Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Conference has begun

We are having a great time at the conference. The students really enjoyed their family groups today. We will be heading to Wittenburg in the morning. Be praying for your students today. They will be singing for the main worship service on Friday (approx. 1:30 pm your time). Hopefully, we will get some practice time on the bus on our way to and/or from Wittenburg. Wittenburg, you remember is where Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the church that ultimately sparked the beginning of the Reformation.



Here you will find some pictures of the conference venue and the students singing at the first Fringe concert on Wednesday night. Thank you to those of you that have left comments on the board. I have passed those on to the respective students.





This shot is after they have sung while watching the other groups.

Here are some of the groups shots of our students practicing for the Fringe concert.

This is the actual performance.

A full group shot back at the practice session.

I wanted you to see the large venue where they are singing. The area where we are standing was full of people when our group sang Wednesday night and they did a GREAT job!

This was taken at the beginning of the first worship service. This group came down the ailsle with candles lit at a portion of the programming representing those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. This was a very moving presentation. There were not many dry eyes in the place after it was done. I know mine weren't.

More pictures will come tomorrow. Sorry, I am tired! Thanks for your prayers!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Prague (Praha) Czech Republic

These pictures are out of order as far as when they happened, but I started thinking that while you may want to see pictures of the buildings and where we have been after we get back, what you want to see now are pictures of your children. Sean and I are both blogging so be sure to check out plunge47.org for more pictures. Some may have captions and some not. Don't forget to leave comments and I will be sure the messages get passed on to your student(s).
This was after the climb down from the "Disney castle." It couldn't have been that bad we're all still smiles!
Walking along the streets of Prague we thought we spotted Greg, but alas, we were fooled!
While the Crews' do make an adorable picture my favorite part of this picture upon further inspection is how tired Ian looks in the background.
Partial group shot after Neuschwanstein Castle visit.
Gardner and his ridiculous hat with Amy overlooking Cheske Krimalov.
Part of the group making our from somewhere to somewhere (Sorry, that's the best I can do).



Amy and Emma at the Castle in Prague. These guys are the Czech equivalent of the British Royal Gaurd. They solemnly do their duty and well, it is no laughing matter.
Walking through Prague.

Several of us stayed in the "Attic" in Cheske Boduvice
And of course it is always fun to take a picture of someone else taking a picture!

Any special requests? I will do my best to fit them in.



Monday, July 28, 2008

A good trip so far!

Our students have done a great job so far! We spent the first couple of nights in the quaint little German town of Oberammergau nestled in the German Alps. Our hotel was right across the street from the St. Peter and Paul Church so it made for an easy commute on Sunday morning. I forgot how beautiful the cathedrals and Catholic churches are over here! Even though we couldn't understand the language it was quite a worshipful experience just looking around the room at the art and symbolism! We have all noticed how picturesque everything is over here. The rolling hills, the enormous mountains, the blue sky, and of course the castles! Tonight we will staying in Cjesky Krimalov and heading to Prague tomorrow. Just about the time when we were beginning to pick up some German we are all at a total loss now! They sang in the city square this afternoon and then we enjoyed dinner on the square. Leave comments here and i will pass them on to the students or other adults. We love you! Continue praying for us!

Photos from the start












Here we are getting ready to go on our journey! Thanks to all you parents who came out to say good-bye and have prayer with us!


Things got a little crazy on the bus ride to Charlotte. We made it in PLENTY of time...

Thanks to an hour and a half delay getting on the plane!












Here we are after seeting off on our loooooong
flight via Lufthansa FL 429:











But we did Finally make it to our destination: Munich airport!














And then we loaded another bus for a tour of the city of Munchen. (Spelling changes because we are in Germany now!)















At this point we are nearing the 24 hour with little to no sleep point. Dragging faces and droopy eyes are becoming the norm.

This is the beautiful St. Peter and Paul Church in which they sang in Oberammergau on Sunday morning. They did fantastic!

This is Neuschwanstein Castle on the afternoon of day two. This is the castle Walt Disney modelled Cinderella's castle after at his theme parks.

And here we are in our third country, Czech Republic (after having driven through Austria).

This one's for you, Carol!