Day 3 (Monday): They That Wait Upon the Lord Shall Renew Their Strength

DAY 3 (Monday): They That Wait Upon the Lord Shall Renew Their Strength

Only 3 days in and the need for rest is REAL. Our first full concert (which Nina detailed in the last post), though an amazing 2.5 hrs of worship, left our voices wanting some serious down time. So by 9:30 on Monday morning we were all gathered in the hotel lobby preparing for a day of refreshment out on Wilmington beach. The weather wasn’t ideal for sunbathing or swimming in the waves (some gov’t posted signs even indicated a $250 fine for unauthorized swimming), but the view was like none other.

Sam Kim ('17) walks towards the water to give it a try

Against the pewter clouds the ocean danced up in frigid green waves. Sea gulls flocked around, avoiding us save for when they noticed that one of our tenors, Keith, had some left over buffalo wings with him. The wind made it a bit chilly, but we were all just happy to have sand beneath our feet and to see water that wasn’t frozen for a change. I walked down the beach a little ways, marvelling at all the different ways that God reveals himself through his creation. It was so nice to be able to finally just relax and reflect on his great works!

At 1:00p, after an hour and a half of beach-time, Rev. Davis from Warner Temple took us on a brief tour of historic Wilmington. During the late 1800s, the African-American population here suffered a lot of oppression from white Americans, she said. What she said after this was especially powerful: “Even though it’s difficult to talk about [past oppression], it’s a necessary conversation.” It’s a conversation that leads to the reconciliation that God desires of all his people—to forgive each other, to understand each other, and to love each other as God has with us. I feel like this conversation is especially important in the Wheaton College Gospel Choir. We’re all friends, but we’re also a very diverse group of people, representing differences in race, ethnicity, nationality, religious belief, political leaning…. What I find most striking though is that we’re still able to come together as human beings, as members of this choir, as believers in Christ, acknowledging that through our differences, we worship the same God.

Reading about the paddle monument in historic Wilmington

Before we left Wilmington, there was still plenty of time to goof around. Model shots on old courthouse stairs, face-sized sandwiches, Spanish moss—what more could you want from a day in the South? At 3:00p, we loaded up the bus yet again and shipped off down to Raleigh, to leave the beach and arrive in the low hills of the Appalachian mountains at Victory Mtn. Camp where we’ll be staying in cabins for the next 4 days, sleeping to the sounds of a quite different choir—frogs and crickets and wind in the trees. — Connor