Friday night was Daraja’s big CD Recording, and let me tell you, it was an incredible night! A night full of worship and all-out fun, this concert was the perfect way to end Daraja’s tour. The evening was completed with a Christmas spin, as the choir led worship through Christmas carols and a reading the Christmas story from Luke 2!

As we are nearing the end of tour, we’ve been pulling together some amazing numbers and thought it would be fun to share them! Check ‘em out:

TOUR STATS 2009 (Both tours, Summer and Fall)

1 Surgery (Tonsillectomy)
3 Emergency room visits
5 God-sent Kenyan adults
11 Incredible interns
23 Amazing kids
1 Adorable Kenyan toddler (Natalie)
1 Flooded bus
1 New bus to replace the bus that was flooded
11 Rented Buses
60 Trips to the Kenyan immigration office
65 Dentist appointments
72 Haircuts
81 Concerts
90 Naps
105 Movies (approx.)
110 Cavities
132 Bottles of body wash and lotion
144 Schoolbooks
164 Days of touring
165 Pairs of khakis
200 Hours of school (approx)
324 Pizzas
492 Diaper changes for Natalie (Abbu and Grace’s Daughter)
729 Host families
800 Braids repaired
940 People interested in a 410 Short Term Trip (this is with more concerts to go)
2, 250 T-shirts sold (approx)
2,760 Chick-fil-a nuggets
5,740 Sack lunches
6,560 Emails (just from Christi’s Computer)
85,000 LIVES CHANGED!!! (People at concerts (approx))

-

Remember, our last concert of the tour is THIS Friday night, Dec. 11th at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Click here for info and to RSVP! If you’re on Facebook you can also RSVP here.

This past Friday night (the night before our big snow day) Daraja led worship at CBC Highlands in North Carolina! The sanctuary was beautifully decorated for Christmas, made complete with a real 20-foot tall Christmas tree (click for Twitpic) on the stage! Check out some of the captures:

Yesterday morning Daraja woke up to SNOW! I mean, we saw snow wayyy back in October, but we only saw it in passing while on the bus – we never actually got to get out and play in it! This time was different, however. Daraja got to spend the whole morning enjoying the couple inches snow out in front of Community Bible Church in Highlands, North Carolina! It was so much fun!

Wondering how much stuff it takes to keep the Daraja Children’s Choir on the move? Well, as you can imagine, we carry a ton of stuff with us everywhere we travel! To maintain our sanity, we try to stay super organized and keep everything inventoried to make life simpler. Just for fun, here is the list of what we carry with us. MOST of it is unpacked and packed back up at EVERY church we visit! Talk about traveling light!

Luggage/Clothes:
35 Suitcases
11 duffle bags
3 shoe bags
54 costumes
14 dress blacks (for adults to wear during concerts)
23 travel pillows
23 travel blankets
35 lunchbags/2 big baskets
2 suitcases for extra clothing
Iron bag (4 irons which only work sometimes)

Sound System:
3 mackie speakers
Wireless Rack and EQ for sound
Mixer
Cable box (HUGE)
Speaker stands
Mic stands
Microphone box
Ipod bag (with harddrives and extra cords)
Dolly

Concert Supplies:
Brighpoint file box
Brightpoint display
Donor envelopes tub
Concert programs tub

Store Product:
5 main teeshirt tubs
9 overstock tubs
2 Kenyan product tubs
1 display tub
2 tubs of coffee
8 boxes of cd’s
1 ovestock jewlery tub
Metal shelves

School supplies:
35 regular backpacks
8 backpacks of school curriculum
2 school supplies tubs
Library bag

Bus Supplies:
Bus tools
Broom/sweeper carpet/ mop
Movies
Mapquest book of directions
Trashcan
Medicine kit

Office Supplies:
Office bag
Printer
Christ’s office file box
6 Flat rate boxes with donor envelopes

Misc:
2 airmattresses (just in case)
Cooler with waterbottes in it
11 cameras
Extra toiletries
iHome
Guitar
Sports gear (3 soccerballs, 3 jumpropes, 1 kati ball, 3 footballs)
Cleaning supplies (2 baskets of wipes, febreez, papertowels, trashbags, sanitary wipes, germex, etc)
Community bag

Daraja is loving the Christmas season so far! It’s a blast getting to help families everywhere we travel decorate their homes for the holiday! Here’s a quick video of a few of the Daraja girls “helping” their host home decorate:

Last night Daraja shared a Thanksgiving meal with host homes at FBC Greenwood! The choir spent the afternoon at the church preparing a full Kenyan spread for the dinner: rice, kale, stew, chapati, and chi tea!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Daraja got to be college students for a day at Toccoa Falls College on Monday! First, the choir practiced and played soccer with several of the TFC soccer athletes. Then, Daraja got to eat lunch in the dining hall with all of the other students. Daraja finished their day on the TFC campus by hiking up to the beautiful Toccoa Falls!