TAMPA — Erin Moore always looks forward to traveling with the youth
choir at St. James United Methodist Church here each summer.
This year Moore was one of the church’s 23 youth choir members who
toured New York City and performed in such popular areas as Battery
Park and Washington Square, in addition to homeless shelters.
The Last Words choir takes its name from the last words Christ
spoke before he ascended, found in Matthew 28:20.
Moore, 17, has gone on four of the choir’s five tours, each of
which took the group to a new city and lasted about a week.
“We focused on the themes of love, hope and faith,” the high school
senior said of the recent New York tour. “Our performances were bits
of a play, skit and singing. Sometimes we would do testimonies from
the choir about how our faith has been strengthened.”
The trip was more than an opportunity for the choir to get away
from home. It gave them a chance to cultivate their own faith.
“I got a chance to share on a personal level with one of the
chaperone’s who was my roommate,” Moore said. “We started a Bible
study while we were on tour.”
Spiritual growth is an important part of the choir, said Mark Deen,
director of worship arts at the church, who began the summer tours
when he came to the church five years ago. The choir has visited the
Bahamas and Nashville, among other locations.
“We have some youth choir members who are moving in the right
direction, have always walked with God. Then, we have some who don’t
have a clue, and it often leads to first-time confessions to Christ,”
Deen said. “We went to a drug rehabilitation house and performed and
the adults had an opportunity to share with the kids. We had some kids
who made commitments to Christ when we got back to the hotel.”
In addition to deepening their own relationship with Christ, the
youth are able to experience other cultures, Deen said. He said
leadership skills are also developed within the group.
“They get to see hurting people who need the love of Christ, people
who need food, shelter,” Deen said. “They packed thousands of pounds
of food at a food bank. Their eyes are opened.”
Deen said the group raised money by having car washes, picking
strawberries and applying for a grant through the church mission fund.
He said he didn’t want the cost of the tour to prevent parents from
allowing their children to participate.
That wasn’t going to happen with Karis Tiberia.
Tiberia had two children who were youth members, but have since
graduated from high school and moved on to college, yet she remains an
avid volunteer. She was one of seven adult chaperones on the tour.
“I have fallen in love with the kids,” Tiberia said. “I thought I
was going to be one of the parents who just dropped my kids off for
practice, but I fell in love with them for who they are.
“Teenagers need someone who will be consistent with them and love
them for who they are. That’s why I’m still involved.”
Tiberia was in charge of sound during the summer tour, which she
said can be daunting when you have to keep track of equipment being
moved by 30 people getting on and off subways at the same time.
“We were there to reach out to people where they were,” she said.
“There is no age limit on how God uses people.”
‘Last Words’ touched thousands
during its seven performances in eight days.