Day 4

Dear Friends,

            Today was another incredible day of worship and praise, meeting new people, and seeing some LA sights.

            After our first night with our new host families, we gathered together in the morning at the Olson’s house and loaded the bus to begin another day of touring SoCal and spreading the love of God. We started by driving an hour or so to Heritage Christian School in Northridge where we sang  and worshiped with the schools concert choir.  Not only did we get to sing and have a good time performing for them, but they also sang for us, which was truly a blessing. They are an amazingly talented group of high schoolers, so a big Thank You to all of them for sharing that with us! At the end of the concert we got the chance to sing some gospel music with them, and from what I heard from other members of our GC choir, it was the highlight of the day.

            After the concert, we were headed to Hollywood for some lunch and sightseeing. We got to see Hollywood Blvd and the famous sidewalk stars, the Chinese Theatre with the cement hand and footprints of some of our favorite celebrities, and a glimpse of the iconic Hollywood sign in the hills. Unfortunately, most of us are poor college students, so we couldn’t afford to tour the wax museum, which—let’s be honest—would have been amazing. But we did get to see the red carpet for the world premiere of the Muppets Movie, so I guess that was pretty cool.

            After boarding the bus again we were off to West Angeles COGIC church; about a 30 minute drive. We had some dinner and then prepared to sing at their Tuesday night bible study. The night was very emotionally and spiritually intense and I feel like we really gave our best energy and performance. Everyone was having a good time and, but more importantly, we were fully engaged in praising God, which definitely showed in our singing. The congregation was very involved and it looked like they were having a great time. It’s an amazing blessing to see how our music affects other people, and to think that we are helping to bring them closer to Christ and to worship the Lord is very rewarding. Overall, out time at the church was very memorable. Minister Donnie Briggs and Elder Thomas were very inspiring, encouraging, and welcoming, and I truly hope that we will be able to come back and worship with them again.

            There’s not much to say about after the concert. The drive back was, for the most part, uneventful. Although it was late, the bus was still lively. I guess that’s just the effect that worship has on people: it rejuvenates and gives life, rather than draining and tiring the spirit. We may have been physically tired from the long day, but our spirits were alive and thriving. What a blessing.

Laura

 

(Before the concert at Heritage Christian School)

(The choir during the sound check at West Angles COGIC)