CORN, Okla.–The High School Choir from Corn Bible Academy traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado on Saturday, March 7, to begin a week long trip packed with opportunities to sing and to serve.
They began their week of opportunity at Beth-El Mennonite Church in Colorado Springs, staying in host homes on Saturday evening and singing at the church on Sunday morning. The church provided a wonderful lasagna lunch before the choir said good-bye and headed further west to Woodland Park that afternoon.
Final destination: Quaker Ridge Camp, their “home” for the rest of the trip! Approximately six miles outside of Woodland Park, the bus made the precarious two mile trek up a winding gravel road to the camp on Sunday afternoon, and a few of the anxious students were watching the road with nerves on edge. The bus driver, Superintendent Clare Goering, had made this trip many times but had never driven a large bus on the road scattered with “S” curves and tight cutbacks. At the top, the choir was greeted by the beauty of Pikes Peak in the distance and a beautiful campground and retreat center. The kids spent the afternoon getting their rooms ready for the week, and some explored the horse barn, played a little miniature golf, and hiked up Soldier Mountain, before heading back down the mountain that evening for a service at High View Baptist Church in Woodland Park.
The evening service went well as the choir led the congregation in worship and performed for the first time a black light hands mime. After the service, the church provided a fellowship time with cookies and drinks. Caleb Glennie, President of the choir, made several connections with staff at the church who had gone to school at Oklahoma Baptist University, and he enjoyed visiting with fellow Southern Baptists during the evening.
During another intense ride up the mountain that night with a minor mishap with the bus on a cutback, the group made it back to the camp and met in the Great Room at Clark Lodge for devotions and a midnight celebration of Hope Brown’s 17th birthday. Monday was Fun Day, and the group traveled to the Royal Gorge and Colorado Springs to enjoy a day of sightseeing.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were work days at Quaker Ridge, and the choir showed the staff at the camp that students from western Oklahoma know how to work. Projects included sanding logs for rustic bunkbeds, building bunkbeds, painting rooms, cleaning, helping in the kitchen, and splitting logs and clearing trees from the heavily forested campground. The staff were impressed with the work ethic that has been instilled in each of the students and were very grateful for all of the help. Zak Caldwell, director of marketing, shared with the adult sponsors that the “tree” group had saved the maintenance staff 300 hours of work!
The choir traveled to Lake George on Wednesday evening and sang at Lake George Bible Church, a quaint log church in the middle of the small town. Several members of the congregation fed the students an enormous meal of Navajo tacos, fruit, and homemade cake, and after the service invited everyone to fellowship in the basement. During the service, 13 choir students shared testimonies and the presence of the Holy Spirit was felt by those in attendance that night.
Thursday afternoon, the choir went to The Inn at Garden Plaza in Colorado Springs and sang their last program, ministering to a beautiful group of senior citizens who enjoyed the students, and then both generations visited with each other for quite a time afterwards. That evening, the choir was privileged to meet Christian author Robert Liparulo and his wife, Jodi, and ate dinner with the couple in Colorado Springs. During the dinner, the author shared stories and answered many questions, and several students and sponsors bought books and had them autographed.
Thursday evening at the camp was relaxed and fun, as the kids reflected on their week and then many of them joined in a late night game of “Sardines” in a dark Clark Lodge. Friday morning, the group woke very early and began cleaning the building before they left for the long trip home.
For the third year, the sponsors on the trip were Clare and Rhonda Goering, Coach Terry Fellenstein, and Michelle Schmidt, youth pastor at Cordell Bible Mennonite Brethren Church. “This trip was one of my favorites,” remarked Rhonda Goering, director of the choir. “The kids were well-behaved and everything went very smoothly this year. I was so proud of every student – they represented God, their school, and their families very well. And, it was a BONUS that our daughter Katrina, son-in-law Zak, and new granddaughter Parker, live at Quaker Ridge, too!”
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Media Contact:
Rhonda Goering
580.343.2262