This day started great. Not to early, everyone was in a great mood and after a time of prayer, we headed out to Zion Church. Totally not what I expected when I heard the name, the church was in an old theatre... almost like one of those poetry jam theaters. Super cool. The church already had a system, so all we had to do was bring in the country-man mikes, run a few tests and were ready.
There were two services. The first had the more traditional crowd. There weren't very many in the first group (lots on vacation) but they were going to have some church anyway. The stage was on two different levels which brought on many creative ideas.. (like throwing Ben off of it during East to West) fortunately, we were able to squash those ideas and just work with a smaller space.
There were two services. The first had the more traditional crowd. There weren't very many in the first group (lots on vacation) but they were going to have some church anyway. The stage was on two different levels which brought on many creative ideas.. (like throwing Ben off of it during East to West) fortunately, we were able to squash those ideas and just work with a smaller space.
Our youngers, by this time, were PRO at adapting, and Hannah flipped one scene to keep the motion centered. Both were great performances... it was just interesting to see the differences between sharing with the “churched” vs the “unchurched.” 2nd service was mostly youth, mostly inner city, and a lot of them we had already met at the Roc the first day. They were getting ready to go camp...and most of them were going on the church's funds.The second service was far more excited to see us... some even cheered when we were announced. The mimes did thier second set as one girl bounced in her seat, and another lady recorded the performance on her cell phone. Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule, and we had to jet out as soon as we were done. We had enough to stop for a quick bite to eat before splitting up.
YOUNGER
After a 90 minute drive that I honestly can't remember :) we made it to the Governor's Ridge Retirement Home. It was certainly nice, and a woman's nursing home (well maybe not formally, but we only saw women) it was a very nice one... think Victorian grandmas house (the pamphlet sold me... is mid-20's too early to retire?)We got our times mixed up, so while the crew did a quick set up, the mimes went around the nursing home inviting the residents to come watch. At first, we thought we would have an audience of two, but as the time quickly passed, several ladies came out until we had 11. They were all attentive and drawn in... the nurse didn't hear a ringing bell until a minute after it had been going off)
wanted to pray over our team as a home. It was such an encouragement; the mime's were beaming and the crew couldn't stop thanking her. It wasn't that we were seeking earthy recognition, and that's probably why we were so surprised. After we prayed, the ladies slowly dispersed into their rooms, so we packed up and and made a coffee run. We had plenty of time between the performances so it was nice to just chill back and have some coffee.
Our next home was a definitely an elder one. I'm sure that several of the residents weren't even aware of what was going on, but all the youngers wanted to do was reach one. The front row residents were entranced and stared so intently the entire time, even with the ringing bells, random noises and a lady talking in the background. We couldn't stay long, unfortunately, we had our last home to get to, so it was a quick tear down and run.
Our next home was a definitely an elder one. I'm sure that several of the residents weren't even aware of what was going on, but all the youngers wanted to do was reach one. The front row residents were entranced and stared so intently the entire time, even with the ringing bells, random noises and a lady talking in the background. We couldn't stay long, unfortunately, we had our last home to get to, so it was a quick tear down and run.
The final home was very open and very much a great way to end the team splitting. The residents were OVERJOYED the team was there. They came in as quickly as possible, so excited to be there. One couple broke Lindsey Small's heart; the woman had only half a nose and was certainly old. After the nurse helped her to her seat, and then her husband to his, he reached over wanting to hold her hand through the performance. Such a touching moment. Only God knows how long those two had been together. Once the performace started,
the blessing continued. One man was leaning in so far, it looked like he was ready to fall out of his wheelchair. One gentleman kept telling Lynette how wonderful the performance was, another man exclaimed "that was great, children!" after every song, and another woman would clap long after the majority of the group had finished. Needless to say the youngers energy was through the roof. They were crisp, clean and still so powerful. I knew they were exhausted, but God definitely gave them a deep breath of fresh air through the excited residents.
After Lindsey dismissed everyone, there was a collective silence... not even a random clap from our dedicated applauder. After a few seconds of awkward silence, one gentleman said, "we want you to keep going." Lindsey was momentarily speechless, but quickly recovered, explaining the mime's would love to go around and talk with the residents, which the kids did. They said we were such a blessing, but really they were. The youngers needed that encouragement, and us married ladies needed that soft example of love.
(The olders trip will be added at a later time; they got back late and long after this was posted. Check back for updates tomorrow night.)
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