Day 1
Even though it was a little warm as we gathered to start loading the bus, the rain held off and allowed us to get everything packed for the Bridge Tour 2019. Ellison Batson led our gathering at the bus and our pastor, John Adams, led a prayer before boarding our blue Ionosphere bus. We are not carrying as much equipment this year so we finished quickly and were able to leave the church parking lot about 9:50 a.m. There were a few misty eyes from a few first time tour participants and their parents. We promise that the trip will provide a good opportunity for each of us to encounter the Lord through the faces of those we meet on tour. Pray that we will be bridge builders all week long.
We stopped for lunch at Rush’s in Columbia. Jackson Garrett must have been parched during our long ride from Easley. He bought a half gallon of sweet tea for his lunch. Andrew Robertson’s girlfriend, Abby McNeely joined us. Abby lives in Lexington. We tried to get her to join us for the rest of the tour, but she could not. We all peeked out the bus window trying to watch Andrew “say goodbye.”
After dodging traffic all the way down I-26, we arrived at The Village in Summerville (A Presbyterian home very similar to ours in Easley) precisely on schedule. We had a few minutes to set up and began to greet a crowd of residents who came to the service. John Lewis’ brother and sister-in-law, Rocky and Lindsey Lewis, attended. David Marion Day also drove up from John’s Island to hear the group sing as well. Carol Jo tried to hand him a T-shirt so he could sing with us. He did not think he was prepared to sing the musical, but sat behind me and hummed or sang almost every note. I loved it! The service went beautifully, especially for the first presentation. We were all so very proud. You would have been too!
After checking into our hotel in Mount Pleasant this afternoon, we had a few minutes before loading the bus and heading to supper at Sticky Fingers. We had a private dining area which made it a lot of fun for everybody to eat together. The food was really good. Once we finished supper, we headed downtown for a 1 1/2 hour ghost tour around the Circular Congregational Church, Saint Phillips Church, the powder Magazine, and a few dark cobblestone alleys. The stories we heard had some of our eyes wide open!!
Jasmine Rivers led our devotion tonight in the breakfast area of the hotel. Ella Hennessee brought her guitar and sang some beautiful songs before we closed out the day with prayer. The students always love getting their notecards at the end of the day. This year we’re calling our cards Bridge Builder Notes. This is such an encouraging part of each day. It’s fun to watch them offer words of support and love to one another.