Once we said our goodbyes to our new friends at Rainbow Mennonite Church, we got back on the bus to depart for Newton, Kansas. The three-hour bus ride to Shalom Mennonite Church was nothing compared to the ten-hour ride from Goshen to Kansas City. It was even a good time to rejuvenate and rest after the performance. With one performance under our belt, we were eager to provide another meaningful concert to the people at Shalom Mennonite Church. Once we got there, we were warmly welcomed by the members and were served a wonderfully authentic Russian Mennonite meal.
The sanctuary had great acoustics and after the concert, we received good comments from those in attendance. We got to meet up with our hosts from either Newton or Hesston. Unlike any other hosts for this tour, they were hosts for two nights, Sunday and Monday. We were grateful to converse with them both on the car ride and in their homes. Thanks for the gracious hospitality to all the hosts from Newton and Hesston!
The following morning, we got up and met at Hesston College Chapel in anticipation to perform for an audience primarily of our own age group. The performance did not include all of our repertoire, but it was exhilarating and somewhat nerve-wracking to be performing for a whole chapel full of students, staff, and community members. After the performance, we got to experience Hesston campus life by eating at the college’s dining hall and having a good three hours of free-time on campus. Some of the activities we enjoyed doing involved playing a variation of “500” called “5”, ultimate frisbee, touring the campus, and hanging out at Larks Nest.
At 4:15pm the bus picked us up and took us to Panda Kitchen, which was Goshen College’s treat to the choir. We all enjoyed the opportunity to fill our stomachs with Chinese food. After the meal, Fran, our bus driver drove us to our next performance site, Whitestone Mennonite Church. We had a fantastic audience and saw some familiar faces from Hesston College. We also enjoyed a nice reception after the concert in which we got to meet some of the members there. Whitestone Mennonite Churhc, thanks for the making us feel welcome at your church!