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.

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 motel

Their 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.

Daryl recording down in the basement of his house.

Daryl, Renita, and children decided to lay down a track of them singing their “family” songs that they’ve sung at a few programs.  When “God makes a yot of a yitto” (instead of a “lot of a little”), you’ve got to preserve that!

Whitney listening back to "Father to Me".

This singer, Jake, (3) is the one who sings the last line, "God makes a yot of a yittle".

The Stony Mountain Gang

Berks County and WEEU listeners should be familiar with Eastside Dave Kline.

Christian Leinbach, county commisioner; along with his group

Garment 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.

Oley Valley Mennonite Church on Sunday morning

This church holds some fond memories for the Petersheim brothers–their dad grew up here.  Their grandparents dropped in for the service, along with Dan and Daryl’s parents, Willis and Lydia.

Daryl and Danny's grandparents, Elmer and Ruth Petersheim

Also, Daryl and Renita’s neighbor, Rod Burkert and friend came over to Oley to attend the service.

Rod Burkert and Nancy--the Petersheim children's favorite neighbors

Chrissy, Daryl’s second daughter, sleeping; always a good activity on the bus, since we always run short of sleep at the end of the trip!

Tamara, Brian’s third daughter, listening to music or stories on MP3 player.

This is Jason’s usual spot–giving road directions and keeping the driver on course!

Jason’s newest addition; Dallas, at 4 1/2 months.

Daryl drove on the way there; Jason on the return home.

The guys sang to a full house at Upton. The program was planned by John Eberly, and we used Upton’s building for the event.  There were people from all different churches represented there. The building was full enough, that the wives and children gave up their bench to others coming. The children stayed in the basement, played school, and read books. (I think this time they were happier doing that than listening to their dads again!)

Tamara (Brian’s) “teaching” her class of unruly brothers and friends.

David Gipe’s, from Ohio, came in for the weekend and the program.  We enjoyed visiting with them when we went over to John’s house for a snack following the program. Our program and extended visit had us leaving the area at 11:00 pm. We reached our homes around 1:30-2:00 am.

We thank God for a nice time of ministry, fellowshipping with friends, and safety on the road.

The program was at Metzler’s Mennonite near Ephrata, PA. It was a nice group of new and familiar faces; Ryan of Ryan and friends MC’ed the program.

Brian’s whole family, including his oldest daughters (Andrea and Carissa), were along.

Wives and daughters playing Sequence.

Guys had fun playing dice

Shane and Marshall cheese for a picture.

We left at 6:30 am from the church parking lot.  The trip was a little foggy, and some of the children continued sleeping for the 2 hour ride there.

Stony Run Mission Church had Sunday School first, then Garment of Praise had the worship service.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy the service, with hearty “Amen”s and hand-clapping! That helps feed singers early on a Sunday morning! We enjoyed visiting with the congregation, and their pastor, Nick Smith, his wife, and new little baby boy. Nick, and his cousin, Jim Bob, had picked up some GOP music at Weaver’s Store, then had come to a Transport for Christ Banquet 2 years ago. It was good to get to their church for the long-awaited program.

The afternoon was spent at a park nearby where the children could run and play in the beautiful sunshine that day.

The evening service was at Crossroads Mennonite Church, just a few miles up the road.  It was good to reconnect with friends from there, and nearby churches. Daryl was able to sing through the whole program, but his voice was almost gone when they finished.  Thank God for always giving strength when it’s needed!

It was a good day in all. A milestone was kind of reached; the first program after the Fox’s sister, Diane, had graduated to Heaven.  Our hearts pull more towards our heavenly home, and “Wish You Were Here” just seemed a little dearer, as well as “The First Look” and “Going Home”.  It was good to have Jeff, Diane’s husband, and Brandon, her son, at our program Sunday night.  Please continue to keep them all in your prayers.

Stony Run Mission Church

Pastor Nick with Jason and a little friend

Brooklyn, Jason's daughter, gets in on the action up on the stage after the program

Whitney (Daryl's) is learning to play the piano, so she enjoyed practicing a little while the guys cleaned up.

Two singing mobiles that are past their prime!