Youth Convention 2008

What a week!!! The Western District Youth Convention was fabulous! My husband and I were kept busy working the freeWAY booth and spent two full days judging potential candidates as they auditioned for the 2008 WAY Choir season. We had so many auditions we barely had time to grab lunch and get ready for the evening services. There is some amazing talent in our district! Bryce had a full schedule singing with the praise team every night, two performances with freeWAY, and a solo for the mass choir. freeWAY's debut CD was released Tuesday and sales were great. The baritone for freeWAY, Lawrence, was unable to attend and D'Andre Franklin of San Diego, California, did a fabulous job as substitute baritone. The above picture is Tyler, D'Andre, and Bryce by the banner for their booth. On the last night, many from the crowd swarmed the stage and surrounded the praise team. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see Bryce in a white jacket just left of the podium in front of the drums. Praise erupted and for over an hour, the youth sang, danced, and worshipped elbow-to-elbow in the crowd of approximately 4,000.

You all know I am a huge fan of Bryce and freeWAY, but the highlight of the conference was the main speaker, Rev. Sam Emory, of Merced, California. You can visit his church website here: www.upcmerced.com Bro. Emory was over-the-top, off-the-hook, sic, tight, awesome, and the 100 other phrases kids use to say "really good." He addressed pertinent issues of morality, racism, and the importance of living a godly life. His straight forward manner of speaking is exactly what this generation needs. More later - my bones are begging to sink into my bed.