Day 1 - May 5th, 2008

The first day of Choir tour 2008! We were sent off by a wonderful group of Barclay people at 9:00 a.m. this morning. It was a beautiful spring morning with only a slight breeze blowing. We arrived safely at Colorado Springs Friends Church at 4:00 p.m. local time. It's nice to arrive with plenty of time to set up and relax a little before we present our concert. The church fed us a wonderful supper of soup and sandwiches, perfect after having a high fat lunch. Nearly all the members of the audience tonight had attended Friends Bible College and Barclay College at some point. The longer I teach here, the less surprised I am with all the connections that we come across as we sing at different churches. There are Barclay alumni everywhere. It's great. After the concert we all departed to our respective host families. One of the great experiences of choir tour is staying with families from the churches that we sing at. Tomorrow evening we sing at First Denver Friends Church. We are going to tour the chapel at the Air Force Academy and spend some time at Garden of the Gods before we head up there. Thank you for praying for us.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

As we prepared for our journey, spirits were high, and anticipation was even higher. Then we hit the road! It was Colorado Springs or bust, and thankfully this time it was not a bust! We stopped in the town of petrified wood building fame (Lamar, CO) for lunch. After discovering that Barry O'Sullivan was indeed the king (the Burger King, that is), we hit the road for our final stretch for the day. We knew we were near when we saw the Peak (Pike's, that is). We pulled into the steep drive of First Friends of Colorado Springs at about 4:00 p.m. (MST). After a rousing game of throw-the-Frisbee-at-anyone-who's-not-paying-attention, we had a wonderful time of food and fellowship. After being being devoted by recent graduate Justin "The King" Schamberger, we prayed for numerous requestifications. The concert went well, despite some nerves, and then we met up with our host families (who are sure to be more than gracious). That is it for day 1.

Specific things that you can pray for at this time include:
1) There are numerous persons in the choir who are not feeling 100%, including some with sore throats. Pray that these would be healed quickly and would not be a hindrance to the remainder of Tour. Also pray that the soar throatedness would not be spread.
2) Pray that the members of the choir would continue to be patient and loving as we prepare for some long journeys ahead, and that we would continue to show Christ's love in everything we do.

- Jon Harkness, Choir Member

Day 2 - May 6, 2008

We met at Colorado Springs Friends Church this morning at 8:30 after a good night's rest. We had a scheduled tour of the Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy at 9:30. We arrived and met our tour guide who shared some great information about the chapel with us. It is an amazing sight. They started building it in 1959 and finished by 1963. It contains an organ that has 3300 pipes. The organ was purchased in 1959 for $122,000 and has been valued today at 1.7 million dollars. They play it every Sunday morning at the 9:00 a.m. service. There is also a smaller Catholic chapel below the main chapel and also a small room where the Jews meet to worship. After seeing these places, they let us go back up into the main chapel and sing a little bit before the next group came in for their tour. The acoustics in the chapel are amazing. It was a great experience for us. After the chapel tour we ate some lunch and then went to the Garden of the Gods. This is a free place open to the public just on the edge of Colorado Springs. It is a park with many different rock formations. The weather was wonderful and we all enjoyed being outside most of the day. We then made the short trip up the road to Denver. Our concert at First Denver Friends went very well. There was a wonderful crowd of people there. We have several in the choir that are from the church and surrounding area. Tomorrow we travel to Rock Springs, WY.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

Day 3 - May 7, 2008

We had a safe trip to Rock Springs today. It was quite windy as we came across on I-80. We ran into a little bit of rain, but it didn't last long. We arrived at 4:00 p.m. and got everything set up for our concert and had a little time to relax before the concert. The concert was at Rock Springs Evangelical Free Church. The pastor is Richard Carlson and six of his seven children attended or attend Barclay College. Two of them are in the choir, so it was fun for them to sing at their home church. The concert went well and we had a great crowd tonight also. Tomorrow we travel to Greenleaf, ID where Greenleaf Friends Church and Greenleaf Friends Academy are located. Many students have come to Barclay from Greenleaf and there are several alumni there as well.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

Day 4 - May 8, 2008

We left Rock Springs this morning at 8:30 a.m. The morning was quite brisk. Our destination was Greenleaf, ID. There is a Friends Church there and a Friends Academy that has sent many students to Barclay over the years. We had safe travel and some very beautiful scenery. (See pictures) The concert went very well tonight. We were blessed by the people in attendance and we hope that they were blessed by us. Tomorrow we travel to Silverton, OR for a concert at the Friends Church there. I'm looking forward to this drive because much of it runs along the Columbia River and is really neat.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

Day 5 - May 9, 2008

We left Greenleaf, ID headed for Silverton, OR this morning. After we got into Oregon we stopped for fuel. We had a long but pretty drive ahead of us. I've included some pictures of the Columbia River and one of the dam's that they've built on it. There is also a shot of Mt. Hood which is completely covered in snow. The elevation around Mt. Hood is low and so that makes it look huge and very high, but the peak is only a little over 11,000 feet. We arrived safely at Silverton and had pizza for supper that was made at the local pizza joint. It's really good. We had a great audience Friday evening and another wonderful concert that the Lord really blessed. Tomorrow we're heading up to Tillamook to tour the cheese factory and then on up to Twin Rocks and the beach before we come back inland to spend the night in Vancouver, WA. The forecast says cloudy and a high of 50. Not very good beach weather.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

Day 6 - May 10, 2008

It was quite chilly this morning when we left Silverton. The road ahead was much more suitable for motorcycles than a big touring bus. We set out with hopes that no one would throw up because of the winding road. We arrived at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook at 12:00. Tillamook is famous for its cheeses and ice cream. There is a self guided tour through their facility and you can learn all about the cheese making process and if you go on a weekday you can see the workers making and packaging the cheese. Of course they have samples that you can try and it is wonderful. After a time of shopping and touring we headed up the road to Twin Rocks Camp and Rockaway Beach. As the forecast indicated it was about 50 degrees and it was drizzling heavy. But that did not deter us landlocked folk from enjoying the beach. Some even ventured into the ocean for a brief time. After taking a few photos of Twin Rocks and getting quite soaked from the rain we loaded back up and headed back inland towards Portland. We stopped on the west edge for some supper and then headed to Vancouver Friends Church to meet up with our host families. That is one of the great joys of choir tour. We get to stay with and meet some wonderful people. It is a blessing to be a part of the family of God. We have the morning service tomorrow and then after lunch we're heading to Kennewick, WA where we'll do an evening service at the Crossroads Bible Church.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

Day 7 - May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day! We had a great concert this morning at Vancouver First Friends Church. The people were very receptive and the Lord was present in the worship service. After a great lunch we headed to Kennewick, WA. We made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls this time and the view was amazing. Check out the pictures. This is a great place to pull over and view God's creation. Even though it was a little chilly it was still fun to feel the mist coming off the falls. There is a bridge that you can walk up to and get some great pictures. We rolled in to Kennewick and stopped at Crossroads Bible Church. This is a small church full of wonderful people. They were very appreciative of us coming and the concert was great. The church is associated with the Evangelical Free Church and so the connections with the Carlsons' and also Tacy Powers were fun to tell the people about. Tomorrow we head to Meridian Friends Church in Meridian, ID. We have some alumni there so we're looking forward to some time there.

- Jared Ross, Choir Director

Day 8 - May 12, 2008

After breakfast we headed out from Kennewick, WA at 9:00 a.m. Our destination was Meridian, ID. The Columbia River divides Washington and Oregon and there are many places along the river where they've installed concrete dams to produce electricity. The bridge on I-82 is just west of one of those places. There is a lot of power in water. Once again the Lord blessed us with safe travel. We arrived at Meridian Friends Church at 4:50 p.m. The church grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken for us. It was wonderful. We had a great concert and we are looking forward to a long scenic drive to Quaker Ridge Camp outside of Woodland Park, CO tomorrow. We're going to spend the night there and then sing our home concert at Haviland Friends Church on Wednesday. Tour is almost over and we've had a wonderful time singing for the Lord and worshiping with the body of Christ.