Tour Day 2 – Rochester UMC then to Faith Southern Baptist in Clay City, IN

Here I am, Lord.

Well folks, Joseph here again, and we’re in another time zone.  My watch is telling me that it is 9:15, but my phone is telling me it’s 10:30… and my body is too. You can tell we are further east by more than just the move into Eastern Time, though.  The further east we push, the more of an old-world feel the landscape has. We are currently in a hotel in Terra Haute, IN and you can really start to tell that we aren’t in Missouri anymore. It’s really the first time you start to notice that the old houses are a little older than St. Joseph, the trees feel slightly more ancient, and every plot of land seems built into a little nook where one could trick themselves into thinking they might find a modern-day hobbit living.

But… we’re not really that far from home, evidenced by the miles and miles of corn and soybean fields that haven’t left us yet.

Where I really noticed that we weren’t in St. Joseph anymore is that to the people for whom we are singing, New G is a novelty – a true representation of a new generation of young people spreading the love of God.  And let me tell you, the singers are bringing their A-game. At each of our services, we haven’t been able to get out without someone telling us how impacted they were by the performance; there are literally people telling us that is has been life-changing for them.  One man even said that at the climax of the song “Here I Am” he felt like a curtain fell and he could see the choirs of heaven. Man, if that isn’t a compliment...

And we haven’t escaped a performance yet without singers on the risers being obviously touched. There is just something that is different when you are performing for a crowd that doesn’t know what to expect. It hits different when Aunt Betty isn’t snapping pictures of you up on the risers. It feels more… real. Nope, we aren’t in St. Joseph anymore, and I think we can all tell that on day 2 we are really on tour.

This morning while performing in Rochester, IL for their Sunday Service we had tons of compliments on how great our girls were at host homes, and how grateful and kind our boys were after sleeping in the church.  Later we performed at Clay City, IN where we were fed pulled pork that even impressed all of us Kansas City BBQ snobs.

At both services I heard so many comments about that song, “Here I am”. You can almost feel the change in the room when people are prodded with the question of how am I going to respond to God’s calling. I personally don’t usually cry at these performances, but both times when that song has come around it has really spoke to me and I found myself fighting back tears (and losing).  And I think what is speaking to these audiences is the same thing that is speaking to me: you can obviously tell this song is impacting our singers that they are responding to something deep inside, and they convey that so well on the risers.

Well, I’m off to do room checks and make sure these dopey kids are actually going to bed. We’ll talk again tomorrow from Mansfield, OH.