The Senior Adult Ministry of Princeton First Baptist Church was in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area last week touring Amish country. The group of 50 people left the church parking lot via charter bus at 6:30 Monday morning and started their journey, traveling 9 hours before stopping and spending the night in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Tuesday morning they completed their drive with another 3 hours arriving in Lancaster in time for lunch at Shady Maple Smorgasbord. Each day while in Lancaster they reportedly experienced a different Amish buffet, and then after lunch, they embarked on Amish buggy rides and toured the Amish countryside.
The next 2 days were full of various farm tours where the Amish shared their local lifestyle, farming practices, beliefs and different farms and operations. Some tours involved guides getting on the bus and riding through the area and some were hands-on activities. On one farm the group got to feed baby calves, hold rabbits and pigs, pet all kinds of animals, hand milk a cow, and enjoyed a hayride.
JoAnn & Zeke Jamison said during the week they were glad they decided to take this trip, and they had a great time. Teresa & Mike Boyd added that it was a great trip and a good time with other Christians. Kathy Mason said it was a wonderful week.
They also experienced “David” at the Sight & Sound Theatre. This was a live presentation of the life of David from his childhood to his death and included live animals as well as singing and drama in the nearly 3-hour show. Other activities during their stay in Lancaster included a train ride through the Amish country and a tour of a commercial dairy farm that has 2000 cows that are milked 3 times a day.
Friday morning the group headed out to Hershey, Pennsylvania to tour the Hershey Chocolate World. They had tours of the building explaining the process of how their candy was made and received many free samples. They also experienced an hour-long trolley tour of the town of Hershey and heard the history and life story of the town and of the Hershey family. Friday afternoon they started on their way back to Princeton and stayed the night in Washington, Pennsylvania. Saturday they completed the last 8 hours of travel before returning to Princeton around 7:00 p.m.
George Kilgore who serves as a director of the Senior Adult Ministry said this trip was a long one and was full of activities that left them tired but it also created many wonderful memories and it a great group of people to spend the week with.
The group includes Senior Adults from First Baptist as well as others from the local and surrounding communities. Kay Noel stated she was so happy to be included in this group. She added that she met new friends, reacquainted with others, and felt the love of God. Kasey Miranda added that it was a wonderful group of people, and it was such a huge blessing to witness so many people come together to fellowship and encourage each other’s walk with the Lord.
For more pictures from the trip and information about this ministry, go to the Senior Ministry of FBC Princeton Facebook page.
(Story By George Kilgore)
