Tour Day 1 – Send Off at AUMC & Rochester UMC in Rochester, IL

Hey everybody back in Joe Town! It’s Joseph here with our first daily blog of Tour 2023.  I know you might have been expecting Matt to write these, but I mentioned interest, and he immediately challenged me to a good ol’ fashioned arm wrastle.  You can obviously see who the victor was. 

To some of our singers this is just the latest “first day” in a string of tours past – a day to relearn old habits and to settle back into the rhythm that has defined the summers of their teenage (or young adult) years.  For many others, though, today was setting out on a new adventure; for some, the first time they’ve ever been away from home for any amount of time. I’ve come to expect the first day of tour to be an odd mix of anxiety and the nearly overwhelming excitement of connecting with New G friends away from mom and dad. It’s like drinking a pot of coffee right after eating a giant turkey dinner.  Today was no exception.

We started with our traditional send off which is the first step of getting into the tour rhythm.  It’s the first time that the Sponsors become your singers’ “tour parents” and are having them do the work of tour such as loading suitcases and getting the final tour necessities into the truck.  That was followed by our send off by Hannah Adams (who was a seasoned singer when I went on my very first tour in 2014).  She kicked off the tour by reminding us about the love that we were going to be taking across the country. She even gave our singers something to take with them – the sign language symbol for love which is already being passed around the busses and on the risers. Once communion was shared, the benediction sung, and the pictures were taken, you could hear Bemo’s cry of “load ‘em up”, and we were off.

Lunch was not particularly exciting, with choices of McDonald’s and Taco Bell in Hannibal, MO, but it was another important first of getting on an off the busses on time. Our singers represented our hometown well and took a small but not insignificant opportunity to spread the love of God to Hannibal. We landed in Rochester a little early because we made excellent time on the road thanks to our bus driver duo of Bruce and Larry who are on their third year driving with us.

When we finally got to the church, we had the first set up. The singers KILLED IT. Set up is always an opportunity to make a great first impression on the venue where we are going to perform, and they didn’t disappoint! After set up we were treated to a homecooked meal of sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese which fueled us up for our performance which started promptly at 7:00. If this performance is any indication of what is to come, OH MAN, we are in for some stunners! The congregation got a high energy performance that I am confident left them covered in the feeling of God’s love.

After the performance, we got to go in for another important tour first of dividing up into host homes; well, the girls anyway. Our boys stayed in the church with Sam and Chad. Tomorrow we are performing here in Rochester for their Sunday worship service, and then we’re on the road again.

It’s official: there are no rookies anymore, and everyone came out on top regardless of any first day jitters. You can be very proud of all of your singers.  We certainly are.

Well, that’s all for tonight.  Stay tuned for what is sure to be some memorable and exciting days ahead!