More Philly and The Big Apple

What a week! We have seen so many amazing things that it is hard to describe, but I will do my best to fill you in just a little bit. :-) First, we titled Thursday "Rocky Day." We were able to go downtown in Philadelphia to see the Rocky statue, run up "the steps," and see Rocky's house. It was a pretty neat experience. :) That evening we attended the weeknight service at Liberty Baptist Church. The pastor, Bro. Burton Gates, is a graduate of Champion. He and his wife, Cara, moved to Philly about a year ago and, with God's help, started Liberty. The church has seen tremendous growth in the last year and it is obvious that the Lord is blessing their efforts. Bro. Tony had the opportunity to preach at the service that night. He brought an awesome, moving message titled "Empty Chairs." The group was also able to sing about 9 songs. The spirit of God spoke to hearts and many tears were shed. It was definitely one of the most amazing services that we have experienced!
Friday was definitely a highlight of our entire summer! While in Philly, we discovered that we were only about an hour or so from New York City! How could we pass up such an opportunity?! So, we all decided to pitch in money so that we could make the trip. We filled up the Green Hornet with gas and left at 5:00 that morning for the Big Apple! We purchased tickets to ride the ferry to Liberty Island for a close-up look at the Statue of Liberty. After that, we saw the very sobering sight of Ground Zero, and then finally, we finished our day off in the hustle and bustle of Times Square. It was definitely something that everyone should experience at some point in their life! Absolutely incredible! But, if you haven't had the opportunity to make the journey, we hope you enjoy the few pics that we have posted. :-)



Liberty Baptist Church - nestled right the heart of Philadelphia

Running up the "Rocky steps" :-)

Summer with Bro. Burton and Mrs. Cara's son, Dale

Singing Thursday night

Many were moved to the altar during the invitation

Our little table was crowded after the service!

The girls on the ferry ride to Liberty Island

Us with Miss Liberty!!!!

Ground Zero

In the middle of Times Square

A Very Historic Week!

Hello Everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I last updated! I have had some trouble getting internet connection. But it's all good now and here I am, uploading pics of this last week for your viewing pleasure :-)
This past weekend we was an extremely busy one but the Lord blessed and we had several great meetings! Saturday we attended a youth day called "Powerhouse" hosted by Bro. Kurt Skelly in Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania. We were able to hear 3 powerful sermons by Bro. Kenny Baldwin and we even had to opportunity to sing and talk to several young people who were in attendance. Sunday morning we spent in Ripley, West Virginia at Ripley Tabernacle Baptist with Pastor Leonard. Even though it was storming pretty badly outside, it still didn't put a damper on the spirit of the church! The spirit of the service that morning was amazing and we were almost sad to see it end. That afternoon we made the trip back to Natrona Heights to sing at Bro. Kurt Skelly's church, Harvest Baptist. Bro. Tony was able to preach and we spent quite a while after the service talking with and getting to know several of the young people. Praise the Lord for a truly amazing weekend and for safety in all of our travels! Tonight we were at the Freedom Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was a new ministry to us and it was great to be able to meet so many new people. The Lord spoke to our hearts through a sermon brought by Pastor Sharpe out of Ephesians chapter 4.
Tuesday, on our way to Philadelphia, we made a quick stop in Gettysburg to soak up a little of our nations history, and since our arrival in Philly, we have had the privilege of seeing the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and trying our very first Philly Cheese Steak. It had been a life-changing experience to say the least. :-)


The New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, West Virginia.

Playing around in Wal-Mart :-)

The girls with Pastor Leonard's wife, Mrs. Amy

Megan and Lainey, spending time during lunch break at Powerhouse

Lauren made many new friends...

...and so did Summer and Nathan :)

Olivia and Erica, two of Megan's new friends from Ripley Tabernacle Baptist

Us girls with Elaina Segsworth. She and her mom surprised us with 4 different kinds of ice cream one night so we quickly became good friends :-)

The group with Pastor Skelly. He had us rolling with laughter from all of his "magic tricks."....and why he is holding 4 Bibles in this picture, no one knows :-) haha!

Dusty and Nate playing a game of checkers after dinner at Cracker Barrel one night

Sharing an umbrella while we wait in the rain for our turn to tour Independence Hall. Who knew that 6 people could fit under such a small umbrella??? :-)

In front of the Liberty Bell. We even had a chance to sing "God Bless America." (sorry, no videos...lol)