WELCOME SUPPORTERS of the VOICES of UNITY YOUTH CHOIR. We are just a few days away from starting our journey to China to compete in the 2010 World Choir Games. We are not only beyond excited, but every one of our proud members are honored to have this amazing opportunity to represent not only Fort Wayne, Indiana—but the entire United States of America on such a distinct stage. We have been working so hard not only in our preparations, but also to obtain the funds to make this trip possible. To that end, our travels to China to compete for a gold medal in the World Choir Games absolutely would NOT be possible if it weren’t for YOUR generous financial support. We’re not all the way there yet, we still have other needs and expenses so please—continue to donate to enrich and encourage the lives of these young people.

By the way, my name is Brad Lyons and I am the Production Manager for the DREAMS of GOLD campaign. My team and I will do our best to provide numerous blog updates including photos, video, and audio of our travels along the way. While we will be doing this all remotely, we do not know exactly when, where, and in some cases IF we will have the ability to transfer and upload the information. But please, bookmark us and follow along this incredible adventure. I would also like to request to keep everyone traveling in your thoughts and prayers. Just to give you an idea, here is an quick overview of what we are facing just to get there!

• Depart via busses from Fort Wayne to Cincinnati, Ohio @ 1am….about a 4-hour bus ride
• Depart Cincinnati by plane to San Francisco, about a 4.5 hour flight.
• After a 2-hour layover in San Francisco, fly to Tokyo, Japan for an 11.5 hour flight.
• Another layover in Tokyo, then a 3.5 – 4 hour flight to Shanghai, China
• Depart Shanghai for Shaoxing—site of the World Choir Games, oh by the way that is a 3-4 hour bus trip!

And that is just to get there! But when we do, it will all be worth it.

More to come!