On Monday, June 29, the music staff headed north to make the first of our very special deliveries.  The smell of smoke permeated the air as we arrived to meet Chief Tom Stafford and members of the all volunteer crew at the Crescent Fire Department which had just returned from extinguishing a wheat field fire.  As volunteers they are ready at a moment’s notice to drop what they’re doing and come to the aid of those in need.

On the following Wednesday we made three more stops:  Deer Creek, Edmond, & Tinker Air Force Base.

James with Deer Creek Fire Chief, Doug McWilliams and one of three other employeed firefighters.  Did you know that after 4:00 in the afternoon the Deer Creek Fire Department is manned by volunteers and that all their paid firefighters also work on the fire crew at Will Rogers World Airport?

James making a presentation to John Neely of the Edmond Fire Department.  It was John who suggested we visit the Permian Basin facility while in Carlsbad which turned out to be a great experience for us all.

James with Capt. Jimmy Westervelt at Tinker Air Force Base.  Capt. Westervelt was so kind to meet us at the gate and drive us on base so we could make our presentation.  Afterward he gave us a tour of the main fire station (in case you didn’t know, there are three at Tinker) including the dispatch center. During our visit we even heard a fire alarm for one of the other stations.

We left all the sites with deep respect and a new appreciation for the service these men and women perform for our communities.  It truly takes courage, strength, and diligence to be a firefighter (whether employed or volunteer), and we cannot say enough about the sacrifice they make to be physically fit and knowledgeable in their skill so that they are prepared to rescue from dangerous situations, whenever and wherever called upon.

And this was the focus of our tour on a spiritual level–rescue.  When one of my sons was a small child he told me that when he grew up he wanted to be either a fireman or a preacher.  His reasoning was, “I figure either way I’ll be savin’ people.” Like a firefighter, this is the heart of our mission:  sharing the good news that Jesus saves in our songs, our words and our deeds in hopes that we can rescue those who are perishing.

Highlights of our trip were:

• spending the day in ministry to troubled teens with the students from South Georgia Baptist Church in Amarillo while helping them to birth their own youth choir
• taking supplies and ministering to families at a battered women’s shelter in Carlsbad
• singing around the memorial at the Permian Basin Regional Training Center,
• working at Elizabeth’s Place Crisis Pregnancy Center in Texas City
• sharing a message of hope with troubled teens

Now, with RESCUE ’09 behind us, we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead in the coming year for the youth choir as we eagerly watch God put every piece in place for  next year’s trip and follow His leading.

RESCUE ’09 blogs written by Cindy Wallace, Worship Ministry Assistant

The home concert was highlighted by singing…

…stomping…

…and testimonies by…

James Salisbury and John & Beth Daffron.

SOLOISTS: Kristina Pullin, Sarah Ball, Caleb Harrison, Paul Gandy, Kourtney Gilbert & Luke Adams

SOLOISTS: Pammy Mackiewicz, Mary Corley, Kathryn Bradford & Rett Adams, Kristi Cormack & Josh Daffron

Former youth choir members join in singing, “Your Grace Still Amazes Me”

We spent the evening at the Jerry Esmond Juvenile Justice Center where we were treated to a fajita dinner before presenting our program.   

Posters created by the detainees were hanging all around the gym and made us feel welcomed.

When the invitation was given, over 20 people prayed to receive Christ. 

At the conclusion of the program they treated us to cake and ice cream.

Before we left, we were each given gifts by the administrator and his wife.

Our last activity of the day was the revealing of our Secret Saints.  At the beginning of the trip each person was given the name of another individual which they were to watch throughout the trip.  Then one by one we each revealed our Secret Saints and shared what character qualities we saw in them.

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-5)

One crew sorted, boxed and labeled children’s clothes by gender, size, and season.  The rest were taken to another location where one group sorted labeled boxes by gender, size and season to make them easier to utilize in a disaster relief situation.

The remaining group of kids moved other boxes from the drop off point to the foot of the stairs, then forming a huge assembly line boxes and storage tubs were hauled upstairs for storage. 

It was truly a team effort and an exercise in logistical organization.  When our work was finished, we toured the center’s facility which our kids helped work on two years ago during the choir tour.  Of course, we couldn’t leave without singing and praying for Christy Ann, the center’s director.

The evening was spent at Living Stones Church attending their youth service.  They were even asked to sing on the spur of the moment and true to form the kids were ready, willing and able.  They sang “Psalm 91″ and afterward Caleb led the whole group in singing, “Marvelous Light.”

The facility was founded by a family who lost 12 family members in a tragic gas explosion at a time when there were no trained emergency personnel to assist. To honor their memory a memorial is located on the grounds.  We gathered around the reflecting pool and sang “America, the Beautiful” and “Psalm 91″ for the founding family members.  Needless to say, they were touched by the message of comfort found in God’s Word.

The remainder of the day was spent driving to the west Texas metropolis of Ozona where we spent one very short night.

As I said, we divided into three different groups going on three different ranger-guided tours.  The Left-Hand Tunnel Tour was the first to depart on their adventure.  A small group of us explored an area of the cave on unpaved trails using candlelit lanterns.  The largest group made their way 23 miles down the road and hiking one mile up the side of a mountain to explore Slaughter Canyon Cave with flashlights.  The last group was made up of the graduating seniors (and one college freshman…oh, and Aaron) touring the Lower Cave which found them descending and climbing ropes and ladders through tight spaces also using flashlights for illumination.  Everyone ultimately also took the natural cave entrance and toured the big room below.

One thing that was common to all tours was reaching a place where all lights were extinguished.    The darkness was so deep that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face.  The guide warned us that some may want to sit down because some people get dizzy and lose their balance in the dark.  It was horrifying to think about being unable to light our candles and make our way out of the cave.  I couldn’t help but think about the spiritual parallels.  Colossians 1:13 says, “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.”  Now we have a much better understanding of just what Christ did for us.  I was also struck by how quickly the darkness was dispelled with just the flashlight of the guide.  How much greater the light became as one by one he lit our candles.  John 1:9 says, “The true light [Christ], who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”  The arrival of Jesus through the virgin Mary was like the guide lighting the flashlight.  Even though at that point each of us didn’t have a light of our own, the way was made somewhat clear because of his flashlight.  We could see our surroundings and the path.  The very coming of Christ has illumined the way for mankind.  And His light grows brighter and the way becomes clearer as His Holy Spirit indwells each person who comes to Him for salvation and rescue.  There was simply no better teaching opportunity for all of us than what we experienced at Carlsbad Caverns today.

At the close of the day we gathered with a crowd to witness the bat flight as they left the cave for the evening.  While we were waiting for the bats to fly out we sang “America, the Beautiful”.

Finally the bats entered the mouth of the cave, true to their custom of spiraling seven times before taking flight out across the mountains.  It was a day to marvel at the wisdom and wonder of God’s creations.

It was a 5 hour drive to Blodgett Street Baptist Church where they were waiting to feed us pizza.  They allowed us the whole service to do our normal program.

We we finished visiting with the sweet people of Blodgett Street we went to the Battered Women’s Shelter to deliver the items that many of our Sunday School Departments and the Adult Choir so generously gave money to purchase.  After unloading all the boxes of sheets, towels, shampoo, toothbrushes, diaper bags, pillows and many other items, we were welcomed into the courtyard to share our music and a message from Bro. James.  Among that group of 7 women and their children, several prayed to receive Christ.  It was a very touching evening to know the environment these women and children had run from and to hear the kids sing, “Father of my Hope and Freedom, O my Adonai.”

It was another good day with many reasons to praise the Lord.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  (I Peter 2:9)

Say, is this really what Paul had in mind when he said to the Galatians, “Each person will have to carry his own load”?  (I guess some of us really do carry around more baggage than others.)

Anyway, it was off to Southern Georgia Baptist Church for breakfast–a biiiig breakfast…

…then a biiiig rehearsal…

…then on to Next Step Home where we were greeted by Administrator Lee Borroughs.  We listened for an hour as Bro. Lee shared stories about the ministry God has given him to troubled teens, even in a state-funded facility.  Stories that reflect the desperation and need of the world in which we live, yet stories of lives changed  by the power of Christ.

After a tour of the facility and an opportunity to meet the residents, we were provided with lunch–a delicious barbeque sandwich.

Bro. Lee had mentioned how one of the expectations of the residents was to attend church every Sunday morning, and how four of the residents were going to attend youth camp this summer, even though he didn’t know where the funding would come from.  His confidence in God’s provision was evident.  James asked one of the workers how much it cost to send one kid to camp, to which the reply was “somewhere around $250″.  Because we had already collected money for the meal which they invited us to share, we gave them $250 to send a resident to camp, which was only $2 shy of the meal money we had set aside.  Needless to say, Bro. Lee was deeply blessed as were we.

After lunch we went next door to the Youth Center of the High Plains Detention Center.  Joining us for the presentation were nine youth from South Georgia BC that we are helping to start a youth choir program.  After singing like it was the last tour rather than the first (by that I mean it was good…it was real good), and “stomping” (not once, but twice), Bro. James shared the gospel in a way that addressed the hurts these kids had faced which led them to make wrong choices.  They were extremely attentive and appreciative and out of a crowd of about 50, 22 hands were raised indicating a profession of faith.  After we finished our regular program the kids sat on the risers and sang one more song led by Caleb on the guitar–a request from Bro. Lee after he heard the kids singing it while we were waiting on the arrival of our guests.

I once was fatherless, a stranger with no hope
Your kindness wakened me, wakened me from my sleep
Your love it beckons deeply, a call to come and die
By grace now I will come and take this life, take Your life
Sin has lost its power, death has lost its sting
From the grave You’ve risen victoriously
Into marvelous light I’m running, out of darkness, out of shame
By the cross You are the truth, You are the life, You are the way*

Because many of the youth were indeed fatherless and seemingly with no hope it was a powerful message.  I’m sure it was equally beautiful to the ears of our Heavenly Father.

After a brief tour of the facility we departed to paint the Cadillacs.  If you don’t know about the Cadillacs, well… a picture is worth a thousand words…   

…and three pictures must be worth…well, you get the idea.

After the artistic geniuses were finished with their masterpieces (and everyone else used all their paint) we headed to Big Texan for our evening meal. And yes…in case you were wandering…we ate way too much today.  And dessert, too!

Now we’re settled in at the hotel with some free time after a very busy, yet blessed day.  God’s favor has abundantly been upon us as we’ve trusted Him to give us opportunities to minister and to be a blessing to others.

The Lord values those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His faithful love. (Psalm 147:11)

*Marvelous Light Words and Music by Charlie Hall © 2004 Generation Music

Well, here we are settling in for a relatively short drive to Amarillo.  Believe it or not, we made it with only ONE stop.  But you better believe we made an impression with our first audience.  Before we got back on the bus we sang “America, the Beautiful” and “Psalm 91″ for the attendant.  Although we chuckled at her remark that we didn’t seem to know the second song as well as the first, our singing was met with a smile and sincere appreciation.

Everytime we do get back on the bus, Casea is waiting to give us a “pump” of the hand cleaner.  So, parents, rest assured we’re doing everything in our power to keep everyone healthy. 

    A beautiful sight!  At least we know they’ll be two good nights of sleep.

The anticipation level for this trip is high since we’ve already seen God’s hand at work.  In the morning, South Georgia Street Baptist Church is serving breakfast for us, then about 10 of their youth will spend the day with us as we help jumpstart their youth choir ministry. 

So you can see the scope of our ministry does not end with a simple concert on the road, but we trust it will continue to reap a fruitful harvest in Amarillo and beyond long after we’re gone.  Thank you, Church family for all you have done to make this trip possible.

For all this is because of you, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to God’s glory.  (2 Corinthians 4:15)