Up The Creek Without A Paddle
One of my missionary trips -
by Terry Toole

If you like southern gospel and you missed the Gaither Concert in Tallahassee last Friday night, you missed a real treat.

For several years now, the good folks at First Baptist Church have been gracious enough to invite a few "outsiders" to join them on a large bus to go down to the Gaither Concert. Some of those invited included "ye scribe" and my first wife. I did see a few more Methodists and some Free Wills in the group.

Some of my friends from First Baptist said something about a few Methodists going, and I explained that this was one of my few mission trips for the year. There really isn't a lot of difference. It don't take as much water for a Methodist as it does a Baptist. They are a great bunch to go off with. The age group varied from around five to 80 or more.

It is a treat enough to go off with a bunch of friends, relatives and Christians. These folks know how to do it. After we arrived at the stadium, they pulled out bags of food to choose from and beverages to drink before the show. That would have been enough, but then they started circulating boxes and bags full of homemade sweets. I passed every one of them by without trying them. My first wife didn't do so good, but she isn't as sweet as I am. She's not a diabetic, so I guess at her age, she had better eat it while she can, and she did. All of us sinned, some more than others. I'm glad that everything was started and ended with prayer. We all needed it.

After the feast, we went to the concert. Talking about good seats, there was no one between us and the stage. The first ones we saw were Bill Gaither and all the entertainers coming right up to us and hugging and shaking hands before they stepped on stage. The only better seats were those up on the stage.

The show started at 7:00 p.m., and except for a 15- minute break, it was nonstop music, laughing and praise until after 11:00 p.m.

As I said, if you like gospel, southern gospel and just several tons of God-given talent, this was the place to be. Bill and Gloria Gaither have been doing this for a number of years, and some of the great ones have gone on to that Heavenly Choir or to what they thought might be better. Those folks keep getting better as time goes by. They almost have to be God-sent.

The Gaithers have been doing this long enough for many of their hymns to be in our hymn books. They are still writing and performing great Christian songs, and they continue to draw a lot of good folks to those Homecoming Concerts all over the world.

I saw folks from age one to 90 plus and everywhere in between enjoying the concert. You could feel a kindred spirit on the stage and in the audience. It truly did turn from good entertainment to a spiritual experience.

I haven't been out that late since the last time I went off with a bunch of Baptists, and we would have stayed for more, but the singers started giving out.

Of all the thousands that I saw and hundreds that talked to, I didn't see the first one who didn't enjoy the concert.

I take that back. When they stopped for a 15-minute break, I saw a long, long line of ladies with water in their eyes waiting to get in the restrooms. I was told, they finally went into the men's rooms. There should be a law requiring twice as many ladies' rooms than men's rooms at a facility such as that. I didn't see anyone who didn't act like perfect ladies and gentlemen.

We got back home plenty after 10 as I used to tell my parents. We got to bed around oneish. It was worth it all. Good folks, good show, good food make for a good time.

Betty Jo is already looking at when the Gaither bunch will be at the Family Fest in the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in May. She said, "We ought to go!"

Some of her friends call her Betty "Go."

We've got a place to stay up there in them thar hills. If we can find someone to work at home, we might just head for the mountains.