 25, Thursday evening 7:00-9:00 pm at Fairview Christian School
March 28, Sunday afternoon 3:00-5:00 pm at Grace Bethany Fellowship
(finger foods will follow the practice, prior to the program the same evening)
Please bring a 3-ring binder to put printed music into. Music will be handed out at each practice.
Everyone: You are invited to come and enjoy as they share old video footage and also recreate those groups in the present. The concert will be on Sunday, March 28, 2010, 7:00 pm, at Grace Bethany Fellowship, located across from Terre Hill Mennonite High School.
The guys rented a 15 passenger van and headed out towards South Carolina on Tuesday evening. SNOW is the word that resonates in people’s mind on the East Coast when we think of Tuesday and Wednesday, February 9 and 10. Well, snow characterized the Garment of Praise’s trip down to the prison ministry in SC.
They had to drive through the snow for the first few hours, until they crossed the Maryland line. This added some time to their travels–it took a total of about 14 hours down to the church where they were headed. They tried catching some sleep on the trip, ate some breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and arrived mid-morning.
The church where orientation and worship took place.
Gospel Express Ministries is in charge of this prison ministry, and does a tremendous job of planning and organizing the five days. There are 28 prisons in SC, and this mult-prison crusade reaches 24 of them. Each group of volunteers stays at the prison for day time interaction and meals for the entire crusade. The singing groups and preachers minister in a different prison each night.
It was a new and interesting experience for the guys. They met with all the other volunteers for orientation on the first morning. There were about 500 people from all over the United States–a lot of them from Lancaster County. They worshipped together, had workshops, and listened to one of the chaplains share about “Preparing our Vessels”. When the orientation and supper was over, each group, as well as the volunteers headed out to the area where they would be ministering for the next 4 days.
Thusday morning, Jason and Danny went into one of the prisons with a basketball team, to play with the inmates and interract with them. That evening the group sang and ministered at Turbeville. Bro. Jay Fox, Brian and Jason’s dad, preached.
The following morning, Daryl and Brian went along to another prison to watch the guys play basketball, but a stabbing within the prison caused “lock-down”. All the volunteers had to get out immediately, and this “lock-down” cancelled the Garment of Praise’s program for Sunday morning.
That evening, snow began to fall in the south! Most of the prisons closed because of the snow, and the volunteers could not go in. The programs in the evenings also were cancelled. This area in South Carolina had not seen snow since 2000, so it was disappointing to have snow hinder their ministry over this weekend!
The cafe across the street from their motelTheir wonderful accomodations in SC
Friday night, because they couldn’t sing in the prisons, the groups assembled to worship together and have a program. Several of the singing groups shared that night. The next day, they found a gym to play in, get off some energy, and waste a little time.
It was a beautiful old building where the groups assembled for worship.
Saturday morning, because of not being able to get in, 2 bus-loads of volunteers headed home. A few prisons opened up for programs on Sunday morning, so Garment of Praise was allowed in to give a program where another group had left.
The Sunday morning program was finished at 9:00 am, and the men were on the road home by 10:00. Because the roads were clear, the drive home was much quicker than the road down.
Pray for the inmates who made first-time decisions and recommitments to the Lord. Also, thank you for your prayers for safety on the roads to and from South Carolina.
A couple of gentlemen from our area organized a Best of Berks Bluegrass Haiti Benefit Sing which we participated in. Christian Leinbach, our county commisioner, was in charge of it; Wendell Yoder, Daryl’s former boss, ran the sound system (his group will be singing on a subsequent night). This was to be a two-day affair at the Schulkill Valley Bible Chapel with Pastor Steve hosting the event. The second night was postponed till February 19th or 26th due to inclement weather.
The Stony Mountain GangBerks County and WEEU listeners should be familiar with Eastside Dave Kline.Christian Leinbach, county commisioner; along with his groupGarment of Praise--the only a cappella group
Schulkill Valley Bible Chapel has a mission down in Haiti, about 120 miles from Port-au-Prince. There is a clinic there, as well as their sister church. The city, especially the clinic, was swamped within days of the earthquake. The Haiti Benefit Sing will send all their proceeds to this mission. The concert charged $5 per person, and they also had donation baskets.
It was wonderful to participate in something that was very new and different than usual. Since it was in Northern Berks County, it was a new area for the Garment of Praise. They took a lot of requests for the old hymns, and also shared their usual numbers. It was not specifically a “Christian” event, so it was also our privilege to present the gospel.
