Michigan—On Fri., Dec. 9, close to 1,500 students in grades one to 12 watched the Aerokhanas (Aeros) gymnastics team perform the first two shows of this school year at the public school in Lake City, Mich. Even though the first shows of the year often have their challenges, this year they were almost flawless.

The first show was to a full gym of young students. They cheered so loud it was difficult to hear Coach Tedd Webster’s calls at times. Every part of the program, including specialty routines, pyramid routines, and the emcee acts promoting good decisions and a healthy lifestyle, went very well.

During the audience participation portion of the show, Webster invited those watching to raise their hand if they wanted to go down on the mats to do tricks with the Aeros. Out of 600–700 students, only a handful did not raise their hand.

God was really there using the Aeros to witness to the kids. Andrew Sorensen said, “It was amazing to see how God blessed us even on our first tour. Imagine what the rest of the year will be like.”

The second show of the afternoon was to an even fuller crowd of junior-high and high-school students. While the crowd wasn’t as loud as the first show, they were still very encouraging, especially the younger students. This show, too, was almost flawless. “A lot of the time first shows don’t go the greatest, but this one was awesome. It was a really good way to start the touring season,” said Amber Gillespie.

Friday night the Aeros performed their play about Jesus’ death and resurrection in the Edmore Seventh-day Adventist Church. The acts and songs went smoothly and all who watched it were blessed. Saturday morning found the Aeros back at the Edmore Church to put on Sabbath school and the church service.

Jonathan Fenner and John Musselman presented the Sabbath school lesson, while other team members shared skits and special music. Tim Gotshall and Jordan Reichert gave excellent sermonettes during church. Overall, the tour was an amazing success.

Perhaps the most remarkable circumstance was the fact that because of past injuries and illness, the team was missing several members; however, God was there helping us along and the entire tour was an amazing success. Lance Howard sums it up with these words, “It was a blessing to all of us.”

John Musselman, Great Lakes Adventist Academy student correspondent