Monday morning found the ensemble and company back at Faith Mennonite Church to begin our journey toward Cross Hill, SC. Before departure, various members took walks, shot a few hoops, tidied the bus, checked the facilities for our belongings, or engaged in other preparatory activities.
We loaded the bus relatively on schedule, and the local pastor prayed a blessing over our group. Joe, our dependable bus driver, navigated us out of the parking lot and onto the road. We had a fairly uneventful travel day, with generous time for our lunch stop.
Trenton Miller shared a devotional time with us, drawing some of his thoughts from our song, “A Prayer of Compassion.” He encouraged us to think through the lyrics and ask God to grow us in compassion for others.
What do people do on the bus for hours? Some preferred activities:
- Talking: This often takes the form of chatting, discussing, or friendly ribbing.
- Reading: Some members bring novels, poetry, or textbooks to occupy their minds. (At least two, if not more, brought more books than they can realistically read through the duration of the tour, despite being aware of the lack of logic this implies.)
- Music review: Many of us recognize our need to brush up on lyrics and rhythms, as we don’t see our music during our concerts.
- Laughing : (Perhaps someone should take it upon themselves to observe and count the minutes between laughter. This writer approximates the number to be quite small.)
- Sleeping: This activity works better if not combined with the one prior. Some bus mates have extreme sleeping skills and can gain respite despite the general din.
- Embroidery: Several members are engaged in the art of handicraft and have entered the (fictional) Royal Association of Embroidery. Honorary assistants help with the separation of embroidery floss to support this art.
- Balloon blowing: A few foolhardy members undertook to inflate Twist and Shape balloons with their mouths. (Said balloons are designed to be inflated with pumps.) After much debate on the method of inflation most likely to be successful, they proceeded amid pain and agony, nearly (hyperbolically) blowing up themselves. Their endeavors were rewarded with a few balloons and sore cheeks. (Some members report still experiencing soreness the following day.) Photographic evidence of this feat exists, but has been redacted from this publication.
- Snacking: Singing and touring require much fuel.
- Games: You may find people playing rook, solving Rubik’s cubes, etc.
Arriving at Cross Hill Mennonite Church, shortly before 4 PM, we disembarked and dispersed until stage rehearsal at 4. While we rehearsed music and standing arrangements, we experienced the surprise of losing electricity in the building. Despite this hiccup, we moved forward with rehearsal and enjoyed a special cohesion while singing “Indodana” in the dark.
Our supper hosts fed us a delicious meal, notwithstanding the electricity outage. As we prepared for the upcoming concert, suddenly the power resumed, much to our appreciation!
For our prep time, Johnny Mullet shared from a Psalm, encouraging us to give praise and glory to God. It was a blessing to spend time in prayer together before the concert. Once again, we had a responsive audience, and were asked to encore “The Heavenly Son.”
Post-concert, we trouped off to our respective hosts, encouraged by the knowledge that we had an 11 AM call time the following morning. Many members expressed joy at the rare opportunity to sleep in.
– Rachel Horst