Guest Blogger: Kyle R.

Before this trip began, I did not know what to expect. This is my first Free Tour and it has been absolutely amazing. It has far exceeded my expectations. I was hoping to have fun, experience the prescence of the God and experience how good it feels to minister to people and touch their hearts. All of those things have happened to me so far. We spent our first full day together at the ropes course and it was a blast. I was so pumped for it and it did not dissapoint. Not only was it fun but it taught all of us a valuable lesson that we need each other to encourage us when we need it to help us get through tough obstacles. It also showed all of us first hand the power of Christ. When some students and adults were scared and wanted to quit, Dr. Mike told us two powerful scriptures. One was that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and the other was that perfect love casts out all fears. By the end of the day, we all enjoyed a spirit-filled fun day.
Then we went to Cookson Hills. That place was absolutely incredible. To worship to the people there and learn about their stories and to play softball was a blast. While we were ministering to the people at Cookson Hills through our singing and drama, I felt the prescence of the holy spirit. Watching the drama gave me goosebumps and so did the singing. To see smiles on people's faces and to see them worship with us while we were singing made feel so good inside. I left that place filled with so much joy and I know that I will feel that same joy throughout the rest of the trip.
After Cookson Hills, we began traveling to Memphis, Tennessee. The van ride was pretty entertaining and relaxing and it is not that boring. I had never been in a car this far to the east of the United States, so I had never seen the Mississippi River before until today. It was cool and seeing a city like Memphis is cool too. Memphis gave us a place to stay but we also came here for another reason. To minister to people in an older person nursing home. That was really amazing also because there were people worshipping with us and everyone enjoyed having us sing for them and they were very thankful. After that, we dropped our belongings off at the church that we are staying at and headed for downtown Memphis to enjoy a delicious barbeque at Rendezvous. The ribs were messy but filled my stomach pretty well.
And now I sit here at the Starbucks Cafe in a bookstore typing this blog as I look forward to the rest of the tour with my newly groomed eyebrows done by Emily and Kaylee.