Hey everyone, its Michelle Sander. It’s strange to be blogging about my last ministry tour, but the good thing is that it’s been a great one. Every single individual in this choir has something special that they bring to the table, and I have gotten the amazing chance to get to know them on a deeper level. We’ve had a lot of fun this tour, but also have been touched in many different ways over the course of this tour. As we sang in Montréal in the basilica we were about to sing our last song and this woman comes up to Mrs. P and starts asking her a question, but that was not the strange part the strange part was she was holding a glass hippo. Than Mrs. P tells us how this lady along with a few other friends all made a trip to Canada to honor their friend who died of breast cancer and wanted to make the trip before she died but was not able to. They carried her ashes inside of the hippo, because she loved hippos and collected them all her life. Immediately you look around and just see tears in people’s eyes because to share such a personal thing with us really touched us. We sang Amazing Grace in honor of her, and to see the way it moved them was amazing. Personally, it touched me because their friendship with their friend and the way they wanted to honor her reminds me of the friendships I have made in Eagles Wings. Eagles wings has filled my life with joy and happiness and the friends I have made are irreplaceable. We all share a bond with God and with each other and that’s what makes these trips so unique for every individual. As senior vespers draw nearer and I think about tonight; the crying and sadness I think about yes we may be sad but I take joy in knowing that hopefully I have touched people the way that past seniors have touched my life. Leaving this chapter in my life is heart wrenching and will honestly be the hardest thing I will ever do, I am leaving a family. A family who accepts me and loves me and takes me for who I am. So coming away from this tour I have hope and joy that kids in years to come will come away from their senior year not regretting a thing and with the friendships and experiences that I have. This choir is more than just a choir to me, it’s a family, a family that I must leave to allow others to take away what I have in these past four years. I love each and every one of you with all my heart, thank you for everything.

Phew. This tour has been incredible in so many ways, and we are simply exhausted. Last night was senior vespers, and if that didn’t completely drain us, writing 60 affirmations for our ministry family on the four hour ride home definitely did.

Just in case you don’t know, senior vespers is a night where the choir, puppet team, and mentors honor and recall significant memories about the graduated seniors. It’s always a most-looked-forward-to night by some, while for us, the ones leaving this year, it was completely dreaded. In fact, Billy Michael, another senior, made up a spur-of-the-moment talent show act just to put off the beginning of vespers. However, like all things, it began eventually, around 10:30, and lasted a grand total of 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Throughout this seemingly long period of time, many feelings were expressed – tears ran down everyone’s (including Dan Beirne’s) face one minute, and the next, as a favorite funny memory was shared, we erupted in laughter. It was the first time that students and mentors stood up individually to share their feelings, which shows how much respect we have for one another. Boundaries between freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors were dissolved and our love enveloped us all as one monstrous family. The juniors did an amazing job characterizing the seniors and our time spent in Eagle’s Wings, and other contributions that followed by underclassmen were also extremely heartfelt. They made us feel so loved and appreciated, making our goodbye even harder.

Although some of the tears spent were because we’d no longer get to see each other every Wednesday night or go on a kick-butt week-long tour every summer, most of our emotion came from the realization that we were no longer an active member of Eagle’s Wings. This year especially, the seniors have a gift for praising God through music, and we speak for the rest of the 2010 graduates in saying that we will truly miss bringing smiles to the faces of the Our Saviour’s congregation as we sing for the Lord.

For us, church truly is our second family. The bonds we have developed over the past four years will undoubtedly last a lifetime, simply because we have the strongest being holding our group together – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It has been the greatest blessing to be a part of this ministry, and we ask for your prayers as we continue on our faith journey and search for another group as strong as this one. Eagle’s Wings will forever hold a place in our hearts and we are so grateful for the amazing times its brought us.

Don’t worry – we’ll be back for more.

Love you all

Tori Tanaka and Lindsey Heckes

I cannot believe this is my last tour! I have had such an amazing time. I must say that crossing the border into Canada was pretty awesome. The border patrol guy just asked to see everyone’s faces and asked us if we had any weapons and we were good to go! What good luck! In Guelph our host home mommies and daddies were really nice! My host home went to a bonfire at another family’s house. It felt like we were with family, we were laughing and comparing how we all say “out and about”, “sorry” and “mom/mum”. When we went on to Montreal we had the chance to sing in the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was amazing and so powerful. A woman with a porcelain hippo came up and asked if she could set it in front of us as we sang. She then told us that it was the ashes of her friend and there were 8 women other women at the Cathedral mourning her. Everyone was so touched that she wanted us to sing for her friend. Her story was so incredible, and we were all close to tears. The whole experience was so powerful. Back in the U.S. we headed to Vermont and after to Rochester, New York. In Rochester we sang at Lutheran Church of Our Saviour. There were only about twenty people there, but we could all see in their faces how much they enjoyed it. We have had these reactions before, but the comments that I got from two of the members really touched me. One man came up to me and said, “The moment your choir started singing I just fell in love with all of you”. Then he blew us a kiss, smiled, and walked off. Then a woman came up, and she said, “Listening to all of you sing has renewed my faith in the young people of this world”. I was so moved by that comment. So many adults don’t like teenagers because they think we are all rude and obnoxious. Hearing her tell us that amazed us. I knew that people enjoyed listening to us, but knowing that it renewed her faith in young people just made me feel I had an even bigger purpose. I now know that not only does our music bring smiles to people’s faces, but also it also completely changes people and gives them a new perspective on religion and faith. I used to be a little embarrassed singing in front of people, but now I love it! This tour has changed me so much. Hearing and seeing all the people’s reactions gives me the best feeling ever. There are no words to describe that feeling. I love singing for people now! It is so much fun, and I have even started to ask Mrs. P to sing solos. I sing them with Rachel Druek, but it is still amazing! Now we are driving to Ohio and I cannot wait until our concert. Tour ends tonight, but I am never going to forget it. It has been full of long bus rides and some stressful moments, but I have been changed into a more confident and happy singer! My last night on my last tour will be extremely bittersweet, but I’m going to go home tomorrow with new memories and experiences that I will never forget. I might be done with Eagles Wings, but I will never be done with OSLC. It is my second family and I love you all! Tour has been incredible, even though as I’m writing this I feel like I could pass out! The homecoming concert tomorrow is going to be so much fun and I cannot wait to sing for everyone! Peace, love and God bless!

Rachel Harvey