Daryl Petersheim family welcomed its newest member on Thursday, October 21, 2010. Darien Chase weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz and 22 inches long. They are thanking God for a healthy boy and a timely delivery. All the family is enjoying him, and Renita and baby Darien are doing well. He joins siblings Whitney (10), Guy (8), Chrissy (5), and Jacob (4).
The secret is unleashed–who the true slackers are on the bus!
Its been a busy last three months, but you couldn’t tell that by the amount of website activity, could you? Its about time for some updates; to let you know where we’ve been singing, what we’ve been doing, and to thank you for remembering us as a quartet in your prayers. We appreciate it when we’re on the road for safety, and while we’re singing, that God would encourage the church.
In August, we had a Sunday morning program at Life Mennonite Fellowship, and an evening service at Myerstown Mennonite Church. The latter was supposed to be an outdoor “park” singing, but since it was raining, we sang indoors, and had a good evening anyway. At the end of August, like we do every other year, the guys sang several times throughout the day at Country Fest, down in Accident, Maryland. The men did a one day trip down and back, so the families didn’t go along this time.
Also in August–kind of unrelated to the Garment of Praise, but, yet, it affects us so much– Fairview Mennonite Church had a deacon ordination. Several years ago, Marcus Fox was ordained to this position, but when we ordained a new minister last fall, Marcus was called and ordained as pastor, thus creating a need for a new deacon. On August 22nd, the church received nominations, and Jason Fox’s name was one of the men nominated. One week later, Jason did receive the call to become our deacon, and was ordained to this position. Will this create changes within the quartet? Only God knows, but as for now, we are “going on with the song”, joyfully, and with as much enthusiasm as ever. Jason loves to sing, and continues on as our contact person, also.
On the first day of September, the quartet had the exciting, new privilege of singing at the Blue Mountain Gospel Music Festival in Lebanon, PA. This used to be in Kempton, PA, and held fond memories for the “older” members of the quartet. This was where they watched their favorite Southern Gospel groups sing when they were teenagers. Garden Spot Promotions puts on the 5-day event, and we were humbled by the opportunity to participate in the Wednesday evening concert with the Allen family, the Down East Boys, and the Greenes. Danny Jones, of the Singing News magazine, was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
The rest of September we had a few programs–Fairmount Homes Auction and Word of Life Mennonite Church in Lititz, PA. We had a program scheduled at Sonlight Christian Fellowship for the 18th, but rescheduled that for October 3rd.
Also in September, the Brian Fox family and Daryl Petersheim and his wife, Renita, visited the National Quartet Convention in Louisville, KY. They didn’t have any part in the convention, but enjoyed the other groups’ singing and ministry during each evening concert and the daytime showcases. It was special to hear the Kingdom Heirs sing “The Empty Tomb Says It All”, the song Daryl penned and won the 2008 songwriters contest with.
Our October singings are not finished yet–it’s been a busy month already! October 2nd, we sang at the kick-off night for the Manheim Farm Show. What an encouragement to see a town’s farm show start out with a Gospel concert! The next Sunday night we took the bus to an evening program, Sonlight Christian Fellowship, out near Hanover, PA. Thankfully, this time we remembered the sound system! The following Saturday and Sunday, we also had programs. Saturday night was a local gospel sing-along in Fleetwood, PA, only a few miles from Daryl’s home.
Also performing that day were the Revival Rivers (Martin and Jen McPherson) and the Stony Mountain Gang. It was a very diverse group sharing Christ; praise and worship music, bluegrass, and a cappella. A wonderful fellowship meal was provided half-way through the program.
Sunday evening we boarded the bus again–this time to Chambersburg, PA, to the Shanks Church of the Brethren. Thanks to the hosts for the fun evening of singing, the snack afterwards, and the food they sent home with us!
Continue to remember us in prayer as we finish out the year of 2010. We have two banquets/concerts still coming up in October, the 26th and the 30th. We’d love to have you join us. The guys also squeezed in a recording date in October. Recording is coming along slow, but sure. We have no projected date for completion yet.
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.
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!
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
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! 🙂
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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!
